Hello Readers…
Warmly welcome in my another blog on 'To The Lighthouse' novel. In which I am going to reflect on the selective questions which are given by teachers as a part of Thinking Activity. To visit Teacher's Blog on To The Lighthouse please press here….(Dilip Barad Sir's Blog on To the Lighthouse)
How can you explain that 'what' Virginia Woolf wanted to say (for example, the complexity of human relationship, the everyday battles that people are at in their relationship with near and dear ones, the struggle of a female artist against the values of middle/upper class society etc) can only be said in the way she has said? (Key: The 'How' of the narrative technique is to be discussed along with features of the Stream of Consciousness technique which helps Woolf to put in an effective manner what she experienced in abstractions.)
Virginia Woolf rightly remarked that…..
Life is not a series of gig-lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.
As a writer Virginia Woolf did not find old forms of literature adequate or effective to explore what she wanted to say. For her Life is unpredictable. And the people whom we meet throughout our life are also tempramental. Their next reaction is uncertain. And to describe these complexities of Human Relations she chose the form of Stream of Consciousness novel.
The narrative technique used by Virginia Woolf is also named as Interior Monologue, where the stream of characters mind, what is happening in characters mind is described deeply to make the behavioural study of Human Psyche.
To ponder upon Everyday battles of human relationships with one another and to explore the complexity of Human relationships she finds the Stream of Consciousness novel more effective. Where we not only see the character from their own consciousness, but also from the consciousness of other people. This makes this text more interesting. Because every character differs from their perspective towards each other this is exactly what makes life more difficult to leave. In the words of Virginia Woolf….
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.
For every character others opinions matter a lot then their own and they also have constant threat and fear of losing their identities. Women characters are suffering from a double crisis, one is establishing their identities like Male characters and another is pursuing their own freedom in the world of Male Domination where they are constantly in conflict with Male characters that…
"Women cannot paint or write"
So, These are the things which Virginia Woolf wanted to explore with the technique where she can consider the "Importance of Others people's point of view in Individual Life." Which she is able to convey effectively with the use of the Stream of Consciousness novel.
Do you agree: "The novel is both the tribute and critique of Mrs. Ramsay"? (Key: Take some clues from the painting of Mrs Ramsay drawn by Lily Briscoe and the article by Andre Viola and Glenn Pedersen. Can we read Mrs. R in context of the idea of Ideal Indian Woman -
Karyeshu dasi, Karaneshu manthri; Bhojeshu mata, Shayaneshu rambha; Kshamayeshu dharithri, Roopeshu lakshmi;
Satkarma yukta, Kuladharma pathni
Whenever we study any work of Art, The way we look at the text, The glasses through which we are looking at the text is reflecting in our interpretation of that work. Same happens with the To The Lighthouse novel. If we see Mrs Ramsay as the central character then Novel is a tribute to Mrs Ramsay and If we consider Lily Briscoe - representational character of Virginia Woolf herself then the novel looks like a critique of Mrs Ramsay. So, I agree with both the point that The Novel is Tribute as well as Critique of Mrs. Ramsay.
Mrs. Ramsay as Ideal Indian Women
Character of Mrs Ramsay fulfills the all characteristics of Ideal Women which is time and again represented in Hindu Scriptures. Role of women is nothing except the household work is reflected in this novel through the character of Mrs. Ramsay. According to Manusmriti definition of Ideal women is…
For a woman, there is no independent sacrifice, vow or fast; a woman will be exalted in heaven by the mere fact that she has obediently served her husband. A good woman, desiring to go to the same world as her husband, should never do anything displeasing to the man who took her hand, whether he is alive or dead.
A woman who controls her mind, speech, and body and is never unfaithful to her husband attains the world of her husband, and virtuous people call her a ‘good woman’. By following this conduct, a woman who controls her mind, speech and body obtains the highest fame in this world and the world of her husband in the next.
(From Manusmruti translated by
Patrick Olivelle)
So, If we Mrs. Ramsay is the bedrock character in the novel then the novel seems to pay tribute to Mrs. Ramsay, who spent her whole life in making other people's lives better. Who is always busy serving her family. For her Women is a support system for Male figures and she should always stand aside them and motivate them. And she also tries to make her daughters like her. In the second part 'Time Passes' we see that every character became alone after the death of Mrs. Ramsay and they all spend their days in remembrance of Mrs. Ramsay. Lily Briscoe also finds her vision through the painting of Mrs. Ramsay. So, To conclude it can be said that Novel is Tribute to Mrs. Ramsay and also celebrates the very notions 'Ideal Women' which are crystallized in Mrs. Ramsay.
Critique of Mrs. Ramsay
But at the same time if we change the perspective of looking characters then Lily Briscoe is at the center. Whose aim to become a painter is denying the very notion of becoming stereotypical Ideal Women. Lily succeeds in his vision at the end, showing the winning of Lily and critique of Mrs. Ramsay.
To some extent daughters of Mrs. Ramsay are also not in favour of what their mother insisted on becoming a support system of man. And her one daughter Prue Ramsay, who walls on the path of her mother died because of her full obedience to her mother's wishes. In the very beginning Andrew Viola makes a very interesting point that…
"Mrs. Ramsay's daughters are presented as sporting with infidel ideas...for there was in all their minds a mute questioning of deference and chivalry."
By creating a totally opposing character of Mrs. Ramsay which is Lily Briscoe, the novel also tries to make critique of Mrs. Ramsay.
