Big Ben is an important character in Mrs. Dalloway. He marks out the passing hours of the day as Mrs. Dalloway and the other characters move throughout various locations and patterns of thought. The specific language used when referring to the chiming of the clock is interesting because it occurs several times throughout the book. Some, but not all, references to the striking of the clock include the phrases ‘the hour, irrevocable,’ and ‘the leaden circles dissolved in the air.’
-the hour, irrevocable: this represents the permanence of passing time. Once a moment is gone we cannot get it back. The phrase has a hint of regret to it, as if the character wishes to retrieve a long lost moment.
-leaden circles: this description reinforces the permanent nature of time. Leaden connotes solid, unmovable principals. Time moves at a constant rate that no human can change. Describing the circles, however, implies that time is continuous. As the hands move around the face of a clock, so the earth moves around the sun. Days and nights constantly cycle through, bringing each day.
-dissolve in air- this references the fading nature of each moment. While time itself is firm, each moment is fleeting. Memories, even those of the most important moments in our lives, fade over time.
All of these themes appear throughout the novel, the presence of the clock merely underscores them.
I found several instances where Big Ben appears in the novel. He usually interrupts the thoughts of one of the characters, and several times those thoughts are about love or longing. For instance, Big Ben strikes just as Peter Walsh is leaving Mrs. Dalloway’s house after their first encounter. He doesn’t directly declare in his thoughts that he loves Clarissa, but it is implied. In his thoughts he is nostalgic, considering who Clarissa was and what she has become. There is a hint of bitter resentment as he contemplates the life she has created. One gets the feeling that he begrudges time for being always moving forward, never allowing one to return and change the past.
Only a few paragraphs later Peter hears the tolling of the clock of St. Margaret’s, which he compares to a polite hostess. This an obvious connection to Clarissa. The hostess he envisions is smart and full of life, yet holds back her individuality in order to maintain her role as a polite hostess.
To finish off, I did a little bit of research about Big Ben, just so we can get to know this important character a little bit better:
-technically, Big Ben refers only to the bell inside the tower. The clock tower itself is actually called St. Stephen’s Tower
-no one knows for sure exactly why the tower is called Big Ben, though several plausible theories exist
-the hour, irrevocable: this represents the permanence of passing time. Once a moment is gone we cannot get it back. The phrase has a hint of regret to it, as if the character wishes to retrieve a long lost moment.
-leaden circles: this description reinforces the permanent nature of time. Leaden connotes solid, unmovable principals. Time moves at a constant rate that no human can change. Describing the circles, however, implies that time is continuous. As the hands move around the face of a clock, so the earth moves around the sun. Days and nights constantly cycle through, bringing each day.
-dissolve in air- this references the fading nature of each moment. While time itself is firm, each moment is fleeting. Memories, even those of the most important moments in our lives, fade over time.
All of these themes appear throughout the novel, the presence of the clock merely underscores them.
I found several instances where Big Ben appears in the novel. He usually interrupts the thoughts of one of the characters, and several times those thoughts are about love or longing. For instance, Big Ben strikes just as Peter Walsh is leaving Mrs. Dalloway’s house after their first encounter. He doesn’t directly declare in his thoughts that he loves Clarissa, but it is implied. In his thoughts he is nostalgic, considering who Clarissa was and what she has become. There is a hint of bitter resentment as he contemplates the life she has created. One gets the feeling that he begrudges time for being always moving forward, never allowing one to return and change the past.
Only a few paragraphs later Peter hears the tolling of the clock of St. Margaret’s, which he compares to a polite hostess. This an obvious connection to Clarissa. The hostess he envisions is smart and full of life, yet holds back her individuality in order to maintain her role as a polite hostess.
To finish off, I did a little bit of research about Big Ben, just so we can get to know this important character a little bit better:
-technically, Big Ben refers only to the bell inside the tower. The clock tower itself is actually called St. Stephen’s Tower
-no one knows for sure exactly why the tower is called Big Ben, though several plausible theories exist
-the face of each clock is 23 feet in diameter
-the minute hands of the clock are each 14 feet long
-the clock first struck on May 31, 1859
-when the Commons chamber was destroyed in World War Two, Big Ben continued to chime away the hour
**I got this information from http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/culture/big-ben
-the minute hands of the clock are each 14 feet long
-the clock first struck on May 31, 1859
-when the Commons chamber was destroyed in World War Two, Big Ben continued to chime away the hour
**I got this information from http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/culture/big-ben
