Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse Essay

There are many examples of light and dark shown in “The Pearl,” by John Steinbeck. There are examples of light and dark shown through the pearl, people, and other objects. The main character Kino, who is poor, expects good things coming from the pearl but much darkness comes with it. Many occurrences of light and dark shown in the book is through Kino’s interaction with the pearl, malicious people, and objects valued by Kino.

(Page 12) This quote shows how much Mildred used technology. To display the fact that Mildred listened to the Seashells in her ears everyday for two years really shows

Throughout his journey, romantic endeavours cause Ramsay guilt, which he deals with to remain sane and happy. While in Britain, he meets a woman whom he loves, but must abandon, moving on and dealing with the

Lily believes that “it [her painting] was bad, it was bad, it was infinitely bad!” (Woolf 48). She is very insecure and fearful of the opinions of others about her painting. Her insecurities about her painting are a reflection of her insecurities about herself. When Mr. Ramsay nearly overturns her easel, Lily is very worried that he or someone else might see it: “And that was what Lily Briscoe could not have endured” (Woolf 17). By allowing someone to see her painting, she would have allowed someone to see her. By hiding her painting from the world, she was also hiding herself from the world since her painting is a representation of herself and her insecurities. Because of her fear of the possibility

Grenville portrays how secrecy and distrust are an issue among differing people groups through the figurative language used to describe the landscapes and behaviours of various characters. One example is towards the end of the book, when Rooke is looking out into the bay. He sees how the “wide dark flatness” of the water and shore has “retreated into the night”. This darkness is symbolic of the deception and fraudulence that Rooke had been mulling. The abundance of the darkness is used as a comparison to the excess of deception among the British settlers, who were often disguising their true aims and intentions behind sincerity and inclusion. Despite the darkness the moon still shone out over the water like a “wide eye” but was unable to light up the whole foreshore. This demonstrates how even though some secrets may be uncovered there is often more deceit hidden. Grenville further establish distrust through the fear of the description of the trees as “gnarled pink monsters” with “twisted arthritic fingers”. By Rooke also referring to the land as made “according to a different logic from the world” Grenville is portraying the British settlers as viewing NSW as both foreign and terrifying because they no longer understand it therefore creating rift of distrust. The words “gnarled”, “monsters” and “twisted” also depict a fear of the land and all that it might hold because these words hold negative connotations of a horrifying and terrifying appearance or façade.

The “sunlight” that rises above the river symbolizes new beginnings and freedom. But if Tim O’brien he would have to fight the never ending battle of his “love” for Martha, the [memories] of his friends and the “sorrow” and lust to return home. The author also uses so contradictions where he talks about the dawn spreading across the river and the mountains which sets up a hopefulness for Tim O’brien who longs to be home. Though he wants to go home he is afraid to; so he stays in the war and bares all the burden of war for the sake of his

Power Struggles are very common is many marriages. In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, by Edward Albee, the relationship or marriage between George and Martha is based in power. The power struggle between George and Martha has become the basis of their relationship. Their love has turned into hate. The only connection they have is through their insults and the series of games they play. The power struggle between George and Martha develops is reveled and is resolved through out the play.

In Virginia Woolf’s feminist essay “A Room of One’s Own,” Woolf argues that “a woman must have money and a room of her own” (16) if she is to write fiction of any merit. The point as she develops it is a perceptive one, and far more layered and various in its implications than it might at first seem. But I wonder if perhaps Woolf did not really tap the full power of her thesis. She recognized the necessity of the writer’s financial independence to the birth of great writing, but she failed to discover the true relationship to great writing of another freedom; for just as economic freedom allows one to inhabit a physical space---a room of one’s own---so does mental freedom allow one to inhabit one’s own mind and body “incandescent and

Throughout history, female artists have not been strangers to harsh criticism regarding their artistic works. Some female artists are fortunate to even receive such criticism; many have not achieved success in sharing their works with the world. In Virgina Woolf’s third chapter of her essay “A Room of One’s Own,” Woolf addresses the plight of the woman writer, specifically during the Elizabethan time period of England. Woolf helps the reader appreciate her view on how stifling and difficult this time period was for women and how what little creativity emerged would have been distorted in some way. Through a number of claims, examples and other literary techniques, Woolf is able to

