The Suicide of Septimus Smith
The scene of Septimus' suicide was a difficult one to read. Personally, it was difficult to cope with knowing that his last thoughts were about how he did not want to die, and how he felt like he was being chased out the window by Dr. Holmes. Especially because he was feeling a sense of "normalcy" earlier with Rezia, Woolf lures the reader into a sense of false hope before he dies, making his suicide all the more difficult to grapple with. However, I think in this scene Woolf is trying to convey her own feelings on mental health, how gender norms affected it, and how society viewed it.
As we are introduced to Septimus, Woolf begins by describing his physical appearance rather than diving straight into his psyche, as she does with most of the other characters. She notes that his eyes have "that look of apprehension in them which makes complete strangers apprehensive too" (Woolf 13). By choosing to describe Septimus' outer appearances in this way as we are introduced to him, the reader already has an impression of Septimus being an apprehensive person surrounded by nervous energy, and can already tell that he isn't mentally stable.
A bit after being introduced to Septimus and getting some exposure to his inner thoughts, we come to know that Dr. Holmes doesn't think there's anything wrong with him. However, Woolf's initial description of Septimus' outer appearance had already given us the impression that he definitely isn't mentally healthy, and his inner thoughts only further reinforce that belief in our minds. Woolf wants the reader to know that although people may not have diagnosed mental illness at the time, they were still prevalent and had major effects on people.
Throughout the day in which Mrs. Dalloway takes place, we see more of Septimus' story and how he has always tried to be less emotional and keep his feelings supressed. When he sees his own friend die right in front of his eyes in the midst of war, he feels nothing -- and is proud of it. Here, Woolf is commenting on gender norms of the time and how men were expected to keep their feelings inside, or better yet, not feel anything at all. But this ends up having a negative effect in the long run, as we see that Septimus married Lucrezia out of fear that he could no longer feel anything. And because of gender roles of the time, doctors such as Dr. Holmes fed into the idea that men could not or should not show emotional vulnerability and did not pay close attention to Septimus' symptoms.
It is Dr. Holmes who comes up the stairs when Septimus decides to suddenly jump out the window. I think Woolf had Dr. Holmes come up the stairs because he is the embodiment of Woolf's ideas of what is wrong with society's ideas of mental health at the time: that emotional trauma tended to be dismissed, which further harmed mentally ill people who's pain would not be taken seriously.
As we are introduced to Septimus, Woolf begins by describing his physical appearance rather than diving straight into his psyche, as she does with most of the other characters. She notes that his eyes have "that look of apprehension in them which makes complete strangers apprehensive too" (Woolf 13). By choosing to describe Septimus' outer appearances in this way as we are introduced to him, the reader already has an impression of Septimus being an apprehensive person surrounded by nervous energy, and can already tell that he isn't mentally stable.
A bit after being introduced to Septimus and getting some exposure to his inner thoughts, we come to know that Dr. Holmes doesn't think there's anything wrong with him. However, Woolf's initial description of Septimus' outer appearance had already given us the impression that he definitely isn't mentally healthy, and his inner thoughts only further reinforce that belief in our minds. Woolf wants the reader to know that although people may not have diagnosed mental illness at the time, they were still prevalent and had major effects on people.
Throughout the day in which Mrs. Dalloway takes place, we see more of Septimus' story and how he has always tried to be less emotional and keep his feelings supressed. When he sees his own friend die right in front of his eyes in the midst of war, he feels nothing -- and is proud of it. Here, Woolf is commenting on gender norms of the time and how men were expected to keep their feelings inside, or better yet, not feel anything at all. But this ends up having a negative effect in the long run, as we see that Septimus married Lucrezia out of fear that he could no longer feel anything. And because of gender roles of the time, doctors such as Dr. Holmes fed into the idea that men could not or should not show emotional vulnerability and did not pay close attention to Septimus' symptoms.
It is Dr. Holmes who comes up the stairs when Septimus decides to suddenly jump out the window. I think Woolf had Dr. Holmes come up the stairs because he is the embodiment of Woolf's ideas of what is wrong with society's ideas of mental health at the time: that emotional trauma tended to be dismissed, which further harmed mentally ill people who's pain would not be taken seriously.
Yes! I have been wondering what Woolf has been trying to say about suicide. I agree that Dr.Holmes symbolizes society's view of mental health at the time, but I still wonder what type of message Woolf is trying to send the reader. Is she advocating for mental health recognition or warning us about the ugly side of mankind? I especially like how you pointed out that Woolf gave us a false sense of hope when things started looking up for Septimus. I wonder why she did that, maybe she was trying to show us the inevitability of his demise?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Woolf's depiction of how his doctor, someone who should be a trusted and reliable source, is what ultimately pushes him over the edge and causes him to commit suicide. The article I read for my panel presentation suggests that had there not been a character like Septimus in the book Woolf may have had Clarissa commit suicide. The author of that article suggests that by having a character like Septimus that represents some of the challenges Woolf faced in real life. Woolf was able to "get out" these feelings and opinions on medicine she needed to make. Had it not been for Septimus, the author suggests, Woolf would have needed to express those feelings and opinions through Clarissa which may have resulted in her ending her own life.
ReplyDeleteI really like this assessment of his mental state and Woolf is definitely making a statement when what pushes him over the edge is the same person who was telling him to just man up, grow a pair and walk it off. But its also hard to fault Holmes specifically because as you say Holmes is influenced by his environment and the social climate of the time and really lacks the vocabulary to begin diagnosing the myriad of problems that lurk under Septimus's surface.
ReplyDeleteI like that you brought up the initial description of Septimus and how off-putting he is just by appearance and then mention how Holmes' first reaction upon seeing him is that nothing is wrong. This juxtaposition does a good job of immediately giving the reader doubts about Dr. Holmes' judgement as a doctor. If you can tell just by looking at his eyes that something isn't fully right and the doctor won't even consider the possibly that something is wrong then the doctor seems kinda sus.
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