How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
So the heavy woman came to a standstill opposite the oval-shaped flower bed, and ceased even to pretend to listen to what the other woman was saying. She stood there letting the words fall over her, swaying the top part of her body slowly backwards and forwards, looking at the flowers. (18)
We all have that one friend—you know, the kind who is fun to hang out with, but they talk way too much and at one point, you just have to start tuning them out. It seems like this is the case with the two working-class women. They appear to have a friendly relationship—they exchange glances and discuss the old man's eccentricity—but they are also enclosed in their own worlds. Here, again, we encounter two figures that are isolated even in their companionship. The stout woman straight up stops listening to what the other woman is saying to look at a flower. What do you think Woolf is trying to communicate here about relationships? How are the flowers relevant to their isolation?
Quote #5
Long pauses came between each of these remarks; they were uttered in toneless and monotonous voices. (26)
The long pauses in the young couple's dialogue suggests their awkwardness and uncertainty, but also their distance from each other. They want to connect but can't quite do it. Know the feeling? The irony here is that they both seem to really want to connect—they're trying so hard, unlike other characters in the story, but still alienation and isolation seems to be the rule.
Quote #6
Even when she wondered what sort of tea they gave you at Kew, he felt that something loomed up behind her words, and stood vast and solid behind them. (26)
Dude, she's just asking for tea. The young man is so distanced from Trissie and so uncertain about what she thinks and feels that he gives even her most basic questions enormous significance. Instead of just talking freely with her, he tries to read into whatever might be "looming" behind her words. Sounds like a lot of complex guesswork and interpretation. It's no wonder the characters have trouble connecting