Comparison of The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway

In Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolfe, and The Hours, by Micheal Cunningham, contrasting representations of the women’s role in society present interesting comparisons of how the different female characters live their lives. While Mrs. Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway , and Laura Brown in The Hours, remain static characters in the way they are complacent with the position society assigns to them as the “typical” housewife, other characters in Mrs. Dalloway counteract this stereotypes such as Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman. Instead of living life subordinate to men, and completely content in their roles as proper wives, they appear to be more commanding and in control of who they are as female individuals. Thus, the comparison of Woolfe and Cunningham’s novels present contrasting interpretations of the voice of women in literature.
Many comparisons can be made between Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown, due to their roles as women who constantly need to seek more in their lives. Mrs. Dalloway’s one, single task for the day is ensuring her party runs smoothly. Similarly Laura Brown is overly concerned with the absolute perfection of her husband’s cake. Because neither of them have any greater purpose in life than these insignificant and stereotypical housewife duties, their lives are somewhat meaningless. Since both characters are presented as being so concerned and overwhelmed with these menial tasks, it becomes evident that they need to seek more in life. At one point, Laura Brown even considers suicide, showing just how barred she felt from going anywhere in life, as women. One factor that plays a huge role in Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown’s complacency in their position as women, is the restrictions society places on their actions as female individuals. Women were supposed to be stay at home mothers and wives, keeping the house clean, planning parties, and leaving all of the more significant tasks to their husbands. Sadly, it seems that Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown even know this, where their main focuses of the day are things of the littlest important in the grand scheme of their lives, however they do not really do anything about it . Thus, both characters are very similar in the way they are somewhat static and negligent about improving their oppressive lives.
Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown may also be compared to Rezia, the wife of Septimus. Although she may seem to be in control of who she is and what she does, she spends her life catering to her husband and his sickness. Like the husbands of Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown, Septimus is not demanding of her, but rather quite unresponsive to what she does. Despite the fact that Septimus does not play a domineering role in her life, Rezia is still somewhat weak. Instead of focusing on herself and doing what she would like, she constantly worries about his condition, and has to submit to his illness. Because he is a man, in this sense, she is submitting to a higher power in the gender hierarchy. At this time, stereotypically, men had a considerably higher position than women in society. Rezia’s life revolves around her husband, and as she plays the role as the “proper” caring wife, she neglects to see herself as a true individual female, but rather play the role assigned to her by society, just like Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown.
However, when comparing Mrs. Dalloway, Rezia, and Laura Brown to more dynamic, or bolder female characters, such as Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman, it is clear that the complacent and stereotypical lifestyle of a woman is not the only one. While Mrs. Dalloway and Laura Brown are restricted in their abilities and power over their lives, Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman are much more resolute and decisive, seeming to have more control over who they are. Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman seem to think more for themselves, whereas Mrs. Dalloway, Laura Brown, and Rezia’s lives revolve around their husbands and playing the role of a proper wife. Mrs. Kilman actually disdains lavish parties and feels bad for people like Mrs. Dalloway who spend their lives focused on such superficial tasks. However, her pity is somewhat questionable, because at times, she too seems insecure, and as if she dislikes Mrs. Dalloway, because she is not as privileged as her. Despite this though, Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman do not mention their husbands, if they have any. Thus, they are not juxtaposed to men in a way that makes them seem inferior. In fact Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman can be considered “more masculine” in their opinions and speech. They say and think things that contain significance, things that the men in the novel are usually concerned with Mrs. Dalloway is somewhat intimidated by lady bruton, maybe because of this determined and resolute attitude, which contrasts to Mrs. Dalloway’s own weakness and complacency. Thus Lady Bruton and Miss Kilman appear to be superior to Mrs. Dalloway, Laura Brown, and Rezia in the way that they take control of their lives and are able to separate themselves from only serving a typical female housewife role.
Although Mrs. Dalloway, Laura Brown, and Rezia seem to make even slight acknowledgements to the fact that their lives are not as complete as they should and can be, they do not seek to really do anything about their complacency in life. Thus often time the role society assigns to people, especially when it relates to specific genders, can cause them to remain in that role if they cannot break through stereotypical boundaries.

