Here is my interpretation on the given questions
1.How can you explain that 'what' Virginia Woolf wanted to say (for example, the complexity of human relationship, the everyday battles that people are at in their relationship with near and dear ones, the struggle of a female artist against the values of middle/upper class society etc) can only be said in the way she has said? (Key: The 'How' of the narrative technique is to be discussed along with features of Stream of Consciousness technique which helps Woolf to put in effective manner what she experienced in abstractions.)
Ans: And she wanted to say not one thing, but everything. Little words that broke up the thought and dismembered it said nothing. “About life, about death; about Mrs. Ramsay”—no, she thought, one could say nothing to nobody. The urgency of the moment always missed its mark. Words fluttered sideways and struck the object inches too low. Then one gave it up; then the idea sunk back again; then one became like most middle-aged people, cautious, furtive, with wrinkles between the eyes and a look of perpetual apprehension. For how could one express in words these emotions of the body? express that emptiness there? (She was looking at the drawing-room steps; they looked extraordinarily empty.) It was one’s body feeling, not one’s mind. The physical sensations that went with the bare look of the steps had become suddenly extremely unpleasant. TO want and not to have, sent all up her body a hardness, a hollowness, a strain. And then to want and not to have—to want and want—how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again! Oh, Mrs. Ramsay! She called out silently, to that essence which sat by the boat, that abstract one made of her, that woman in grey, as if to abuse her for having gone, and then having gone, come back again. It seemed so safe, thinking of her. Ghost, air, nothingness, a thing you could play with easily and safely at any time of day or night, she had been that, and then suddenly she put her hand out and wrung the heart thus. Suddenly, the empty drawing-room steps, the frill of the chair inside, the puppy tumbling on the terrace, the whole wave and whisper of the garden became like curves and arabesques flourishing around a centre of complete emptiness.
2) Do you agree: "The novel is both the tribute and critique of Mrs. Ramsay"? (Key: Take some clues from the painting of Mrs Ramsay drawn by Lily Briscoe and the article by Andre Viola and Glenn Pedersen. Can we read Mrs. R in context of the idea of Ideal Indian Woman - karyeshu dasi, karaneshshu mathri; Bhojeshu mata , shayaneshu Rambha; kshamayshu dharithri, kuladharma pathni.
Ans, Yes, I am agree with this idea that 'The Novel is the both the tribute and the critique to Mrs, Ramsay'. When we read article by Andre Viola, Lily Briscoe is at the center and Mrs, Ramsay became critique as one of her daughters died during childbirth because she walks on Mrs Ramsay's path and others are don't want to sacrifice more like there is "manliness in girlish heart", in that way it's like critique on her. on the other hand if we see that she maintains all human relations and even after her death, she will remembered by other characters as Mrs, Ramsay has traditional womanhood to serve men which presents Ideal Indian women who always care for others ,so she good at men's view (Mr, Ramsay and James) it's like tribute to her but from women's side she is not good as her daughters are not satisfied with her behavior. Till the end of the novel, we can't get clear idea that in which way Mrs, Ramsay's character is described. Virginia Woolf puts character of Mrs,Ramsay in such a way that we can interpret it in both way , we are free to do it and novel has not one meaning but multiple meanings as literature is not for one interpretation but open for many.
3) Considering symbolically, does the Lighthouse stand for Mrs. Ramsay or the narrator (Virginia Woolf herself who is categorically represented by Lily)?
