In Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, Mr. Ramsay, a professor, philosopher, and father to eight children, is the husband to a beautiful and very admired woman, Mrs. Ramsay. He uses her as his support against his crippling doubt and constantly needs her to coddle him. However, he finds her compassion towards others annoying and cannot fully respect her because of her gender. With Mrs. Ramsay’s presence, his ego grows, and while she seems to be helping Mr. Ramsay, instead she is normalizing his outbursts of harshness and insecurities by praising him. And because she rarely directly goes against him, he paradoxically cannot respect her as a wife but depends on her too much to function normally. After Mrs. Ramsay passes away, Mr. Ramsay is forced …show more content…
Ramsay wants to take her son to the lighthouse, while Mr. Ramsay believes it is illogical. After she questions his reasoning, Mr. Ramsay thinks to himself, “The extraordinary irrationality of her remark, the folly of women 's minds enraged him. He had ridden through the valley of death, been shattered and shivered; and now, she flew in the face of facts, made his children hope what was utterly out of the question, in effect, told lies. He stamped his foot on the stone step. "Damn you," he said. But what had she said? Simply that it might be fine tomorrow. So it might.” (31-32). Just because of Mrs. Ramsay’s hopefulness, Mr. Ramsay assumes her to be irrational, but in a way that stems from her being a woman. He specifically mentions the “the folly of women’s minds”. He believes that only his gender can speak and think logically by implying that his wife is not intelligent, and her “mind” is not up to par with his. He becomes angry at her, thinking that all his hard work towards becoming a professor and writer should mean something to her. Mr. Ramsay thinks that because “he had ridden through the valley of death, been shattered and shivered” he has worked harder, equating his work to being a soldier in a war who has been broken down. In this moment, after all he has done, he thinks that he has the right to be listened …show more content…
Ramsay goes against him, and rather than supporting him “she flew in the face of facts”. By specifically choosing the verb “flew”, Woolf is invoking the image of the monster, “that fierce sudden black winged harpy, with its talons and its beak all cold and hard that struck and struck at you” (184), James saw in his father when he was a child. Because Mrs. Ramsay treats her husband as her own child, coddling him constantly, Mr. Ramsay feels attacked every time she went against him in the case of the lighthouse trip. He perceives aggressiveness from his wife, and tries to counteract that with his own. Mr. Ramsay thinks she “told lies” and begins to question her honesty. He overreacts by thinking that by not being logical, she is “[making] his children hope”, treating the situation as though she has done something awful. “He stamped his foot on the stone step,” which a very childish reaction. The significance of it once again implies that Mr. Ramsay is like another child of Mrs. Ramsay, and not his wife. It is ironic however, because before he deemed her as lower than him because of her woman’s mind, something she accepts as well,. Mr. Ramsay curses her out of frustration, but this frustration is both towards her and himself. He questions why he is so mad at her for going against his own wantings. This reveals Mr. Ramsay’s insecurity of having his wife, the woman that is there for him in his times of need, questioning his logical choices. He understands for a brief
In the captivating, mysterious, and perplexing novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, the role of women is not only a vital but a pivotal aspect throughout the life and psychological journey of Dunstan Ramsay. Robertson Davies is famous for under-developing female characters in general; not fully creating female characters the audience can entirely understand, discover and engage, at least not to the same degree with which he develops male characters. Although the portrayal of female characters is limited, their true purpose may be much more significant than it initially appears:
Jane is often very inconsistent about when she likes her husband, and when she hates him. She seems to constantly battle with the idea that her spouse is actually helping her when he tries to prevent her from doing things such as writing (Hume 6). Jane also seems to be fearful of her husband and even states so “The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John,” (Gilman 963). Jane also talks of how she is afraid...
As the story begins, the narrator's compliance with her role as a submissive woman is easily seen. She states, "John laughs at me, but one expects that in marriage" (Gilman 577). These words clearly illustrate the male's position of power in a marriage t...
