Autobiographical Artistry: To the Lighthouse, an Elegy by Virginia Woolf

  

 

Autobiographical Artistry: To the Lighthouse, an Elegy by Virginia Woolf

by Vicky L. Oldham, October 15, 2021

 

Virginia Woolf's novel, To the Lighthouse, may feel more like an exquisitely detailed piece of visual art than a literary work.  Her long meandering sentences form striking, sometimes perplexing imagery, and one almost feels the sensation of watching, even acting, in a technicolor film.  Woolf peers into the minds of her characters, revealing their innermost thoughts in an almost literal fashion.  Her writing style, referred to as "stream of consciousness," illustrates the freewheeling internal monologue that everyone experiences while thinking to themselves.  At first, ideas and impressions appear to meander erratically, but they eventually realign, just as the messages in our minds seem to intertwine effortlessly toward some overall meaning.  Once captivated by Woolf's distinctive subjective style, interpreting the story's subtle meanings invites an exploration of its symbolic language and historical references.  Delving into the life of Virginia Woolf, one learns that of all her works, To the Lighthouse stands alone as an autobiographical elegy, reflecting the relationships within her own family and close acquaintances.  On a different level, the novel encapsulates Woolf's personal struggle to overcome the challenges and prejudices affecting women artists in repressed, Victorian-era society. 

Woolf's Beginnings: A Frame of Reference

Born January 25, 1882, in London, Adeline Virginia Stephen (Virginia Woolf) was the seventh child belonging to an affluent blended family with eight children.  Both parents had previously suffered the deaths of their former spouses; three children were Virginia's full siblings, and the eldest four were half-siblings from her parents' prior marriages.  From 1882 to 1894, Virginia Stephen's family spent the summer months at the Talland House, a cliffside ocean retreat at Cornwall, along the English coast.  A near-replica of the Ramsays' summer place in To the Lighthouse, the home was surrounded by gardens and orchards, overlooking the St. Ives Bay.  Magically, several windows framed the distant Godrevy Lighthouse (Licence, 2015).  When she was only thirteen, Virginia lost her beloved mother, Julia, and she encountered her first bout with what would become a lifelong battle with a debilitating mental illness.  She married Leonard Woolf in 1912, and together, they founded the Hogarth Press.  Leonard proved to be an unwavering life partner and supporter of Virginia's work.  He stood by her through all adversity, especially during times in her life when mental illness returned and left her bedridden, unable to cope.  Despite facing societal prejudice, episodes of mental breakdown, and insecurity regarding her writing ability, Woolf ultimately found her voice and received acclaim as a writer during her lifetime. 

The Ramsays: Echoes of Woolf's Parents

Woolf's mother, Julia Stephen, epitomized the quintessential Victorian-era wife and mother, just as Woolf's fictional character Mrs. Ramsay is portrayed.  Part one of To the Lighthouse, "The Window," depicts Mrs. Ramsay in the central protagonist role, but by the second part, "Time Passes," Mrs. Ramsay has died abruptly and unexpectedly.  Similarly, Woolf's mother Julia passed away in mid-life at age 49 (in 1895), leaving her husband and eight children behind.  Although Julia represented the status quo for women in the late 19^th century, she also provided an immeasurable source of strength and reliability on which her large family depended. 

Mr. Ramsay, mirroring Woolf's father, Leslie Stephen, never fully recovered from the loss of his wife and turned, unsuccessfully, to his children for sympathy and comfort.  Leslie was an author, critic, and historian from a distinguished family; intellectual yet insecure, temperamental, and emotionally vulnerable, he both supported and discouraged his daughter's academic pursuits.  Such mixed messages undoubtedly stemmed from expectations imposed on gender roles during the last century. 