Ans, Lighthouse is at the center of the novel, it symbolises the spiritual strength and emotional support which is provided by Mrs, Ramsay to other characters of the novel in that sense , 'Lighthouse' stands for Mrs, Ramsay. But when we look from other side , Mrs, Ramsay became wall rather than bridge between her husband and children as Poojaba Jadeja said earlier. It stands for Lily Briscoe or Virginia Woolf herself as 'Lighthouse' stands alone in ocean which says that Virginia Lily Briscoe chalande the point that 'women can't speak and can't paint'. As as the end the wall fell down between Mrs,Ramsay, James and Cam
4. In the article by Joseph Blotner, two myths are patterned together. Name the myths? How they are zeroed down to the symbols of 'Window' and 'Lighthouse'? How does the male phallic symbol represent feminine Mrs. Ramsay? (Key: The strokes of light-beams. . . )
Ans, Lying across the bay and meaning something different and intimately personal to each character, the lighthouse is at once inaccessible, illuminating, and infinitely interpretable. As the destination from which the novel takes its title, the lighthouse suggests that the destinations that seem surest are most unobtainable. Just as Mr. Ramsay is certain of his wife’s love for him and aims to hear her speak words to that end in “The Window,” Mrs. Ramsay finds these words impossible to say. These failed attempts to arrive at some sort of solid ground, like Lily’s first try at painting Mrs. Ramsay or Mrs. Ramsay’s attempt to see Paul and Minta married, result only in more attempts, further excursions rather than rest. The lighthouse stands as a potent symbol of this lack of attainability. James arrives only to realize that it is not at all the mist-shrouded destination of his childhood. Instead, he is made to reconcile two competing and contradictory images of the tower—how it appeared to him when he was a boy and how it appears to him now that he is a man. He decides that both of these images contribute to the essence of the lighthouse—that nothing is ever only one thing—a sentiment that echoes the novel’s determination to arrive at truth through varied and contradictory vantage points. Hu
5. What do you understand by the German term kunstlerroman? How can you justify that 'To The Lighthouse' is 'Künstlerroman' novel?
Ans, This novel is can be 'Kunstlerroman' novel. 'Bildungsroman' is other word which shows the spiritual,psychological or social growth of protagonist while 'Kunstlerroman' means the growth of an Artist. In this novel, there is two Artists Lily Briscoe is a painter and Augustus Carmichael is a poet who are in beginning can't paint or write poetry but as novel grows, Carmichael (poet) found his place and his poems famous during war time. and Lily Briscoe is able to complete her painting till the end.
6."... the wages of obedience is death, and the daughter that reproduces mothering to perfection, including child-bearing, already has on her cheeks the pallor of death. One reminded here of various texts by Lucy Irigaray, in which she attacks mothers for being, however unwillingly, accomplices in the patriarchal system of oppression." (Viola). In light of this remark, explain briefly Lily's dilemma in 'To The Lighthouse'.
Ans,Lily is a passionate artist, and, like Mr. Ramsay, she worries over the fate of her work, fearing that her paintings will be hung in attics or tossed absentmindedly under a couch. Conventional femininity, represented by Mrs. Ramsay in the form of marriage and family, confounds Lily, and she rejects it. The recurring memory of Charles Tansley insisting that women can neither paint nor write deepens her anxiety. It is with these self-doubts that she begins her portrait of Mrs. Ramsay at the beginning of the novel, a portrait riddled with problems that she is unable to solve. But Lily undergoes a drastic transformation over the course of the novel, evolving from a woman who cannot make sense of the shapes and colors that she tries to reproduce into an artist who achieves her vision and, more important, overcomes the anxieties that have kept her from it. By the end of the novel, Lily, a serious and diligent worker, puts into practice all that she has learned from Mrs. Ramsay. Much like the woman she so greatly admires, she is able to craft something beautiful and lasting from the ephemeral materials around her—the changing light, the view of the bay. Her artistic achievement suggests a larger sense of completeness in that she finally feels united with Mr. Ramsay and the rational, intellectual sphere that he represents.
7. You have compared the 'beginning' and the 'ending' of the novel and the film adaptation of the novel directed by Colin Gregg (you can see it again in the embedded video below this). Do you think that the novel is more poignant than the movie? If yes, do you ascribe the fact that the power of words is much greater than that of the screen / visuals?
