"There are still flowers to buy. Clarissa feigns exasperation (though she loves doing errands like this)"(9).
Clarissa Vaughn & Clarissa Dalloway- Perhaps the easiest connection to make between the two stories is that between the two Clarissa's. In The Hours the author even calls Clarissa "Mrs. Dalloway." The main imagery that connects the two is the image of flowers, both of these stories start with Clarissa going to buy flowers for their party. Flowers are very vibrant, and bring life to every room. Both Clarissa's buy flowers so they can brighten up their party, but the flowers represent more than just that. The main similarity between these characters is the regret they have over the choices they have made. In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa wonders if she would've been happier with Sally than she is with Richard. However in The Hours Clarissa is with Sally, and she still wonders about her life. The reason both women love flowers so much is they are looking to brighten up their world, and that's what flowers are fore, brightening things up. The flowers in both books represent the attempt to change your life.
"I don't know if I can face this. You know. The party and the ceremony, and then the hour after that, and the hour after that" (197).
The character of Richard in The Hours can be compared to multiple characters in Mrs. Dalloway. It would seem that the easiest character to compare him to would be Richard Dalloway, but outside of sharing a name that would be inaccurate. When talking about imagery, Richard can easily be compared to Septimus. The most powerful image in both novels is that of these character's suicides. When Richard inches toward the edge, preparing for his death, it is an incredibly powerful image. When Cunningham describes Richard falling in slow motion, to his death it seems as if he is falling to freedom, like Septimus was. Both men are sick, and the only way they can escape there sickness is death.
The two Clarissa's are not the only characters in the two books that have flowers used as an image to better understand the character. In The Hours Sally is a lot like Richard Dalloway. There is a scene in both books where they want Clarissa to see how much they appreciate her, so they buy her flowers, because they can't think of anything else that will make her happy. They want to brighten up Clarissa's day as a way of making up for the fact that they had lunch without her. Much to their surprise these flowers to actually make her happy. At her heart, Clarissa is a dreamer and the flowers appeal to that dreamer side of her.
In The Hours there are multiple powerful scenes dealing with death, Richard's, but also the very first scene of the book when Virginia Woolf commits suicide. The book gives the reader a great image of a very horrible event. Another image that comes from this scene is the pebbles that Virginis puts into her pocket, in this book there are a lot of nature scenes associated with Virginia, just like there were a lot associated with Septimus in Dalloway. The other time Virginia and nature collide is when her nephews find the dead bird. The dead bird symbolises a sort of loss of freedom. A bird flying is a symbolism of freedom, and the bird's death robs it of it's freedom.
"She searches for a stone" (4).
Laura Brown is yet another character in The Hours that contemplates death and suicide. Laura's main mission in the book is to bake her husband the perfect cake. Laura is unhappy with the choices she has made, which is similar to Mrs. Dalloway's angst over always doing the smart thing. The cake represents a chance for Laura to do something perfect, and she spends her day trying to make it perfect for her husband, just like Clarissa wanted the perfect party. The image that goes with this is that of her husband accidentally spitting all over the cake when he blows out the candles. Dan is inadvertently ruining her perfection.
In The Hours you can compare the two characters of Kitty and Vanessa. Both of them give two depressed characters a rare moment of happiness when they kiss them. The image of a simple kiss is something that is prominent in both novels. Clarissa remembers a kiss with Sally in Mrs. Dalloway as a rare moment of happiness, Virginia kissing Vanessa and Laura kissing Kitty gives both of them a moment of happiness in a depressing day.
In both Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours Clarissa has a disapproving daughter, in The Hours Julia has the influence of of Mary Krull, while in Dalloway it is Miss. Killman influencing her.
Dan is more of a secondary character in The Hours, however what is important is the effect that he has on Laura Brown. His Mrs. Dalloway counterpart is Richard Dalloway. Both men represent the man that the woman was supposed to marry. It was safe for Laura to marry Dan, and Laura feels that doing the safe thing was the mundane thing to do. Dan ruins Laura's cake by spitting all over it, that is definitely the best image that goes with this character. Dan is inadvertently ruining Laura's chance to do something perfect, and she resents that he does that.