Thinking Activity: To the Lighthouse


This post is in response to the questions asked here

1) "Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end." 
This statement by Woolf, in my opinion, answers the given question. Also, it is an accepted belief that the beauty of life lies in its uncertainty and imperfection. So, if Woolf was trying to capture the every day life and struggles of people, their interpersonal relationships, stream of consciousness was, and is, one of the best narrative techniques to do so. It can be agreed to a great extent that what Virginia Woolf wanted to portray or express, i.e complexity of human relationships, everyday life struggles as well as the struggles of a female artist against the middle/upper class society, etc; can only be done in the way she has done it. Stream of Consciousness, is first a psychological state and then a narrative technique. Therefore. for Woolf, what she experienced in abstractions, can only be narrated through this technique. So, for example, if the narrative shifts from James' wish to go to the lighthouse, to Mrs Ramsay's observation of him cutting out pictures from the Army and Navy catalogue, then to James' hatred towards his father, Mr Ramsay; it means that the narrator's observation includes not just one person/action, but rather, every single person/action present at that particular time/place. The very idea of a stream refers to an unbroken flow. And, the complexity of human relationships isn't a linear occurrence, nor are the every day life struggles of people. Therefore, these in my opinion can only be expressed through stream of consciousness technique.

2) Since the time of the novel's publication, Mrs Ramsay's character has remained at the center of critical discussions of the text. Mrs Ramsay, in the Indian context, matches the idea of an आदर्श बहू. She takes care of her family, arranges dinner parties for people, comforts and obeys her husband, also becomes a match-maker for some, and does all those things which 'a woman must do'. Constratingly, Lily Briscoe's character reminds us of the feminist ideology which struggles with the patriarchal society at every step of life. Now, why would Woolf want to put these two apparently different characters side by side in her novel? The answer, to a great extent, lies in the statement that the novel is a tribute and critique of Mrs Ramsay. The tribute lies in the fact that even after her death she remains alive through Lily's painting. The critique however, can be understood though the arguments presented by Andre Viola in the article Fluidity versus Muscularity: Lily's dilemma in Woolf's To the Lighthouse.  The author mentions how the Ramsay daughters, at the beginning of the novel are "presented as sporting with infidel ideas... for there was in all their minds a mute questioning of deference and chivalry." Therefore, from the very beginning, a tension is signalled in the girls regarding the pressure of their mother to conform. And Prue, who is occasionally mentioned in the novel, dies from too complete an obedience to her mother's wishes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Metaphysical poetry: critical analysis of George Herbert's Love (3)

Whether it was religion or love, the metaphysical poets had their own way of writing poetry on topics concerning the human experience. Though history doesn't speak much about them, their contribution to English literature speaks a lot. Anyways, the poet I'm going to talk about is George Herbert, one of the major metaphysical poets, with special emphasis on the critical analysis of his Love 3 . Love 3 is the last poem of Herbert's poetry collection "The Temple". Written in the form of a dialogue, the poem is the third in the series of love poems of the collection. Spending the later years of his life in religious activities, George Herbert, through this collection, wanted to draw his readers' attention to the experience of true eternal love i,e God's love. Which is why, in the earlier two poems, he explains how, the love for God is higher than the human experience of love, which mostly is an "usurping lust", in his opinion. Love 3, being the la...
Read more

Oulipo-Creativity through Constraints

Image
Imagine a blank page. Imagine that you are told to write, paint, draw, anything you wish to. At first, this exercise would make one feel happy with the fact that they are free to express whatever and however they wish to. But the next moment the same freedom would lead to confusion. What should I write about? What should I paint/draw? Without the constraint of a context, creating or inventing something would seem nearly impossible for many of us. A constraint isn't always an imposition or bondage. It can also be seen as a foundation for creative impulse. To better understand this idea, watch the following video on the power of creative constraints: The Oulipo group created by Raymond Queneau and  François Le Lionnais in Paris in 1960 championed this idea of creating literature within the constraints of linguistic, mathematical and logical boundaries. Oulipo is a French acronym for "Ouvroir de littérature potentielle" and can be translated in English as "The Workshop...
Read more

Survey: DELL Software

This post is in response to the questions (7-10 and 13) asked here 7) The five advantages of language learning through software include: Development of basic language skills Ease of assessment for the teacher The software is easy to operate, provided the tools are in good condition Teachers can also easily monitor learners' performance Convenient for group work 8) Following are the disadvantages of the language learning software: Inconvenience of time and place Affordability and availability of digital tools Lack of awareness regarding the usage of the software and the usage of the digital tools 9) Following are the few things related to language skills which can be learnt from the software: Communication skills A good vocabulary Standard accent and pronunciation patterns 10) Following are the five new words, in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation, learnt during the survey: Wonk Psychometric Veneer Xerophthalmia Debonair 13) Comparatively, the N...
Read more