How we cite our quotes:
Quote #7
Then, for that moment, she had seen an illumination; a match burning in a crocus; an inner meaning almost expressed. But the close withdrew; the hard softened. It was over – the moment. Against such moments (with women too) there contrasted (as she laid her hat down) the bed and Baron Marbot and the candle half-burnt. (2.10)
Clarissa recalls some of the moments of profound beauty in her life. Though she’s had these special moments, they always fade as quickly as they arrive.
Quote #8
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 Clarissa at her essence, but she thinks that important events such as her party might be reflected in the way she looks.
Quote #9
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.