Water Motif
Water is a motif throughout the movie that is a threatening feature in the lives of the key characters. Virginia Woolf commits suicide by drowning. When Clarissa Vaughn leaves her apartment in the morning she states that she feels as though starting the day is like diving into a swimming pool which implies that she feels as though she is overwhelmed and drowning in her own life. Each time water appears in the movie it is to do with something that threatens the stability of the character but that also enables them to experience greater clarity in what they are trying to make sense of on their own life or the world in general.
Flowers Motif
This Motif ties the characters in the movie to the original book "Mrs Dalloway" as flowers are the subject of the book's opening sentence. However, they are also a motif that is used whenever a very heavy and emotionally-intense situation needs to be lightened or diffused. The Mrs Dalloway in Woolf's novel leaves the house to buy flowers and Clarissa Vaughn leaves her apartment with the same intention as her namesake. She sees flowers as something light hearted and refreshing, taking them to Richard and also refreshing her own apartment. When Sally is feeling guilty about leaving her out of the lunch she buys flowers to take home. Laura sees flowers in the same way as Sally does and puts flowers on the table to use visual closeness as a way to make up for the distance she puts emotionally between herself and her family.
Cake Symbol
The first cake that Laura makes is very nice and looks wonderful but Laura is dissatisfied with it because although it looks perfect it is not what she imagined. This cake symbolizes Laura's life and the way she feels about it; to everyone looking at it, it looks perfectly wonderful but to Laura is is disappointing because it is not what she envisaged. The fact she makes a second cake symbolizes that fact that she wishes she could have a do-over in her life as well.
Armchair Symbol
Richard's armchair is shabby and almost decaying and looks worse every time Clarissa sees it. It is symbolic of Richard's decline both physically and mentally and it is also a symbol that Clarissa cannot ignore even though she chooses not to see his decline. She hates the chair and wants him to throw it out because it is worthless and has no use but Richard refuses to do so, because to him the chair symbolizes the way in which his body has declined and is essentially worthless too but he is not yet quite ready to give it up.
Suicide Motif
Although the theme of the movie is actually mortality the Motif of suicide is present throughout. Virginia Woolf commits suicide but years before she does so is already preoccupied with the notion of it, wanting to have a suicide in the novel but unsure as to which character to attribute it to. Laura seems almost envious of those who are capable of committing suicide; she would like an end to the life she feels trapped in but not necessarily an end to her life in general. She contemplates the theory of suicide before discarding it as a possibility for herself. Clarissa Vaughn is not suicidal herself but is nonetheless touched by suicide when Richard jumps from the window and kills himself.
