Even though there's nothing to suggest it and Clarissa actually says she used a sperm donor, I always felt that Richard was the father of Clarissa's daughter and their daughter never knew her true paternity.
I could definitely see Richard sleeping with Clarissa as a favor to give her the child she always wanted.
Does anyone else feel that way?
When everything feels like the movies
And you bleed just to know you're alive
Yes. That's what ties the movie together and makes it about redemption and forgiveness. Clarissa/Meryl (spoiler alert!) invited Laura Brown to stay in her home so that her daughter, Claire Danes, could get to know her grandmother, but as "Laura Brown," first.
Eventually the lovely Claire Danes will figure it out on her own that the old lady is her grandma, and 'Richard,' her dad. And Clarissa will be happy that she has a high-quality girlfriend who looks great in jeans and she'll stop moping around.
(Richard has left the picture! Richard, the annoying aritiste whose illness/sad poems and horrible novel were just sapping the joy of living out of everyone. Richard symbolizes the 'typical male' in today's society. Who needs 'em?)
You should read the book. It gives fascinating insight into the inner-workings of their minds. The movie is one of (if not THE) best adaptations I've ever seen, but you can't fit everything into a 2-hour film.
I purposely held off on seeing the film as long as possible, so that I could read the book first (one of the few times I've ever been able to accomplish that, since half of what I've read has been adapted by the time the book gets to my hands) and I felt it made me enjoy the film even more. I think it helps IMMENSELY that they had such quality actors and the incomparable Phillip Glass to work on the score. This movie was perfect.
Oh, all right then. I will read the book. But I seriously doubt I will ever read a novel by Virginia Woolf, especially "Mrs. Dalloway."
shareWhy do you say that? You're missing out on one of literature's greatest authors. Give it a shot. Just a paragraph, I'm sure you can find an excerpt available online.
shareThat was an attempt at humor. If I was 'in' to literature, then I would have read it. I read a lot of nonfiction books and newspapers. In life, there is only so much free time and something has to go. So for me, what 'has to go' is great literature, and the sports section of the newspaper(s).
In college, one of my roommates (a American lit major) read aloud some of Carson McCullers' short stories, including "Foreign Correspondence." We all laughed. Later, I did read some Carson McCullers, but not "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," because it was too sad - and too boring.
Detective novels and spy stories, that's my speed!
This is an interesting theory about Richard being the father, but I don't think so. The reason I don't think so is that Clarissa seems very upset that Louis and Richard ended up together and (somehow) Richard changed from a heterosexual to a homosexual after being with Clarissa. I felt a bit like Clarissa felt it was her fault that he became homosexual since right after Clarissa, Richard ended up staying with Louis. I think after Clarissa that was IT for Richard and women and since the daughter was in college (can we guess maybe 19) the time-line just doesn't add up. Richard said when he and Clarissa were together that she was 18 and he was 19. That would make Clarissa 37 if she had a 19 year old daughter and she just looks so much older than that. I mean, she looks like mid 40's at least....don't you think? I just think Clarissa had Laura over due to her relationship with Richard and some loyalty to her ex-lover/friend that his mother be taken care of after the loss of her son. I also think she was curious about this woman who left her family and probably had some bearing on the fact that now they are all deceased.
In addition, Richard was very sentimental and caring. Do we really think that if he got her pregnant that he would not want to know his daughter? I doubt it. He was healthy when she was born so he would have nothing to hide.
As far as reading "Mrs. Dalloway" I find it interesting that in the movie they state that Richard's novel was "difficult". Mrs. Dalloway is "difficult" as well and I have read most of the classics. I admit that even though there were some great truths and interesting quotes in the novel that I had to push myself through it. I can't imagine that most people felt the same when reading it. I mean, it's not a page-turner by any means. Again, just interesting that they tied that into the story since Wolfe is not easy to read either.
Sorry this is so long, but I have watched this movie over 20 times and I love every minute of it.
(somehow) Richard changed from a heterosexual to a homosexual after being with Clarissa.
Nicely said!
You may be flanders, but you ain't stupid. ;)
Sexuality is fluid. It varies from person to person, and within the person from era to era, or situation to situation.
A man can go through his entire life lusting after and loving men, then one day encounter a woman who, through some complicated soup of chemistry, scent, memories, physical appearance, and who knows what else speaks to his soul and his groin and he can love her, too.
One of the greatest disservices our society perpetuates is labeling little boxes and demanding that others please stay in them. It just doesn't work that way, and it does great harm.