ONLINE DOSSIER: MRS. DALLOWAY (BY MARLEEN GORRIS)

Screenshots from Mrs. Dalloway.

The story of a woman is told from two different times: one in her youth when becoming a woman and one when she is old and looks back at her life. Compelling is the story that lies beneath it all: the woman that cannot decide between two men, her later thinking about her decision and if it was the right one.

For my project her soliloquy is interesting. The older woman shares her thoughts and doubts as they seem to get more and louder when she is agitated. Especially at her dinner party, when she greets all guests, the viewer can hear her thoughts that are mostly doubts. She puts on a nice face but inside she is talking herself down. And no one surrounding her seems to notice what is actually going on inside of her. Very melancholic and a reason, why I picked the name soliloquy for my project.

Flowers play an important visual role in this movie. Almost every scene includes some. Flowers symbolize fertility, youth, beauty, femininity and purity. I included them in my project for these symbolic reasons.