Peter is caught in a dilemma. He can't be like the punctual, reliable, disciplined Establishment. Yet England wouldn't be her admirable self were it not for this same Establishment. Worse, he is still very attached to Clarissa, while unable to emulate her standards. Besides this, he has never been able to basically understand Clarissa. He wonders, for instance, if Clarissa wasn't being cold and insincere when she said, "Here's my Elizabeth." He does not realize the possibility that Clarissa might have been grasping for Elizabeth. Peter's lack of little social niceties, even though they annoyed Clarissa, were signs of Peter's deep aliveness, as was his confession of new love. Peter was feeling inferior to Clarissa and she to him, yet neither knew. Then Elizabeth appeared and Clarissa grabbed for her. Peter had his "new love" and Elizabeth, at least, was Clarissa's claim to having something. Elizabeth was a desperate trump card for Clarissa.
In the interlude while Peter dozes, Virginia Woolf talks about the disparity of appearance and reality, and we have seen throughout this novel instances of this dichotomy. We have also seen how intangible and fragile the division between the two is. We have seen the multitude of "appearances" surrounding a certain reality and the illusiveness of that reality. When Clarissa was out for flowers, she said to herself that she would never say of Peter or herself "I am this, I am that." Of course, she does not strictly obey this vow, but for a moment she does gain this valuable insight. Peter too realizes something very much like these thoughts of Clarissa's. He realizes that long ago he knew why Clarissa annoyed him, why he was repulsed by her while at the same time loving her. Several times already he has said variations of "still, there it is" — about situations which are ridiculous and contradictory, yet — at their core — painfully human.