Women "Can't Paint, Can’t Write"

Woolf expresses the dilemma facing creative women through her character Lily Briscoe, an unmarried, 44-year-old woman artist and guest at Ramsays' summer home.  Lily is attempting to paint a portrait of Mrs. Ramsay but is initially foiled by uncertainty constructing the composition, having difficulty balancing the design.  Although Lily feels mesmerized by Mrs. Ramsay's beauty, she avoids her enthusiasm for matchmaking couples, preferring her identity as a single woman artist who believes that art is as equally worthy a contribution as marriage and motherhood.  Presenting the problems facing creative women, Woolf poses the question: "Does a woman have to give up her artistic vision in favor of becoming a perfect wife and mother? Does a woman miss the best in life if she chooses not to confront these prejudices?" (Munca, 2009, p. 8).  Complicating matters, an offhand sentiment by the Ramsays' guest, Charles Tansley, provokes Lily's angst, challenging her confidence with his whispered comment: "Women can't paint, can't write" (Woolf, 1927, chapter 9, para. 7). This line is repeated often in Lily's mind.  It provides an anchoring phrase to associate with Tansley's identity, his shortcomings made vivid through repetition, underscoring his narrow thinking and intolerance. 

The sting of condescending attitudes and preconceived expectations aimed at women in Victorian society negatively affect Lily's ability to complete her painting.  Not until ten years have passed can she return to the Ramsays' summer home, intending to complete her portrait.  However, her insecurity remains due to the presence of Mr. Ramsay (a similar discomfort Woolf felt with her father, Leslie Stephen).  Lily finds it impossible to work while Mr. Ramsay engages her.  We soon realize that her confidence depends on an additional perspective yet to come.  Eventually, the formerly imposing figures of Mr. Ramsay, and Mr. Tansley, along with their irrational opinions about women's abilities, diminish.  Lily finally recognizes their authority is an illusion, sees their weakness, and renders them less imposing.  Like Lily Briscoe, as a female author, Woolf was similarly confronted by prejudice.  Even after her novels were published and critically acclaimed, it still took decades before Woolf gained full acceptance and recognition for her groundbreaking contribution as a writer.  As with her proxy Lily Briscoe in To the Lighthouse, Woolf completes her novel at the exact moment the artist completes her painting.

The Philosopher David Hume

Mr. Ramsay's personality is further defined by the beliefs of Woolf's father, Leslie Stephen.  A story about 19th-century philosopher David Hume is strategically repeated, building the narrative incrementally until it provokes a moment of comedic release.  Author of A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume is depicted as the favorite philosopher of Mr. Ramsay.  Hume is best known for assertions about the science of human nature and its relevance to politics and society (Cranston, n.d.).  Woolf's characterization of Hume also hints at a rebuttal to his philosophical views.  She references an apocryphal story in which the atheistic, overweight Hume is stuck in a bog and rescued by a Christian woman who first makes him reconcile his lack of faith by reciting the Lord's prayer.  It is noteworthy that Woolf depicts Mr. Ramsay's (and her father's) amusement, envisioning Hume at the mercy of his nemesis—belief in religion.

Philosophical Meaning, Themes, and Symbolism

Critics and biographers have long been fascinated by the presence of philosophical themes, symbols, and veiled allegories meaningful to Woolf interspersed throughout To the Lighthouse.  According to Hoffman (1972), in "Subject and Object and the Nature of Reality: the Dialectic of To the Lighthouse," the entire novel contrasts knowledge gained by facts with intuition and impression.  He believes Woolf's work to be primarily philosophical, in the context of Platonic dialectic, asserting, "The destruction of the material world through the process of time, with the subsequent threat to the individual consciousness by chaos disorder, is the major thematic concern" (p. 692).  The philosophical intentions of the novel also connect to the multiple mentions of David Hume.  According to Keena (2018), To the Lighthouse is indebted to the influence of Hume's empirical psychology, referring to its use of "physical impressions and their aftereffects in consciousness" (p. 387).  In part one, Mr. Ramsay's son Andrew tries to explain to Lily Briscoe Hume's—and his father's—preoccupation.  "'Subject and object and the nature of reality,' Andrew had said. And when she said Heavens, she had no notion what that meant. 'Think of a kitchen table then,' he told her, 'when you're not there'" (Woolf, 1927, chapter 4, para. 14).  A summary of Hume's work could state that he "...probed uncompromisingly the human mind's propensity to work by sequences of association and juxtaposition rather than by reason" (Shrimpton et al., n.d., para. 5).  This description also aligns with the course of Woolf's entire novel.  Although Leslie Stephens studied much of Hume's philosophy, the subjects of his essays also addressed metaphysics, agnosticism, and materialism—and his views likely influenced Woolf's thinking (Gaipa, 2003).  However, Woolf must have experienced moments when she perceived a realm beyond the senses, something indefinable, causing her to question ideas that limit possibilities.