1966 was a turning point in American history. It was the height of the Space Race as well as the Vietnam War. In the entertainment industry, The Beatles had released the album Revolver, the show Star Trek premiered on television, and the play Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? was adapted to film. This film was controversial for several reasons, including its depiction of violence and drinking, as well as its theme of sexuality. For a movie to take on such bold scenes and topics requires other bold cinematic choices as well. These choices included casting glamorous actors and actresses in not so glamorous roles, filming in black and white as opposed to color, and using unique cinematic film shots in various scenes. The choices that the filmmakers
Nora and Mrs. Wright’s social standing when compared to the men in each play is inferior. Both works expose their respective male characters’ sexist view of women diminishing the women’s social standing. Each work features egotistical men who have a severely inflated view of their self-worth when compared to their female counterparts. The men’s actions and words indicate they believe women are not capable of thinking intelligently. This is demonstrated in “Trifles” when Mr. Hale makes the statement about women only worrying about mere trifles. It is also apparent in “A Dollhouse” when Torvalds thinks his wife is not capable of thinking with any complexity (Mazur 17). Another common attribute is of the women’s social standing is displayed as both women finally get tired of feeling like second class citizens and stand up to the repressive people in the women’s lives (Mulry 294). Although both women share much in common in their social standing there subtle differences. Torvald’s sexist view of Nora is more on a personal level in “A Dollhouse” while the male characters’ sexist views in “Trifles” seem to be more of a social view that women are not very smart and their opinions are of little value. This attitude is apparent in “Trifles” as Mr. Hale and Mr. Henderson’s comments about Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping (Mulry 293). As the women in both works reach their emotional
The narrator also feels intimidated by his wife?s relationship with the blind man. When he is telling of her friendship with Robert h...
Unfortunately, these terms describe the narrator very accurately, but what we don't know is, why does he act this way with his wife, when it concerns Robert? It is the opinion of the writer of this essay, that the Narrator is only insecure. The relationship that his wife shares with another man is uncommon, regardless of whether or not he is blind. Although, the wife sees her communication with Robert as being harmless, and a means of expressing herself. However, on the other hand, the Narrator sees, hears and understand, that his wife has an intimate relationship with Robert. Although she will never admit it.
Constant oppression by her controlling husband leads to the story’s protagonist eventually succumbing to Identity loss. “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression-a slight hysterical tendency-what is one to do?” (519). Here Gilman illustrates early on that the woman has no voice of her own even in her own mental state. The last part of the question, “what is one to do”, seems to allude to the fact that has given in to the overassertive voice of her husband. Gilman shows us another example of our heroine’s loss of identity due to her “loving” husband’s smothering attention. “He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction” (520). John’s overbearing demeanor is viewed as careful and loving, and it is quite clear that the narrator is losing her own voice and identity. Justifying his behavior out of love he continues to belittle his wife until she loses all identity. It is the battle to regain her identity and to let her voice be heard that gives us our conflict between John and his wife.
Jane Austen completes her story with a “Cinderella ending” of Catherine and Henry marrying. However, her novel is more than a fairytale ending. Although often wrong and misguided in their judgments, she shows the supremacy of males that permeated throughout her society. Jane Austen takes us from a portrayal of men as rude, self-centered, and opinionate to uncaring, demanding, and lying to downright ruthless, hurtful, and evil. John Thorpe’s and General Tilney’s total disregard for others feelings and their villainous ways prove Austen’s point. Whether reading Northanger Abbey for the happy ending or the moral lesson, this novel has much to offer.
In Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”, the struggle to secure and proclaim female freedom is constantly challenged by social normalcy. This clash between what the traditional female ideologies should be and those who challenge them, can be seen best in the character of Lily Brisco. She represents the rosy picture of a woman that ends up challenging social norms throughout the novel to effectively achieve a sense of freedom and individuality by the end. Woolf through out the novel shows Lily’s break from conventional female in multiply ways, from a comparison between her and Mrs.Ramsey, Lily’s own stream of consciousness, as well as her own painting.