Considering symbolically, does the Lighthouse stand for Mrs. Ramsay or the narrator (Virginia Woolf herself who is categorically represented by Lily)? (Key: Take help from the presentation on Symbolism to connect Mrs. Caroline Ramsay with Lighthouse. Secondly, the narrator / author cannot fully disappear from the novel and thus the stoicism of Lily to paint and thus prove that she can paint, is symbolically presented in the stoicism of Lighthouse. Read the 'lighthouse' symbol from the presentation slide with this insight to connect the lighthouse with the narrator. Give your concluding remarks in the comment below in this blog )
Lighthouse is a symbol which is used throughout novels from beginning to end. Lighthouse can be considered as a symbol of a Path Shower. Which gives a way in darkness. Now we can connect the character of Mrs. Ramsay, Lily Briscoe as well as the Narrator to the symbol of the Lighthouse.
Let's see how Mrs. Ramsay stands as the Lighthouse in their Family. Mrs. Ramsay is a person who controls all the threads of her house. Her impact on all family members is deep. She connects all the members of the family. But after her death it seems like no more the family is together. Everyone is busy with their own life. So, Mrs. Ramsay is a character because of her the Home is full of lights and shining like a lighthouse and also creating a way for the family.
"She was like a bird for speed,
an arrow for directness. She was willful; she was commanding"
Lily Briscoe also symbolizes the very spirit of Lighthouse. Lighthouse stands alone in a deep sea to guide people. In the same manner Lily Briscoe as unconventional women pursuing painting as her passions and proved her identity by denying the notion of the traditional notion of Stereotypical Victorian Women.
And the Narrator of the Novel is Omniscient Narrator, who knows every character and their thoughts and feelings as well and also Whenever there is need try to make unbiased commentary on character. Like Lighthouse who enlighten lost sailors in the same manner, the Omniscient Narrator is also an enlightened person. So, the Narrator of the novel also stands for Lighthouse, who represents the characteristics of Lighthouse.
In the article by Joseph Blotner, two myths are patterned together. Name the myths? How are they zeroed down to the symbols of 'Window' and 'Lighthouse'? How does the male phallic symbol represent feminine Mrs. Ramsay? (Key: The strokes of light-beams. . . )
An article by Joseph Blotner named 'Mythic Patterns in To the Lighthouse' discusses the indirect use of two myths…
- Myth of Rhea and Demeter
- Myth of Oedipus
Character of Mrs Ramsay is connected with Rhea who roots hatred towards Cronus(His husband) in her child Zeus. And encourage him to kill his father. Same happens with James also. Who is very near to his mother and a kind of hatred flourishing in his heart towards his father.
Demeter is a daughter of Rhea abducted by the underworld. And she is Goddess of Ripeness. Underworld kept one condition to release her that she should visit every year Underworld and stay there for a few months. So, Because of that Queen of Underworld- Demeter Whenever they visit the Underworld there is drought on Earth and every man is worshipping her to get back fertility in their land. So, We see here that men are more in need of females in the same manner at Summer House. Every man is dependent on Mrs. Ramsay or either they are in need of a Female Character.
Very famous Myth of Oedipus is also cleverly used by Virginia Woolf in her novel. Oedipus kills his father and marries his Mother. So, This his hatredness towards his father and love towards his mother which encourage him to do such murder. James in 'To the Lighthouse' also shows his hatred towards his father. And even in his stream of consciousness he thinks to murdered his father.
"Had there been an axe handy, a poker, or any weapon that would have gashed a hole in his father’s breast and killed him, there and then, James would have seized it. Such were the extremes of emotion that Mr Ramsay excited in his children’s breasts by his mere presence; standing, as now, lean as a knife, narrow as the blade of one, grinning sarcastically, not only with the pleasure of disillusioning his son and casting ridicule upon his wife, who was ten thousand times better in every way than he was"
(James thought)
Lastly, symbols of The Window and The Lighthouse come again and again in the novel. In fact the title of the first part is The Window and the last part is 'The Lighthouse.' So, The window symbolizes Female character and Lighthouse Male character.
What do you understand by the German term 'Künstlerroman'? How can you justify that 'To The Lighthouse' is a 'Künstlerroman' novel?
Kunstlerroman is a German word which means Artist's Novel, Likewise Bildungsroman, Kunstlerroman novel deals with the progressive years of an Artist.
In terms of Lily Briscoe we can categories 'To the Lighthouse' novel under the genre of Kunstlerroman where a novel deals with apparently with the progressive years of Lily Briscoe in being a Artist begins from his struggle to get vision for his passion, and at the end she is able to got his vision by finishing the painting of Mrs. Ramsay.
You have compared the 'beginning' and the 'ending' of the novel and the film adaptation of the novel directed by Colin Gregg (you can see it again in the embedded video below this). Do you think that the novel is more poignant than the movie? If yes, do you ascribe the fact that the power of words is much greater than that of the screen / visuals?
Answers to this question is written in the attached link…
To the Lighthouse Movie Review
How is India represented in 'To The Lighthouse'?
Answers to this question is written in the attached link…
Various References in To the Lighthouse
References
- Blotner, Joseph L. “Mythic Patterns in To the Lighthouse.” PMLA, vol. 71, no. 4, 1956, pp. 547–562. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/460631.
- Pedersen, Glenn. “Vision into the Lighthouse.” PMLA, vol. 73, no. 5, 1958, pp. 585–600. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/460303.
- Viola, André. “Fluidity versus Muscularity: Lily's Dilemma in Woolf's ‘To the Lighthouse.’” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 24, no. 2, 2000, pp. 271–289. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3831911.
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