To The Lighthouse published in 1927, by Virginia Woolf.
Set directly before and after World War I, the story follows the lives of a small group of people, (specifically Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lily Briscoe) as they navigate through their daily lives each facing and striving to overcome their individual conflicts while in the Isle of Skye, of the Hebrides (a group of islands west of Scotland) on vacation. But before I go more in depth regarding this group of people and their struggles, I will first provide some context (plus my presentation wasn’t long enough).
The author Virginia Woolf was born into a upper-class English household in 1882 as Virginia Stephen and had three full siblings and 4 half siblings, for the first thirteen years of her life she and her family would spent every summer at their summer home called Talland House, located in St. Ives, a beach town, memories of this place eventually find its way into To The Lighthouse. Known as one of the most prominent modernist writers to date, and famous for her non-linear writing style (when you write scenes and sections in a non-chronological order), so it’s to be expected there’s some fundamental differences to what is typically present in a novel like those of the very structured Victorian Era norm opposed to what’s present in “To The Lighthouse”. For instance, in this novel there isn’t really a protagonist, which is in part due to the anonymous narrator (who focuses on one character at a time) often transitioning from one character’s perceptions to another as demonstrated in my passage, the point of view changing from that of Lily Briscoe to Charles Tansley.
But the novel does have main characters, Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lily Briscoe. An accomplished m...
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...el better like Mr. Ramsay) and is troubled at the thought of one such work ending up forgotten in an attic. Her lack of confidence and resolve is shown to gradually dissipate as one gets closer towards the end of the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys or doesn’t mind reading metaphors, figurative language, and tangents. One may also want to possess a rather advanced vocabulary or else you might end up in the same situation I was in, using the dictionary every 2-3 pages I read of the book. That being said, this book is written in a beautifully poetic and rhythmic manner; and is the first novel I read that managed to blend the human thought and action so naturally.
This concludes my book report. It’s time for the next victim I mean presenter.
(though that may be because it’s the first novel I’ve read in the stream of consciousness genre).
I would recommend this book to people who love realistic stories. Personally for me it is hard to find books that interest me and this one felt like if I was watching someone else's life while I read it. It has so many interesting points. When you think something might happen
The book Fifth Business by Robertson Davies is written from the point of view of the narrator; a man named Dunstable Ramsay. From the readers’ perspective, we see him to be the main character, but as the novel progresses, he and those he encounters start to see him as fifth business. The novel shows and follows Dunstan Ramsay in his pursuit for self-knowledge, and ultimately fulfilling his role as ‘Fifth Business’ in the eyes of a number of people. It is evident that throughout the novel, he reminds himself and the reader that in fact his life and the lives of those who are close to him do not necessarily revolve around him however he still plays a large part in influencing their respective lives. The novel constantly shows instances where guilt and competition play roles in shaping character’s decisions.
There are a few minor characters in the story. There’s Clarisse and there are the firemen. The firemen are only mentioned to give you a better perspective of their world. They are very obedient and don’t seem to have minds of their own. Their personalities are not shown and they don’t really play a significant role in the novel. Clarisse, however, is a big player. She is the reason that Montag decides to quit and print books instead. She is used to get things going and ignite the rebellion, but she is soon killed off. So, she doesn’t have a big enough role to be considered a major character. Most of the minor character4s are there to show contrast with some major characters. This way, you have a better insight as to who they really are.
My overall opinion of this book is good I really liked it and recommend it to anyone. It is a good book to read and it keep you interested throughout the whole book.
This is my personal reflection about this book. First and foremost, I would like to say that this book is very thick and long to read. There are about nineteen chapters and 278 pages altogether. As a slow reader, it is a quite hard for me to finish reading it within time. It took me weeks to finish reading it as a whole. Furthermore, it is written in English version. My English is just in average so sometimes I need to refer to dictionary for certain words. Sometimes I use google translate and ask my friends to explain the meaning of certain terms.
Agency according to the Oxford English Dictionary is the, “Ability or capacity to act or exert power,” (“Agency’). In marriage this is an interesting concept as there are only two parties involved in a marriage. Each party desires control; however there is often an imbalance of power. In many of modernist works there is a clear investigation into the agency of women in marriage. Many women lacked agency in marriage at this time, such as the inability to make decisions about their children or the expectation that their only role was to clean the house and cook. However, in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf wives maintain their agency in these oppressive martial relations through different methods: Janie gains agency through her internal and external rebellion and Mrs. Ramsay exerts her agency through her ability to change perceptions and through the careful choice of her words. These methods of maintaining agency although are different reveal a similar idea: it is important for women to keep their agency in marriage even if it is often very challenging and is sustained in less apparent ways.
