To the Lighthouse is a stream of consciousness novel by Virginia Woold written after the First World War. And on the same name the novel is adapted for film by Hugh Stoddart, directed by Colin Gregg, and produced by Alan Shallcross.
When we are discussing any movie adaptation which is taken from a written book, then the first and foremost question comes in our mind is how much a movie is faithful to the book. And how much artistic liberty is taken by the director to produce visual effects. So, If we talk about the 1983 adaption of To the Lighthouse, then the movie is at greater extent faithful to text. But only problem is the form of novel which is stream of consciousness. When we are working on a film It may become hard to record all the things which are going in the mind of the person, because it increases the time duration and for the audience sometimes ends with boredom. But the creativity which is shown in this movie is highly impressive. Human expression is something which tells more than language, and this is creatively used by the director to cover the thought process going in the character's mind.
There some minor differences can be noticed here. The Summer House is shifted from Scotland to Cornhill, England in Movie. Another change is that there are only six children of Mr. Ramsay and Mrs Ramsay instead of Eight. And the character of Minta Doyle and Mr. Banks seem to totally disappear in the movie. Despite these changes the movie seems quite a fair representation of the novel.
As the movie begins, the very first scene we see is two creepy dolls, Male and Female. And another scene is another doll lying on the floor.
Now the question is Why are dolls used here at the very beginning? We may say that Couple dolls are representative of Mr and Mrs Ramsay. And the doll lying on the floor may represent Lily Briscoe herself. So, if we see the film from that perspective then the movie is about Women's attempt to free themselves from the societal boundaries which are already there. And in pursuit of that they may face so many difficulties but at the end women get success, they establish their own individual identity. So, the end of the movie shows Lily Briscoe finished her painting of Mrs Ramsay and she lied on bed with a deep peace inside. So, here we can say that what the novel is trying to convey throughout its narration is very creatively captured here in the beginning as well as in the end of the movie.
So, the symbols used in beginning can be compared with end, where Lily Briscoe finished the painting of Mrs. Ramsay and able to prove that women cannot paint or write or cannot have their own individual identity is wrong. What Tanslay says about "Objective Truth and undeniable manifested consensus of thoughts" is also mere prejudice developed by Male Dominant society. Lily Briscoe not prove only her individual identity but also by finishing the painting of Mrs Briscoe she also create individual identity of Mrs. Ramsay as a housewife.
Dinner tables are used again and again in movies. Dining table is a place where all the family members come together, share their experiences, and create new understanding. Conviviality is a word used for the dinner table meaning festivity or friendliness. But here in the movie Dinner Table became a place where one another shows their hatred towards each other. Only the voice of forks and spoons we can hear which are fighting with one another. People at the dinner table are not fully expressed there; they are trying to hide being themselves at the dinner table. At the very first dinner we see James looking at his father very angrily, another time we see Mr. Ramsay in his anger throw the plate outside. And third time Mr. Ramsay forcefully tries to impose his decisions on their Children James and Cam that tomorrow they are going to visit Lighthouse, actually now they don't want to go there.
Above chosen frames manifest the very typical idea of womanhood. If we see Mrs. Ramsay throughout the novel either she is cooking, either she is taking care of her children or guests or either she is knitting. Now knitting is not a bad work at all, but the question is Why women are always shown as doing household works, and the importance of their work is nothing. So, in this particular frame Mrs. Ramsay knitting socks for the boy who lived at Lighthouse and along with that she is also taking care of her son. And in another frame everyone is enjoying at the beach but still she is knitting which shows how women's minds are conditioned by society to do such works and same things she is teaching her daughters too.
"I am actually afraid to be my own"
Every character in the movie is suffering from the crisis of Existence and Identity and they have a kind of fear of losing their importance in the long term. And this particular mental dilemmas of character are very effectively shown in the movie by using a mirror. Mirror is a thing which reflects one's own truth and their true identity. So Whenever characters get exhausted when they fight with their minds they just see in mirrors. Let's see an example of Mr Ramsay who said….
Mr. Ramsay: Another day gone by nothing achieved(Looking into mirror)
Mrs. Ramsay: You are with your family.
Mr. Ramsay: My consolation prize
So, This how mirrors symbolically used here where characters see their reflection in the mirror for searching who they really are.
Mrs. Ramsay is a very strong character. She played a very major role in the upbringing of her Daughters and Sons. She is a kind of typical stereotyped woman who believes that the only duty of women is to please their husband, taking care of children and doing household chores. She is very different in behaviour with her daughter and with her son. And this can be seen in the very first frame which you can see above. Now the second frame is all about how Mrs. Ramsay's different upbringing reflects in the very behaviour of her daughters. Three women are sitting there, Lily Briscoe, Nancy and Prue and they are watching the match of wrestling and saying how ridiculous the wrestling is, where anything can happen, there is risk of life. This shows the reflection of upbringing that women shouldn't be supposed to be in sports and that's why they are unlike the sport itself.
So, these are some of the frames which I tried to interpret and still these all frames are open to interpretation.
Thank You.....
To see another blog on Virginia Woolf's To the lighthouse (Click Here), In which you can find the discussion of how intellectually Virginia Woolf has made vivid references.
References
- "To the Lighthouse" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. Web. 14 Oct. 2020. https://www.scripts.com/script.php?id=to_the_lighthouse_21990&p=2
- https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/12/arts/tv-weekend-virginia-woolf-s-to-the-lighthouse.html
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