Comparison of The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway

Comparison of the Hours, Change of Heart, and the Poisonwood Bible:

Women’s Expectations in Society
How women are expected to behave in society and their abilities to succeed or reach their potential can often times be directly and inevitably correlated. In The Hours, by Michael Cunningham, and The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, two of the female protagonists are severely restricted in their actions due to what society expects from them. They are given few options to succeed or reach their potential, and are left with the job of being just a “housewife”. While some women may choose to rebel against this stereotypical image of what they should be, others unfortunately will submit to society’s will and suffer in a restricted lifestyle.
The “Typical” Life for a Women:
In both of these novels, the female protagonists already have a life planned out for them, where they are expected to perform such miniscule and demeaning jobs, because they fit the ideal domestic mother or wife lifestyle. Orleana Price in The Poisonwood Bible is portrayed as constantly submitting to her husband, where she does not dare challenge him. She is the typical, southern housewife, who caters to her children and her husband, because that is what she is supposed to do. Whatever her husband says is the ultimate decision, because being the man of the household, he is supposed to make all of the tough choices and control every situation. Similarly, in The Hours, Laura Brown is so caged in by her duties as a mother, where her main goal for a single day, is to make a cake and prepare a birthday celebration for her husband. The fact that at any given time, she has nothing on her mind, and no other objectives for the day other than to bake a cake, shows the ultimate stereotypical image of a women. What’s worse is that she doesn’t even really love her husband. When he came back from war, she married him, because she was supposed to. Orleana, too, was in this situation; where she married her husband Nathan and listens to him, because she is expected to. Both Orleana and Laura must submit to their husband’s wills not just because men are portrayed as being overbearing or dominating, but also because society dictates their actions. Although Orleana’s husband Nathan is quite tyrannical, Laura’s husband is rather caring and perhaps more passive. Regardless though, she neglects to do anything about her situation. Because society confines women in these novels to such fine limitations, they have no other choice really, than to perform their expected duties as a wife and mother. They have and care for their kids, because they are supposed to. Arguably, Orleana actually loves her children, but it seems as if Laura does not. At least when her son, Richie, is young, he seems to be a burden for her, and she seems to take no delight in her duties as his caretaker. Thus, because there are such expectations for women to behave in a certain way, they are restricted from achieving anything’s outside these boundaries.
Rebelling vs. Submitting to Society’s Restrictions:
Although there are certain expectations for women in society, sometimes female individuals will become so frustrated with what they are supposed to do instead of what they are capable of doing, and therefore rebel against these limitations. In The Poisonwood Bible, Orleana eventually realizes how important it is to break from her husband’s oppressive ways. When it becomes a matter of life and death in the Congo,Orleana is able to finally disregard what he wants and to do what’s best for her and her children. When he wants to stay to preach his message of salvation and baptism to the Congolese, even under life threatening circumstances where the country is in a state of political turmoil and instability, reasonably enough, Orleana takes her children and leaves. It is somewhat unfortunate that it takes a situation like this, where the fate of her whole family is at stake, to make her realize that by constantly submitting to society’s expectations and her husbands in order to fit her role as a women, she is only allowing herself to be more oppressed. However, what’s important is that eventually she realized her potential to break from subordination under her husband, and did so by leaving him. Unlike Oreleana though, Laura Brown in The Hours, never really seems to break from her restricted lifestyle. She literally runs from her problems instead of confronting them like Orleana, where she drops off her son at a neighbor’s house and takes off down a random highway to a hotel. There, she contemplates suicide, and even thinks about taking her own life. As if this extreme depression about her life isn’t enough to indicate how truly depressed she is about her lifestyle, she concludes that she could never go through with it because of her duties to her husband and son. Even though suicide is definitely a decision she should not be making, and it would not solve nay of her problems, because she becomes somewhat interested in the idea but then realizes she could never make that decision solely because she needs to continue to be a mother and wife, it shows the extent to which her need to fulfill her position as a woman in society supersedes any other option for her life. Rather than ever say anything to her husband about her feelings of depression ,she instead keeps them to herself and continues to seek freedom from her obligations and responsibilities as a women. Instead of eventually realizing that she should not have to always fulfill her predetermined duties as a women and start making decisions for herself, she becomes angry with herself for not loving her predetermined role as a mother and wife. Thus, while some women may choose to rebel against how society dictates they should behave, others never do, and because of this, they will feel the constant burden of having to live up to an image they do not fit or desire.
Changing View of Women Over Time:
While The Poisonwood Bible and The Hours portray women as confined within strict social boundaries of what they can and cannot do, not all novels depict women in this way, perhaps because of the difference in the time periods in which they are set. The Poisonwood Bible and The Hours, take place in the earlier half of the 1900’s, whereas the novels, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, by Amy Tan, and Change in Heart, by Jodi Picoult,are set in the modern day 21st century. This seems to be logical, because historically speaking, fifty years ago, there were much fewer opportunities for women than there are now. While the female protagonists in The Poisonwood Bible and The Hours occupy the position only of wives and mothers, in The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Change in Heart, some of the women are depicted more or less, the same way as men, in terms of society’s expectations for them. For example, Maggie in Change in Heart, is a somewhat stubborn, but successful lawyer, and Ruth in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, has a job in publishing. Clearly both of the women mentioned in these novels are educated and independent, whereas Clarissa and Laura Brown seem to be dependent on the status which society assigns to them, being housewives who ought to be obedient to their husbands. Again, this is seemingly because of the time period in which each plotline is set. Thus, the conclusion can be made that the role of women has certainly changed over time, where in the current age, society has expanded to accommodate more opportunities for women to reach their potentials as opposed to confining them into a single profession as wives and mothers.
The way society defines expectations for behavior can have a direct affect on an individuals’ lifestyle. For women, often times they are restricted to have minimal choice in what they do, often being confined to playing the role of a wife and mother subordinate to her male counterparts. However, while they may be oppressed in their inability to reach a higher status in society, because of a predetermined lifestyle stemming from their gender, some females may rebel against these limitations. When this happens, a women may then be able to break free from restricting boundaries and gain more opportunities for herself while simultaneously becoming more independent. Thus, while society dictates how a woman should behave, if she chooses to break from that order, she may also be able to break from her subordinate position under men.

