The Modern Elements On “To The Lighthouse” By Virginia Woolf

To The Lighthouse is Virginia Woolf's 1927 novel, which stands out in English literature. Woolf, who is considered one of the pioneers of modernism, includes many modern elements in this novel. According to the information received from Woolf's sister, in this novel Woolf tells about her mother and shows her longing and love for her mother with this novel. 

The main character of the novel, Mrs. Ramsay, is a truly traditional English woman who is bound by a strong bond of love to her husband and children. Her own wishes are ignored, and the only thing she wants in life is the well-being and happiness of her children. According to modernism, Mrs. Ramsay is a complete "Victorian Woman (Angel in the House)." In an English society of the period with gender inequality, Mrs. Ramsay is that angel woman in the house who fulfills her duties at home, ensures the well-being of her husband, and is bound to her children with a strong bond of love. Although this character is very useful for her husband, Mr. Ramsay, and their children, it is a complete torment for herself. She continues her life with the pain of being a woman who could not realize herself and live her life.

On the other hand, the guest of the house, Lily Briscoe, is the "Mad Woman” (New Woman), that is, the modern woman of the house. Her greatest passion is drawing, and her biggest dream is to make "a painting" in which she can convey all her passion. She completes this painting at the end of the novel, and her main source of inspiration is Mrs. Ramsay. Lily is a free, strong woman who tries to realize herself and does not want to have a married life. The reader clearly sees the comparison of these two women in the novel. While Mrs. Ramsay represents Woolf's mother, Lily represents Virginia.

The biggest goal of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay's youngest child, James, is to go to the Lighthouse. Every day he insistently asked his mother, "Are we going to go to the lighthouse today?" he asks. Even though Mrs. Ramsay wants to realize this goal of her son, Mr. Ramsay refuses every time, and they cannot go. There is a lighthouse in everyone's life, and everyone tries to reach it. At the end of the novel, James, who is able to go to the Lighthouse after his mother's death, realizes his life's goal but cannot experience the satisfaction he dreamed of. Perhaps it is to realize the purpose of his life and to do it with the person he loves most in life. And realizing this goal with the person he hates most in life, his father, undermines his dream. 

The novel was written using Woolf's famous stream of consciousness technique. Reading the novel without knowing the features of this technique can be confusing for the reader. However, when read with awareness of the technique, the novel has a lot of symbolic meaning to tell. The Lighthouse symbol, in particular, encompasses all readers, and this symbol makes the novel timeless and universal.

Virginia Woolf's immortal work, To the Lighthouse, is one of the pioneering works of the modernism movement. This work, which contains many modern elements, is a guide that can be read to recognize and understand the modernism movement.