(The header should include the student’s last name and the page number. This appears at the top of every page) Doe 1
Jane Doe
Dr. Garfield
9th grade Honors English
20 November 2007
[D1]The symbolic representation of the lighthouse in To the Lighthouse[D2]
Lighthouses[D3] most often act as a symbol of guidance to bring lost ships and souls home from sea. However, Virginia Woolf, author of To the Lighthouse, creates an intricately woven pattern of symbols in her novel centered on the lighthouse. The main one, which embodies the entire aspect of the novel, is the deeper symbolism of the lighthouse itself; which in a sense is Mrs. Ramsay. Anita Tarr writes in an article for Midwest Quarterly, “Indeed, the major point to consider in To the Lighthouse is Woolf’s use of the lighthouse as primary among her ocular metaphors” (261). [D4]The lighthouse not only represents a journey or quest, but it also symbolizes, metaphorically, Mrs. Ramsay. In a sense, she sees herself in the light from the lighthouse, and the idea of it constantly boggles her mind throughout the novel. Woolf has tied the imagery of the lighthouse with the understanding of self together to create a challenging, but breathtaking approach to a woman’s life. Not only does the lighthouse hold a meaning in itself for Mrs. Ramsay, but it also holds a separate meaning for everyone in the novel. For example, after the death of Mrs. Ramsay, the lighthouse represents a quest which the children must take to be closer to their mother. Jack Stewart in his article, “Light in To The Lighthouse”, suggests, “Mrs. Ramsay embraces the Lighthouse beam as an ultimate source of creative energy, and is filled with Light. Her family and friends approach the Lighthouse through her. She lives for Light, and they for Light in her” (Stewart 379). [D5]
Upon reading To the Lighthouse, one immediately identifies that that the novel is about a quest. The children in the novel wish to travel to the lighthouse, and ask everyday only to be turned down by their father, Mr. Ramsay, who claims the weather is too bad for the journey. James even recollects at the end of the novel, “It will rain, he remembers his father saying, you won’t be able to go to the lighthouse” (Woolf 189). Going to the lighthouse seems an unattainable task because throughout the entire first part of the novel, it seems like the weather is never going to clear up. In response to the weather, Mr. Ramsay exclaims, “But, said his father, stopping in front of the drawing room window, it won’t be fine” (Woolf 8). The only way they can reach the lighthouse is by looking through the window, which surprisingly is the title of the first part of the book. The widow serves as a way for the children and Mrs. Ramsay to reach the lighthouse themselves. After the death of Mrs. Ramsay in Time Passes, the children and Mr. Ramsay find that they must venture towards the light, because in a sense that is bringing them closer to Mrs. Ramsay.
Works Cited
Stewart, Jack. “Light in To the Lighthouse.” Twentieth Century Literature. 23.3
(Oct 1977): 377-389. EBSCOHost. 6 Nov 2007 <
login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6876700&site=ehost-live>.
Tarr, Anita C. “Getting to the Lighthouse: Virginia Woolf and Thomas Carlyle.”
Midwest Quarterly. 42.3 (Spring 2001): 257-270. EBSCOHost. 6 Nov 2007
<
site=ehost-live>.
Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse.New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1927.
[D6]
[D1](The heading appears on the first page only and include the student’s name, the teacher’s name, the title of the course, and the date the assignment is to be submitted.)
[D2]Title of the essay. Do not italicize it, bold it, or put it in quotation marks.
Any time you name the title of the novel, (even if it’s in the title of your essay) you should italicize it only.
[D3]The entire paper should be set to 1 inch margins, double spaced lines, Times New Roman, and 12 pt. font.
[D4]Take notice of the different ways to cite parenthetical citations
[D5]Take notice of the different ways to cite parenthetical citations
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