5. Characters “To the Lighthouse”, Virginia Woolf takes the readers in a journey to the true nature of relationships, through the prospect of many different characters, especially in the first chapters of the novel, it is difficult to know the character who Woolf is speaking, from which perspective she is talking, but as the novel goes on, it becomes obvious to clarify each character.
Major Characters
Mrs. Ramsay From the start of the of the novel, Mrs. Ramsay is the principal character, she is as the centre of the house, she controls the novel in the first part “The Window” through her role as a successful mother and wife. In the lyrical part “Time Passes” Mrs. Ramsay died, and the fact of her death caused a great battle in the other …show more content…
He was one of the leaders of literature in his time, due to his contribution to philosophy in one book, besides his success in the field of literature and philosophy he was feeling that he is failed in some extent, as if he did not done what he should do. His strong personality does not stop him from demanding sympathy, because the way he was bagging for sympathy from his wife in the first section, then from Lily at the last one makes him looks comic and sad. In the first part “The Window”, the character of Mr. Ramsay appeared so harsh and severe, especially when he strongly tells James that the weather won’t be fine to enable them to go to the lighthouse as it is given in the novel: “But, said his father, stopping in front of the drawing-room window, “it won’t be fine”. (Zoubida. B, 2014, pg 25-30 ) Mr. Ramsay was a man who considers himself a truthful man, he thought himself that he could not make mistakes as the following quotation shows: “what he said was true. He was incapable of untruth; never tampered with a fact, Never alerted a disagreeable word to suit the pleasure or convenience of any mortal Being, least of all his own children”. His strong manner of treating his children is because he wants them to know that life is not a bed of roses, and facts are strong as it needs courage and the power to carry on. …show more content…
In the first section, she appeared as an artist who cared about her art, and devoted less importance to marriage and family life. For her marriage and family are no more important than her artistic activities, that the artist in her personality comes before the woman in her. This is why she was shocked when Charles Tansley supports the idea that women could neither write nor paint. Lily Briscoe rejected the fixed picture of woman that was presented by Mrs. Ramsay, in which Virginia Woolf was claver in presenting Lily’s role as an outsider, who attempts to value her artistic soul over the idea of marriage. However it was difficult to stand against the limited expectations of society. Throughout the novel, Lily was suffering from gender inequality and male injustice upon women in that society, as if she was challenging the fact that she could pick up her paintbrush and start painting, it was also the case for manifesting a hidden sense of guilt presented in her personal independence from a male’s domination society. (Zoubida. B, 2014, pg 25-30 ) Lily’s first appearance in the novel gives a clear qualification of her social status as an outsider of the Ramsay’s family, she was first introduced, when she decided to paint a portrait for Mrs. Ramsay and her son James , who were sitting in the openly transparent window of the cottage. By using literary and figuratively language, Woolf represented the fact of looking through the window
Major Characters
Mrs. Ramsay From the start of the of the novel, Mrs. Ramsay is the principal character, she is as the centre of the house, she controls the novel in the first part “The Window” through her role as a successful mother and wife. In the lyrical part “Time Passes” Mrs. Ramsay died, and the fact of her death caused a great battle in the other …show more content…
He was one of the leaders of literature in his time, due to his contribution to philosophy in one book, besides his success in the field of literature and philosophy he was feeling that he is failed in some extent, as if he did not done what he should do. His strong personality does not stop him from demanding sympathy, because the way he was bagging for sympathy from his wife in the first section, then from Lily at the last one makes him looks comic and sad. In the first part “The Window”, the character of Mr. Ramsay appeared so harsh and severe, especially when he strongly tells James that the weather won’t be fine to enable them to go to the lighthouse as it is given in the novel: “But, said his father, stopping in front of the drawing-room window, “it won’t be fine”. (Zoubida. B, 2014, pg 25-30 ) Mr. Ramsay was a man who considers himself a truthful man, he thought himself that he could not make mistakes as the following quotation shows: “what he said was true. He was incapable of untruth; never tampered with a fact, Never alerted a disagreeable word to suit the pleasure or convenience of any mortal Being, least of all his own children”. His strong manner of treating his children is because he wants them to know that life is not a bed of roses, and facts are strong as it needs courage and the power to carry on. …show more content…
In the first section, she appeared as an artist who cared about her art, and devoted less importance to marriage and family life. For her marriage and family are no more important than her artistic activities, that the artist in her personality comes before the woman in her. This is why she was shocked when Charles Tansley supports the idea that women could neither write nor paint. Lily Briscoe rejected the fixed picture of woman that was presented by Mrs. Ramsay, in which Virginia Woolf was claver in presenting Lily’s role as an outsider, who attempts to value her artistic soul over the idea of marriage. However it was difficult to stand against the limited expectations of society. Throughout the novel, Lily was suffering from gender inequality and male injustice upon women in that society, as if she was challenging the fact that she could pick up her paintbrush and start painting, it was also the case for manifesting a hidden sense of guilt presented in her personal independence from a male’s domination society. (Zoubida. B, 2014, pg 25-30 ) Lily’s first appearance in the novel gives a clear qualification of her social status as an outsider of the Ramsay’s family, she was first introduced, when she decided to paint a portrait for Mrs. Ramsay and her son James , who were sitting in the openly transparent window of the cottage. By using literary and figuratively language, Woolf represented the fact of looking through the window