As we have noted previously, one of the most engaging aspects about Mrs. Dalloway is Clarissa’s identity and how it morphs depending on the occasion and her observers. As we discussed in class, there are only a few characters that see “Clarissa”, while everyone else see Mrs. Dalloway or Mrs. Richard Dalloway. Noting the moment though where she sees herself, we have a glimpse to what Peter and Richard admire in the woman they love, “…collecting the whole of her at one point (as she looked into the glass), seeing the delicate pink face of the woman who was that very night to give a party; of Clarissa Dalloway; of herself” (37). She views herself in the mirror and distinguishes the unique characteristics she has to carry a room. She does not simply “have” a party, but has the ability and power “gives” a party to society, almost as a gift.

Whereas Peter sees her beyond her abilities to have a party, both in the middle of the book and at the end, he highlights that even though there was not anything overtly special about her, – “Not that she was striking; not beautiful at all; there was nothing picturesque about her; she never said anything specially clever…” (76) – Clarissa still possesses a quality which allows her to be her own person and stand out in a crowd of those with greater power positions in society (“For there she was” (194)). Again, this references our discussion in class about Woolf’s use of parataxis. Even though there are political figures and members of society’s top social strata, Peter (the eye through which we finish the novel) sees her, Clarissa. This lens highlights the importance of the individual, and a woman at that, by placing both the political sphere and the domestic together.