To the Lighthouse

To the Lighthouse is intended to ‘criticize social system, and to show it at its most intense.’ Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse can readily be seen as a lambaste upon the then society. With regard such characters as Mrs. Ramsay, Woolf embodies servitude and self-sacrifice; womanhood is lost in this age. It appears that Mrs. Ramsay’s chief role in life is as matchmaker, and housekeeper for the men. Mrs. Ramsay is set in opposition to her husband, who becomes a classic patriarch. He manifests the insecure male stereotype earnestly craving a distinct position. Thus an attack upon the institution of gender becomes apparent. However these characters are a lot subtler and multi-faceted than a simple feminist critique would allow. Also with these characters, Woolf appears to challenge the idea of a happy marriage. It is a marriage in which there is little conflict but even less discourse. Consequently offered to the readers are a series of repressed characters, each of who personifies the lighthouse ‘a stark tower on a bare rock’ . With regard to the dinner party Woolf offers insight into a situation that is socially constructed. In this situation it is Mrs. Ramsay who takes the burden of hostess. ‘William sit by

Firstly the connotations of the poem imply the futility of his philosophical search for truth and enlightenment. Thus he comes to play a patriarch, not only of the family, but also of language and future. This is even set away from the text in brackets. With this though, she develops a distance between humanity and nature. Meanwhile she saited, passively, for some one to answer her, for something to happen. Thus Woolf offers the reader a ruthless social system that calls these lonely figures into being, without any offer of recourse or alternatives. Ramsay is softened through his literary passions. Consequently Lily"tms praise of Ramsay"tms "beautiful boots!"tm seems a lot higher than one might think. It appears that Woolf is only giving these developments as an appeasement of the readers"tm curiosities. Evidently there is a tender love between husband and wife, but still Mrs. This extract offers the reader a critique the dinner"tms artificiality. It is offered to the reader as quite a violent one - at least in discourse and language. The image implies that a society has created this loneliness; it is society that has made it necessary for these selves to descend into self-created sanctuaries as relief from the world around oneself. "tm This however offers a little redemption for both marriage and the institution of. The consequences of the characters seem of less importance than the setting and the nature.