Ebbing Elizabeth

"Who is that lovely girl? And suddenly he realised that it was his Elizabeth, and he had not recognised her, she looking so lovely in her pink frock!... Richard and Elizabeth were rather glad it was over, but Richard was proud of his daughter. And he had not meant to tell her, but he could not help telling her. He had looked at her, he said, and he had wondered, Who is that lovely girl? and it was his daughter! That did make her happy. But her poor dog was howling." (Woolf 194)

To ebb-(of an emotion or quality) gradually lessen or reduce

The true Elizabeth is ebbing. Her desire to assume a profession is receding like a wave. In this passage, her father is shown dousing away her unique qualities until she is nothing left but a “lovely girl” like her mother. On page 136, Elizabeth decides that she “would become a doctor, a farmer, possibly go into Parliament”. These aspirations are what make her different from Clarissa, which Miss Kilman likes about her. However, at the end of the book, all Richard acknowledges about Elizabeth is her aesthetics. Elizabeth loves her father very much, and is “devoted” to him; having him be proud of her for anything makes her feel so happy that she would probably attempt to look her best more often to gain his approval more, never mind studying to become a doctor. Elizabeth’s dog, symbolic of her inner intelligent self, howls and is shut up, not to be shown to the rest of society. The old, innocent Elizabeth who wore pure white dresses is now replaced by this girl who wears pink frocks “well above the ankles” with her hair “done in the fashionable way” (169). Surely, at this time in history, females like this won’t be wishing to have day jobs. Clarissa doesn’t work, though unattractive women like Miss Kilman do. Elizabeth is seemingly doomed to be like the former. Just when it seems like she’s about to make it out of the water, Elizabeth’s individuality ebbs back, as her ocean of a mother consumes her.