Feminism in "To The Lighthouse" Paper No.-9
Name :- Gohil Devangiba A.
Roll No. :- 14
M.A Sem. :- 3
Paper No. : - 9 ( The Modernist Literature )
Topic :- Feminism in "To The Lighthouse"
Submitted to Department of English Maharaja Krisnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University
What
is Feminism?
Feminism is a
social theory or movement with the purpose of advancing the status of females
and protecting their legal rights due to the sexual discriminations and
inequalities in the man-dominated society. The word "feminism" was
first used by Charles Fourier in 1837 and since then it has been gradually
known by people in the world. “Feminism represents one of the most important
social, economic, and aesthetic revolutions of modern times.” As a matter of
fact, the history of feminist movements consists of three "waves”. The
First Feminism Wave took place at the turn of the 20th century, in which
Virginia Woolf was a prominent representative. During this period, women’s
suffrage movements was organized to defend women’s right to vote. Then,
accompanied by the women’s liberation movement, the second wave was unveiled in
the 1960s. The focus of this wave was women’s legal and social equality against
patriarchy. As a continuation of the second wave, third-wave feminism began in
the early 1990s.
Feminism in "To The
Lighthouse"
Virginia Woolf has been criticized by many
for her feminist streak in her works .Her A Room of Her Own though praised for
her illuminating facts and regarded as one of the greatest feminist classic of
the century made her a target and some of the critics even felt her wok
suffered because of her feminism. .But, what her critics ignore, is the fact
that what was close to her heart was the androgynous nature of the creative
artist. This paper aims at highlighting an important fact about Woolf’s
creative instinct which was against this dichotomy of male and female and projected
the unity of mind, which took both the male and female perceptions to create a
new artistic experience in all its spirit .the paper is also my tribute to my
favorite writer who is and always be my inspiration to continue to look at
every work with both sides of the spectrum and not just my own female
experience. To the Lighthouse seemed to be an appropriate work to explicitly
show the androgynous mind of Woolf with its symbolic character, themes and
stream of consciousness.
To the Lighthouse, although unremarkable
in character depiction by today's standards, was a radical departure from the
norm in the period in which it was written. At that time, women were expected
to conform to tradition, to remain subservient to men. Virginia Woolf, in
creating Lily Briscoe defied convention by allowing her to assert her
independence. While the novel remained traditional in the sense that it
included female characters who deferred to men, the inclusion of a woman such
as Briscoe, an independent thinker, shocked many readers in the Modernist
Era.
As a woman writer, Virginia Woolf formed her unique feminine
consciousness which was rooted in her life experiences and social background
back then. In her lifetime, she dedicated herself to the feminist literary
criticism and uttered women’s rights through her works. Marcus claims that:
Woolf’s relationship with feminism is a symbiotic one. Her explicit feminist
politics, her concern and fascination with gender identities and with other
women’s lives, histories, and fictions have shaped her writing
profoundly.
Character of Mrs. Ramsay
In this novel Virginia Woolf’s concept of
woman’s role in life is crystallized in the character of Mrs Ramsay who is
indeed Woolf’s summary of the nineteenth century ideologies of motherhood.Mrs
Ramsay is not merely goodness or light spirit, and spell, she is more than this
and more than the main spring of the novel: She is the meaning of the novel.
This Interpretation, also relates this work, Virginia Woolf’s finest as an
artist, to her fundamental convictions as a woman.
Mrs. Ramsay is
a symbol of the female principle in life. Clothed in beauty, an intuitive
principle in life and fructifying force, she opposes the logical but arid and
sterile male principle. Her influence works towards the mating of men and women
toward their becoming fruitful like herself. Her function is the same on the
intellectual level, for she gives her protection and inspiration to both art
and science. to Lily Briscoe the painter she gives stimulus and understanding,
to Carmichael the post she gives haven from squalor and a shrewish wife, to
Ramsay the philosopher she supplies love, comfort and reassurance, to Tansley
the graduate students she offers protection for a personality rubbed raw by
insecurity; to Banks the botanist she renders affection and respite from a widowed
life and priest like devotion to science.”
It
is women’s duties to produce offspring and take care of the family because
marriage is considered as the most important thing for them in Victorian age.
Perhaps, this is the reason why Mrs. Ramsay is so enthusiastic about making
matches. Indeed, she strongly believes that only by getting married can women
achieve felicity. Thus, she keeps on persuading young people to get married.
For example, she insists Lily should marry, saying that “an unmarried
woman has missed the best of life.” Actually, Mrs. Ramsay’s unshakable faith in
marriage precisely demonstrates the limitations of women at that time. Such
short-sightedness can even lead to tragedy like the unhappy marital life between
Paul and Minta whose marriage is arranged by Mrs. Ramsay.
According
to Lily Briscoe she was great at pulling together her family. But by doing so,
she smoothed over all of the complexities and individual interests of her
children and her friends in favour of a greater whole. Mr. Ramsay is an overt
bully, but Mrs Ramsay quietly influences people to take the shape that she
wants them to take, in the name of a greater idea.
Character
of Lily
Briscoe
Lily has suffocated the “angel in the house”. But Virginia Woolf suggests that if women want to have their own values, in addition to kill the angel in the house, they have to tell the truth about their own experiences as a body. As an awakening woman with feminine consciousness, Lily takes painting as life career to tell the truth inside herself. Nonetheless, her pursuit of art is incompatible with the men-dominating values because art is exclusive to males. Under such circumstances, the process for Lily to realize her values is full of obstacles. Frequently, she is haunted by the voice of Charles Tansley, “Women can’t write women can’t paint”, which distracts her from her works. Despite such distain, she also suffers from the annoying interruptions of Mr. Ramsay who often dampens her enthusiasm. Gradually, the pressure from patriarchy shakes her confidence. Lily hesitates to show her inner thought on her canvas, “she kept a feeler on her surroundings lest someone should creep up, and suddenly she should find her picture looked at.” In some senses, Lily’s quandary implies the path to women’s liberation is arduous since the biased attitudes towards women have been deeply embedded in the society.
Consequently, when Mr. Ramsay turns to Lily for sympathy, instead of refusing him directly, she said, “Ah, but what beautiful boots you wear!” Although it is just simple praise, Mr. Ramsay is surprised and delighted at the change of Lily who begins to give her solace to men. Both of them are relieved and satisfied. In this way, the two sexes achieve harmony.
Conclusion:-
Here is so many things related with feminism are found in novel, this is only fling view of it. We also found Virginia try to connect Greek mythology in the book. In Greek goddess are in center. Here we compare character of Mrs. Ramsay with three Greek mythical characters like Rhea, Demeter and Persephone. Mrs. Ramsay is symbol of female principal in her life. Many women in novel either or silently subvert conventional female gender roles. We found that the three daughter of Mrs. Ramsay's daughter silently reject the life that their mother chose for her. They want to live their life as Lily live.
Woof’s feminine thoughts, be it obscure or be it radical, have profound insights which are well worth studying. Through the analysis of To the Lighthouse from the perspective of feminism, this paper demonstrates that only by balancing masculinity and femininity to reach androgyny, can women free themselves from the patriarchal society and realize self-fulfillment. In that case, a harmonious world, which Woolf advocated, is no longer an illusion but a better place. The essence of To the Lighthouse is harmony. Instead of being antagonistic towards each other, women and men should live in peace to achieve integrity, which is indeed the real perception of Woolf’s feminism.
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