Some writers suggest that Virginia Woolf's work may reference the Egyptian Book of the Dead, recalling stories of Isis, the Egyptian mother goddess.  During Woolf's writing of To The Lighthouse, the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt was headline news.  Her aristocratic close friend Vita Sackville-West visited Luxor, Egypt, at the height of the discovery.  Her correspondence to Woolf, dated January 1926, suggests an intense interest in Egyptian symbols and myths (Rutherford, 2018).   In "Virginia Woolf’s Egyptomania: echoes of The Book of the Dead in To The Lighthouse," Brett Rutherford speculates that Mrs. Ramsay symbolizes Isis, while Horus, son of Isis, is represented by six-year-old James Ramsay.  The boar's skull and shawl Mrs. Ramsay places over it is strikingly similar to the Anubis shrine, a sculpture of a jackal draped in a linen shawl excavated from King Tuts' tomb (p. 145-147).  Although such references seem at first farfetched, Rutherford's extended analysis is surprisingly convincing.

Symbolism, an artistic trend in the late 19^th century, began as a French literary movement in 1888 and soon influenced visual arts, including Virginia Woolf's sister Vanessa.  She became a painter attracted by the movement's intellectual emphasis.  Metropolitan Museum of Art essayist Nicole Myers (2007) explains: "Symbolist painters believed that art should reflect an emotion or idea rather than represent the natural world in the objective, quasi-scientific manner embodied by Realism and Impressionism" (para. 2).  Woolf herself adopts the essence of this movement through the inclusion of powerful symbols throughout her work.

The Lighthouse

The lighthouse, a dominant symbol in Woolf's novel, represents the realization that multiple perspectives (from different personalities, places, and times) form the most accurate view of reality.  Woolf was less than a year old when her family established their summer home at Talland House overlooking the bay with its sweeping view framing the Godrevy Lighthouse.  One can imagine how her point of view changed as she grew older and gained new perceptions each year.  In Chapter 9 of To the Lighthouse, Woolf (1927) describes how everyday moments coalesce to create the larger picture.  She notes "…how life, from being made up of little separate incidents which one lived one by one, became curled and whole like a wave which bore one up and threw one down with it, there, with a dash on the beach" (chapter 2, para. 3).  A perfect example of the lighthouse symbolizing the power of changing perspectives occurs when James Ramsay imagines it from afar at age six, only to be surprised by his impressions when finally arriving with his father and sister at the lighthouse at age sixteen.

Novel or Elegy?

Few genres in literature could be more personal than elegy, expressing one's memory of a time past or lost loved ones, usually written in lyrical form.  In her diary, Virginia Woolf contemplates a reclassification of To the Lighthouse from "novel" to "elegy."  According to Beer (1989), "In 1925, when she was beginning To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary: 'I will invent a new name for my books to supplant [the word] novel. A new ———— by Virginia Woolf. But what? Elegy?'" (p. 185).  Woolf then explains how the process of writing her novel helped bring closure to her struggle to comprehend the deaths of her parents and other family members.  She reveals, "I used to think of him and mother daily: but writing the Lighthouse laid them in my mind," and "I believe this to be true—that I was obsessed by them both, unhealthily; and, writing of them was a necessary act" (Munca, 2009, p. 8, as cited in Abel, 1989, p. 135). Woolf's expression of herself in the character of Lily Briscoe allowed her to confront the suffocating effects of her parents' judgment, overcoming the intense pressure to fit into their strictly defined world.

