The Voyage Out

Richard and Clarissa Dalloway depart the ship. They say their goodbyes, and as they row to the land, Ridley remarks that the Dalloways will not look them up in London and they will never see them again. Both he and Helen feel an enormous sadness at the prospect of losing these two new friends, whom they had not even liked at the beginning. The departure reminds them of mortality, that they too will one day disappear and be forgotten. Helen can tell that a change has come over Rachel, and she takes her aside to talk to her privately. Rachel confides in Helen that Richard kissed her and that the kiss excited and entranced Rachel. Helen advises Rachel to forget about it, but Rachel is determined to keep thinking about it until she understands what it means. To Helen, Rachel’s childlike response to the kiss implies that Rachel “ha[s] been kept entirely ignorant as to the relations of men with women” (92). Helen advises Rachel that desire between men and women is natural and that she doesn’t need to make a big deal out of a kiss. While Helen can see through Richard and Clarissa, Rachel has been so swept away by the both of them that she’s having a difficult time acknowledging the reality of who they are.