This document discusses Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse and provides a feminist analysis of two central female characters, Mrs. Ramsey and Lily Briscoe. It describes Mrs. Ramsey as representing traditional Victorian womanhood and gender roles through her focus on marriage and domestic duties. Lily Briscoe is presented as a modern woman and role model who rejects patriarchal constraints and pursues her dream of becoming an artist. The document examines how Woolf uses these contrasting characters to reflect the social conditions faced by women in that era and promote her feminist views.

1. Feministic study of Mrs. Ramsey and Lily Briscoe
Name: Jinal B. Parmar
Roll no:11
Paper no:09 the modernist
literature
M. A. Semester:3
Year:2014-15
PG Enrolment no: PG13101025
Email ID:
jinal.parmar989883@gmail.com
Submitted to: Department of
English
Smt. S. B. Gardi
M. K. Bhavnagar University
Dt.:1/10/2014

2. Feministic study of Mrs. Ramsey and
Lily Briscoe

3. Introduction of Virginia Woolf
•Woolf was a English writer and one
of the modernist female writer of the
20th century
• Central figure of the Bloomsbury
Group of intellectual
• In her essay “A room of one’s own”
in which there she gave famous dictum:
• “A woman must have money and a
room of her own if she is to write
fiction”

4. Definition of Feminism
“The movement of feminism
aimed to establishing and
defending equal political,
social and economic rights
and equal opportunities for
women”
“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”
-Simone de Beauvoir

5. Introduction: To the Lighthouse
• Published in, 1927
• Divided into three parts
• To the Lighthouse centers on the
family of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey
• To the Lighthouse take on some
elements of Woolf’s own life
• Woolf describe strong male dominated
society through the character of Mr.
Ramsey and Charles Tansley
• Virginia Woolf wrote about this novel
that – “I suppose that I did this work
for myself.”

6. Quotes of Virginia Woolf

7. Character of Mrs. Ramsey
• Mrs. Ramsey is the central character
• Mrs. Ramsey, a woman belonging to the
Victorian age
• Mrs. Ramsey portrayed in image of
fertility and softness
• Mrs. Ramsey is totally different from the
character of Lily Briscoe
• She is a match maker and gives much
importance to the marriage
• According to her all men and all women
should definitely be married

8. Character of Lily Briscoe
• Lily also a centre character of the
novel
• In the novel Lily is portray as a “New
Woman”
• Lily is inspired by Woolf’s sister
Vanessa Bell to be a painter
• Lily is totally oppose from Mrs.
Ramsey but in someway she wants to be
like Mrs. Ramsey

9. Feministic study of Mrs. Ramsey and Lily
•In this novel Virginia reflects these two
characters reflects transparently the era and
procure a clear understanding of social
condition of women in that time
• Woolf describe such woman as utterly
unselfish who sacrifices herself daily
• Mrs. Ramsey pays attention her role as
house wife
• Mrs. Ramsey is a anti-hero of Woolf
• Mrs. Ramsey is the idealized woman type
according to Victorian values

10. Continue……
• Woolf represents Lily as a role model for
women she defies the patriarcal society
• Lily ignores the patriarcal rules and she
aims to take her social role with her with
becoming an artist
• Lily is the struggling female artist
• Tansley is very self centered character
• According to him, “Women can’t paint
and Write”
• Lily thinks that, women in traditional
marriage of that time is in fact kind of
‘SLAVE’ and considered as “SELF
ABASEMENT”

11. Vanessa Bell
Lily is inspired by Woolf’s sister Vanessa Bell to be a painter
Lily Briscoe

12. Woolf reflects her
own life in the
character of Lily as
modern woman
Woolf reflects her
own pain in the
character of Mrs.
Ramsey

13. Continue…
• In the novel Woolf’s concept of women’s role
in life is crystallized in the character of Mrs.
Ramsey whose attributes are those of major
female figures in Pagan myth
• If Mrs. Ramsey resembles Rhea, she appears
almost an incarnation of Demeter
• Woolf has connected these myths with the
character of Mrs. Ramsey.
• To explain the role of Mrs. Ramsey as
mother, and as wife Woolf compares with the
myth with the character of Mrs. Ramsey

14. Continue…..
•Woolf in the Feministic criticism
Considering women’s ability and necessity in
male-dominated society,
•“An important precursor in Feminism was
Virginia
Woolf… on the culture, economic, and
educational
disability within what she called a
‘patriarchal’
society have hindered or prevented from
realizing
their productive and creative possibilities.”

15. Conclusion
•Lily is idealized woman for Woolf
• Lily is one of the few characters who
maintains their existence by the end of
novel
• Mrs. Ramsey is totally contrast to the
Lily
• Woolf’s application of Stream of
Consciousness technique gives the reader a
chance to observe mind of women of that
period

16. Thank You …