Reflection of twentieth century in To The Light House

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Name:-ParmarMilankumar L.

Roll. No.:- 16

Enrollment no:- 14101026

Subject:- Modernist Literature

Topic:- Reflection of twentieth century in To The Light House

Submitted to:- Dr. DilipBarad

Department of English,

                   M.K.B.U. Bhavnagar.

Introduction:-

To the Lighthouse is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centers on the Ramsays and their visits to the Isle ofSkye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.

Following and extending the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel Proust and James Joyce, the plot of To the Lighthouse is secondary to its philosophical introspection. Cited as a key example of the stream-of-consciousness literary technique, the novel includes little dialogue and almost no action; most of it is written as thoughts and observations. The novel recalls childhood emotions and highlights adult relationships. Among the book's many tropes and themes are those of loss, subjectivity, and the problem of perception.

In 1998, the Modern Library named To the Lighthouse No. 15 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2005, the novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present. (wikipedia)

Historical Background of the twentieth century:-

Each and every age in the history of English literature has some different traits that distinguish it from all other, Modernist or Twentieth century also had some marked features that differentiate it from previous ages. The transition from Victorian age to Modern age was faster forward and backward. Modernism best described as literary and artistic period from the first half of the twentieth century.

In the first half of that fifty years of the 20^th century human race moved faster forward and backward than during perhaps fifty generations of in the past. Human race moved faster in industrialization and inventions of technology, with the help of that society lead to progress, and because of material growth and scientific development there was spiritual regress, human race degraded in the matter of religion and spirituality.(setting)

Invention of motor car and motor cycle provided universal mobility and as consequence of that young were able to travel far from home and elude the natural parental guidance and control.Among several revolutions within scientific revolution the revolt of the youth was notable.

The truths and values of certainties of Victorians were appears as superstitions and baseless convention in the eyes of twentieth century generation. Young men and women during the 20^th century looked back upon the Victorians as hypocritical. To them Victorian ideas appeared as mean and superficial and stupid. This mood was part because effected literature of the twentieth century from 1901 to 1925 English literature was directed by mental attitudes, moral ideas and spiritual values at almost the opposite extreme to the attitudes, ideas and values at governing Victorian literature.

It was the time when the standards of the artistic craftsmanship and appreciations of the art are begun to change. What Victorians had considered beautiful their children and grandchildren thought hideous, thus we see the literature of this time difficult to understand, it is fragmented, highly serious, artistically of high quality, and only some intellect people- average reader can only understand.

Post Victorian generation dislike the furnishing of Victorian house holds they were even more contemptuous of the furnishing of Victorian mind. They did not accept the Victorian ideas of voice of authority, which was accepted in the religions, in politics, in literature and in family lie.(setting)

The world war one and two, the literature that was produced during this time was an attempt to negotiate over the trauma of such extensive suffering and the theme of power and cruelty. The war also revealed the fragile nature of human existence. The entire literature of the 20^th century can, infect be read as an attempt to deal with the discovery of hopelessness of the courage and fallibility of mankind in the face of war. It is also possible to argue that literary techniques like “stream of consciousness” in James Joyce and Virginia Woolf were response to the brutal nature of realities of war. Poets and artists sought to escape the harsh realities of suffering, destruction and cruelty by retaining in to the mind. Rather than exploring real world, they preferred to explore the mind. (NAYAR)

General characteristics of the 20th century literature

Ë Anxiety and Interrogation

Ë Anxiety and Interrogation

Ë Art for life sake/ art for art sake

Ë Growing interest in the poor and the working classes

Ë Development In psychology and other science

Ë Impact of two World Wars Ë Influence of Radio, Cinema and Television

Ë High degree of complexity in structure of literature

Ë A great deal of experimentation with the language

Ë An interest in subjectivity and the working of the human consciousness

Effects of the time and the time/20th century as reflected in “To the Light House”

