Peter Walsh

As I’ve been reflecting back on Mrs. Dalloway, one character who has pretty much escaped my reflection is Peter Walsh. After reading one of my classmate’s blogs, I was startled at how I had forgotten about Peter, one of my favorite characters, as all thought seemed to be focused on Clarissa and Septimus. The differences between Peter and Clarissa are just as interesting as the comparison between Clarissa and Septimus. Like Clarissa, Peter seems unsure about his life and not entirely happy (as breaking down into tears on a couch usually suggests). However, he is not trapped in a life he has chosen like Clarissa, he has yet to actually set onto an actual course of life in my opinion. He’s been to India, he was at Bourton, but he does not seem to have a role in life etched out for him yet. We don’t really know who he is? I could easily describe Clarissa as an unfulfilled woman stuck in the social prison of upper-class London. But what could you describe Peter as? What is his roole in life? He’s a wanderer who has yet to find a place. Now, he seems to be getting close, preparing to marry this woman from India. Although, I would say that he doesn’t necessarily want to. As much as he wants to say he’s over Clarissa and in love with the woman he is set to marry, he is not. This is another showcase of what I think could easily be the main flaw of his character: his inability to commit. He can’t commit to a life, and he can’t commit to a woman. This fatal flaw builds upon his image of instability; he is constantly flipping around his knife subconsciously and is very judgmental, shown in his criticism of Clarissa at her party. This further shows how different Peter is from Richard. Peter is passionate, but entirely unpredictable and unable to commit, the polar opposite of Richard.