- Mrs. Ramsay is the ideal Victorian wife and mother: devoted to her children, submissive to her husband. The term for this, based on a poem by Coventry Patmore, is "The Angel in the House." (See examples on pages 6, 32, 39, 83, 107.)
- Compare that aspect of her character with the following scenes: Lily's perspective (48-51); Mrs. Ramsay's desire to be "an investigator, elucidating the social problem (9) and her concerns on 58 and 103; Lily's "experiment" during dinner (90-92); Mrs. Ramsay's solution to the quarrel between James and Cam (114-115); Mrs. Ramsay's "triumph" on 123-124.
- What is revealed about Mr. Ramsay during the Q to R episode on 33-34?
- Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay represent the Victorian marriage; Paul and Minta (172-174) represent the modern marriage. Judge each.
- Is Lily attempting to be the angel in the house in the "boot" scene on 149-154? Does she succeed? Is there a difference in her attitude between this scene and her "experiment" at the earlier dinner scene?
- What is the purpose of the "Time Passes" section?
- What dilemma does Cam face (165, 169, 189)?
- What dilemma regarding his father does James face? Is he similar to his father? Is his dilemma resolved? (184-185; 202-203; 206-207)
- What is Lily's dilemma throughout the novel regarding her wish to be an artist?
- What is the vision that Lily has at the end of the novel? (Also see 180-182.)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
To The Lighthouse Discussion Questions
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#3 Mr Ramsey is not gifted, not a genius. He will not be remembered by history for very long after his death, and so feels a failure. Yet,he has tried his best, toiled hard, stood proudly, so believes he deserves to have a beautiful woman to speak to of his suffering, to give him sympathy when he needs it (right now!).
ReplyDeleteMr. Ramsey is of above average intelligence, but a needy emotional cripple, who would barge in on a mother and son's reading time to get sympathy for his shortcomings. I just want to shake Mr. Ramsey. Get a grip, sir.
Dawson: Excellent! One of my favorite lines is in chapter II of "The Lighthouse" section just after Lily has set up her canvas and before Mr. R goes on the boat. Lily is trying to be the angel in the house: "But she remained stuck. There was an awful pause. They both looked at the sea. Why, thought Mr. Ramsay, should she look at the sea when I am here?" (I crack up every time I read that.)
ReplyDeleteThat is the ego of Mr. Ramsay. Lily ends up telling him his boots are beautiful and then feels ashamed: "To praise his boots when he asked her to solace his soul...deserved, she knew, and she looked up expecting to get it, in one of his sudden roars of ill-temper, complete annihilation."
Instead Mr. Ramsay is pleased. I think it is interesting here to think about why he is the way he is. Why does Lily feel ashamed?
For me Mr. Ramsay is the better parent because he tells his children the truth. Mrs. Ramsay covers thing up to make everything more pleasant. That was probably the biggest fault of the Victorian society and may have led to the catastrophe of World War I.
Another problem I have with Mrs. Ramsay is that she truly believes that men are superior. Near the beginning of the novel (page 6 in my edition) we have this description of her: "Indeed, she had the whole of the other sex under her protection." The reasons given are because men control the world and adore her. And she wants to perpetuate the Victorian division of roles (the domestic for the woman, the worldly for the man): "Woe betide the girl--pray Heaven it was none of her daughters!--who did not feel the worth of it, and all that it implied, to the marrow of her bones!"
ReplyDeleteA few paragraphs later we have her daughters' feelings of "Not always taking care of some man or other."
For me Mrs. Ramsay's attitude is the reason women were kept back for so long. B
I can identify with Lily when she has a hysterical laughing fit, thinking about Mrs. Ramsey ..."presiding with immutable calm over destinies which she completely failed to understand". For Mrs. Ramsey, if you weren't married you were missing the best of life.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Lily feel ashamed? Because she changes the subject, offering up a compliment on Mr. Ramsey's boots when he is having an emotional crisis. Yet, it takes his mind off his desperate need for sympathy.
Yes, Mr Ramsey is the more honest parent. But his is a brutal honesty, never tempered by thoughts of anyone other than himself.
Mrs. Ramsey, on the other hand, lavishes all of herself surrounding and protecting others, so that there is ..."scarcely a shell of herself left for her to know herself by..." "Not as oneself did one find rest ever, in her experience...".
Whew! I'm glad I did not live in these times.