Septimus Smith is a very complex character in the novel Mrs. Dalloway, who isn't understood by many of the people around him. Do you know who else is a very complex character who isn't understood by the people around them in their story? Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Yes, the pretty ice queen from that Disney movie with the annoying song is very similar to the seriously damaged man Septimus Smith. Both are told by the people around them to just be normal, or at least to act normal. Going along with the Frozen analogy, Dr. Holmes is like Elsa's parents, who tell her to "conceal, don't feel," and she tries her hardest to follow their words, but throughout the first ten minutes of the movie one can see that she struggles with keeping her powers down. Likewise, Dr. Holmes essentially tells Septimus to snap out of his state and take up a hobby, and be normal. We see that Septimus, like Elsa, is aware that he is not the same as other people when in his last ten minutes he is seeing his home staying still, and we know that he struggles a lot with trying to seem normal to people.
If Dr. Holmes is Elsa's parents, then it isn't too much of a reach to claim that Lucrezia is Anna, Elsa's sister. Anna knows about Elsa's powers, but doesn't know how to help Elsa with them, just that she wants to help. She sees Elsa struggling and wants more than anything for them to be how they used to. Lucrezia is the same with Septimus. She knows that there's something wrong (granted, she doesn't know what exactly), doesn't know how to help, but knows she wants to help and make things back to normal. We see this especially in the moments leading up to Septimus's suicide when she is ecstatic about how they joke around like they used to.
After a trigger Frozen, Elsa runs away and finally lets go of her powers, freeing herself emotionally of the burden she held and allowing herself to do whatever she wants. For Septimus, letting go mean committing suicide and letting go of life, essentially doing the same as Elsa; freeing himself of his burden. Both characters originally didn't want to let go, but felt they were forced to by a trigger.
The question then, is what was the trigger? Or rather, who was the trigger? For Elsa, it was Hans, a prince who comes to her inauguration and wants to marry her sister. So, who is Septimus's Hans? I don't actually have a solid answer for this, but I have two thoughts of who it could be. Either Dr. Bradshaw is Hans, who causes emotions in Anna (Lucrezia) more so than he does into Elsa (Septimus), or Dr. Holmes again is Hans, who pushes Elsa to flee. What are your thoughts?
I think Bradshaw is more like the parents, because he wants to keep Septimus shut up in the middle of nowhere alone. Holmes wants Septimus to get a hobby, and to go do things, in the same way young Anna wanted Elsa to do stuff with her (sort of). Evans is the trigger for Septimus, because he started the downward spiral. Lucrezia is like grown up Anna, because all she wants to do is help Septimus, but she can't always do so, and sometimes she makes things worse. In the end, Lucrezia healed Septimus, but in his final moments of clarity he realized he was close to losing his freedom, and took the only way out he could think of. Just like Elsa didn't want to freeze Arendelle, Septimus didn't want to die. But, Septimus didn't see any other way out, his death was just a byproduct of his escape to freedom.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you broke down the characters and the factors that led to Septimus's death. To answer your question I think that Dr.Bradshaw is the trigger that leads to Septimus's tragic death. Dr. Holmes by now has been a frequent presence at their household and while he has been annoying, Septimus seems to have been able to cope with Dr.Holmes diagnosis of nothing. However, when Dr.Bradshaw recognizes and diagnosis Septimus's state of mind it extremely distresses Septimus and sets Septimus on his suicidal path that is completed when Dr.Holmes comes again to see Septimus. I
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think this is a really creative and interesting analogy. I would say that I see Dr. Bradshaw as Hans, because originally, he was supposed to help them. Lucrezia (Anna) was really excited about meeting him because he was a specialist of the time. They had hope that things would get better after talking to him. However, nothing really got better and things only get worse from there. While Dr. Holmes was the one who would eventually be the final push to lead Septimus to jump, Dr. Bradshaw was the new factor in the equation that would get the ball rolling in the direction of the situation becoming worse.
