A Feminist Approach to Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse

【Abstract】Virginia Woolf is an important literary figure who wrote ahead of her time. Living in an era when womens contribution was suppressed and womens voice was drowned， Woolf paid a lot of attention to the life and psychological world of women and produced many insightful works， like To the Lighthouse， in which she explicitly laid out the presentation of the awaking of her feminist ideology.

【Key words】Virginia Woolf； To the Lighthouse； feminism

With works like To the Lighthouse， Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando， Virginia Woolf was not only regarded as one of the most influential modernist literary figures of the twentieth century， but also regarded as one of the forerunners of contemporary Anglo-American feminism. Published in 1927， To the Lighthouse is often thought of as one of Woolfs most brilliant works. In this novel， Woolf remarkably transforms the “normal， ” trivial incidents in the life of the Ramsay family into a mythic reflection on gender， time， death and other aspects. Although the novel was written almost a hundred years ago， the concerns that Woolf raised and explored in her work have not decreased in importance that many writers now are still working on them.

Ⅰ. Comparison of Male Characters to Female Characters

In To the Lighthouse， the couple that Woolf portrayed - Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay - respectively represents the Victorian men and women. Traditional gender roles “cast men as rational， strong， protective and decisive；they cast women as emotional （irrational）， weak， nurturing and submissive.” （Tyson 85） The classification emphasizes the differences between the two sexes and the binary oppositions further lead to the simplification or depreciation of one sex.

A. Rational and Emotional

In the novel， Mr. Ramsay embodies the male， patriarchal and linear view of the world. He thinks that “peoples achievements are like the alphabet ranged in twenty-six letters all in order.” （Woolf 25） In his head， the world is simplified into a series of facts and his mind is running like a settled program.

On the contrary， Mrs. Ramsay is much more sensitive， emotional， and nurturing. She persists in assuring her son that the trip of going to the lighthouse is a possibility when her husband mercilessly dashes the boys hope. “To pursue truth with such astonishing lack of consideration for others feeling was to her so horrible an outrage of human decency.” （Woolf 54）

B. Realistic and Imaginative

As a man， Mr. Ramsay believes that the objective truth independent on mans will must exist in this chaos world， while his children resent him and believe that he does so only because he enjoys being cruel and selfish.

Unlike her husband， Mrs. Ramsay demonstrates the ability of imagination. When hearing the sound of waves， she thinks of destruction， death and the passage of time；when looking at the lighthouse， which in Mr. Ramsays opinion is just like a poem of Tennyson whom he always treats contemptuously， Mrs. Ramsay thinks of it as something that can give people endless tender feeling. All in all， Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay represent the two extremes of male and female principles.

Ⅱ. Analysis of Two Female Characters

During the reign of Queen Victoria， an ideal woman was seen as an “angel in the house” who belonged to the domestic sphere. She was thought to be a part of her husbands possession， have the obligation to run the house smoothly and raise the children.

Aiming to push the limits set by male-dominated society， claim rights equal to those enjoyed by men and exercise control over their own lives， the “new woman” took center stage in the cultural landscape of late-Victorian Britain. She “typically values self-fulfillment and independence rather than the stereotypically feminine ideal of self-sacrifice；believes in legal and sexual equality；often remains single because of the difficulty of combining such equality with marriage；has a job.” （Hossain 138）

A. Mrs. Ramsay：the Ideal Woman

As a perfect example of the “angel in the house， ” Mrs. Ramsay is a traditional woman who is devoted to the old-fashioned virtues.

First of all， Mrs. Ramsay is an obedient and supporting wife. Although she is not content with her domestic life， she still holds the idea that women could only get true happiness through proper marriage.

As the runner of the family， Mrs. Ramsay acts like a mediator who manages the family properly and links the whole family together. Her family， her husband and her children constitute her entire life. She accepts her place in the sexual hierarchy with no complaints.

Being such an important figure in the family， however， Mrs. Ramsay is silent， always. She is wise， of course. At some point， she is aware of her own power. But the interjections of domesticated anxiety undercut this power to express her own feelings and opinions. On the one hand， her husband refuses to listen， or simply treats her like an immature kid who is endowed with some “freak of idiosyncrasy.” （Woolf 24） On the other hand， it is Mrs. Ramsay who thinks herself insignificant and feels unconfident whenever she speaks because she does not like to “feel finer than her husband.” （Woolf 31）

B. Lily Briscoe （Before Transformation）：the New Woman

Living in an age when women were not economically independent， and were deprived the right to possess the capital， land or any valuable things， Woolf argued that for a woman， “to depend upon a profession is a less odious form of slavery than to depend upon a father.” （Woolf 8） Unlike Mrs. Ramsay， who takes her marriage as her life-long pursuit， Lily Briscoe is an unmarried woman with a profession.

