shadow selves in mod fiction
A common theme in both Mrs. Dalloway and Heart of Darkness is the shadowing of characters. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz acts as Marlow's shadow self, and as a catalyst, that brings Marlow to a realization about himself. In Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus acts as Clarissa's shadow self, and as well, the catalyst that brings her to an understanding of herself. In both novels, the shadow characters are viewed by their society as being insane, and in some ways dangerous, either to themselves or to others. Both shadow characters die in the end leaving the main characters changed and with a new outlook on life and death. A contrast between how the authors use this theme is that in Heart of Darkness the two characters are involved in a very intimate and intense relationship, but in Mrs. Dalloway the two characters never meet, and the parallels are mainly for the reader to connect, even though Septimus has a significant impact on Clarissa in the end. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow is on a journey to the unknown in two ways. He is on his way to Africa, "uncivilized" land unknown to many "civilized" Europeans, as well as a journey into the unknown parts of himself. This is where Kurtz comes in as the necessary shadow of Marlow. Kurtz repr
While Kurtz is consumed with "appetites", it is this that Marlow fear and hates most, and therefore must confront, and Septimus is afraid of a lack of feeling and destruction of the soul, which is just what Clarissa fears most. She has a revelation and feels a strong connection to Septimus, even though she has never met him. Dalloway, Clarissa is suffering from her own issues with choices she made in the past, from her shallow party throwing image, and the issues she has in relation to herself as a woman, and a wife. He works as Clarissa's shadow self in that he believes that a lack of feeling is a crime. She spent much of her time in fear, like Septimus, that it was not possible to feel anything, or believe that the world had meaning. He made her feel the beauty; made her feel the fun. There are similarities between both the shadow selves and the main characters in both novels. He was able to choose death over life because the life he would have led in the asylum would have been death for his soul. "She felt quite continuously a sense of their existence; and she felt what a waste; and she felt what a pity; and she felt if only they could be brought together; so she did it. The death of Kurtz represents victory over darkness for Marlow. "Droll thing life is-that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. Marlow feels that the inability to control or restrain that part of human nature is appalling. They both long for self-discovery but they are unable to achieve it without the interference of the shadow characters. And perhaps in this is the whole difference; perhaps all the wisdom and all truth, and all sincerity, are just compressed into that inappreciable moment of time in which we step over the threshold of the invisible. She wants people to come together because of her, and because she has an intense desire to connect with people and to really feel something, though she is fearful of emotions.
Common topics in this essay:
Marlow Kurtz,
Clarissa Septimus's,
Peter Septimus's,
Dalloway Clarissa,
Kurtz Septimus,
Clarissa Marlow,
Internally Clarissa,
Kurtz Marlow,
Dalloway Septimus,
Heart Darkness,
shadow characters,
main characters,
marlow kurtz,
heart darkness,
soul clarissa,
characters die,
shadow characters die,
shadow self,
moment clarity,
self catalyst brings,
marry richard,
characters changed,
shadow self catalyst,
clarissa's shadow self,
novels plot lines,
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Acceptance Essays
