“And then at Constantinople, and again, and again.” (31)

Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul, was the seat of power in the Eastern Roman Empire from 395 until its collapse in 1453. The overthrow of what was, at one time, the most powerful city in the world, came as a symbol of great failure in the world. This failure is the allusion Woolf is making as Clarissa thinks of the city. She is alluding to the sense of failure Clarissa is feeling as she prepares for the party and worries that everything will not go according to her plans and that she will fail – just as she somehow has failed Richard in the city at some point in her lifetime.

Source:

"History of Constantinople." The Roman Empire. Web. 30 Sept. 2009. http://www.roman-empire.net/constant/constant-index.html.

Picture Credits:

Constantinople Map. Digital image. History of Constantinople. Web. 30 Sept. 2009. http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/madison/byzantium/images/constantinople_map1.jpg