Virginia Woolf To The Lighthouse
Research papers on Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse can be ordered from Paper Masters and discuss any aspect of Woolf or the novel.
To the Lighthouse is a novel by Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), a British writer. First published in 1927, the novel tells the story of the Ramsay family and their trips to the Isle of Skye, in Scotland, from 1910 to 1920. More importantly, To the Lighthouse is considered to be a landmark work in the development of high modernism in literature.
To the Lighthouse
The novel is divided into three distinct parts:
- The Window
- Time Passes
- The Lighthouse
Part one, The Window, takes place at the Ramsays' summer home in the Hebrides. Mrs. Ramsay tells her son James, one of their eight children, that they will visit the lighthouse on the next day, but Mr. Ramsay declares that the weather will not permit it. Part two, Time Passes, covers the intervening ten years, through the outbreak of World War I and the deaths of several characters, including Mrs. Ramsay. Part three, The Lighthouse, sees the surviving family members return to the summer home, undertaking the long-delayed trip to the lighthouse.
Far more important than the plot are the various, complex themes that Woolf weaves throughout the novel, including perception and human relationships, presented in stream of consciousness from the perspective of different characters. Woolf is said to have written the book in order to explore her own complex relationship with her parents. Hailed as a masterpiece, it was one of Woolf's best-selling novels during her lifetime.