The Hours: Before, During, and After

I was very surprised with this movie. To start off, I didn’t know what to expect and was a little confused in the beginning. As the movie continued, I noticed the stark similarities between the movie and the book. The book transitions smoothly between characters and this was an aspect that I was concerned about in the movie. However, the movie did a great job of connecting the characters and making its transitions. By having Woolf’s story being narrated along with the other characters helped me realize how much she related to the book.

I found Clarissa Dalloway to be one of the more intriguing characters. The movie combined the Clarissa Dalloway book character and the Lucrezia book character to create the Clarissa Dalloway movie character. We see that she takes care of Richard (who was almost exactly like Septimus), she went out to buy flowers, and she was going to host a party. She also goes through some of the same thoughts as both characters in the book did. She becomes extremely worried about the party (like the book Clarissa Dalloway) and becomes extremely worried about Richard (like the book Lucrezia).

Now Laura’s character in the movie portrays the qualities of Clarissa Dalloway in the book that weren’t portrayed by Clarissa Dalloway in the movie. With Laura, we see how she is unhappy about her role in society. At the end of the movie, we hear that she left and got a job. She became independent just like a proper “man” in society where she established her own identity. Laura also experiences a similar event like the Clarissa Dalloway in the book did with Sally, she doesn’t quite realize her homosexuality. Her relationship with her husband is a lot like the book Clarissa Dalloway’s relationship with the book Richard. She is good friends with him but there is never a true connection between the two people. Laura’s husband and the book Richard are almost the exact same people. When we are first introduced to him (like in the book) he brings Laura (Clarissa) home flowers. He loves her a lot and wants her to be happy (just like the Richard and Clarissa in the book).

Finally, there was Richard’s character. Richard obviously represented Septimus but I also noticed some qualities of Peter (even though there was a “Peter” character that visited the movie Clarissa). There were two aspects of Richard’s character that reminded me of Peter’s character: he loved Clarissa and he thought that party hosting was meant for Clarissa. Even though throughout the book, Peter makes it clear that he doesn’t love Clarissa, we see that at the end of the book Peter still has feelings for her. Richard makes it more apparent but in the end, he still loved the movie Clarissa (just like in the book). He also makes clear in our first encounter with him that he doesn’t like parties but they are something that the movie Clarissa loves to do (implying her being a perfect hostess like in the book).


This movie portrayed striking similarities to the book and forced its audience to realize how much Virginia Woolf’s life impacted her writing. This was something I didn’t realize as much while reading the book. Now looking back, I don’t know how I could have missed it. 

Comments

  1. Dante FreundSeptember 15, 2017 at 6:27 PM

    I think the confusing beginning is meant to represent Woolf's confusion as she was writing the novel. This only grew as during the movie she decides that her heroine will not die. The movie is almost told from the perspective of a person who is writing a novel or a script without a clear idea where to begin or end.

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