To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - Essay Example

She pitied men always as if they lacked something.” How does Woolf contrast masculine and feminine in To the Lighthouse? Roll No: : Teacher: Date: 23rd November 2008 University “She pitied men always as if they lacked something.” How does Woolf contrast masculine and feminine in To the Lighthouse? “She pitied men always as if they lacked something”, this sentence taken from “To the Lighthouse” spreads light on the character of Mrs. Ramsay. Mrs. Ramsay can be considered as the protagonist of the work. She has a certain sense of pity towards the masculine characters of the novel, “To the Lighthouse”. He husband is shown fully dependent on her. Even other masculine characters of the novel feel themselves attracted towards her because of her sympathetic attitude towards them. Virginia Woolf tries to depict that men have something lacking by nature in them and she depicts her opinion by means of her portrayed character Mrs. Ramsay. The sentence is thought by Lily Briscoe in the novel and the whole sentence is “She pitied men always as if they lacked something—women never as if they had something.” This sentence clearly shows that the novel, “To the Lighthouse” is written with feminist theme in which, the writer wants to depict that men are naturally lacking while on the other hand, women have some power. Mr. Ramsay, who is Mrs. Ramsay’s husband, is a philosopher who has a good reputation on the basis of his knowledge but in the whole novel, he is shown dependent on Mrs. Ramsay. Mr. Ramsay is shown worried about the existence of his work as he thinks at one juncture, “and his fame lasts how long? It is permissible even for a dying hero to think before he dies how men will speak of him hereafter. His fame lasts perhaps two thousand years. And what are two thousand years? (asked Mr. Ramsay ironically, staring at the hedge).” These lines by Mr. Ramsay indicate towards his doubts about the remembrance of his work and himself. All his doubts about his existence and being remembered receive a sense of satisfaction because of Mrs. Ramsay who is always there to help his husband. He while talking to Mrs. Ramsay informs her about his doubts about his work being forgotten and he gets encouraging responses and back up from his wife. Mrs. Ramsay is not shown as a perfect woman but she is always ready to support men and while helping them, she sympathizes with them and tries to find solution to their problems. With Mrs. Ramsay, every character of the novel feels relaxed and comfortable because of her complacent and supportive attitude. She is like a source of support to the other characters of the novel including her husband, who looks a strong person but appears to be very weak before her wife. Mr. Ramsay appears wholly dependent on Mrs. Ramsay for confidence and encouragement. Woolf portrays Mr. Ramsay as a person and a man, who feels himself incomplete without Mrs. Ramsay. Woolf tries to inform that men feel a gap in themselves and regard women to fill this gap. On the other hand, women are always present to sooth men and to inform them about their support and encouragement. Women have a certain power with the help of which, they are able to give confidence and source of satisfaction to men. It is a sort of give and take relationship where a woman is the giver, while a man is a taker. Mrs. Ramsay is portrayed as a kind and sympathetic character; while on the other hand, Mr. Ramsay is depicted as harsh and strong person. Mrs. Ramsay is emotionally very strong person while Mr. Ramsay is depicted as a weak person emotionally who always looks for support and attention from his family and wife. Mrs. Ramsay considers that women should play a positive role by giving support to men who are involved in doing some greater tasks like security of the country and administration of country economy. Mrs. Ramsay is depicted as a woman, who is ready to support men because she feels that men perform a greater task but as a woman, she is not portrayed as a submissive or subservient woman. Mrs. Ramsay is fully aware of her power and her skill at management. In her small household chores and her daily routines, she considers herself performing significant acts and service to mankind by sympathizing with them. On one hand, Mrs. Ramsay is portrayed as a character that can be seen as a traditional woman while on the other hand, Lily Briscoe is portrayed as a character that is unconventional and wants to be acknowledged as an individual. Mr. Ramsay is depicted as a man, who can be seen as a tyrant, selfish and authoritative person and exercises his power on other characters of the novel such as his wife, his children and his friends and guests. Virginia Woolf portrays the character of Mrs. Ramsay not as a perfect character as, she indicates towards some characteristics of Mrs. Ramsay that appear as imperfect but she also accommodates her with power to control and sympathize. Lily Briscoe is typically a modern character but with the passage of time and till the last chapter, she covers the path to her personality development and in the end, she finds herself sympathizing with Mr. Ramsay. The masculine and feminine characters of the novel are depicted differently but it is shown that they have a relationship of dependence and reliance. Men are shown as if they always require some assistance from women while women are shown as powerful as they keep the power and strength to satisfy and sooth men with their encouragement and assistance. Mrs. Ramsay believed that a woman should marry and should set up a family life. According to Mrs. Ramsay’s opinion, woman’s role in the society is kind of supportive for the men and they should play their role accordingly. Lily Briscoe on the other hand, considered to have an individualistic status for herself and is not shown married because she believed in having a different lifestyle as compared to Mrs. Ramsay. Lily shows linking for Mrs. Ramsay but she has her own opinions for the position and status of women in society and she looks aggressive about men’s opinion about women and their expectations which they associate with women. Mrs. Ramsay is romanticized by Virginia Woolf and is depicted as a traditional woman of Victorian society. “She pitied men always as if they lacked something” depicts that Virginia Woolf regards men as dependent beings and considered that men are in need of support and reassurance from women for their tasks and their lives. It is only because of encouragement and support of women that men are able to perform their tasks and duties and traditionally women are also assigned certain roles and duties, which are expected from them to be performed. Men are the authoritative figures and set the duties for women but the novel, “To the Lighthouse” indicates that women are able to support and assist men because they are powerful and strong emotionally and men feel the need of women’s back up and encouragement in their emotional states. According to Virginia Woolf, women should sympathize with men because they are somewhat lacking and women have the courage to accommodate them in their lacking feature. Therefore, it is quite clear that men are shown as dependent on women in “To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf. Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. London: Penguin Classics, 1965. Read More