Contrast Between Mrs. Ramsey (To the Lighthouse) and Constance Chatterley (Lady Chatterley Lover) - Book Report/Review Example

Mrs. Ramsey versus Constance Chatterley...Heroine vs. Heroine Introduction To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf tackles the approach of life, and marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey. It narrates how the couple travels to Scotland amid 1910 and 1920 with their family. On the other hand, Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence was published in 1928, deals with relationships, and uses vulgar language that led to its ban in many countries. The two novels mentioned above have some forms of similarities in characters and some forms of differences between the characters (Herbert, 213). Contrast between the novels ‘To the Lighthouse’ against in the novel ‘Lady Chatterley's Lover’ There are many differences amid the characters in To the Lighthouse. Mrs. Ramsey appears to be a core character and plays a big role in the formation of the plot. Mrs. Ramsey respects his husband who is always moody and selfish. She believes that man’s efforts should be compensated with sympathy and care of a wife. Mrs. Ramsey remains kind to people around her and despite her good looks, and the constant attention she receives from men; she remains faithful to her husband. Interestingly, her husband feels insecure of her attractive features (Woolf, 345). Contrary to Lady Chatterley's Lover, Connie, the female antagonist in the novel appears to be exposed to sexual and intelligence pleasures at an early age of 18 years. She also marries an aristocratic lineage man known as Clifford. Clifford appears to be a hard working man who does not receive the attention he deserves from her wife. He seems to believe in the value of marriage and the pursuit for divorce reveals the notion. Connie allows a nurse to take care of her paralyzed husband. “And all the time she felt the reflection of his hopelessness in her. She couldn’t quite, quite love in hopelessness. And he, being hopeless, couldn’t ever love at all.” (Lawrence, 4) Connie undermines the efforts of a hardworking man. She does not take time to relieve her heroic husband who missed a significant part of his life. The end of these novels marks a significant moment for the characters in both of the novels. Mr. Ramsey lost a loving wife while Connie lost an industrious man who worked hard to maintain the family (Lawrence, 267). Mrs. Ramsey versus Constance Chatterley...Heroine vs. heroine In ‘To the Lighthouse’, Mrs. Ramsey appears to be unique and pleasant from the beginning of the novel as a core character in the narrative. Despite being a woman, Mrs. Ramsey is tolerant, protective and beautiful both inwards and outwards. Mrs. Ramsey has a son named James, who is later found out to be her youngest son by readers. Mrs. Ramsey seeks to protect her son’s interests and perceives him as the lighthouse. Ramsey plans to go out to the lighthouse, but Mr. Ramsey declines saying that the weather appears foul; hence, will not be conducive for travelling long distances. Mrs. Ramsey tries to convince James on the possibility of the trip. She hopes that Mr. Ramsey realizes that life is all about taking chances. According to her, the magnificence and satisfaction of the world appears to be short lived; hence, life should be potted, taken care of, and refined (Woolf, 235). On the contrary, the main character in ‘Lady Chatterley's Lover’, natures into a sophisticated bohemian upper middle class. She is introduced to love affairs and coupled with intellectual and sexual relations in her teenage. At the age of 23, Clifford Chatterley, a young man from an aristocratic line marries her. After their month of their honeymoon, he goes to war and comes back paralyzed and impotent. The war molded Clifford into a writer attracting intellectuals into his mansion. Clifford’s wife starts experiencing some levels of loneliness; she looks around the vaunted playwrights and discovers that Michaelis is the best candidate for her comfort. Connie craving for proper human contact leads him to a desperate situation since most men appear distant, in relation to passion and true feelings. The distance between Connie and Clifford grows, as Clifford resorts, to concentrate on his writing and his love for coal mining. Connie feels bad towards Clifford. In a bid to supply Connie with independence and freedom, a nurse comes in play. The nurse becomes the savior of Clifford; as he cannot make any progress without her. Clifford’s manhood fades away slowly as time passes (Lawrence, 247). Secondly, in ‘To the Lighthouse’, Mrs. Ramsey talks kindly to all the guests and shows respect to those who do not deserve it. She realizes Augustus Carmichael as one of the guests who hates and dislikes her. Mrs. Ramsey asks him whether he would like any drink to make him stay longer before he could leave for the market and earn his interest. Mrs. Ramsey also tolerates the ill manners of Charles Tansley; who threatens to destroy the homeliness of Mrs. Ramsey to unite individuals into her house. Mrs. Ramsey believes in hard work and vulnerability that men face. She feels that men build economies, and rule countries, which is an enough problem they have to contend. "When she looked in the glass and saw her hair grey, her cheek sunk, at fifty, she thought, possibly she might have managed things better—her husband; money; his books." (Woolf, 6) She feels a man should have a woman who can support and support him and advice him on making critical decisions in this manner. Mrs. Ramsey continues to say that, women should stand for men when things get difficult, and console them. Further, they should appraise and congratulate them in times of distress and success respectively. Although, the feelings of Mrs. Ramsey appears biased to some