In this novel， as a representative figure of the “New Woman， ” Lily is a brave woman who suffers the tremendous social pressure but determines not to be affected by it. Living in the age when everybody holds the idea that “an unmarried woman has missed the best of life， ” （Woolf 40） Lily exempts herself from the universal law. From her point of view， although love seems to be beautiful and exciting， but once a woman is trapped in a marriage， she losses her freedom forever.

Ⅲ. Solution：Androgyny

The American heritage Dictionary defines “androgyny” as “having female and male characteristics in one.” （Morris 49） In Woolfs perspective， the best way for a woman to achieve self-fulfillment in the patriarchal society was not to completely break away from the tie of the patriarchal ideology， but to face the reality and have the masculine and feminine characteristics combined within one person.

A. Androgyny in Woman：Lily Briscoe （After Transformation）

Just as Woolf claimed， “it is fatal to simply be a man or woman.” One must be “woman-manly” or “man-womanly.” Lily Briscoe is a perfect representation of this kind of androgynous state of being. After undergoing a drastic transformation， Lily finds a way to combine and balance what she has learnt from both Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay. At first， she despises either Mr. or Mrs. Ramsay - she not only resists the patriarchal dominance， but also rejects the conventional feminist code of behavior. But at the end of the novel， after realizing how Mrs. Ramsay is the most indispensable one that unites the whole family together and has the ability to make the moment something permanent as well as the precious aspects， such as intelligence， rationality and perseverance， of Mr. Ramsay， Lily changes her idea， ultimately embraces this kind of female traits that she has tried to suppress all this time and starts to appreciate the male characteristics. At last， the one-sided radical feminist becomes a harmonious unification of the sexes - a mixture of male independent will and female charm. She finally learns the secret of capturing the beautiful and long-lasting things from the fragmental， ephemeral materials around her while stay rational and intellectual as well. That is what Woolf called “androgynous mind.” and that explains how Lily succeeds and finally achieves her vision， eliminates all the prejudices and becomes a real artist.

B. Androgyny in Man：Mr. Ramsay

Besides Lilys androgynous character， it should be noticed that Mr. Ramsay also undergoes a drastic transition：after his wifes death， the man who once represents masculinity， rationality and uncompromisingly truthfulness now transforms into a man with the mixture of the masculine and feminine principles. In the later half of the novel， we could find that the man who used to worship the solely rational thinking now begins to try to understand and even appreciate womens perceptual way of thinking. “It was part of their extraordinary charm， ” （Woolf 245） he reflects. What is more， Mr. Ramsays transformation can also be found during their voyage to the lighthouse， when he finally manages to break the ice and improve his relationship with his kids and win respect from Lily. “It seemed as he had entered some other region.” （Woolf 229）

Ⅳ. Conclusion

From what has been discussed above， we can come to the conclusion that Virginia Woolf is a very important literary figure who wrote ahead of her time. By reading her works， we can not only have a glimpse of the lives of the traditional Victorian family， but can also see the awaking of feminist ideology. Although Woolf is recognized as the pioneer of feminism， she herself refused to acknowledge so， for she did not intended to belittle men to champion the rights of women. “Our claim was no claim of womens rights only， it was larger and deeper；it was a claim for the rights of all - all men and women - to the respect in their persons of the great principles of justice and equality and liberty.” （Woolf 71）

References：

[1]Hossain，Amir.“Re-thinking A Dolls House：A study of Post-feminism.” Journal of Education Research and Behavioral Sciences 3.1（2014）：137-142.

[2]Morris，Beja.Critical Essays on Virginia Woolf.Boston：G.K.Hall & Co.，1985.

[3]Tyson，Lois.Critical Theory Today.Taylor & Francis Group，2006.

[4]Woolf，Virginia.To the Lighthouse.Hogarth Press，1929.

作者簡介：刘璐（1993.2-），女，汉族，北京人，硕士研究生在读，现就读于首都师范大学外国语学院，英语语言文学专业。