| Feminism in to the LIGHTHOUSE |
“FEMINISM IN TO THE L
PREPAID BY:
Kinnari Halvadiya
Semester : 3
Paper No. 9
Modernist Literature
Batch 2019 – 2021
E-Mail: kinuhalvadiya17@gmail.com
Department of English MKBU
|
• The
Novel published on 5th may -1927
• Landmark
of high modernism
• Virginia
Woolf used the language of PSYCHOLOANLYSIS
• Virginia “ PUSHED THE LIGHT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE A LITTLE FURTHER AGAINST DARRKNESS.”
• The
Divided into three parts :
VARGINIA WOOLF
Born : South
Kensington , London , England
Died : 28th
March , England
Occupation :
Novelist , Essayist , Publisher , Critic.
NOBEL
WORKS…..
• To the Lighthouse (1927)
• Orlando (1928)
• A Room of One's Own (1929)
• The Waves (1931)
|
• Feminism
is a social theory or movement with the purpose of advancing the
status of females and protecting their legal rights due to the sexual
discriminations and inequalities in the man-dominated society.
• The
word "feminism" was first used by Charles Fourier in 1837 and since
then it has been gradually known by people in the world. “Feminism represents
one of the most important social, economic, and aesthetic revolutions of modern
times.”
• As
a matter of fact, the history of feminist movements consists of three
"waves”.
• The
First Feminism Wave took place at the turn of the 20th century, in which
Virginia Woolf was a prominent representative. During this period, women’s
suffrage movements was organized to defend women’s right to vote. Then,
accompanied by the women’s liberation movement.
• THE
second wave was unveiled in the 1960s. The focus of this wave was women’s
legal and social equality against patriarchy. As a continuation of the
second wave, third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s.
Three phases
of Feminism
In her book
“A Literature of Their Own” Elaine Showalter writes on English women
writers. She says that we can see patterns and phases in the evolution of
a female tradition. Showalter has divided the period of evolution into
three stages. They are:
1.
The Feminine,
2.
The Feminist, and,
3.
The Female stages
1) The first phase, the feminine phase dates from
about 1840-1880. During that period women wrote in an effort to equal the
intellectual achievements of the male culture. The distinguishing sign of
this period is the male pseudonym. This trend was introduced in England
in the 1840’s. It became a national characteristic of English women
writers. During this phase the feminist content of feminine art is typically
oblique, because of the inferiority complex experienced by female writers.
2)
The feminist phase lasted about 38 years; from 1882 to 1920. The New
Women movement gained strength—women won the right to vote. Women writers
began to use literature to dramatize the ordeals of wrong womanhood.
3)
The latest phase or the third phase is called the female phase ongoing since
1920. Here we find women rejecting both imitation and protest.
Showalter considers that both are signs of dependency. Women show more
independent attitudes. They realize the place of female experience in the
process of art and literature. She considers that there is what she calls
autonomous art that can come from women because their experiences are typical
and individualistic. Women began to concentrate on the forms and
techniques of art and literature. The representatives of the female phase
such as Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf even began to think of male and
female sentences. They wrote about masculine journalism and feminine
fiction. They redefined and sexualized external and internal
experience.
|
• With
the development of feminism, the inferior position of women has been progressed
and certain achievement has been gained over the long-launched campaign.
However, women in some countries, especially in impoverished regions, are still
oppressed by the men-dominated society. Therefore, it is imperative to stress
the importance of feminist theories.
As an eminent forerunner of feminism as well as a prolific English writer, Virginia
Woolf (1882-1941) devoted herself to the improvement of the living situation of
women. Through examining her masterpiece To the Lighthouse, this presentation
aims at probing into the feminist ideas reflected in this novel. By the
methodology of literature review and text analysis, this study shows how
Virginia Woolf put her feminine thoughts into this work.
• Virginia
Woolf, in creating Lily Briscoe defied convention by allowing her to assert her
independence.
• While
the novel remained traditional in the sense that it included female characters
who deferred to men, the inclusion of a woman such as Briscoe, an independent
thinker, shocked many readers in the Modernist Era.
• In
her lifetime, she dedicated herself to the feminist literary criticism and
uttered women’s rights through her works. Marcus claims that: Woolf’s
relationship with feminism is a symbiotic one.
