Task on To the Lighthouse

 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 Stream of Consciousness technique which helps Woolf to put in effective manner what she experienced in abstractions.)

Virginia Woolf used " The Stream of consciousness " technique in her novel " To the Lighthouse " to introduce each character minutely to the reader.  Third person narrative moves from one to another mind to know the inner thoughts of the characters. For example James is sitting in the drawing room and he shows his wishes to go to the Lighthouse. Mrs. Ramsay says that, yes of course if weather would be fine then tomorrow we will go. But at the same time Mr. Ramsey says that it won't be fine tomorrow. What James thought that,

'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)

(Woolf)

This is the narrative beauty of Virginia Woolf. Second, Virginia Woolf used real problem of society which women faced in her novel, " To the Lighthouse. " through the characters of Mr. Ramsey and Lily Briscoe and other Ramsay daughters. Lily's painting of Mrs. Ramsay shows the less position of women of that time like Charles Tansley said that,

" Women can't paint, Women can't write. "

🔶️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. )

Why man or even society wants one woman as a responsible and ideal woman ? Here according to my opinion because of the very notion of so called " Patriarchy " in our society.  They believe that women are only for take care the responsibility of her family and child. The men can work and do job only. This is the very dangerous and problematic notion of our society.  The same problem Virginia Woolf portrayed in her novel through the character of Mrs. Ramsay. She is only the ideal and responsible lady in her big family and very beautifully takes care of everything. Here I would like to put one quote which shows the compassionate nature of Mrs Ramsay,

"When she looked in the glass and saw her hair grey, her cheek sunk, at fifty, she thought, possibly she might have managed things better—her husband; money; his books. But for her own part she would never for a single second regret her decision, evade difficulties, or slur over duties." (Woolf)

The second point is yes I agree  that the novel is both the tribute and critique of Mrs. Ramsay. We can judge this point through the painting of Mrs. Ramsay by Lily Briscoe. 

We can surely say that the novel is critique of Mrs. Ramsay because Lily Briscoe draws Mrs. Ramsay's painting and breaks the very notion of,   " Women can't write, Women can't paint. " Lily Briscoe is the totally contradictory figure of Mrs. Ramsay and proves that her place never replace by anyone in family and in all mind and heart also.

🔶️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 stoicism of Lighthouse. Read 'lighthouse' symbol from presentation slide with this insight to connect lighthouse with the narrator. Give your concluding remarks in the comment below in this blog )

Ramsay symbolizes the spiritual strength of the entire family and providing strength and powerful guidance as well as superficial assurance (James) to all the members of family. As it is suggested in the presentation, we can interpret the symbol of lighthouse with Mrs.Ramsay who is the center in the novel and direction giver to the family like lighthouse gives the way to the bushed people,About the narrator, with biographically context, we can say that Virginia's character is more presented in Lily's character and her dilemma is Virginia Woolf's own mental dilemma. Furthermore, we can say that Virginia portrayed her character in the Lily's character because Woolf also was  a stoic personality in her time as an artist so she is connected with the Lily throughout the novel.

🔶️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. . . )

In this novel Virginia Woolf's concept of Women's role in life is crystallized in the character of Mrs. Ramsay, whose attributes are those of major female figures in Pagan myth. The most useful myth for interpreting the novel is that of the primordial Goddess. In the present novel Woolf used two myths one is Pagan myth in which Woolf connected Mrs. Ramsay with Rhea who had similar numbers of children like Mrs. Ramsay and also a well nurtured woman and with Demeter an important characteristic of Mrs. Ramsay in her Demeter aspect is her complete femininity as Demeter was worshiped more by men than women like Ramsay who respected more men than women and also Demeter was known as maker of earth fruitful while Mrs. Ramsay also a maker of Fruitful family. Another myth is the myth of Oedipus. We can see the aspect of the myth between Mrs. Ramsay and James, James hate his father because he do not want that his mother love his father.

🔶️What do you understand by the German term 'Künstlerroman'? How can you justify that 'To The Lighthouse' is 'Künstlerroman' novel?

