Looking Through the Glass

The one word I chose to follow during Mrs. Dalloway was the word "window." I chose this word because windows are a way of viewing the world without actually being a part of it; someone who watches life through a window is very detached. I noticed throughout the first 80 or so pages that the windows mentioned were either decorated in some way, or being looked out rather than in. In London, the shopkeepers windows are filled with goods, but it is never actually said that Mrs. Dalloway or any of the characters looked into these stores. Rather, while inside, they go to the windows to look out. Primarily it is the women of the book who seem to go to windows, but Peter Walsh is also seen looking out at some point. To me, it seems that all of these characters are detached from life in some way. Many of them dwell on the past and reconsider their decisions, but there is also the case of Miss Pym who watches the car accident from the window of her shop without getting involved.