Opening of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. In what ways does the writer engage the reader with notions of the masculine and the feminine in this text ?
by
dhove (student)
English CA
Opening of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
In what ways does the writer engage the reader with notions of the masculine and the feminine in this text ?
This text is centred on three characters: a mother, Mrs Ramsay, a father, Mr Ramsay, and their son, James Ramsay. The author fully uses these characters to represent the masculine and the feminine, notions with which the author engages the reader through the characters’ behaviours as well as their thoughts and feelings about each other.
Mrs Ramsay –representing the feminine– is seen as the kind, tolerant and protecting mother: the extract, which is the opening of the very first chapter of the novel, directly starts by a mother agreeing with something her son, James, wants to do. On the contrary, Mr Ramsay, her husband, appears as a sharp and severe father. Indeed, we notice that his first sayings are the opposite of what the mother told their son; he denies what Mrs Ramsay said “Yes” for.
Opening of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
In what ways does the writer engage the reader with notions of the masculine and the feminine in this text ?
This text is centred on three characters: a mother, Mrs Ramsay, a father, Mr Ramsay, and their son, James Ramsay. The author fully uses these characters to represent the masculine and the feminine, notions with which the author engages the reader through the characters’ behaviours as well as their thoughts and feelings about each other.
Mrs Ramsay –representing the feminine– is seen as the kind, tolerant and protecting mother: the extract, which is the opening of the very first chapter of the novel, directly starts by a mother agreeing with something her son, James, wants to do. On the contrary, Mr Ramsay, her husband, appears as a sharp and severe father. Indeed, we notice that his first sayings are the opposite of what the mother told their son; he denies what Mrs Ramsay said “Yes” for.