FRIENDS HERE IS MY PRESENTATION OF PAPER NO 9 MODERNIST LITERATURE

1. WELCOME EVERYONE

2. Jayati RudreshkumarThakar
Roll. No. 30
Batch 2015-2017
M.A. Semester: 3
Email Id:
jjayti.thakar94@gmail.com

3. PAPER: 09 MODERNIST
LITERATURE
‘Self- Realization’ in ‘ToThe Light-
House’ byVirginiaWoolf

4. “A Woman must have
money and a room of
her own, if she is to
write fiction.”
-VirginiaWoolf

5. Virginia Woolf She born on 25th
January, 1882.
 She grew up among
the most important
and influential British
intellectuals of her
time.
 Received free rein to
explore her father’s
library.

6.  Woolf was a prominent Literary feminine figure
of the 20th century
 Central figure of the ‘Bloomsbury group’- group
of intellect.
 She explores feminine freedom and modern
sight of a woman in her most probable works
like,
A Room of One’s own
To the Light-House

7. Self Realization

8. Translation of the Shloka
 Om, (O Lord) keep me not in the unreality, but
lead me towards the reality (eternal of the self),
 Om, (O Lord) keep me not in the darkness (of
ignorance), but lead me towards the light (of
spiritual knowledge),
 Om, (O Lord) keep me not in the fear of death
(due to the bondage of the mortal world), but
lead me towards the immortality
 Om (may there be) peace, peace, peace.

9. Light- House
 Stands alone in
ocean
 Safe guards from
troubles of sea
 Symbol of trouble
and suggests
troublesome life

10. Intro to ‘To The Light-
House’
 Written byVirginiaWoolf
 Form of work is ‘Novel’
 Genre of work is ‘Stream of Consciousness’
 Written- 1926, London
 Published in- 1927
 Anonymous Narrator

11. Defense of ‘Matriarchy’
 One of the major theme is ‘Effects of “Patriarchy”
on the creative lives of women’
 A patriarchy is a society which is a society which
is controlled by the patria, the father, or more
generally, men.
 Instead of centering her novel around the violent
abuses of power in a patriarchal society,Woolf
centers her novel around gender roles produces
on personalities and on family life.

12.  “Society, being codified by man, decrees that
woman is inferior; she can do away with this
inferiority only by destroying the male's
superiority.”
-Simone de Beauvoir

13. Self-realization in ‘To The
Light-House’

14. Mrs. Caroline Ramsey
 “One is not born
woman, but
becomes on.”
 Simon De Beauvoir

15.  Mr. Ramsey’s wife.
 Mother of eight children and a house wife.
 A beautiful and loving woman.
 An artful hostess.
 Central figure of the novel.
 Bringing people together is her special talent.
 She can beautifully manages the people with her
polite treatment especially those of a men.
 Pampering male ego
 Mr. Ramsay or James

16.  She is a traditional woman of theVictorian time.
 Her daughters are as raised as she was.
 Different treatment for sons and daughter.
 She is a bridge between Father and Children.
 An artist of a ‘Ramsey House’.
 She is a critical thinker- questions herself and her
motives and look open- eyed at her faults too.

17.  A good notice taker of her husband’s strength
and weaknesses.
 She as a socially active helper- Charity- she loves
to do. (prominent characteristic of ‘Victorian
Womanhood’)
 Woolf accords Mrs. Ramsey a great amount of
dignity.
 Rather than viewing her less than educated
because she is not firmly educated,Woolf finds a
special kind of reasoning in Mrs. Ramsey.

18.  She lived a life with selflessness
 Her comparison with ‘Fisherman’ (subverted
form of misogynic tale/myth)
 She remains the true ‘Light-House’ of Ramsey
family.
 Ultimately,
“Fifty pairs of eyes were not enough to get
round that one woman.’ (page 175)

20. Lily Briscoe
 “Man is defined as a
human being and a
woman as a female -
whenever she
behaves as a human
being she is said to
imitate the male.”
Simon De
Beauvoir

21.  A young single woman
 Friend of Ramseys
 An Artist (compared withWoolf’s sister- Painter)
 Like many ofVirginia Woolf’s main Characters,
she is.
 Having a modern eye-sight than the traditional
views of Mrs. Ramsey.
 Opposed withTansley’s views-
 “Women can’t write, women can’t paint.
 “they did nothing talk, talk, talk, eat, eat, eat.”
 She is not a great artist- who achieved success.

22.  She seems anti- social- the way she lives- not
having lot of friends
 Withal she feels the force of the social norms.
 She chooses to paint, not to marry
 Lily statistically more present than Mrs. Ramsey
 She sees Mrs. Ramsey as “unquestionably the
loveliest of people… the best perhaps”
 Yet she chafes at her imperiousness and she
laughs at her.
 Simultaneously she divines at her, “as a treasures
in the tombs of kings.” (simile for Mrs. Ramsay)

23.  After death of Mrs. Ramsey
 She give ups from painting
 As she feels in half- love with Mrs. Ramsey or the
ideals of Mrs. Ramsey
 She at last- complete her painting- Mrs.
Ramsey’s portrait
 Lily paints what inspires her and what condemns
her as a woman artist

24. Difference between
Mrs. Ramsey and Lily Briscoe
 AVictorianTraditional
Woman
 A house-wife
 A kind and gentle
 Seeking of old
traditional matrimonial
values
 A Modern woman
 An Artist and
Unmarried
 Out- spoken
 Firm on the way of her
ambitions

25. Conversation
 “TheWindow”
“Shut the doors, but open the windows.”
-Mrs. Ramsey
 Symbolically this represents the idea of
‘Threshold’.

26.  Lily:There is a difference between my and your
condition.You have children and I don’t have,
you have man and I don’t have.That you have
man to pamper and serve.
 Mrs. Ramsey:This is my household, this is my
control. I am not serving, this is my wish to do.
 This shows Mrs. Ramsay’s ego towards her
household control.
 Self- Realization in Mrs. Ramsey through her quarrel
with Mr. Ramsey for renovating their house

27.  “Time Passes”
 After death of Mrs. Ramsey, the house becomes
place of her memories
 Then everyone realizes her absence even Mr.
Ramsey and more of Lily observes the home
without Mrs. Ramsey
 She finds that beyond ten years of her death she
still present there, her soul remains present in
each thing oh the house.
 “Dearest Briscoe!You’re a fool.” - Lily

28.  Lily still struggling with the vision
 There is something missing
 At the end of the novel, she realizes that Mrs.
Ramsey is the soul of the house.
 She put .Mrs. Ramsey in the mid of the house

30. Self- Realization in Mr. Ramsey
and James
 “To the Light-House”
 At the last part finally James’ wish come true,
they decides to go to the light-house.
 Mr. Ramsey ‘s complement
 James got his desire, his light- house
 Mr. Ramsey’s realization of his responsibilities
towards his children in absence of Mrs.
Ramsey.

31. Summing up…
 In the novel Mrs. Ramsey stands as guiding
star and she remains as a ‘spiritual bridge’
even after her death.
 ToThe Light-House is a highly adventurous
book in terms of its treatment of human
consciousness.
 Temporary illusions of unanswerable
question,
 “Who Knows what we are?What we feel?

33. Thank You

34. Submitted to:
Smt. S.B.Gardi
Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University,
Bhavnagar,
Gujarat,
India.