Bonesetter's Daughter and Poisonwood Bible 3

Relationship with Men:
How women are treated by the men in their lives also dictates their social standing. Luling’s first husband, Kai Jing, was extremely supportive of her, which was somewhat unlike other marriages in China at the time, like that of her sister Gaoling, and Chang Funan, for example. Where they are on equal footing, and recognize each other’s thoughts and feelings to be important to one another, Chang Fu Nan treats Gaoling as his servant, who holds no more importance in his life than supplying him money for his opium addiction. The relationship of Gaoling and Chang is very similar to that of Eben Axelroot and Rachel, where he also sees her as subordinate to him where she is obliged to satisfy his needs, but he is not entitled to doing anything for her in return. Rachel and Axelroot are both alike in their cunning deceptiveness to get what they want, but when it comes to matters in their relationship, Axelroot, as the man, always takes priority. This also parallels the relationship of Orleana and Nathan, where she cannot speak out against him, thus showing how her thoughts matter less than his. Even with his daughters, Nathan shows this dominance, where he almost even resents them, causing one to wonder whether or not it would be different if they were boys. Perhaps if they were boys, he would have listened to them when they spoke, and not have been so stubborn when they expressed their concerns with their life in Africa.
However, while there are relationships in The Poisonwood Bible that contrast those of Luling and Kai Jang, the relationship between Leah and Anatole mirrors it. Just like how Kai Jing is so open to Luling and holds her opinions to be o the same importance of his own, Anatole also expresses concern for Leah that goes beyond her simply being his housewife. In both the marriage of Luling and Kai Jing, and Leah and Anatole it is a true partnership where both individuals stand in equal status. However, the only extremely evident difference is that Leah is somewhat alienated in her daily life. Living as the one white women in a community of Congolese, she feels inferior in that she is unlike everyone else. However, since Anataole does not seem to focus on this, she is not oppressed in her relationship with him. Thus, while it is evident that often times a woman in society’s relationship with the men in her life can further oppress her, it can also raise her up to equal importance if they support her.
Women in both the novels, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and, The Poisonwood Bible, endure oppression, where often times, they come out of it in the end with a more concrete realization of where they are expected to stand in society, and the potential they have to elevate this position. Depending on the factors that limit their voice and ability to speak out, the women in these stories had to realize just how restricted they were in order to move forwards. If they can come to acknowledge their need to obtain indepe3ncene form limitations in society, they can then also acknowledge their potential to take opportunities and succeed.