• As a woman writer, Virginia Woolf formed her unique feminine consciousness which was rooted in her life experiences and social background back then. her concern and fascination with gender identities and with other women’s lives, histories, and fictions have shaped her writing profoundly.
|
• In
this novel Virginia Woolf’s concept of woman’s role in life is crystallized in
the character of Mrs. Ramsay who is indeed Woolf’s summary of the nineteenth
century ideologies of motherhood.
• is
not merely goodness or light spirit, and spell, she is more than this…
• She
is the meaning of the novel.
• Mrs.
Ramsay is a symbol of the female principle in life. Clothed in beauty, an
intuitive principle in life and fructifying force, she opposes the logical but
arid and sterile male principle.
• Her
influence works towards the mating of men and women toward their becoming
fruitful like herself.
• she
gives her protection and inspiration to both art and science. to Lily Briscoe
the painter she gives stimulus and understanding, to Carmichael the post she
gives haven from squalor and a shrewish wife.
• to
Ramsay the philosopher she supplies love, comfort and reassurance, to Tensely
the graduate students she offers protection for a personality rubbed raw by
insecurity; to Banks the botanist she renders affection and respite from a widowed
life and priest like devotion to science.”
•
It is women’s duties to produce offspring and take care of the family because
marriage is considered as the most important thing for them in Victorian
age.
• Perhaps,
this is the reason why Mrs. Ramsay is so enthusiastic about making matches. Indeed,
she strongly believes that only by getting married can women achieve
felicity.
• she
insists Lily should marry, saying that “an unmarried woman has missed
the best of life.”
• According to Lily Briscoe she was great at pulling together her family. But by doing so, she smoothed over all of the complexities and individual interests of her children and her friends in favor of a greater whole. Mr. Ramsay is an overt bully, but Mrs.Ramsay quietly influences people to take the shape
• The
clash of gender ideologies permeates much of the novel and Woolf emphasizes a subversion
of traditional female gender roles through the character of Lily Briscoe.
• She represents an idealized feminist woman who
challenges male hegemony to achieve a sense of individuality. Her finished
painting and epiphany at the end of the novel serves to establish her role as a
truly liberated female artist.
• Lily
has suffocated the “angel in the house”. But Virginia
Woolf suggests that if women want to have their own values, in addition to kill
the angel in the house, they have to tell the truth about their own
experiences.
• Under
such circumstances, the process for Lily to realize her values is full of
obstacles. Frequently, she is haunted by the voice of Charles Tensely, “Women
can’t write women can’t paint”, Which distract her from her work.
• she
also suffers from the annoying interruptions of Mr. Ramsay who often dampens
her enthusiasm. Gradually, the pressure from patriarchy shakes her
confidence.
• Lily
hesitates to show her inner thought on her canvas, “she kept a feeler on her
surroundings lest someone should creep up, and suddenly she should find her
picture looked at.”
• Consequently, when Mr. Ramsay turns to Lily for sympathy, instead of refusing him directly, she said, “Ah, but what beautiful boots you wear!” Although it is just simple praise, Mr. Ramsay is surprised and delighted at the change of Lily who begins to give her solace to men.
CONCLUSION
• Here
is so many things related with feminism are found in novel,
• Many
women in novel either or silently subvert conventional female gender roles. We
found that the three daughter of Mrs. Ramsay's daughter silently reject the life
that their mother chose for her. They want to live their life as Lily live.
• Woof’s feminine thoughts, be it obscure
or be it radical, have profound insights which are well worth studying. Through
the analysis of To the Lighthouse from the perspective of feminism,
demonstrates that only by balancing masculinity and femininity to reach
androgyny, can women free themselves from the patriarchal society and realize
self-fulfillment.
• women
and men should live in peace to achieve integrity, which is indeed the real
perception of Woolf’s feminism.
|
• Feminism
Perspective. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://site.douban.com/253682/widget/notes/18769482/note/498879186/
• Feminist
Elements In The Lighthouse And Handmaids Tale English Literature Essay. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/feminist-elements-in-the-lighthouse-and-handmaids-tale-english-literature-essay.php
Comments
Post a Comment