To the Lighthouse

A detailed Summary of To the Lighthouse


To the Lighthouse, published in 1927 is one of Virginia Woolf's most successful novels written in a stream of consciousness style. The novel is divided into three parts, which revolve around the members of the Ramsey family and their guests during visits to their summer vacationing residence on the Isle of Skye. The central preoccupation within the novel however is not to be found within the lives of the characters, instead they are seen as being secondary to the overall grounding of the novel in the house itself. Woolf examines the actions of the characters and the passing of time from the perspective of the central symbol of the actual physical domestic space of the house.

The characterization of Mrs. Ramsey, who is identified as being the guardian, or the 'angel of the house', cannot be separated from the actual physical space itself. Just as the walls and doors of the house serve to keep out and protect the inhabitants from the outside world, Mrs. Ramsey works to create a domestic space where she can shield the people from the effects of modern life


Mrs. Ramsey's strife to create harmony and build up the house as a sanctuary of life is constantly thwarted by the awesomeness of the nature which surrounds the house. The beach is not the only physical thing that is being pounded by the effects of the sea. The house is beginning to slowly decay and fall apart. The effects of time have slowly begun to their damage, the greenhouse roof is falling down, and even the idea of discussing this destruction, is too much for Mrs. Ramsey. That would mean admitting to the fragility of the protective barrier of the house which she clings to. She may try to hide behind keeping up the appearance of the house by "flinging a green... shawl over the edge of a picture frame", but the futility of this action hits her when she realizes that "in two weeks it would be the color of pea soup", nothing is being protected in this house, not even colors of a shawl (39). This is further compounded in the "Time Passes' section of the novel, Woolf gives the reader a glimpse of what would happen to this sanctuary if the inhabitants were

Some common words found in the essay are:
Isle Skye, Virginia Woolf's, , natural landscape, domestic space, protective barrier, physical space, actual physical, space house, pounding waves, house ramsey, outside world,

Approximate Word count = 715
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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