" To The Lighthouse" Blog task
This blog is a part of my thinking activity
given by a teacher on 'To the Lighthouse', by Virginia Woolf.
1- 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?
- Virginia Woolf used a stream of
consciousness technique 3rd person narrative to move from one to another
character's mind. It is useful if we want to write about others, we can write
what they are thinking.
Yes,
we all are struggling every day to make happy to each other especially to a person who is superior in our home, we are hiding our likes and
dislikes because we want to live together to be happy. Here Mrs. Ramsay also
facing this problem every day, in some scene, I've seen that she is acting as
she is happy but inside truth is different.
If
I talk about artists than they were facing troubles in the past and in the future may
be they have to suffer when any women artist want to arise than society will
stand against her and nobody will anchorage her. Lily was facing the same problem
in the novel.
2- 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 the context of the idea of Ideal Indian Woman
- Karyeshu dasi, Karaneshu manthri; Bhojeshu mata, Shayaneshu rambha; Kshamayeshu
dharithri, Roopeshu lakshmi; Satkarma yukta, Kuladharma pathni. )
Mrs.
Ramsay considered as an ' Angle of the House' in the novel and
if we talk about our culture than the ladylike Mrs. Ramsay will maybe
favorite in the future also. She is reaming live in others' minds because she gives
her best to her family members but somewhere she was not happy inside so we
have seen these both situations. When we read the different articles than we can feel
that Ramsay took as a so-called angel in the novel.
Here,
women writing about women so sometimes I have felt that the writer has portrays
herself in Lily's character and she want to say that, in the patriarchy women
like Lily not liked by males. She is also doing activities like painting and
writing so she breaks that an idea “women can’t paint can’t write”.
So the novel is both the tribute and critique of Mrs. Ramsay.
3- Considering symbolically, does the
Lighthouse stands 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 stoicism of Lighthouse.
Light'house' is
a symbol of spiritual strength and emotional guidance and here in this house Mrs.
Ramsay making a spiritual bridge between other human and she is given all the
services to others to make happy them as lighthouse doing and helping.
It is my opinion that whenever I think or imagine about the lighthouse, I imagine the single property as it is Lily I have imagined as a lighthouse stand.
lighthouse also standing alone to prove itself. "Women can't write or
paint" as the lighthouse also has to suffer many storms and waves into the
sea. but ultimately at the last, Lily proves herself by completing her painting
that she can stand alone and prove herself against a patriarchal society, so Lily
is more suitable.
4- In the article by Joseph Blotner, two
myths are patterned together. Name the myths? How they are 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. . . )
Myth
of Oedipus, we can see in the character of James and Mrs. Ramsay.
James always hates his father and he always
tried to live closer to his mother and Mrs. Ramsay's goal also is to care for
her son James. She has given always the first priority to her son.
Myth
of Pagan, Mrs. Ramsay remains in threefold relation. As a Rhea, Demeter and
Persephone. In the pagan Myth women as a superior and in Christian Myth women
as an inferior.
5- What do you understand by the German
term 'Künstlerroman'? How can you justify that 'To The Lighthouse' is
'Künstlerroman' novel?
Künstlerroman, (German:
“artist’s novel”), class of Bildungsroman, or apprenticeship novel, that deals with the
youth and development of an individual who becomes—or is on the threshold of
becoming—a painter, musician, or poet.
In
the novel Augustus Carmechael struggles to write the poem, Here the same way Lily
also throughout the novel tries to complete the painting. In the third part, she
completes the painting of Mrs. Ramsay, and finally, she has had her own vision.
6- "...the wages of obedience is
death, and the daughter that reproduces mothering to perfection, including
child-bearing, already has on her cheeks the pallor of death. One reminded here
of various texts by Lucy Irigaray, in which she attacks mothers for being,
however unwillingly, accomplices in the patriarchal system of oppression."
(Viola). In light of this remark, explain briefly Lily's dilemma in 'To The
Lighthouse'.
By
these lines, we can say that Lily is in dilemma because of patriarchy. Mrs.
Ramsay also gave support to patriarchy and she is also trying to teach follow
the same rule of patriarchy and we know that here Lily want to live with
freedom.
According
to Mrs. Ramsay, women need family and relationships to be a live lifetime in
others' heart and here Lily not agree to be obedience. By following the order
one gets death Prue died because she follows her mother's order to get married.
The reason of Prue's death in childbirth, which again is the idea of an ideal
or perfect woman. I think she may think that There is nothing good
to be an Angel of the house or to be a mother.
Lily
given constantly mental fight but in the end, she again thinks about
Mrs. Ramsay that Mrs. Ramsay remains in everyone's heart even after her death. So
she is in dilemma, what she has to do?
7- You have compared the
'beginning' and the 'ending' of the novel and the film adaptation of the novel
directed by Colin Gregg. 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?
Yes
it is, there are a few differences between the novel and a movie. The opening
scene of Novel comes in a film almost after an hour. Most of the scenes run
faster compared to the novel. In the novel, Lily just puts her brush. While in a
movie she goes upstairs and starts talking with herself.
8- How do you interpret the last line of
the novel (It was done; it was finished.
Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in
extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.) with reference to the ending of the
film (After the final stroke on the canvass with finishing touch, Lily walks
inside the house. As she goes ante-chamber, the light and dark shade makes his
face play hide-and-seek. She climbs stairs, puts her brush aside, walks through
the dark and light to enter her room. Gently closes the door - speaks:
"Closed doors, open windows" - lies on the bed and with some sort of
satisfaction utters: "Dearest Briscoe, you are a fool".)
It
is a little bit hard to give an accurate answers because she has painted Mrs. Ramsay's
painting but something was missing in that picture. In the movie, frames were
showing that she was mood less.
In
the novel I think she was happy to get freedom and she has proved that women
can paint and write. Mrs. Ramsay was alive in her painting for womanhood
and her qualities but after getting the success against the patriarchal
society. She proves herself but she not able to come out from her inner
struggle.
9- What does the catalog named as 'Army and
Navy' signify? What does the cutting of 'Refrigerator' signify?
'Army and navy' catalog signifies a time of
war.
Mr. Ramsay's bigger son dies in the war. So
here the catalog named as ' Army and Navy ' represents the war and
consumerism.
' Refrigerator' preserve the things as it is
Normally we use a refrigerator for keeping the things as it is and here we can find those things in Mrs.
Ramsay, she always tries to preserve the refined form of culture as it is her
responsibility so we can say she remains as a preserver of the culture like
traditional woman.
10- Why did Virginia give such prominence
to the tale of the “Fisherman’s Wife”? In particular, why did she weave such a
misogynist tale into the fabric of a book which so eloquently challenges
received patriarchal notions about the roles and capabilities of women?
The writer wants to do satire on women character through the tale of
the "Fisherman's Wife", which is told by Mrs. Ramsay to
James. in that story fisherman's wife was too much demanding, she presented as
a dull character and here in the novel when Mrs. Ramsay dies her husband
suffers a lot of issues because he was depending on his wife. In the patriarchy some
males fail because of depending nature.
11- How is India represented in 'To The
Lighthouse'?
(Read this blog for passing
reference)
12- Write summaries of these articles:
Mythic Patterns in To The Lighthouse
Fluidity vs Masculinity: Lily's Dilemma in
Woolf's To The Lighthouse
Vision in To The Lighthouse by Glenn
Pedersen
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