Mrs. Dalloway Said She Would Buy the Flowers Herself

For this extra blog post, I would like the analyze the line “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself” and how it pertains to the three timelines shown in the The Hours. During class, we discussed this line as it pertains to the book, and as I read the book, I came to the conclusion that for Mrs. Dalloway, this act represents one of the few things she can do as an individual. While in society her role is that of Mrs. Richard Dalloway, when she is planning her party, she adopts the role of a hostess and can act more independently of her husband. In the film, this represents something different. 

For Virginia Woolf, this line seems to represent a kind of defiance. In the moments before she starts writing Mrs. Dalloway her husband was telling her to eat because the doctors recommended it. He even said that he could make her eat by force if necessary. As soon as he said that, Virginia said “Leonard, I believe I may have a first sentence”. Allowing her main heroine to think and act for herself in that moment represents Virginia’s desire to be independent and not have to listen to everyone around her. Additionally, it serves as a direct act of defiance since by saying that she thought that she had an idea for a first line, she was able to temporarily get out of eating. Considering that Leonard’s remark about force and Virginia’s desire to write her book came one right after the other, it can be inferred that Leonard and his mention of doctors caused this sudden desire to write and express her frustrations. 

Another character was Laura Brown, and to her, this line signifies her feeling of being trapped as well but in a different way. She is a housewife that spends all her days at home with her son. Although she clearly loves Richie (the same Richard that kills himself in front of Clarissa), she finds herself suffocated by her role as a mother. To demonstrate this point, her husband buys himself flowers on his birthday. This should have been something that Laura could get out of the house for and a time for her to express some individuality, but instead, she was stuck at home while her husband toiled away. Really, Laura wants to work instead of sitting at home, and this is shown because leaving her family and getting a job saves her from committing suicide. Overall, the first line of Mrs. Dalloway signifies Laura’s desire to be something more than a mother in the film. 

Finally, the last character is Clarissa Vaughan. To her, this line demonstrates her need to constantly be in charge of something or organize. She accepts her identity as the perfect hostess, and in fact, that seems to be what keeps her relatively “happy”. Throughout the film, we see her constantly cleaning, cooking, discussing seating charts, or talking with Richard (mostly about the party), and when there is a risk of the party falling through, she breaks down in tears (although this outburst is also partially caused by Louis). We even get to see this in the way the flower line is presented. Instead of being delivered word for word like it is for the other two characters, Clarissa yells to Sally that she’s going to buy flowers. Sally, meanwhile, was sleeping and had completely forgotten about the party. This emphasized Clarissa’s obsession by pairing her with someone who seems to almost not care about the party. 

Overall, all the characters in this film feel somehow trapped, and one way this is introduced to the viewers is through the line “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself”. While Clarissa was trapped by societal expectations, the three characters (Virginia, Laura, and Clarissa) were trapped by doctors and illness, a role as a mother, and an organization obsession respectively. Although each woman is different, they share the trait that they are somehow unhappy with their life.