Harcourt Brace & Company Essay

The essence of the female self in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse is one that encapsulates unity above a disparaging patriarchy. The second part of the book Time Passes emphasizes this point with the symbolism prevalent in the war. That is to say, that while men seek out self-pity as Mr. Ramsey does, as men seek to conquer and control through force or coercion as Mr. Ramsey does by trying to get his wife to tell him she loves him, women are the counterpart to this chaos. Virginia Woolf presents women in her novel as quite capable of being power figures while retaining a distinct feminine side. The following essay will present the argument that To the Lighthouse is a novel primarily observant of the differences of the traditional versus the modern female role. Both of these roles are presented accurately in Mrs. Ramsey’s personality. It is her dichotomy of the role of female that this paper will argue is the balance between modern and traditional woman. In Mrs. Ramsey’s character is found the conglomeration of both modern and traditional roles for women. She at once prioritizes herself to fit the needs and fulfill the needs of the men around her. For example, she offers her husband loving support whenever he reveals himself to be self-pitying. She does not chastise him but encourages hope in all of her relations with her husband. This means that even though as a modern woman she cannot bring herself to say the words I love you, she does in fact love him, and she shows it through analogy by agreeing with his mandates. One such mandate is that the trip to the lighthouse that their son James wants so fervently to go on cannot be accomplished because the weather the next day will be too rough of a voyage. Although Mrs. Ramsay does not tell her husband she loves him, her acquiesce to his command says as much. She is willing to allow her husband to know her feelings only through metaphor and symbols, not through actual words. This is very much a modern woman because a traditional woman would not have enough personality to oppose the wants of her husband by still giving him what he wants in a fashion. In addition, Mrs. Ramsay acquiesces with most of the men who are guests at the house. This shows the more traditional side of her as a woman. Her attention is more centered on the male guests needs than it is for the women who are also staying at the house. This focused attention proves that Mrs. Ramsey is being presented by Woolf in a more structured outline of the traditional woman. Mrs. Ramsey caters to the men’s needs in whatever capacity possible. However, she only caters to them because she believes they are not strong enough to support themselves or do too much of anything independently. She lavishes the men in the house will support in their direction and opinions because she believes they need constant attention because a they have fragile self-esteem. This self-esteem is emphasized with the portrayal Woolf delivers of Mr. Ramsey. Although Mrs. Ramsey supports and loves her husband, she too finds it difficult to constantly give him affirmation. Another capacity by which Mrs. Ramsey plays the traditional female role is through her motherhood. It is James that most of her attention is devoted. Even though James holds great resentment towards his father for denying him his wish to visit the lighthouse, Mrs. Ramsey persists in giving James hope that it may be possible. She does this not to promise something false but to keep alive in her son the sense of wonderment in life. This does not fit the description of a modern woman. The idea of tradition being enveloped inside of motherhood is one that Woolf delivers with exact replication with Mrs. Ramsey. With Augustus Carmichael, she behaves in the same fashion as she does with her son James and her husband. Mrs. Ramsey is not very fond of Augustus but when she makes a trip into town, she asks him if there is anything, he is in need of. She does this simple act of kindness because she believes in the good in people and is not a cynic. In the dichotomy of the traditional and modern female role the catering to the needs of men, even men for which a woman cares nothing for, it is in Mrs. Ramsey’s traditional female nature, her motherhood, to give to men their desires. According to Woolf in her novel, To the Lighthouse men are more like children than like adults. It is with men that wars are started (as is evident in the second part of the book). Men are centered on their ego; therefore, their world exists around them and everything is focused on their needs. Children are the same way. Children exist in their own world, and in this world, their desires are fulfilled indefinitely and unconditionally. By this statement, it is evident that the traditional role that Mrs. Ramsey fulfills in the novel is by the above definition a role she fulfills as a mother. Therefore, contingently, Mrs. Ramsey is not only at once fulfilling a traditional role, by also a modern female role. This is accomplished by Woolf through Mrs. Ramsay by presenting to the reader Mrs. Ramsey as a mother and by extension her role as a mother as it pertains to men. Mrs. Ramsey treats men the way she treats men (as children) because she is a mother. She is not subservient to men as a traditional female role would declare but instead as a mother she transcends the traditional role into the modern female role because she believes that men need her help because they are incapable of helping themselves. Mrs. Ramsey’s traditional role in the novel morphs into a modern role as the book progresses. In this progression, the reader can witness how Mrs. Ramsey changes her roles by small revelations that the character herself gives the reader. It is not therefore necessary to say that there exists a breadth of difference for Mrs. Ramsey between being a traditional woman to being a modern woman, but it is prevalent