The " künstlerroman " is a type of bildungsroman—a novel where the protagonist undergoes an education—in which the writer charts the course of an artist undergoing an evolution from nascent stirrings to full artistic voice.Literally, künstlerroman translates to English as “artist” from the German, “künstler” and “novel” from the French, “roman”. The künstlerroman traces its origins to the Germanic Romantic tradition of the eighteenth century, when a generation of writers began to rebel against what they believed to be the confining rationalist structures borne of the Era of Enlightenment. In 'To the Light house" Lily's and Carmichael characters the novel itself is a struggle of an artist. It also deals with arrogant rejection of the commonplace life, and biographically we can say that Virginia Woolf also becoming an artist in her life and also faced lots of struggle in life because of patriarchal thinking about women of her time,in this novel the character of Lily makes it  'Kunstlerroman' novel.

🔶️"... 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'. 

🔶️Movie Screening: Worksheet (Click here to open)

🔶️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?

Frame study of the movie and Lily's Dilemma To the Lighthouse ( the blog link of another blog is linked here )

Thinking Activity on " To the Lighthouse "

To the Lighthouse 

By Virginia Woolf 

♧ Introduction :-

To the Lighthouse " is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centres on the Ramsay family and their visit to the Isle  of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920. The novel lacks an omniscient narrator. The plot unfolds through shifting perspectives of each character's consciousness. Virginia Woolf's method   is more one of lyrical paraphrase. The lack of an omniscient narrator means that no clear guide exists for the reader and that only through character development can readers formulate their own opinions and views because much is ambiguous. 

Now let us see the Frame study of the movie " To the Lighthouse " directed by Colin Gregg and written by Hugh Stoddart. 

           To the Lighthoue  

♧ Frame 1st :-

The movie, To the Lighthouse is directed by Colin Gregg. And the original Novel, " To the Lighthouse " is written by Virginia Woolf in 1927. There are main three parts of the novel,

1. THE WINDOW 

2. TIME PASSES   

3. THE LIGHTHOUSE 

Yes, there are some different in beginning of the movie and the beginning of the original novel. Above all Frames are from the movie. In which we can some one doll falls on the upstair. Then camera moves in the room where we can see James ( Six years child) pipping outside the window in upset mood. Suddenly the camera moves on the dinning table where the family of Ramsay takes dinner. Mr. Ramsey discusses his philosophy with their children and Mrs. Ramsay goes to the room of James where she hugs James cares him. These are the begging scene of the movie. While the begging of the original novel starting with the line,

" Yes, of course, if it's fine tomorrow," said Mrs. Ramsay. " But you'll have to be up with the lark," She added. 

Virginia Woolf used Stream of Consciousness technique in her novel. 

♧ Frame 2nd :-

This is the second frame of the movie in which one can study the look of James very deeply. James is looking toward his father. Through this frame we can guess the relationship between the father and son ( James and Mr. Ramsey ) and also the relationship between the mother and son ( James and mrs. Ramsay ). The reason behind it is that Mr. Ramsey denied James to go for see the Lighthouse tomorrow. Virginia Woolf very beautifully portrayed the inner thoughts of James that how he is thinking about Mr. Ramsey when he denied to go, 

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.

This is what we can say the narrative style or the stream of consciousness technique used very beautifully by Virginia Woolf. The omniscient narrator of the novel takes the reader inner and out side of the characters.

♧ Frame 3rd :-

This third frame of the movie, " To the Lighthouse " portrays the picture of the situation of girl of that time. Where one girl child of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay stands out side beside the Summer house and looking toward Mrs. Ramsay and James who are sitting in the garden. Mrs. Ramsay is speaking with James. On the other side the girl breaks the flower petals. Through this frame we can say the behaviour and caring of Mrs. Ramsay toward their girls and boys. 

