When texts talk to each other we realise the richness of meaning that can transcend

contexts and form.

Texts that engage in conversation mirror or collide with the notions depicted in one another.
The adaptation of contemporary values develops the richness of meaning that transcends
context and form to explore human consciousness. The intertextual relationship between
Virginia Woolf’s modernist 1925 novel, ‘Mrs Dalloway’ and Stephen Daldry's 2002
postmodernist film ‘The Hours’, explores an individual’s desire for identity that is restricted by
social constraints. Woolf details the events of Clarissa Dalloway in preparation for a party to
comment on the shallow, superficial and corruption in the social system following the First
World War. Daldry’s imagined representation further examines how cultural assumptions
continue to dictate lives in the 21st century. This textual conversation enables a responder to
realise the richness of meaning instilled in the internal worlds to examine the consequence
of a masked identity from social norms and one’s submissive nature to abide by social
constructs.

The richness of meaning in Woolf’s modernist construction portrays a masked identity

through a simultaneous representation of the sane and insane. Woolf’s experimentation with
the stream of consciousness enables readers to acknowledge the underlying psychological
motives of the characters. The two opposing characters of Mrs Dalloway, consumed in
fulfilling social expectations and the suicide of Septimus Smith, a casualty of the blind
opulence of the upper-class is reinforced through a parallel narrative. Septimus’ ability to see
beyond the facade that Clarissa chooses to uphold transcends to Richard in ‘The Hours’ to
prompt introspection about one’s own mortality to reexamine life choices and search for
identity, irrespective of social expectations. The disconnected events of ‘Mrs Dalloway’
reveals the consequence of a rigid social structure by establishing a sane-insane binary.
Woolf’s intertextual reference to Shakespeare's ‘Cymbeline’ draws a connection between
Clarissa and Septimus as they are both preoccupied with death - “Fear no more the heat o’
the sun / Nor the furious winter’s rages.” This symbolises the opposing ways of dealing with
the human predicament in the composers’ textual conversation as both Clarissa's affirm their
identity by throwing a frivolous party while Septimus and Richard choose death as an act of
“defiance” to awaken others of society’s “eternal loneliness.” Thus, this textual conversation
furthers the enduring notion of one’s existential angst, transcending from the modernism era
of disillusionment to modern society.

Similarly, Daldry experiments with postmodernist characteristics through metafiction by

documenting Woolf’s writing process, emulating her use of a parallel narrative to reveal how
the richness of one’s masked identity transcends context. The sane-insane binary is
subverted in both texts to reaffirm Woolf’s indication of an obscured identity from social
influences in a modern context. One of the three women at the forefront of the film, Clarissa
Vaughan possesses an ambivalent position in New York’s upper-middle-class to mirror
Clarissa Dalloway as she is aware of the superficiality of the party. Daldry re-contextualises
attitudes towards the afflicted suffering from mental illness and AIDS through Woolf’s voice
over when reading the suicide letter to mimic Woolf’s connection with Septimus through her
own bouts of psychosis to parallel with Richards’ suicide. While the stigma towards mental
illness has diminished in the early 20th century, Woolf and Daldry condemn society’s
assumption that individuals with afflictions are considered anomalous to the norm and
facade that many uphold. The dialogue between Richard and Clarissa in the film prompts an
external discussion of Clarissa’s masked identity by “always giving parties to cover the
silence”. Consequently, the sanity of Clarissa Dalloway and Clarissa Vaughan remain intact
by pursuing a life imposed by society, developing the richness of meaning that transcends
form and context.

Daldry and Woolf’s textual conversation on the oppression of women reveals how cultural
assumptions continue to transcend, restricting an individual’s identity and self-expression.
Mrs Dalloway’s conventional life is portrayed through her internal and external world as she
is aware of the oppression masking her identity, yet still chooses to abide by social classes.
Daldry re-contextualises entrapment in ‘The Hours’ by intertwining the three narrative
strands into one emotional arc through Philip Glass’s soundtrack, despite advancements in
social reform. The film’s metatextuality conveys Virginia Woolf’s psychological impediment
during the 1920’s; a dissatisfied American housewife Laura Brown in 1951; and Clarissa
Vaughan who adheres to social class despite having the freedom not to in 2001. In ‘Mrs
Dalloway’, Woolf’s emphatic use of ‘Mrs’ criticises the way in which society during the early
1900’s objectified women by their marriage, masking their identity. The motif of flowers
symbolises the restrictions of traditional values of feminine beauty that Clarissa chooses to
uphold. Clarissa’s observations of the flower shop emphasises their significance in her life
through personification - “nodding tufts of lilac with her eyes half-closed..holding their heads
up; and all the sweet peas speaking in their bowls.” By revealing these internal thoughts
through a stream of consciousness, Woolf invites readers into Clarissa’s internal world as
she inhabits the hollowness of society by upholding moral conventions associated with
beauty and marital status, formulating her false identity that suppresses a fully-lived life.

Despite the social reforms experienced by women in their respective contexts, the textual
conversation of these texts represents how domestic roles continue to suppress the female
identity and impede the agency to shape one’s life. The films fragmented, polyphonic
structure enables the audience to examine the coercive effect of conservative values on
women to uphold a false identity. The use of pastiche in the opening scene represents the
patriarchal power of flowers, gifted by each male counterpart to assert traditional roles that
each woman is expected to fulfil. Daldry pays homage to ‘Mrs Dalloway’ when Laura is seen
reading the novel in moments of tension as she resonates with the struggle to uphold female
identity from the pressures of domesticity imposed on her. Laura seeks perfection through
the domestic art of baking to symbolise her internal conflict on whether she should pursue
happiness or fulfil her role as a mother and wife. Mise-en-scene captures her mental anguish
through surrealism as water floods into the hotel room, reminiscent of Woolf’s drowning in
1941 to signify a false escape from the social restrictions imposed on women’s identity,
transcending context and form.

The richness of meaning that transcends context and form is evident in the comparative
study of ‘Mrs Dalloway’ and ‘The Hours’ as they both articulate internal struggles to uphold
an identity derived from societal values. Woolf’s modernist account of an individual’s masked
identity and inability to make personal choices is reflected through Daldry’s experimental
disruptions of form, highlighting the universal power and relevance of classic texts.