to state that by these small revelations to the audience into the depth of Mrs. Ramsey’s character that she was always intended to be portrayed as a modern woman. The transition between traditional to modern woman can more aptly be seen in Lily Briscoe’s character. At the beginning of the book, she is a traditional woman because she lacks self-confidence. She allows the opinion of the men in the house to undermine her work as a painter and by succumbing to their ideas; she is not a dominant character and therefore a modern woman. The traditional woman is seen as submissive and without threat to men’s opinions; Lily fulfills this in the first part of Woolf’s novel. Before the end of the first part of the book however, Lily is being presented with more of a modern woman personality. This is seen in her rejection of Mrs. Ramsey’s life. Mrs. Ramsey is representational of the traditional woman because she is married and she has children. With Lily’s character, Woolf designs a less likely candidate for motherhood. Lily cannot see herself fulfilling the role of a mother and so as the novel progresses her docile nature is surpassed by her stronger self; that is the self which denies tradition, foregoes motherhood and focuses on the self and its needs. The real transition of traditional to modern female roles can best be witnessed in the portrait Lily paints of Mrs. Ramsey. At the beginning of the novel, Lily attempts to bring to life the spirit of Mrs. Ramsey in a portrait. The men of the house give their stalwart opinions about its composition, its line, color, and size. Lily, in her traditional female role, tries to listen to each man and do what they believe would make a better painting. The painting is subsequently abandoned by Lily who signifies her unloading the opinions of others to try to find out what it is she wants to do. At the end of the novel, Lily once again picks up the painting in hopes of trying to finish it. With the second attempt at the painting, Lily realizes her own artistic vision. She is no longer plagued by following anyone else’s guidelines to her own art and begins painting with only her opinions in mind. Lily is dedicated to finishing the painting and does so with only her own voice to guide her. This revelation signifies the transition for Lily in Woolf’s novel from tradition female who panders to the male audience to a Lily who bears witness to her thoughts only. This means that Lily is strong enough as a woman to deny the right of anyone telling her how to attempt her own vision and to paint according to her own unique style. The painting is representational of how Lily was once burdened by the patriarch and egotistical opinions of the men in the house and at the close of the novel she is finally able to see the fruition of not only her painting but the audience can also see how Woolf lead the audience through Lily’s struggles and finally at the end she becomes her own woman. The accomplishment of the painting also represents how Lily feels on equal grounds with Mr. Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey being a symbol of all men and their facade of superiority is it significant that Lily finally feels on equal grounds with Mr. Ramsey because this means she has found self worth. This can best be seen in the fact that Lily is painting Mrs. Ramsey’s portrait in order to prove to Charles Tansley that women can paint and write. By finishing this painting Lily if proving not only to herself but also to men that women are more than capable of great artistic accomplishments. Self-worth is a primary attribute of the modern woman in Woolf novels, and To the Lighthouse is no exception. The pairing of these two women exemplifies how traditional roles and modern roles for women were enforced through patriarchy. The purpose of the novel and the emphasis on the roles of women and the fulfilling of these roles through Woolf’s characters portrays a significant divergence from typical feminist literature. Mrs. Ramsey affirms herself through her motherhood and the way in which this affects her view of all men; that they are more like children who need a guiding hand. Mr. Ramsey fulfills this role of ego and so the novel is complete with the victory of matriarchy over patriarchy even with the involvement of motherhood which is seen more as a traditional female role. It is with Lily however that a more complete vision of the modern woman may be seen. It is also, with her finishing the painting that the unity which Mrs. Ramsey sought at the beginning of the novel is accomplished. This unity is found in Lily realizing herself to be equal to the ego of man; in particular Mr. Ramsey. It is Mr. Ramsey, who, at the end of the novel becomes less significant because of his constant need for affirmation. Due to Lily not being able to give him this only proves that she has become a modern woman because Mrs. Ramsey as a traditional woman pandered to her husband’s needs but Lily has broken the tie between Mr. Ramsey’s wants herself. In closing it must be re-emphasized that while Mrs. Ramsey does portray a more traditional women she also transcends these lines by her own view of the world and her interaction with it. She gives men what they want because she feels as though they are in need of her guidance; the motherhood role. For Lily however who denies this role, she is a modern woman because she finally unfetters herself from the overwhelming voices of egoism and maleness in the house and by doing this she is finally able to finish her painting. It is with the painting that the true role of the modern woman is best expressed by Woolf. The modern woman, or Lily in the novel is a woman who is not in need of affirmation as the men were portrayed to be (i. e. Mr. Ramsey) but she is independent and follows through with her own artistic vision and voice. Bibliography Woolf, Virginia. (1981). To the Lighthouse. Harcourt Brace & Company. New York.