Ë Generation gap- Victorian vs Modern

Ë Family relationships

Ë Eluding natural parental guidance

Ë Artistic rebellion against patriarchal society

Ë Voice of  Authority vs Individualism/ Existentialism

Ë Impact of the war

Ë Stream of consciousness

Generation Gap, family relationship and eluding parental guidance:-

In the very few opening chapters you will realize this. There is continuous confrontation between old and new, whether it is Mrs. Ramsay’s traditional perception of life or it is Lily’s strong individualism there we can see a gap between old generation and the new generation. Virginia Woolf’s use of the stream of consciousness technique allow us to read what they think about each other, what old think about a new and new about old, for instance in the below passage is about what Lily thinks about the daily life of Mrs. Ramsay.

“She was not inventing; she was only trying to smooth out something she had been given years ago folded up; something she had seen. For in the rough and tumble of daily life, with all those children about, all those visitors, one had constantly a sense of repetition—of one thing falling where another had fallen” (Woolf 299)

The time novel covers up is of the beginning of the transition from Victorianism towards modernism. Thus we have characters represents both the age, for example we have Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay, and Carmichael who represents Victorian values, ideas, way of thinking perception of life and generation who thinks “woman can’t paint and woman can’t write”. We have characters like Lily Briscoe, James, and Nancy who represents modern/ contemporary time.

In To The Light house we have Ramsay family, the progression of the novel is the destruction of the family, though from the very first chapter we know that there is no healthy relation among family members, whether is it of husband wife or of parents and children, there is lack of understanding, lack of sympathy towards each other, and thus could not understand the problems and needs of the members, there is no emotional bondage between family members except for Mrs Ramsay, but her too remain only for Mr Ramsay and little James for other we don’t know. In the first chapter of the window we have example of father and child’s relation, here is the passage in it clarifies the feeling of a boy towards his father is not something accepted.

“Had there been an axe handy, a poker, or any weapon that would have gashed a hole in his father’s breast and killed him, there and then, James would have seized it.” (pg.2)

Husband wife relation, it is cold and dead relations they have, they just pretend to have good relations, his husband is very authoritative to herwe don’t given a chance to peep in their personal life, but the given is also enough to understand their relations. That could be explained by the example that when Mr Ramsay told her that the weather would not be good tomorrow at that time Mrs. Ramsay asked him.

“How did he know? she asked. The wind often changed.

The extraordinary irrationality of her remark, the folly of women’s minds enraged him. He had ridden through the valley of death, been shattered and shivered; and now, she flew in the face of facts, made his children hope what was utterly out of the question, in effect, told lies. He stamped his foot on the stone step. “Damn you,” he said.”(pg.47)

If he can be angry on this kind of trivial matter then we can think how his relations with her. The emotional security which is the soul of any relationships but here it lacks.  Death of Mrs Ramsay shattered family, she was the connecting link, she was the center of the family around her everybody was moving, but lost of her bring the disaster in the family, it doesn’t remain the same as it was in her presence, just after her death her daughter Prue Dies in the illness related to child birth, Andrew the oldest son of her died in war, and the remaining members scattered in so called house. The below passage exactly represents the condition of the summer house after the death of Mrs Ramsay the same way the family relations also decayed with the flow of the time.

The house was left; the house was deserted. It was left like a shell on a sandhill to fill with dry salt grains now that life had left it. The long night seemed to have set in; the trifling airs, nibbling, the clammy breaths, fumbling, seemed to have triumphed. The saucepan had rusted and the mat decayed. Toads had nosed their way in. Idly, aimlessly, the swaying shawl swung to and fro. A thistle thrust itself between the tiles in the larder. (pg.208).

