Quote 13
Clarissa (crossing to the dressing-table) plunged into the very heart of the moment, transfixed it, there – the moment of this June morning on which was the pressure of all the other mornings, seeing the glass, the dressing-table, and all the bottles afresh, 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. (2.24)
Clarissa reflects on herself, thinking of how time has changed her. She’s still <em>Clarissa</em> at her essence, but she thinks that important events such as her party might be reflected in the way she looks.
Quote 14
The sound of Big Ben striking the half-hour struck out between them with extraordinary vigour, as if a young man, strong, indifferent, inconsiderate, were swinging dumb-bells this way and that. (2.92)
Big Ben has such a prominent role in the novel that the clock is almost a character. Big Ben disrupts, reminds, and comforts those who hear its hourly reminders.
Quote 15
[…] chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did, standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to happen […]. (1.3)
Even before the war, Clarissa experienced deep anxiety on a daily basis. Even the simplest actions stir her fear of death now. Because she doesn't connect to other people, she has to deal with this anxiety on her own, which only exacerbates the problem.