♧ Frame 4th :-

After the scene of dinner table and gardening scene the camera moves on the side of beach where the Ramsay family and Charles Tansley are playing the cricket. This scene is also worth observing. When James is bolling he outs in first boll but he refuses for that. Mrs. Ramsay takes the side of James and asks Mr. Ramsey to give him one chance again but see here also Mr. Ramsey denied for that because he is umpire and according to him, 

 

Out is out 

Then camera moves on other side of the beach where we see Lily who is coming and observed the family and sea that Sea is full of eternal life yet threatenes with oblivion. Then we can see Mr. Ramsey and Charles Tansley who are discussing something important. Then we come to know that they are discussing about Charles's Ph.d thesis who came for the checking it by Mr. Ramsey. He says that he is not interested in all his ( Mr. Ramsey)family's issues and he is not here for playing cricket.  He asks Mr. Ramsey to complete his work as soon as possible. But Mr. Ramsey is bit loos in doing all this things. 

♧ Frame 5th :-

Above two frames are about the desire of James to see the Lighthouse. After departing at the beach the family is going to the Summer house. At that time James very excitedly looks toward Lighthouse which shows his desire to go for the Lighthouse. 

♧ Frame 6th :-

These two are the frame of Lily's painting. We can see Lily as a painter and Mrs. Ramsay's painting by Lily as a symbol. This was generally the time of the end of the Victorian era in which we can find the scope for women very less. In this movie and original  novel in both Lily is always busy in her own work and painting. The painting of Mrs. Ramsay's painting is a symbol which indicates her desire to be known after her death. And also Lily who wants to be famous with her art of painting. 

☆ References to India,  Shakespeare and Philosophy in the novel, " To the Lighthouse " :-

♧ Reference to Shakespeare in the novel :-

Is he to be blamed then if he is not that one? provided he has toiled honestly, given to the best of his power, and till he has no more left to give? And his fame lasts how long? It is permissible even for a dying hero to think before he dies how men will speak of him hereafter. His fame lasts perhaps two thousand years. And what are two thousand years? (asked Mr Ramsay ironically staring at the hedge). What, indeed, if you look from a mountain top down the long wastes of the ages? The very stone one kicks with one's boot will outlast Shakespeare. His own little light would shine, not very brightly, for a year or two, and would then be merged in some bigger light, and that in a bigger still. (He looked into the hedge, into the intricacy of the twigs.) Who then could blame the leader of that forlorn party which after all has climbed high enough to see the waste of the years and the perishing of the stars, if before death stiffens his limbs beyond the power of movement he does a little consciously raise his numbed fingers to his brow, and square his shoulders, so that when the search party comes they will find him dead at his post, the fine figure of a soldier.

Above paragraph is about the fame of Shakespeare or the reference of Shakespeare in the novel, " To the Lighthouse." Mr. Ramsey is a philosopher and as a great philosopher his desire to become famous after his death aslo and desire to receive immortality is aptate. For that he is thinking about the fame of Shakespeare. 

[Mrs Ramsay could have wished that her husband had not chosen that moment to stop. Why had he not gone as he said to watch the children playing cricket? But he did not speak; he looked; he nodded; he approved; he went on. He slipped, seeing before him that hedge which had over and over again rounded some pause, signified some conclusion, seeing his wife and child, seeing again the urns with the trailing of red geraniums which had so often decorated processes of thought, and bore, written up among their leaves, as if they were scraps of paper on which one scribbles notes in the rush of reading— he slipped, seeing all this, smoothly into speculation suggested by an article in THE TIMES about the number of Americans who visit Shakespeare's house every year. If Shakespeare had never existed, he asked, would the world have differed much from what it is today? Does the progress of civilization depend upon great men? Is the lot of the average human being better now than in the time of the Pharaohs? Is the lot of the average human being, however, he asked himself, the criterion by which we judge the measure of civilization? Possibly not. Possibly the greatest good requires the existence of a slave class. The liftman in the Tube is an eternal necessity. The thought was distasteful to him. He tossed his head. To avoid it, he would find some way of snubbing the predominance of the arts. He would argue that the world exists for the average human being; that the arts are merely a decoration imposed on the top of human life; they do not express it. Nor is Shakespeare necessary to it. Not knowing precisely why it was that he wanted to disparage Shakespeare and come to the rescue of the man who stands eternally in the door of the lift, he picked a leaf sharply from the hedge. All this would have to be dished up for the young men at Cardiff next month, he thought; here, on his terrace, he was merely foraging and picnicking (he threw away the leaf that he had picked so peevishly) like a man who reaches from his horse to pick a bunch of roses, or stuffs his pockets with nuts as he ambles at his ease through the lanes and fields of a country known to him from boyhood.] (page - 42)

