The Role of Peter Walsh in Mrs. Dalloway
Peter Walsh is personally my favorite character in Mrs. Dalloway. I like him in the story because he is so different from most of the other characters. His presence is a sort of relief from the topics that the other British upper class like discussing in this book. I also like Peter as a sort of “what if?” because if Peter had been able to marry Clarissa, this book would have been much different. When Peter returns from India, he brings out thoughts within Clarissa that I find extremely interesting. Clarissa starts thinking about her decision to marry Richard, but also thinks about how she has never been able to talk politics with anyone else because of her role as Richard's wife. Clarissa shares this early in the novel where she says that she wishes she was “interested in politics like a man” (Woolf 10). The way that she says this clearly portrays that since she is a woman it is simply not in her role to be interested in politics. Exceptions exist in the book, specifically Lady Br...