Every story has an ending. As I have finished reading both Emma, by Jane Austen, and Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf this past week, I cannot help but compare the two different moods at the end of each novel. Since the stories themselves were written at very different times from two very different authors it would only make sense for them to end, well, differently. The differences are not just in the content of the ending but in the mood as well.
Emma ends in a very traditional manner, a whole bunch of weddings. This has been a common end for most comedies, such as Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing and his other comedies, as it is a general 'happy ending'. This ending makes sense as marriage was a large goal of life back in this time period and the novel's main characters are all unwed. The weddings would tie up all of these story lines about finding suitable companions quite nicely. I do not believe there is a single major character left unmarried by the end, signaling an end to the single phase of their lives. Since marriage is such a life changing event it also makes sense that a story should end at that point as the situations that follow marriage are worthy of a story unto themselves.
Mrs. Dalloway ends a much different note. Clarissa learns of Septimus's suicide causing her to retire for a bit and contemplate and recuperate. In many ways Septimus and Clarissa were similar so the suicide serves as a message of what could have happened with Clarissa. On the whole the attitude of the end of the book seems much more dark than that of Emma. The feeling of a suicide is much heavier and darker than that of a wedding. There is also the sense of unrealized fantasies at the end of Mrs. Dalloway. The feeling stems from the appearance of Sally after all the years and the stark difference between the real life and the image Clarissa has been holding in her head since her youth. It is not to say that the end is all negative, only that it mostly is so. During her contemplation Clarissa comes to terms with her own life and the fact that she is aging and death is not so far away.
After reading both novels, I would say I preferred Emma as a story more, though Mrs. Dalloway's message was a lot stronger. Both conveyed a sense of how class and gender were important factors back in their respective time periods. I feel that the contrast in Mrs. Dalloway was more pronounce and had greater impact on the story. It is also a more critical view point than that offered in Emma. I did enjoy the comedic twists and turns in Emma and felt that the story overall was easier to follow. The seemingly random and fast shifts of view point along with no overlying organizational structure like chapters made reading Mrs. Dalloway very difficult to follow especially in the piecemeal fashion done for the class.
As you say, Emma and Mrs. Dalloway should end differently. It's only natural considering that one book contains characters that are single and focusing on marriage when compared to a book focused on those who are almost all married and beyond marriage. You could say the moods at the endings to the books were meant to convey feelings appropriate to that time of life. In Emma, the book ends light-heartedly with marriage and much more life to be lived. Mrs. Dalloway focuses much more on regret. The focus is on memories as shown by the books constant tendency to jump to the past. Emma, on the other hand, has little need to jump to the past. The "high" time of life is current in Emma, whereas it has long passed in Mrs. Dalloway.
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ReplyDeleteThis blog makes a great connection between the endings of Emma compared to Mrs. Dalloway. I agree with the fact that the endings differ because of the time period they were written in, but probably more of an influence than the time period was what is going on in culture during the time of the story. World War I must have had an impact on the story of Mrs. Dalloway, specifically the ending. Woolf shows Clarissa's reaction to Septimus' death and Clarissa feels partly responsible, just as the entire country of London feels responsible for the countless souls lost in World War I. Neither the citizens of London nor Clarissa question what the government instructs.
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