ReplyDeleteI had never thought analogy, but it actually makes a lot of sense in the end, especially the way you explain it. It pretty cool to look at it with a different lens and compare it to a different story. It very interesting to see which character actually causes Septimus to jump and be the "push" factor, which in frozen was Hans. Thanks for sharing the analogy!
ReplyDeleteI really love this analogy :). I especially like how you contrast Elsa's running away with Septimus' suicide - they're both freeing themselves in unexpected ways. It makes me see Septimus' suicide in a new light.
ReplyDeleteI think another similarity is the moment of peace right before the trigger. Elsa and Anna spend an unexpectedly happy evening together, just as Septimus and Rezia do. Both models give us one slight taste of what these relationships COULD be (under the best circumstances) before switching very quickly to the exact opposite.
I actually think the trigger for Elsa was not Hans himself, but the argument between Anna and Elsa about her always "shutting her out". The panic to get away from Holmes is similar to the panic that Elsa experiences when Anna bursts out at her. Elsa orders the gates shut and heads towards the doors, away from Anna and the conflict. If Anna had stopped here, all might still have been well, but instead Anna keeps up a constant barrage and leads Elsa to "let go". Similarly, Septimus experiences panic when he realizes Holmes is trying to come upstairs, and searches the room desperately for any way out. He tries to look for plausible alternatives, but he can't find anything to kill Holmes with, as Holmes keeps pressing on and on. Eventually, Septimus realizes that suicide is inevitable in order to escape Holmes, who is STILL pressing on and on. Elsa, on the other hand, realizes that she must run away in order to escape what she thinks is an oppressive kingdom.
This is really interesting! I never would have related Elsa and Septimus, but now I totally see it. I think Elsa wanting to reach out to Anna but not being allowed to also fits well with Septimus trying to communicate his message but not being able to. In that way, the "kingdom of isolation" line in Let It Go also fits well; Septimus and Elsa are both isolated from everyone else, Septimus in his mind, and Elsa in her bedroom and eventually her ice castle.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great comparison. I think that Dr. Holmes is Hans, because he really does cause that trigger in Septimus. But then it doesn't make a lot of sense for Dr. Holmes to also be Elsa's parents. I think therefore it would make sense if Dr. Bradshaw was Elsa's parents. Dr. Holmes is just the guy who offers some advice, but doesn't actually try to do anything for Septimus. Dr. Bradshaw, on the other hand, thinks he knows what will help Septimus and plans to enact it. Elsa's parents also think they know how to help Elsa and act on it. They also both have the incorrect methods for helping that they think are correct because they don't know any better.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that this is a very interesting analogy but I think that if Frozen wasn't G rated Elsa or was written by someone who was clearly suffering like Woolf was Elsa would have probably killed herself too, she was basically subjected to the isolation treatment for years straight and that coupled with the death of her parents is enough to drive anyone not in a Disney movie over the edge.
ReplyDeleteI like the originality and creativity that went into this, but I have to say the analogy doesn't quite work because 1) Elsa didn't commit suicide, she just "freed" herslef and 2) Septimus' voice probably isn't as good as Idina Menzel's :)
ReplyDeleteI really like this analogy! I thinks it's really creative and an interesting perspective to have of Septimus. Additionally, since Dr. Holmes is who drove Septimus to suicide, I would argue that he is the equivalent of Frozen's Hans. But I wonder if there really is an exact equivalent, as Elsa didn't end up revealing her powers purposefully, but Septimus knew what he was doing and felt forced into his decision while Elsa simply couldn't control herself.
ReplyDeleteI love this analogy! Comparing two things that seem to be very different but in reality are very similar! How Elsa's parents tell her to suppress her power just like Holmes tells Septimus to repress his feelings. They way that we can compare letting go to both Elsa and Septimus is so cool. Although they both have very different ways if doing so with very different results. I think Dr. Holmes is Hans because it is his arrival at Septimus's apartment that seem to lead to the decision of Septimus to kill himself
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