1. VIRGINIA WOLF:
the tra science of life and work : Mr Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay take completely different approaches to life :
he relies on his intellect. While she depends on her emotions. But they share the knowledge that the world
around them is trascient that nothing lasts forever. Mr ramsay reflects than even the most enduring of
reputations, such as Shakespeare’s , are doomed to eventual oblivion.
-Mr Ramsay is a keenly aware as her husband of the passage of time and of mortality. Mr ramsay is bowed
by the weight of his own demise, Mrs.Ramsay is fueled with the need to make precious and memorable.
ART AS A MEANS OF PRESERVATION:
- In the face of existence that is inherently without order or meaning, Mr and Mrs. Ramsay employ
different strategies for making their lives significant
- Mr. Ramsay devotes himself to his progression through the course of human though, while
- Mrs. Ramsay cultivates memorable experiences from social interactions
- Only Lily Briscoe finds a way to preserve her experience, and that way is through her art. As lily
begins her portrait of Mrs. ramsay at the beginning of the novel , Woolf notes the scope of the
project: Lily means to order and connect elements that have no necessary relation in the
world-“hedged and houses and mothers and children.
-Art is, perhaps the only hope of surety in a world destined and determinate to change : for , while
mourning Mrs. ramsay’s death and painting on the lawn, Lily reflects that nothing stays, alla changes , but
not words, not paint
GENDER ISSUES:
-to the lighthouse is autobiographical in the presentation of the characters. As a matter of fact the Ramsay
are modeled on Woolf’s parents and the setting on the summer house they had in St Ives, Cornwaal.
Through tha couple Woolf explores the relationship between male and female, husband and wife, man nd
woman.
- Mr ramsay in rational, intellectual , his life revolves around philosophy while
- His wife is extremely beautiful , emotional and intuitive. Woolf’s critical position on this subject is made
clear when she attributes images of light and fertility to Mrs Ramsay, division and sterility o Mr Ramsay.

2. Even the most important symbol of the book , the sea and the lighthouse , can be interpretated ad
feminine fluidity and masculinity rigidity .
THE LIGHTHOUSE:
It is the reflection of the impression that life is chaotic and unharmonious with its rhythm of light and dark
-through the novel it means something different to each character. On the one hand, It is a positive symbol
linked to light, comfort , hoper and enthusiasm, a reference point in a changing world. On the other hand, it
is the inaccessible destination leading to frustration and threatening danger
- Only at the end of the novel James realizes that ot has 2 competing and contradictory images. He
decides that both of these images contribute to its essence , that nothing is ever only one thing an
awareness that, objective reality does not exist but differs from moment to moment
Es pas 146 147 148