Ans, yes with reference to the ending of the film (After the final stroke on the canvass with finishing touch, Lily walks inside the house. As she goes ante-chamber, the light and dark shade makes his face play hide-and-seek. She climbs stairs, puts her brush aside, walks through the dark and light to enter her room. Gently closes the door - speaks: "Closed doors, open windows" - lies on the bed and with some sort of satisfaction utters: "Dearest Briscoe, you are a fool".)
8.What does the catalogue named as 'Army and Navy' signify? What does cutting of 'Refrigerator' signify?
Ans, Internet research didn’t turn up any catalogues, but it did turn up Edwardian Shopping: A Selection from the Army and Navy Stores Catalogues 1898-1913. By now my research had become obsessive, and so with the help of AbeBooks I ordered a copy from WorldofBooks in Goring-By-Sea for US $20.93. Yesterday the book arrived and it was many Christmases at once as I ripped open the packaging and started flipping through the pages. Never has a catalogue been examined with such expectation and such impatience and such anxiety. My big fear was that—because Edwardian Shopping is a selection, after all—there might not be a page with iceboxes or refrigerators on it.
Of course, as the opening sentence to this blog betrays, my fears were groundless. 1898 didn’t have refrigerators, though it did have oil cooking stoves, but in the 1902 portion of the book there is a whole page given over to refrigerators. On the page there is not just one, but six refrigerators, refrigerators ranging from Kent’s Patented Ventilated Refrigerator to the New Dry-Air Cabinet Refrigerator. Prices range from 2 pounds 19 shilling, and sixpence to 24 pounds, 18 shilling and 9 pence. Though one, the New Dry-Air Cabinet Refrigerator, anticipates the design of later fridges, none of the refrigerators have electrical or mechanical components—they are in effect glorified ice boxes—yet they are all, with one exception, named refrigerators. The page is titled refrigerators.
10. Why did Virginia give such prominence to the tale of the “Fisherman’s Wife”? In particular, why did she weave such a misogynist tale into the fabric of a book which so eloquently challenges received patriarchal notions about the roles and capabilities of women?
Ans, Virginia Woolf used the tale of ' Fisherman's Wife' but in ironic way and subverted it in this novel. In real tale, women is became cause of downfall as she tells her husband to ask more from fish which here it subverted that Mr, Ramsay is in power that without his permission.Mrs, Ramsay can't renovate her house and help needy person. So, here this tale shows the Patriarchy rules as on way to lighthouse , boy cuts fish and throw its pieces in water while in real tale Fisherman is kind and give life to fish.
11. How is India represented in 'To The Lighthouse'?
Ans, India is represented in novel as 'Ruled India' means still India ruled by Patriarchy as our all myths or folklore are male centered like Ram, Krishna etc.. which is also shown in novel that Mr, Ramsay has power than Mrs, Ramsay.
Augustus Carmichael's visits to India is considered as an Achievement because during that time India is shown in positive way as outsiders attracted towards India's culture and heritage. India also referred as the land of Desire to visit and exotic land. So, here we can say that Virginia Woolf has given the positive representation of India while today the India is known as country of poverty, dirtiness and illiteration.
12. Write summaries of these articles:
# fludity v/s masculinty by Andre viola.
This article shows the charector of Lily .so,Lily was at the centre.Through the charector of Mrs.Ramsay we can see the patriarch socity. As Lily don't like mrs.Ramsay so not are arguing always against eachother.
Here I describe the compares of Mrs.Ramsay and Lily Bircoe.Mrs.Ramsay is a beautiful and loving woman wonderful ability to handing thing.Lily Briscoe is an unmarried prefessionl painter who can rationally analysed art of male garl. Mrs.Ramsay holds the Ramsay family together as she holds together every social contats . For putting people ease.Lily Briscoe rejects the convention image of the woman represented by Mrs.Ramsay .Thus Mrs.Ramsay and Lily Briscoe argue against.
Good
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