This paragraph is also about the reference of Shakespeare in the novel. In this paragraph Mrs. Ramsay is thinking about the nature of Mr. Ramsey. After then the Americans who visit Shakespeare's house every year which portrays the picture of civilisation. 

["Let us enjoy what we do enjoy," he said. His integrity seemed to Mrs Ramsay quite admirable. He never seemed for a moment to think, But how does this affect me? But then if you had the other temperament, which must have praise, which must have encouragement, naturally you began (and she knew that Mr Ramsay was beginning) to be uneasy; to want somebody to say, Oh, but your work will last, Mr Ramsay, or something like that. He showed his uneasiness quite clearly now by saying, with some irritation, that, anyhow, Scott (or was it Shakespeare ?) would last him his lifetime. He said it irritably. Everybody, she thought, felt a little uncomfortable, without knowing why. Then Minta Doyle, whose instinct was fine, said bluffly, absurdly, that she did not believe that any one really enjoyed reading Shakespeare. Mr Ramsay said grimly (but his mind was turned away again) that very few people liked it as much as they said they did.] (page 101)

♧ Reference to India in the novel, " To the Lighthouse :-

The autumn trees, ravaged as they are, take on the flash of tattered flags kindling in the gloom of cool cathedral caves where gold letters on marble pages describe death in battle and how bones bleach and burn far away in Indian sands.

But which was it to be? They had all the trays of her jewel-case open. The gold necklace, which was Italian, or the opal necklace, which Uncle James had brought her from India; or should she wear her amethysts?

Her horizon seemed to her limitless. There were all the places she had not seen; the Indian plains; she felt herself pushing aside the thick leather curtain of a church in Rome. saw it.

as if she were going to meet some one round the corner, she told the story; an affair at Oxford with some girl; an early marriage; poverty; going to India; translating a little poetry “very beautifully, I believe,” being willing to teach the boys Persian or Hindustanee, but what really was the use of that?—and then lying, as they saw him, on the lawn.

for there was in all their minds a mute questioning of deference and chivalry, of the Bank of England and the Indian Empire, of ringed fingers and lace, though to them all there was something in this of the essence of beauty, which called out the manliness in their girlish hearts, and made them, as they sat at table beneath their mother’s eyes, honour her strange severity, her extreme courtesy, like a queen’s raising from the mud to wash a beggar’s dirty foot, when she admonished them so very severely about that wretched atheist who had chased them—or, speaking accurately, been invited to stay with them—in the Isle of Skye.

These are the references to India used by Virginia Woolf in her novel, " To the Lighthouse." We all know that India had very rich country of that time and the people of many countries had attracted toward the glory of India. In this novel the characters discussed about the India in between their conversation like the sand, empire and ruled people of India.

♧ Reference to philosophy in the novel, " To the Lighthouse "

"It was a splendid mind. For if thought is like the keyboard of a piano, divided into so many notes, or like the alphabet is ranged in twenty-six letters all in order, then his splendid mind had one by one, firmly and accurately, until it had reached, say, the letter Q. He reached Q. Very few people in the whole of England ever reach Q."

"He had not genius; he laid no claim to that: but he had, or might have had, the power to repeat every letter of the alphabet from A to Z accurately in order. Meanwhile, he stuck at Q. On, then, on to R."

♧ References :-

https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2014/09/worksheet-virginia-woolfs-to-lighthouse.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_Lighthouse

Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York, Columbia University Press, 1998.