extent, the feelings of Mrs. Ramsey seem to be useful in building a home (Herbert, 435). Even though Mrs. Ramsey positions herself far from being submissive, she respects and demonstrates care and love for her companion. Mrs. Ramsey believes that a family should have unity, despite her husband’s feelings of insecurity and domination. Unfortunately, characters like Lily and the rest only feels the void to unity that Mrs. Ramsey tried to fill, after her death. The characters of Mr. Ramsay appear as the opposite of Mrs. Ramsey’s. Despite the kindness, patience, and diplomacy that Mrs. Ramsey displays, Mr. Ramsey seems to have a short temper, and is selfish. The author likens the characters of Mr. Ramsey to a knife when she says that he is lean and narrow. The metaphor signifies both his personality and his physical appearance (Woolf, 325). On the contrary, ‘Lady Chatterley's Lover’, Connie meets Oliver Mellors, an employee on Clifford’s estate, as a gamekeeper who recently returned from army duties. Mellors, appears as a serious, full of purpose, distant, contemptuous, and unfriendly, but Connie appears blind to the facts. Connie appears attracted to Mellors because of his decency and charming looks. During their numerous chance meetings, Mellors declines Connie's advances reminding her of their social disparity. One day they meet in the forest and got intimate. Connie and Mellors, frequent these meetings, but Connie still experiences the distance that exists between them, despite their physical contacts. The distance between them reduces when Connie and Mellors have sex in forest and experiences orgasms at the same time. The occasion leads to the realization that the two are connected at a profound sensual level. Later on, Connie gets pregnant and appears proud of Mellors, for proving to be a real man in comparison to Clifford, whom she describes as, emotionally-dead individual. The relationship between the two individuals thrived, to a heightened level (Lawrence, 217). Thirdly, in “To the Lighthouse’, the author perceives Mr. Ramsey is an enviable character in terms of his achievements at a young age despite his personality. Mr. Ramsey appears as the better match to his wife as he also respects women, and seeks comfort and assurance from them. The novel constantly unveils Mr. Ramsey’s quest for sympathy from most individuals in the novel; from his wife to his guests. Mr. Ramsey appears insecure of the ultimatum of his work and the legacy it will hold. The insecurity discovered can act both as weakness or strength, depending on how he handles the situation. Mr. Ramsey idea of death encourages him to bully Mrs. Ramsey to profess the love he has for him and keeps the hopes of his young son, James. The awareness of death also lures him to confront his own death, and he visualizes that after his death, he will be forgotten entirely by the public (Herbert, 176). The author depicts Lily as a passionate artist; like Ramsey, she worries of the ultimatum of her work. The thought of her paintings being hung in lofts or thrown forgetfully beneath a chaise lounges, scares Lily. Lily appears astound with the conservative level of Mrs. Ramsey. She appears anxious on the opinion held by Charles Tansley; that women ability to write or paint appears nil. ". . . she must admit that she felt this thing she called life terrible, hostile, and quick to pounce on you if you gave it a chance." (Woolf, 56-60) Her personal trait provokes her to start painting portraits of Mrs. Ramsey, which she finds hard to solve. The novel fully transforms Lily from a woman unable to make shapes and colors, to an artist who achieves her aims in life. Lily also ends up overcoming the worries that distant her from achieving her goals in art. As the novel ends, Lily practices the lessons she learns from Mrs. Ramsey. Her admiration of Mrs. Ramsey’s beauty ultimately materializes into art work using the temporary materials surrounding her. She matures, like Mr. Ramsey in his career, in her artwork (Woolf, 345). James Ramsey feels an overwhelming love for her mother, yet passionately, hates his father. Ironically, James matures in to a young man who follows into the steps of his father character wise. During the trip to the lighthouse, James mood appears dull, withdrawn and takes in offense easily. He seeks sympathy and hungers praise as noted by Cam his sister; he acts exactly like his Dad. On landing of the boat, James attitude towards his father significantly changes. James appears soft towards his father and realizes the beauty in appreciating other people. The light serves as a light to individuals in the novel as the two characters Lily and James both achieve a significant event in their lives (Herbert, 456). On the contrary, in ‘Lady Chatterley's Lover’, the moment Connie leaves for a vacation in Venice; Mellors’ wife shows up threatens his career with her scandals. By the time, Connie returns to Venice she realizes that Mellors is out of Clifford’s premises. Mellors arranges for a divorce against the old wife. Connie reveals to Clifford that he is carrying Mellors’ baby yet; Clifford still refuses to give in to divorce. As the novel ends Mellors secures employment at a farm, waiting for divorce. Meanwhile, Connie resides at her sister’s place also waiting for her divorce. It appears as though the two love bird will end up together (Plotz, 456). Works Cited Herbert, Marilyn. Bookclub-in-a-box presents the Discussion Companion for Virginia Woolf's Novel to the Lighthouse. United States: Bookclub-in-a-box, 2007. Print. Lawrence, D H. Lady Chatterley's Lover. New York: Grove Press, 2004. Print. Plotz, Judith. "Secret Garden Ii; or Lady Chatterly's Lover as Palimpsest." Children's Literature Association Quarterly (trykt Utg.). (2004). Print. Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co, 2007. Print. Read More