Bonesetter's Daughter and Poisonwood 2

Political Climate:
In relation to generational differences, political turmoil also leads to difficulty for women in these two novels. For example, again, where Luling lived in China during the war with the Japanese and all of the trouble happening with her family and the Chang clan, she had much more to worry about than Ruth who is simply preoccupied with her family and her job. Although Ruth may feel out of place or confused, not knowing what to do at times when dealing with her mother being sick or her family not being unified, her mother had to deal with issues of much greater magnitude. However it is debatable as to who’s situation is truly worse, because at least Luling could recognize her enemy in the past, and fight against it, whereas Ruth remains somewhat helpless in difficult situations. Therefore, when her mother comes to America with Ruth, perhaps she acts the way she does towards her daughter, in a somewhat overbearing and overprotective manner, because of her life in China. Orlenana too, is like this, where she may, for example, encourage her daughters not to speak out against their father, or to do certain activities they don’t want to, because they are in the Congo, not in their quaint , little hometown in Georgia. For example, Rachel is clearly the most vain and materialistic of the sisters, her mirror being one of her most prized possessions. She is constantly miserable in the Congo, perhaps sometimes, even with her mother, however, what she fails to realize is that life style is unrealistic to have in the Congo, where it is a completely different political scene. Thus, while she may become frustrated with her mother, because she wants to leave s badly due to the fact that she cannot maintain this modern, traditional American lifestyle, her mother cannot control the political issues. However, in contract to the Chinese political issues at the time for Luling, where they caused her to become extremely restricted in her actions, in the Congo, without the diplomatic problems that were present at the time of the Price girls they may have never discovered independence and freedom for themselves. Because they were forced to choose between life and death, between leaving the Congo and staying, even if it went against their fathers wishes, they were able to also free themselves from the restraints on the status of women for this time period.
Society’s view/ expectations of women:
Often times society may also set standards for how women should be seen and for how far they can elevate their social status. Ultimately, this inhibits them from succeeding past a certain point, because they are not “supposed” to. In the Bonesetter’s Daughter, as a young girl, Luling lives according to Chinese culture and tradition. As a women, she is designated to perform certain tasks and possess certain abilities. After Precious Auntie dies, her “mother” tells her she is lucky they didn’t sell her as a prostitute, thus showing the little control she has over her life. However, when she is sent to the orphanage, and breaks away from her strict adherence to Chinese tradition in her former home, she is also able to have more social mobility. As she studies at the orphanage she rises to a scholar-like position as a teacher, one which women did not traditionally have access to at this time in China, thus showing how cultural restrictions play a role in the women’s status in society. Also, because the religion practiced by the Prices’ tends to portray women in a certain way where they should not rise up past a certain point and are often seen as “not good enough” Orleana and her daughters are also oppressed. Thus, religious implications that women may not succeed also prohibit them from moving forwards in society. More so though, the way Orelana was brought up also depicts how women were supposed to behave. One activity she does with the girls is making hope chests, which is in a way demeaning, because it suggests that the only thing they have to look forward to, is marriage, versus doing something else with their lives. Orleana is trapped by the births of her daughters, where all she has time tor do, and all she is expected to do is raise them. Rachel though, ironically, is the only one who really enjoys the activity, seeing as she’s the one who wants the traditional American teenage girl lifestyle the most, it makes sense.
Ironically enough though, Rachel is the one out of the four sisters who succeeds in getting what she wants, which was difficult for women at this time. With her somewhat selfish and deceptive approach to doing whatever she can to get out of Africa, she runs off with Eben Axelroot. While the reader may think of her negatively because of the non-heroic and somewhat sneaky way in which she gets herself out of what she considers a horrible situation in Africa, on the other hand, she is evidently self-sufficient, being able to get what she wants. Although Axelroot also has questionable morality, the reader is not as shocked as his actions in getting ahead, perhaps because he is a man. Thus, it is shown that while men can get away with behaving in a certain way to succeed, women are looked at as perhaps, less feminine, or crossing social standards, when they attempt to get ahead in the same way. Leah however, finds success in another way, where she follows her heart and is finally able to ignore her fathers demands. She chooses to stay in the Congo, not because of her father, but because of Anatole. Thus, she also does what is best for her, even if it was uncommon for women to do so, especially for a white women in the Congo who chose to remain as the one standing out among others of a completely different culture than her.

