Analyse the function of misogy

The use of misogyny in the following texts can be related to the treatment of women throughout the novels. In Mrs Dalloway There is a complex alignment between Septimus and Clarissa. This is useful as it gives a comparison between how each is affected by their social conditions. In Heartbreak House there is misogyny throughout. It seems the women are in control which adds further irony. It is important to see how women are treated in each text and to evaluate the mistreatment of women. Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith are brought up under the same social backdrop. They are very much alike in their actions and thoughts even though they never actually meet. Ebert discusses ‘counterpointing… visions’ in the novel’s language. She explores how female and male differences are countered by images of androgyny. This is particularly useful when comparing the similarities between Clarissa and Septimus (Ebert, 1995 P. 152.) When analysing the misogyny in the novel it would be useful to explore how these two aligned characters both male and female are represented.

The novel begins with Clarissa going out to get some flowers as Lucy has work to do.

Septimus believes that his initial emotionless reaction to Evans' death is real and progressively bases his construction of reality on this miscalculation. Instead of facing his grief, he represses it until the remainder of his reality is shattered. He pictures dogs turning into men because the truth has become demented in his mind to the point of delusion. Woolf’s comparison of the sane and insane as an advanced social commentary is superb. She illustrates the humanity lacking in a sane person and the depth of emotion possessed by an insane character, unlike the stereotypes that plagued them both. Septimus represents a ‘lost generation' of men following the end of World War I. As the pomp and circumstance of British upper class society continues, a group of men return from war changed but without the capacity to get help. Septimus was a successful, intelligent, literary young man before World War I. During the war he won many honours and friends. After a good friend, Evans, is killed, he realises that he can no longer feel. Marrying Rezia in an attempt to move on. However Septimus never regains an emotional attachment to the world. The couple moves back to London and Septimus returns to work but he slowly slips into further depths of despair. He hears voices particularly of Evans and becomes extremely sensitive to colour and natural beauty. The doctors compound his problems by ignoring them, and they become the embodiment of evil and inhumanity in his mind. When Dr. Holmes pushes into his home to see him, Septimus throws himself out the window to his death. Death is positive for both characters. It is a means of defiance to the society around them. Clarissa believes in reincarnation. She thinks that her true self is not revealed in this life; it will be in the next. At a party she thinks ‘If it were to now die, ’twere now to be most happy’ (P. 202-3.) She felt it was a good point in her life to die. Septimus has experienced death and destruction. He knows that society will not change and that he can’t bear a world such as the one he lives in. He claims he will take his own life to be rid of society’s grip on him and does at the end. Clarissa accepts the constricts of society while Septimus does not.

The use of misogyny is perhaps more apparent in Heartbreak House. It is particularly used for the use of irony with images of men as slaves to women. In Mrs Dalloway the representation of women encourages them to change themselves. Clarissa and Septimus see death as the only way to change things. Though Clarissa and Septimus are not of the same wealth or background, both characters have a very similar prospective about things around them. Septimus believes death is an answer to his constant torture from the doctors and society. Clarissa relates to his suicide as a way for him to finally communicate to everyone, especially his two doctors. Neither Dr. Holmes nor Sir William could empower his life anymore with their false treatments. In everything that has happened in one day, the key connection between Septimus and Clarissa was his death and the English society that both people were subjected to.

If Heartbreak House seems to be different from other Shaw plays, it is not because hearts are broken. Young women usually have their hearts broken all the time in Shaw plays. These characters usually have their hearts broken not once but twice. The first time, the young woman discovers that all of the beliefs on which she had built her faith, all of the ways that she understood the world, are suddenly unreachable. Then, feeling alone, as though she has lost her faith and her sense of purpose, she faces the second heartbreak--an equally painful shock to her emotions. She now can begin to rebuild her life with new values, and can resume her life's work of rebuilding the world. But Heartbreak House is different. In those other plays, there is a sense that the world can be changed, that we here in order to change things. W

Some topics in this essay:
House Shaw, Hector Hushabye, Prime Minister, Sally Clarissa, Heartbreak House, Beauty Novelty, P5 Kilman, Dr Holmes, Peter Joseph’s, Septimus Ebert, heartbreak house, world war, clarissa septimus, hearts broken, septimus warren smith, sally clarissa, septimus warren, women control, society clarissa, pretty girls, dr holmes, usually hearts broken, heartbreak house shaw,