Probably, most of us are not in the mood of
reading, but I have found a very interesting critical article on the Hours that
may be useful for better understanding the relationships between The hours and Mrs Dalloway.
As we have been covering in class, not only is
the concept of intertextuality important when understanding postmodernism but
also when understanding Cunningham’s novel. In fact, the very existence of the The Hours is based and depends on Mrs Dalloway.
In “A
Dialogue in Books: Virginia Woolf's Mrs.
Dalloway and Michael Cunningham's The
Hours,” Furman deals with the basics of intertextuality and goes beyond by making
remarkable connections. For instance, she points out the significance of the “caves”
once mention by Virginia when referring to her work “I dig out beautiful caves
shall connect, and each comes to day-light at the present moment” setting their original meaning but also giving them a new one, directly connected with
intertextuality; in simple terms: as ripples that go much further and cross boundaries, reaching much more than just the characters inside one book.
Furthermore, she includes other mayor themes in
her intertextual analysis, such as
homosexuality, insanity and suicide. Apart from contrasting the way those
themes are developed in both novels, she also contrasts the literary techniques
Woolf and Cunningham embraced during the writing process.
Therefore, I deeply encourage you to have a look at it,
especially before the upcoming test!
I think that there are obvious reasons because of which the novels may share some characteristics. Even though Cunningham wanted to write his novel inspired on Woolf's he was less experimented in writing, at least is what it is said in the article you’ve shared haha! Probably we as "common" readers could not notice those kind of things (because we are not experts) But there are some aspects that both Cunningham and Woolf shared for obvious reasons too. They both connect and relate things that are not explicitly related in the text such as Clarissa and Septimus in the case of Mrs Dalloway, or the three women in the case of The Hours. I think that Cunningham tried to take the most relevant aspects from Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, but he connected and added more things to make it more interesting (at least for me). I have to admit I really enjoy Mrs Dalloway, but know I prefer The Hours haha! I'm a traitor.
ResponderBorrarRomina,
ResponderBorrarI read your post and the document attached and it was fantastic. It provided more vital information to understand The Hours and Mrs Dalloway deeper . (I don't know how to do itallics here, but I refer to the books, not the character) It provided me a information I didn't know about the novel and might have not put enough enphasis in the reading.
It helped me a lot to understand the conections I didn't understand at first. Now I understand more the excellent job that Cunningham did. At first I thought it was more of a use of the what Virginia Wolf had done, but it turns out it is far more than that. I now understand how the two novels dialog with each other in aspects I didn't cosider at fist.
I take Furmans words when writes:
Mrs. Dalloway andThe Hours thus exist in an intertextual relationship. Simply defined, intertextuality is the process of one text being in dialogue with other texts by referencing them either overtly or implicitly. The degree to which The Hours references Mrs. Dalloway is so great that not only is it in dialogue with Woolf’s text, but rather its very existence is dependent on it (Fuman).
What I like most is the way Cunningham links things that had a different connections in the "Mrs Dalloway" (don't want to spoil though). Take as example all the accomplishments Clarissa achieved in "The Hours".
I just liked the idea of reading a different Clarissa with a different pathway.
(It is like when you see a movie and didn't like the end or the plot and then watch another and like it because it has what the other lacks)
Thanks Romina, your post helped me a lot to understand The Hours way better!