Virginia Wolf: To the Lighthouse

LA CLUSTER THOUGHTS:

• Virginia Woolf's writing style: Is she consistent with Mrs. Dalloway? The implications of this style, especially when revealing inherent separation between thinking beings.

• Conflicted relationship between Mrs. and Mr. Ramsay. To the Lighthouse has been used to advocate against abuses of women in the household and the payment for domestic work in England. Was there rape imagery in the novel? Is Mrs. Ramsay submissive?

• The character of Mrs. Ramsay: her manipulation of the other characters, the way others project themselves onto her. Her power as an individual, especially in contrast with the other female characters in the book?

• The issue of marriage and the importance of female individuality: was Woolf making a statement about the importance of finding outlets for expression outside of marriage? Should we exonerate Mr. Ramsay for his tyranny?

• The role of the children in the Ramsay household: descriptions often contrasted with the vivid forays into the minds of the other characters. Why are they only character “snapshots”? Why do they live and die so far away from the reader?
  

• How is the lighthouse itself and water imagery connected to some of the main themes in the novel? The divisions of the novel and Woolf's particular use of time. How does the lighthouse change along with the characters? Is there a connection to Mrs. Dalloway?