Is Clarissa a Snob?
In class, we briefly touched on the topic of whether or not Clarissa is a snob. I believe Clarissa is a snob. However, I believe this is because she is a product of her own time and the world she was raised in. Clarissa comes from an aristocratic family and is married to a member of the House of Lords. All people from this "world" could be considered a snob. Some things Clarissa did throughout the book that make her a snob include not wanting to invite her cousin Elle to her party. Another example is when she criticizes the British middle class by noting, "furs on a day like this, were, she though, more ridiculous, more unlike anything there has ever been than one could conceive; and the Queen herself help up". Clarissa makes various comments like this throughout the book. She thinks of herself as superior than those people because she would never do that. These comments are snobbish and illustrate how Clarissa thinks she is better. I do not like this part of Clarissa, and I don't think it is okay for her to make these sort of comments. Nevertheless, I do not believe Clarissa is the sole blame for her snobbiness. As I mentioned before, she is a product of her time and social environment. I don't think anyone else in her position would behave any differently. In her world the upper class believed they were better then the rest of society (this still can be seen today as well). I do not believe Clarissa's snobbiness makes her a bad person because she is kind but it does make her a snob.
I just want to tell you first of all, Blogger messed up your formatting, the text is just white bars currently, I had to highlight the entire post to read it, you might want to check up on that. Otherwise, I do agree that Clarissa is a snob as a result of her upbringing. In the beginning there was the omnibus scene where she believes she is better than all the middle class riders which made me identify her as snobbish and dislike her just a little bit. Notably, it seems that even the other characters see her as such. I remember even Sally made a comment on how snobbish Clarissa is.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Clarissa is a snob but that is a result of her upbringing. She doesn't invite her cousin to her party because Ellie is of a different social class and even dislikes Ellie Henderson. I'm unsure if Clarissa recognizes that she is a snob though and if she knew, would she change her behavior.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that there are many instances throughout the novel that depict Clarissa as a snob, especially when it comes to issues related to social standing. If there was one instance where Clarissa didn't necessarily have a snobbish behavior, I would think of the sympathy that Clarissa had for Septimus when she learned of his suicide during the party. Though, I wonder if this could also be interpreted as just another 'snobbish' instance.
ReplyDeleteWe consider Clarissa to be a snob from our time's point of view. But, you have to take into account a perspective from when this book is written. In that time, she would've just been a "proper lady trying to bring together her friends like we used to in the good old days".
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that other characters who have a similar upbringing (like Peter or Sally) think of Clarissa as a snob. Not only that but she seems to enjoy (or doesn't mind their company) other snobbish characters like Hugh. Everyone seems to find him unbearable like Richard, Peter, and Sally but Clarissa thinks he is an ok guy. I think that throughout the book we're supposed to consider Clarissa to be a snob character. She acts in a very similar way throughout the book. But then at the end everything kind of flips where Clarissa completely empathizes with Septimus. She shows a deep and intimate understanding of a man that has a lower class than her. So maybe she was raised in a snobbish manner but at that moment you see a deeper and more empathetic side to Clarissa.
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