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Why Does Clarissa Give Parties?

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In Mrs. Dalloway , Clarissa spends most of her day preparing for her party. At first, it’s not very clear why this event matters so much to her. The novel even begins with Clarissa deciding to get the flowers herself instead of having Lucy get them (Woolf 3). One can say her parties are a bit shallow: Clarissa’s lifestyle seems to revolve around hosting guests and keeping up with the social expectations of the London upper class. Peter Walsh, who wanted to marry her, even calls her the “perfect hostess” because he thinks that she mainly cares about social appearances (9–10). So, what’s the point of gathering a bunch of wealthy people for an evening? Why does she host these parties, as Peter asks (72)? As the novel progresses, it becomes much clearer that Clarissa is giving this party to serve a specific purpose—something that Peter doesn’t notice.           Clarissa views parties as a method of bringing people together, at least temporarily. When reflecti...
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An Era of Floating Straws

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Most novels contain dramatic plots with clear climaxes. The Mezzanine , however, is about a man’s thoughts on mundane things in his workplace. One of the uninteresting topics that Howie discusses is a straw. He recalls when straw manufacturers began making straws using plastic instead of paper, which he marks as the commencement of the uncomfortable era of the floating straw (Baker 5). Howie continues talking about this ridiculously insignificant nuisance as if it were the beginning of a major historical period (Baker 4–5). By dedicating a large amount of attention to this boring topic, Nicholson Baker shows that boring details—things that we take for granted—are uninteresting because we rarely take the time to scrutinize them and potentially appreciate them. Howie’s extensive footnote about straws exemplifies how his attention to detail transforms a mundane object into a complicated, interesting one. He explains that paper straws sank in their liquid containers because they absorbed s...
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