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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
- Virginia Woolf
Everyone is aware of Virginia Woolf’s work one way or another. One may be able to know a quote that stuck with them for a long time. Or perhaps one can remember a friend recommending them a book to read. Or it could be assigned reading for a class that you dread. One thing is for certain Virginia Woolf’s work is undeniably good. To The Lighthouse is no exception.
For me, the first work I have ever read by Virginia Woolf was A Room of One’s Own. That was a work that focused on how women can become great writers if given the chance. As much as I liked that book, it did not let me know how Woolf was as a novelist. From that book, I did learn that Woolf makes intelligent points and great observations of the realities of womanhood in her time. This made me curious about Woolf’s other works since she is such a celebrated author and many authors that I like are big fans of her. To The Lighthouse gave me an idea why she remains to be a compelling writer for readers many years after her death.
The story focuses on the Ramsay family’s and their friends’ journey to the lighthouse. The novel is separated into three distinct parts, The Window, Time Passes and The Lighthouse. Each section is representative of their journey towards The Lighthouse. Each section displays a different aspect of Woolf’s writing style. Many descriptions of this book would tell you the same thing. However, the heart of the book lies within the characters and how they change.
The book opens with Mrs. Ramsay discussing to her son, James, their family’s trip to the lighthouse. Woolf waste no time in letting the readers know all of the characters. She masterfully weaves each character’s point of view giving the reader a chance to see everyone’s perspective of the lighthouse and of each other. This is how we learn James distaste for his father, Mr. Ramsay, and his affection for his mother, Mrs. Ramsay. All of the characters maintain polite and pleasant discussions with each other. However, readers know what lies beneath the surface of their words and understand their true emotions. One of these truths includes how most of the characters dislike Charles Tansley and pities him in their own ways.
In The Window, the infamous scene where Charles Tansley taunts Lily Briscoe’s painting by saying that “Women can’t paint, women can’t write…” I could write an essay just on this exchange. Woolf cleverly displays one of the challenges of any woman pursuing creative work. There will always be men that doubt women’s work no matter how great or visionary they may be. Women can be the best at any work and an ignorant man will try to assert himself as superior to them. It is a stance held throughout the book that Woolf manages to fit in the story without being preachy.
The section of The Time Passes takes a different turn stylistically and thematically. The themes are heavier touching upon death and war. Woolf managed to respect these themes without making the novel dreary. Personally, I did not like how sometimes she veered off from the plot. I found that it took me away from what was happening with the characters. I also felt that it did not really add to the development or characterisation of the characters. However, it does set the mood well. One thing I particularly like about this section was how she uses repetition. It was ideal to show the signs of change between the action first occurring and how it is told again through a different lens.
The Lighthouse section of To The Lighthouse was unexpectedly emotional for me. Lily Briscoe’s character had changed a lot from the start of the novel and managed to stay the same at the same time. Events in the Ramsay family affected her dearly since she is such a close friend of the Ramsay’s. Her reflections of the Ramsay family show how much love she feels for them and how deeply they have affected her. The Ramsay family had changed over the years. The children have grown up but their convictions, especially regarding their father, remain the same. Like Lily Briscoe, Virginia Woolf thoughtfully paints the picture of the Ramsay family and their friends like an expert painter. She adds the final details in a methodical way, yet one can never be certain of the outcome like how Lily Briscoe does with her painting.
Overall, Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse is a methodical exercise in the examinations of how war, family and work transforms individuals over the years including those who are not directly affected by it. It is evocative of Jenny Holzer’s truism “All things are delicately interconnected.”