First World War and its impact on ‘To the Light House’:-

The time which is recorded in the novel is from 1910 to 1920, during these years the firstWorld War took place in Europe. There is no direct reference to the First World War or proper descriptions. But it had some effect over the characters life and their perception. Throughout the novel we see the people are talking about the light house which symbolizes the desires and their ambitions in the life, their ideologies, and perception towards life but in first two parts of the novel these remain unfulfilled. In a way it can be said that it is because of the effect of the world war (1914-1918). (Tabbasum)

The second part of the novel gives us the glimpse of the World War1, in this part there are many deaths in the family, as war breaks out in the Europe, Mrs Ramsay dies, suddenly, one night. Andrew Ramsay the oldest son of her killed in the battle and his sister Prue died from illness related to childbirth.

“[A shell exploded. Twenty or thirty young men were blown up in France, among them Andrew Ramsay, whose death, mercifully, was instantaneous.](pg 202).”

Virginia Woolf does not given any further description about the war, but war had brought unhappiness in the family.

“[Mr Carmichael brought out a volume of poems that spring, which had an unexpected success. The war, people said, had revived their interest in poetry.] (pg 203).”

This passage in the bracket also related with the war, which is rather ironical that thousands of people lost their lives in war, and one achieves success because of that.

“But, dear, many things had changed since then (she shut the drawer); many families had lost their dearest. So she was dead; and Mr Andrew killed; and Miss Prue dead too, they said, with her first baby; but everyone had lost someone these years.”(pg 206).

 These lines are of Lily Briscoe’s monologue. It can be read in context of the World War 1 as it had caused many deaths, and mass destruction, there are many deaths in the novel, the last line “but everyone had lost someone these years”it is more or less becomes universal.

The third part of the novel ‘To The Light’ we can read as the time after the World War1. After war as there is peace settled down, happiness revives.It is the part in which everything settle down, as wish of James as a boy to Visit to The Light House fulfill after ten years, the painting which Lily Briscoe has started before ten years finishes in this part, she find her vision of life, Mrs Ramsay immortalized by the painting, she is living in the memory of the people around her.

Growth of Science and Technology:-

The 20^th century was marked by bold scientific developments. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution undermined an unquestioned faith in God that was, until that point, nearly universal while the rise of psycho analysis, a monument led by Sigmund Freud, introduced the idea of unconscious mind. Such innovation in ways of thinking had great influence on the styles and concerns of contemporary artist and writer like those of Bloomsbury Group. Bloomsbury name derived from a district of London in which its members lived, this group of writers, artists and philosophers emphasized on the nonconformity, aesthetic pleasure and intellectual freedom.   

The Stream of Consciousness:- 

This phrase was used by William James in his Principles of Psychology (1890) to describe the unbroken flow of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings in the waking mind. It has since been adopted to describe a narrative method in modern fiction. Long passages of introspection, in which the narrator records in detail what passes through a character's awareness, are found in novelists from Samuel Richardson, through William James’ brother Henry James, to many novelists of the present era. Stream of the consciousness is the name applied specifically to amode of narration that undertakes to reproduce, without a narrator's intervention, the full spectrum and continuous flow of a character's mental process, in which sense perceptions mingle with conscious and half-conscious thoughts, memories, expectations, feelings, and random associations.

Woolf’s experimentation has much to do with the time in which she lived: the turn of the century was marked by bold scientific developments. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution undermined an unquestioned faith in God that was, until that point, nearly universal, while the rise of psychoanalysis, a movement led by Sigmund Freud, introduced the idea of an unconscious mind. Such innovation in ways of scientific thinking had great influence on the styles and concerns of contemporary artists and writers like those in the Bloomsbury Group. (sparknotes)

Virginia Woolf was interested in giving voice to the complex inner world of feeling and memory and conceived the human personality as a continuous shift of impressions and emotions.  So the events that traditionally made up a story were no longer important for her; what mattered was the impression they made on the characters who experienced them. In her novels the omniscient narrator disappeared and the point of view shifted inside the characters’ minds through flashbacks, associations of ideas, momentarily impressions presented as a continuous flux.  Indirect Interior Monologue in To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf, among the stream-of-consciousness writers, relies most on the indirect interior monologue and she uses it with great skill. In To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf succeeds in producing a much subtle effect through the use of this technique.  This novel contains a great deal of straight, conventional narration and description, but the interior monologue is used often enough to give the novel its special character of seeming to be always within the consciousness of the chief characters.

