Monday, September 29, 2008

Baron Marbot's Memoirs

"The candle was half burnt down and she had read deep in Baron Marbot's Memoirs." (pg. 31)

Baron Marbot's Memoirs detail Napoleon's retreat from Moscow after failing to capture Russia and take over. Napoleon, unable to continue attacking Russia in the dead of winter, reluctantly retreated back to France. During his lengthily retreat, his number of men dropped from 50,000 to 20,000. After his failure in the East, Napoleon all but disappeared from world view. It is interesting that Clarissa chooses such a dry and depressing subject to read about at night. War, while not an event that takes place during Mrs. Dalloway, is something that has a profound impact on the characters and action of the novel, including Septimus' shell shock and the general public living in a "post-war England".

Link: http://acweb.colum.edu/departments/english/eng2/woolf/dalloway/dall.html
http://www.trivia-library.com/a/napoleons-retreat-from-russia.htm

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