Conclusion

The subjective world of Virginia Woolf in To the Lighthouse is unique in all its dimensions.  By reflecting and writing about her life, she managed to compose and frame an autobiographical elegy drawing on themes and symbols deeply mined from observation and experience, expressed through her exceptional facility with language.  She possessed the knowledge and creative insight to integrate her narrative with a distinctive metaphorical nuance, making it possible to share her complex world of thought and feeling with others. 

Despite praise for Woolf's writing during her lifetime, critical acceptance declined after her death in 1941.  It was not until the mid-1960s that her importance to literature was rediscovered and cast in a new light.  In an interview between David Shackleton (n.d.) and award-winning biographer, Dame Hermione Lee, we learn the reason:

There was a feeling that she was an aesthetician and an experimentalist, an interesting, sensitive, delicate modernist, experimenting with 'stream of consciousness'. That view lasted into the early to mid-'60s, and then several things happened. One, there was an enormous posthumous publishing of Virginia Woolf's new book editions, her archives, her diaries, her letters, and it became increasingly clear that this was not someone who had just written nine beautiful novels, but a big figure, like Henry James or Thomas Carlyle. (para. 1)

To the Lighthouse is among Hermione Lee's favorite Virginia Woolf novels due to its sense of mystery: "She is obsessed with death and loss and elegy and memory" and "this is a kind of a ghost story" (Shakleton, n.d., para. 9).  As a ghost story, it invites exploration and sojourn to the unknown.  Woolf's parents and family members who had long passed appear fully alive in the novel, vibrant and animated as ever.  Then, as quickly, they vanish.

It would be difficult to imagine the liberating influence Woolf has had on generations of aspiring creative writers, especially following her deserved recognition and adoption for study by institutions of higher learning worldwide.  Her signature style and subjective technique, exploring various perspectives and abstract ideas in pursuit of a greater objective truth, will continue to inspire others—a gift to current and future artists as they strive to establish their presence, faced with a sea of possibilities. 

References

Abel, E. (1989). Virginia Woolf and the fiction of psychoanalysis. The University of Chicago Press.

Beer, G. (1989). Routledge revivals: arguing with the past (p. 185) [eBook edition]. Taylor and Francis. https://www.amazon.com/Routledge-Revivals-Arguing-Essays-Narrative-ebook-dp-B07CGYLJQ1/dp/B07CGYLJQ1/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Cranston, M. & Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.). David Hume. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Hume

Gaipa, M. (2003). An agnostic’s daughter’s apology: materialism, spiritualism, and ancestry in Woolf’s “to the lighthouse.” Journal of Modern Literature, 26(2), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.1353/jml.2004.0018

Hoffman, A. C. (1972). Subject and object and the nature of reality: the dialectic of to the lighthouse. Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 13(4), 691–703. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40755206

Keena, J. W. (2018). David Hume in 'to the lighthouse'. Philosophy and Literature, 42(2), 376–393. https://doi.org/10.1353/phl.2018.0025

Munca, D. (2009). Virginia Woolf’s answer to “women can’t paint, women can’t write” in to the lighthouse. Journal of International Women's Studies, 10(4), 276-289. https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol10/iss4/17

Myers, N. (2007, August). Symbolism. Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/symb/hd_symb.htm

Licence, A. (2015, May). Living in squares, loving in triangles: the lives and loves of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group [eBook edition]. Amberley Publishing Limited. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=sWfGCQAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PP22.w.3.0.24_234

Rutherford, B. (2018). Virginia Woolf’s Egyptomania: echoes of The Book of the Dead in To The Lighthouse. Woolf Studies Annual, 24, 135–164.

Shackleton, D. (n.d.). The best Virginia Woolf books recommended by Hermione Lee. Fivebooks.com. https://fivebooks.com/best-books/hermione-lee-virginia-woolf/

Shrimpton, N. & Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.). English literature. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature

Woolf, V. (1927). To The Lighthouse [eBook edition]. Delhi Open Books. https://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Virginia-Woolf-ebook/dp/B07FN1S7DB/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1AER6CJ95ISDF&dchild=1&keywords=to+the+lighthouse&qid=1634255689&s=digital-text&sr=1-3