Bonesetter's Daughter and Poisonwood Bible

Although the role of women is prevalent in The Poisonwood Bible, and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, each other portray women in a different light. Both novels portray their struggles to achieve independence and overcome oppression. While often times the women in each book will have similar issues with getting their voice heard, or not being suppressed by men, there are many other factors that play into these struggles, so they are different dependent on the character and book.
Cultural and religious subordination:
In both The Poisonwood Bible and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, cultural factors play into how women are perceived in society. In The Poisonwood Bible, much of how some of the female protagonists are treated is based off of the religious culture of their family. The father, being a minister, seems to justify everything in the name of God, and refuses to see any other way. Religion does not necessarily degrade women, but since the father is in charge of the religion for the household, and village in Africa, for that matter, he already maintains a superior position over others in his house. It seems that whatever he says is right, because he speaks in the name of the bible, therefore dictating how his wife and daughters should act. At times, the mother Orleana, as well as her daughters, like Leah for example, are too frightened to go against their father’s word. Thus it is possible that not only because their father is a male, but because he uses the cultural aspect of religion to justify his superiority, he maintains authority over them. For the Congolese women though, they are much more liberated than American wives, where they possess somewhat more equal footing with their husbands. However, from the narrator’s view they are also portrayed as more savage, perhaps indicating that for this time it was “right” for women to be subordinate. According to his religion, Orelana is also a “sin” to him, because he is physically attracted to her, and thus characterizes temptation, again showing how his rigid belief system seems to justify his treatment of her. Likewise, in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Luling also experiences difficulty, in cultural aspects when attempting to succeed. In China at this time, the women’s’ quickest route to success or prominence in life was to marry into a business owning or just in general, well off family. When Luling becomes a teacher at the orphanage, it is surprising to others, like her sister for example who is so excited about her success in life, that she is able to hold such a position. Thus, Chinese culture, much like Christian religion was restrictive in terms of how far women could move forwards in society. Because of this Luling is very protective of her daughter but in the way that she wants her to stand up for herself, for example, with Art’s daughters who treat her somewhat disrespectfully. Thus, because Luling was so restricted in her life as a young woman, she does not wish for this to also happen to Ruth.
Generation gap:
Besides cultural and religious restrictions imposed on women, the generational gap also comes into play when considering how the voice of women can be suppressed. When Luling, in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, begins to tell her story, it becomes understandable as to why she may treat Ruth the way she does. As a young girl in China, not only did she occupy an inferior position in the way her parents could decide to do whatever they want with her, whether it be arranging her marriage or sending her to an orphanage, but everywhere around her women were being oppressed. Again, relating back to the culture aspect, in her time in China, women were still having their feet bound, thus showing the extremity of the suppression of women in the time that she lived. While Ruth may feel silenced by her mother in many situations, what she does not know is her mother’s story. Arguably, either her mother is doing it to instill in her that rebellious nature she could never muster up, or she is slightly overbearing, but just trying to protect Ruth. Likewise, Oreleanas daughters, in The Poisonwood Bible, also may question her decisions at times. Towards the end of the period of time for which they live in the Congo, her daughters, especially Rachel, wish to return to their modern, classic Georgia lifestyle. As she is pressed to leave, but cannot bring herself to do so, it becomes evident that she cannot stand up to her husband enough to leave him for what’s better for her and her daughters. Not until the end, when Ruth May dies, does she realize that it is time to go. Because it takes her so long to reach this point where she can finally acknowledge the importance of leaving the Congo, people, like her daughters for example, may criticize her for not doing so earlier. However, because she was brought up in a classic Southern American lifestyle, where women in her day tended to be subordinate to men, not possessing occupations much outside the range of housewives, she knows no other way. In this sense, the failure of her daughters to understand why she does not speak against their father is partially due to their failure to recognize the generation gap.