Virginia Woolf, in her novels, set out to portray the self and the limits associated with it. She wanted the reader to understand time and how the characters could be caught within it. She felt that time could be transcended, even if it was momentarily, by one becoming involved with their work, art, a place, or someone else. She felt that her works provided a change from the typical egotistical work of males during her time, she makes it clear that women do not posses this trait. Woolf did not believe that women could influence as men through ego, yet she did feel [and portray] that certain men do hold the characteristics of women, such as respect for others and the ability to understand many experiences. Virginia Woolf made many of her time realize that traditional literature was no longer good enough and valid. She caused many women to become interested in writing, and can be seen as greatly influential in literary history
This was a great book, but took me a lot longer to finish then most, simply because of how upsetting some of the things talked about are. If you’re look for a book that will make you think, and bring tears to you’re eyes, and teach you a thing or two a highly recommend this book, and might actually read it again myself. Hopeful my eyes can stay dry this time.
This book is a very interesting read, if you have some self discipline. I mean that you need some self discipline because this book didn’t really captivate me in the sense that I couldn’t put it down. But after reading it for a while, I started to appreciate the author’s way of describing the characters and actions in this book.
Religion, myth, and magic are intertwined in Dunstan Ramsay’s life, crucial to the completion of Ramsay as a person through the wonder they inspire. Dunstan Ramsay’s family, especially Dunstan’s authoritative mother, is the epitome of Scottish Presbyterianism in Dunstan’s life. The Scots are the paragons of common sense and prudence – they are not allowed the "usual failings normally associated with the human condition,"1 and Dunstan is indeed acutely aware of any shortcomings he might have. Though Dunstan declares that "the Scottish practicality that [he has] imitated from [his] parents [is] not really in grain with [him]"2, the "chilly Presbyterian ethos"3 remains. When he dodges Percy Boyd Staunton’s snowball and it hits Mary Dempster – which causes the premature birth of Paul and the "madness" of Mary – Dunstan is tortured by guilt, for he is "a Presbyterian child and [he knows] a good deal about damnation"4....
To the Lighthouse is an autobiographical production of Virginia Woolf that captures a modern feminist visionary thrusted in a patriarchal Victorian society, as embodied by Lily Briscoe. Lily’s unique feminist vision and her ability to transcend artistic and patriarchal conventions progressively allows her to locate her quest for identity as an aestheticized epiphany journey. However, no matter how Woolf attempts to present Lily’s aestheticized exploration of her identity as a radical opposition to patriarchy alone, therein lies a specific aspect of feminism that Lily secretly wants to achieve. Therefore, I argue that although Lily is a symbolic rebel of patriarchal conventions who strives for women individuality, she brings her struggles a
...msay’s death, Lily is able to reject the ideals of marriage and family that Mrs. Ramsay represented and choosing to remain unmarried and pursue her art (Koppen 386).
The novel explores gender roles through the characters of Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay, and Lily. Each of these characters embodies different views in regards to gender roles. The readers are taken into their minds and thoughts and are allowed to see what each character views is the role of his/her gender.
Throughout her life Virginia Woolf became increasingly interested in the topic of women and fiction, which is highly reflected in her writing. To understand her piece, A Room of One’s Own Room, her reader must understand her. Born in early 1882, Woolf was brought into an extremely literature driven, middle-class family in London. Her father was an editor to a major newspaper company and eventually began his own newspaper business in his later life. While her mother was a typical Victorian house-wife. As a child, Woolf was surrounded by literature. One of her favorite pastimes was listening to her mother read to her. As Woolf grew older, she was educated by her mother, and eventually a tutor. Due to her father’s position, there was always famous writers over the house interacting with the young Virginia and the Woolf’s large house library.
A lighthouse is a structure that warns and navigates ships at night as they near land, creating specific signals for guidance. In Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, the Lighthouse stands a monument to motivation for completion of long-term goals. Every character’s goals guides him or her through life, and the way that each person sees the world depends on goals they make. Some characters’ goals relate directly to the Lighthouse, others indirectly. Some goals abstractly relate to the Lighthouse. The omnipresent structure pours its guiding light over every character and every action.