The narrator’s name is unknown through out the story, yet at the beginning the reader is given her husbands’ name (John), and the narrator’s identity through the novella is as John’s wife, who is dominated by John in their relationship. This effect created by Gillman masterfully establishes the lack of a female determined identity. He diagnoses her, and with the exception of her being tired and wanting to write, John continues to establish that her health is unwell. John is the dominant personality in the marriage he does not see her as an equal in their relationship. This is a wonderful tone and mood used to reflect the cultural norm at the time of Gillman's writing. She is not viewed as an equal, she is treated like and often referred to as being a child. When she decides that she likes a downstairs bedroom next to the nursery, John insists on her having the bedroom upstairs with the yellow wallpaper. The narrator/wife hates the color of the room and describes the color as “repellent, almost revolting” (432) When she asks for her husband to change the color, he decides to not give in to her wants, and the reader is informed that John, who knows best, does this for her benefit. It is reflective of a parent not wanting to give into their child's whims for fear the child will become spoiled and will expect to get everything they ask for. Though her husband belittles her, she still praises everything he does and sees everything he is doing for...
The opening scene of To The Lighthouse between Mr Ramsay and Mrs Ramsay displays the gender division that flows throughout this passage highlighting Woolf’s own perspective on society and sexuality between genders. Woolf supports the belief in a complete change to society resulting in a non – hierarchical society. Woolf felt for this to happen aside from the practical changes, that a radical redefinition of sexuality was also needed. The novel focuses on sexual issues of the twentieth century central to feminist campaigns, such as marriage being a form of institutionalized slavery . She brings to attention one of Freud’s most well-known theory, the oedipal conflict. The author draws upon the story of Oedipus who kills his father and marries his mother. Freud states that the daughter demands the attention of the father and the son the attention of her father. In doing so this monopolizes the love the son has for the mother at the risk of jealousy from the father, due to the dominating attention the child wants from the mother. Similarly, this oedipal triangle is formed between James and his parents. Woolf gives reference to Freud and his views on male development and family dynamics by sharing his views on the unconscious whilst talking about them in her own way. She “absorbs many of Freud’s insights about male and female gender identity, yet at the same time infected them in a manner now known as feminist.” The dialogue between the Ramsay’s and James is seen by the reader to express feelings equating to sexual intensity in the way he loves his mother and hates his father, simply by his reaction to Mr Ramsay’s comment about the foul weather. His preference for his mother over his father is clear when he states she is “ten thousa...
In the novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier tells the uncommon, suspenseful love story using a small range of characters with many different personality traits. The reader begins to feel as though they truly know these characters only to discover the unseen truth as their masks fall off. As these personalities develop throughout the novel one can discover that the narrator, Mrs. de Winter, strives to please people and feels very insecure in her identity. She tries to stick up for herself, but her words have no effect on her cruel, manipulative, controlling husband, Mr. de Winter. Mr. de Winter appears as a gentleman in the very early chapters of the book; however, the reader soon discovers that Mr. de Winter seems not to care about other people’s feelings, and that he contains controlling characteristics. Besides being controlling, he also verbally abuses his wife. In simple and plain terms, Mr. de Winter is a jerk. Later in the book, another malevolent and controlling character becomes introduced, Mrs. Danvers. Mr. de Winter’s controlling, abusive ways and Mrs. Danvers malevolent tendencies collide together as the new Mrs. de Winter strives to please them.
Consciously, Mr. Ramsey aspires to intellectual enlightenment through his philosophizing. His attitude in traveling to the Lighthouse mirrors his attitude towards attaining this goal. Mr. Ramsey has no hope that he will be able to reach either, and almost gives up both before trying, shifting the blame from him to outside forces. The trip to the lighthouse was unattainable because of conditions that do not have to do with neither him nor the goal: the weather conditions were not easily sailable. Intellectual enlightenment will be unattainable because of conditions that do not have to do with either him or the goal, as well. “He would have written better books if he had not married (Woolf 69).” His marriage and children become the scapegoat for this goal not being attained. Mr. Ramsey makes excuses for not becoming intellectually enlightened in the same vain that he makes excuses for not sailing to the Lighthouse.
Woolf presents three characters who embody three different gender roles. Mrs. Ramsay is the dutiful wife and mother. Mr. Ramsay is the domineering patriarch. Lily Briscoe is an independent, aspiring woman. Woolf sets these three roles in contrast with each other. She allows the reader to see the power and influence each character has. Mrs. Ramsay’s submissive and supportive nature arouses admiration. Mr. Ramsay’s condescending manner provokes animosity. Lily Briscoe’s independence enables her to find meaning and fulfillment in her life.