Lily Briscoe is a character that can be viewed as unique. Unique in the sense that she was living in an era when women were expected to take on the domestic role and fulfill the role as a traditional woman. Lily did not live up to those expectations. She struggled to stay true to herself and found it a difficult task to conform to society’s conventions as it relates to gender roles and expectations. The novel “To The Lighthouse” takes place in the 19th century during that time often referred to as the Victorian era. During the Victorian era, the expectation was that individuals should follow strict gender roles and people who did not follow those roles were frowned upon. Women were expected to take care of their husband and children, take care of the home and make themselves available to fulfill their family’s needs. Men on the other hand were expected to provide for the family, work outside of the home and do “manly” things. They were considered to be the breadwinner for their family. As one reads throughout the novel, you are able clearly identify Lily’s struggles with society’s expectations of her as a woman and the difficult task of staying true to oneself as she visits and shares with the Ramsay family.

Of the many concepts Virginia Woolf has made in her works, the idea of “moments of being” in her autobiography, A Sketch of the Past, is of special interest because of its possible application to other works of literature which focus on the composition of life. After reading the fictitious Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, one could wonder how Woolf’s concept is evident or not so evident in Johnson’s narration to test the concept’s applicability. It seems that Johnson’s moments of clarity or “being” are reminiscent of Woolf’s own “moments of being” in the way their senses interacted with the memories and the manner with which those memories present themselves, particularly when Woolf hears of Valpy’s suicide and

Woolf portrays the character of Mrs. Ramsay as a self sacrificing woman and mother as defined through her interactions with men: Charles Tansley, Mr. Carmichael, Paul, Mr. Bankes, Mr. Ramsay, and James. During Mrs. Ramsay's lifetime she is admired by most of these men, and is continually striving to be esteemed by all of them, at any sacrifice to herself. Although there is goodness in Mrs. Ramsay, not unselfishly given, there are also rising questions of this representation of mother by Woolf, primarily put forth through the characters of Lily and Mrs. Ramsay's daughters.

In her essay “In Search of a Room of One’s Own” Virginia Woolf used Shakespeare’s sister as a metaphor to explain the position of women in Elizabethan era. Since author finds it difficult to find any trace of women in the Elizabethan era, she creates a fictional character through imagination, and to feel situations that the women in Elizabethan society would have had to go through. Woolf compares fiction to a “spider’s web” (520) that permeates life “at all four corners” (520). Through this metaphor, she personifies narratives of women suffering as a spider’s web that cling to our material reality. For Woolf, our lived stories are a part of this web which can be changed, destroyed or, re-spin with our imagination. In my paper, I argue that Wolfe uses the metaphor of a spider’s web as a heuristic device to make a case for literacy analysis and fiction as tools for exercising narrative agency and challenging stories that deny us representation in this world. To illustrate this, she creates an imaginative character, named Judith Shakespeare, to surface the gender inequality in the Elizabethan era. For this purpose, she not only writes a new chapter of Elizabethan history that centers the perspective of the women, but she also gives voice to women of that era who, like Judith her main character, were silenced and delegitimized by the spider’s web of their time.

Through their works, Kate Chopin and Virginia Woolf were able to portray a certain relationship between women and society. While some literary pieces are optimistic towards women, others are not. In this case, The Awakening, a novella written by Kate Chopin, focuses on the inner battle that the main character Edna faces throughout her life. On the other hand, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, discusses ideas related to gender inequality. Both women seem to be facing inner turmoil that correlates back to the relationship between women and society during these time periods. Ultimately, their experiences are what drives them to change how they fit into societal norms. Therefore, the texts in this essay theorize the relationship between women and society in a way that can be encouraging towards women.

As we read, Woolf’s novel, to the Lighthouse we see different aspects of art being used and how it is being used. Lily Briscoe plays a huge role in art in the story. She is working on a painting throughout the book but she does not want anyone to see it (Woolf 17-18). She feels that it is not good enough. However, Mrs. Ramsay, William Bankes and Charles Tansely seem to have different opinions about the painting. During Mrs. Ramsay’s dinner party, Lily realizes what she needs to do to fix her painting but does not until the end of the story. The painting itself grows and changes throughout the book, just as Lily grows and changes as a person as she lives her life (Woolf 102).