Gender Roles Essay

Register to read the introduction… Ramsay represents the traditional male gender role. He is a dominating husband and father. At the very opening, James is furious at his father. Mr. Ramsay excites the “extremes of emotions” in his children. James is so upset at not being able to go to the lighthouse that he wishes to kill his father. It seems to him that Mr. Ramsay takes pleasure in “disillusioning his son and casting ridicule upon his wife”. Mr. Ramsay is a stern, authoritative father. He believes that his children should understand, at a young age, that “life is difficult”. He therefore does not pamper them, but instead brings them up with a firm hand. As a result, his children, especially James, resent him. James hates his father “for his exactingness and egotism”. He often stands “commanding them to attend to him”. Even years later, James views his father as a tyrant. As he, Cam, and Mr. Ramsay make their way to the lighthouse, James and Cam have a “compact” not to yield to their father. They give him the silent treatment, not speaking to, or even smiling at, him. James feels that he must “fight the tyrant” and should “resist tyranny to the death”. Cam can never forget the “crass blindness and tyranny of his which had poisoned her childhood”. She still wakes up in the night “trembling with rage” as she remembers “some command of his” or his “insolence” and “dominance”. He also demanded that his children “submit” to …show more content…
Lily disregards traditional gender roles and lives her life as she pleases. Mrs. Ramsay recognizes that Lily is an “independent little creature”. Lily has no desire to marry; she “would never marry”. Lily is aware that Mrs. Ramsay desires to match her with William Bankes. However, Lily declares to herself that “she need not marry”. She views marriage as a “degradation” and a “dilution”. Lily prefers to “be alone” and to “be herself”. Lily knows that marriage would mean sacrificing her independence and her identity. Lily refuses to fulfill the traditional female role by offering Mr. Ramsay sympathy. She is determined that “she could not do it”. The “pressure on her was tremendous”, but she “remained stuck”. Lily realizes that any other woman would have sympathized with Mr. Ramsay. By refusing to conform to traditional gender roles, Lily realizes that, according to her society, she is “not a woman”, but a “peevish, ill-tempered, dried-up old maid”. It is “immensely to her discredit” as a woman to “stand there