Indirect interior monologue:-

Virginia Woolf, among the stream-of-consciousness writers, relies most on the indirect interior monologue and she uses it with great skill. In To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf succeeds in producing a much subtle effect through the use of this technique. This novel contains a great deal of straight, conventional narration and description, but the interior monologue is used often enough to give the novel its special character of seeming to be always within the consciousness of the chief characters.

Such were the extremes of emotion that Mr Ramsay excited in his children’s breasts by his mere presence; standing, as now, lean as a knife, narrow as the blade of one, grinning sarcastically, not only with the pleasure of disillusioning his son and casting ridicule upon his wife, who was ten thousand times better in every way than he was (James thought), but also with some secret conceit at his own accuracy of judgement. What he said was true. It was always true. (Pg. 1)

In this quote use of bracket is quite significant as it proves that the ongoing description of the character Mr. Ramsay is not narrated by narrator but it’s thought process of little James. The above passage illustrates the occasionally baffling similarity between a narrator’s utterance and omniscient-narrator commentary. Narrator steps aside but soon comes to give the comment: ‘What he said was true . . .”

An artistic rebel against patriarchal society

In some contemporary novelist in 1920- R.Brimley Johnson discuss on emerging trend among female novelists. “She has abandoned the old realism, she is seeking, with passionate determination for that reality which is behind the material the things that matter, spiritual things, ultimate truth and here she finds a man outsider”. Thus we have character of Lily Briscoe indifferent to male characters, living and enjoying her way of living life, opposite to the male characters and their belief that women can’t paint and Women can’t write. But she had passionately decided to find her vision, deep truth of life, and tries to uncover it throughout the novel and at last she has achieved her vision.

Modernist writer start the new style of writing and reject the old style of writing and also we can say that the writer of the novel ‘To The Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf’s start the new way of writing. Mrs. Woolf’s Concern in writing novels was not merely to narrate a story as the older novelists did, but to discover and record life as the people feel who live it. Hence it is she rejected the conventional technique of narration and adopted a new technique more suited to her purposes. It is for this reason that in ‘To The Lighthouse’ she not told a story, in the sense of a Series of events, and has Concentrated on a small number of Characters, whose nature and feelings are represented to us largely through their interior monologues. In order to capture the inner reality, the truth about life, she has tried to represent the moving current of life and the individual’s Consciousness of the fleeting movement, and secondly, also to select from this current and organize it so that the novel may penetrate beneath the surface reality and may give to the reader a sense of understanding and completeness. The interior monologues of the different characters are, no doubt, given, but the novelist, the central intelligence, is also constantly busy, organizing the material and illuminating it by frequent Comments.

Conclusion :-

Virginia Woolf one of the best writer of the twentieth century/Modernist literature left a legacy behind her, a new style of writing novel(stream of consciousness). It is inevitable for any writer that the time in which he or she lives does not get reflected in the work of literature. The novel to the light house reflects its contemporary society very well. It is transformation from Victorian to Modernism, the impact of first world war or contemporary scientific revolution. Each give a different effect to the novel.

Works Cited

NAYAR, PRAMOD K. "THE MODERN AGE." NAYAR, PRAMOD K. A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. New Delhi: cambridge University Press Pvt. Ltd., 2009. 297-300.

Tabbasum, Afsana. "Impact of WW| in Virginia Woolf's To The Light House And Mrs. Dollaway." ENH community Journal issue 2 (2014): 1-6.

Woolf, Virginia. To The Light house. Ed. eBooks@Adelaide. 1994.

Wikipedia contributors. "Lighthouse." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on To the Lighthouse.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Ward, A. C. "THE SETTING." Twentieth Century English Literature. 1. London: The English Language book society and Mathuen, 1965. 1-24.

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