摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Experience of Virginia Woolf 1

1.2 Background of the novel 1

1.3 Main characters and plots in the novel 2

1.4 Theme of the novel and intrinsic meaning 2

2. Literature review 4

3. A Study of Feminism in To the Lighthouse by Using Symbolic Techniques 6

3. 1 Analysis of feminism and symbolism in the novel 6

3.1.1 Origin and development of feminism 6

3.1.2 Analysis of characters and exploration of feminism 7

3.1.2.1 Analysis of typical male character 7

3.1.2.2 Analysis of traditional female character 8

3.1.2.3 Analysis of modern female character 10

3.1.3 Characters and objects embodied by symbolism 11

3.1.3.1 Brief explanation of symbolism and consciousness 11

3.1.3.2 General introduction of symbolic things 11

3.1.3.3 Specific explanation of the symbolic images 12

3.2 The influence of feminism 13

3.2.1 The advantages of feminism in the novel 14

3.2.2 The limitation of Virginia’s feminism 15

3.2.3 Feminism in China 15

4. Conclusion 18

References 20

Acknowledgments

I would like to take this opportunity to express my full gratitude to all those who helped me in the writing process. This thesis would not be probably completed without their help.

First of all, I want to show the sincere thanks and appreciations to my supervisor, Mrs. Wang, whose suggestions and encouragement have given me much power during the writing process. She directs me in modifying the content and perfecting the format.

I am also thanks all my friends and classmates who have kindly provided me help and companionship in the process of breeding this paper. Finally, I am really grateful to those who contribute much time to reading this thesis and give me a lot of advice.

Abstract

To the Lighthouse is widely recognized as a famous work of the English writer Virginia Woolf. The novel has been inevitably analyzed by many scholars all over the world, as it is a representative work to elaborate feminism. The book mainly described the tale of the Ramsay’s family and friends from 1910 to 1920. It depicted the author’s thinking and exploration of the relationship between two genders through the “lighthouse” in the novel, and expressed the author’s modern feminist ideas. The novel perfectly showed the author’s use of symbolism. For instance, three main characters, Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lily are the projects of the author and her family members. The ideas represented by the three images collide with each other, it eventually form a mature feminism mind as well as achieve the perfect ending of the novel. In addition, the following images such as window, lighthouse, and sea have the implication of changes to characters, which helped to promote the plot.

This paper analyzes three main characters by comparing the male dominant thoughts represented by Mr. Ramsay, and the traditional female thoughts attached to the male represented by Mrs. Ramsay. It intends to reveal the merits and the indispensable place of two ideas. Then, through character Lily’s development process of career, the paper aims to explore the transformation of her female thoughts, and finally reveals the feminist ideas that the author wanted to express. Secondly, this thesis studies the novel’s writing techniques according to the scholar’s narration features, such as the depiction of color and the narrative of things, which contribute to the completion of the novel. Thirdly, this article mainly explains the collision and change of the Western society before and after the Great War with the help of the changes of the main female characters in To the Lighthouse. It shows the author’s support and affirmation to the friendship between the two sexes, and provides enlightenment for exploring the significance of feminism to China’s future development. This paper is expected to interpret the origin and development of feminism, and apply more comprehensive theoretical results to today’s Chinese society. In this way, we could encourage modern women to be independent and self-reliant, and courageously cope with the challenges imposed by society.

Through the research in this paper, it can be found that the author wants to express that feminism is not to completely fight against the patriarchal society. Meanwhile, it is irrational to pursue feminism or patriarchy blindly. A woman should be self-independent and actively communicate with men, and then she will play an important role in the society dominated by men at the time, and seek peace between the two sexes. It can be seen from the research that the spread of feminism is of great significance to the progress of the world. Although struggle always exists among the society, reconciliation is the glue to maintain stability of the society. The time has changed, and with the increase of independent women, women have gained a certain position both in their families and work. However, there are still injustices in today’s society, and the feminist ideas should be continued.

Keywords: To the Lighthouse; feminism; symbolism

中文摘要

《到灯塔去》是英国女性作家弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的一部经典之作。小说作为女性主义代表作品，受到国内外学者多方面分析。本书主要描述了1910至1920年间发生在拉姆齐一家及朋友的故事，围绕“灯塔”阐述了作者对两性社会关系的思考与探究，表达了作者现代女性主义思想。小说中体现出作者对象征手法的运用，其中三个主要人物，拉姆齐先生，夫人以及莉丽分别是对作者本人和家人的映射。三种形象代表的思想相互碰撞，最终形成一种成熟的现代女性思想，达成小说的圆满结局。另外小说里窗，灯塔和海的意象蕴含了人物的情感变化，起到推动情节走向的作用。

本文首先对主要人物进行分析，对比以拉姆齐先生为代表的男性主导思想，与拉姆齐夫人代表的依附于男性及家庭的传统女性思想，揭示两种思想可取与不可之处。接着通过探究小说人物莉丽作为艺术家的事业发展过程，以表现其女性思想的转变过程，最终揭示作者想要表达的女性主义思想。其次，本文根据学者对小说叙述特征的层面对小说写作手法进行研究等，如色彩的描绘与事物的叙写都有助于小说的完成。再次，本文主要结合《到灯塔去》中主要女性人物的变化，阐述当时西方社会在一次大战前后思想的碰撞与改变，表明作者支持并肯定两性友好相处，并为探究良好的女性主义对中国未来发展的意义提供启示。本文研究有望解读女性主义的起源与发展，将更全面的理论成果运用到当今中国社会，以此激励当代女性独立自强，勇敢应对社会施加的挑战。

通过本文研究，发现作者想表达出的是，女性主义不是对男权社会的完全反抗。并且一味的追求女权或是男权都是不理智的，应当通过自我独立与男性达成交流，从而在当时以男性主导的社会中起到重要的作用，并谋求两性最终和平。通过研究可以得知，这种女性主义精神的传达对世界进步具有重要意义，尽管斗争在社会中永远存在，但和解是维持稳定的粘合剂。时代背景已经转变，随着独立女性的增加，女性在家庭和工作当中都收获了一定的地位。然而当今社会中仍然存在不公平, 宣扬独立的女性主义思想应当继续下去。

关键词：《到灯塔去》;女性主义;象征

Introduction

1.1 Experience of Virginia Woolf

When it refers to the forerunner of feminism, Virginia Woolf was bound to be mentioned. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a famous British writer, who was also considered as one of the most important feminist, as well as a pioneer of stream of consciousness. During the 1920s, Woolf acted an important part in London’s literary and artistic society. Her best-known works are Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Llighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), which has enjoyed great reputation until nowadays. In the 1970s, Woolf became one of the central characters of feminist criticism, and her works have garnered much attention and widespread commentary at home and abroad. So why Virginia Woolf could became such a great female writer?

First of all, Virginia Woolf was born in an affluent as well as a blend household，which shaped the rich thoughts. As we known, Woolf’s father and her mother bore another four children after their marriage, and Woolf was the eighth child of the family. The boys in the family received college educations, while the girls were educated at home and received knowledge of history and literature. Secondly, due to the summer home the family, Virginia had the chance to accept knowledge in a relaxing environment. Moreover, it was in that place that Woolf saw the lighthouse for the first time, which inspired her to create the novel To the Lighthouse.

1.2 Background of the novel

It should be mentioned that Woolf’s childhood came to an end in 1895 with the death of her mother, followed by her stepsister and surrogate mother death，she experienced the first mental breaking. A series of blows depressed her, but she was thus inspired by it. In order to ease grieve, Woolf attended the Ladies' Department of King’s College from 1897 to 1901, where she studied classics and history and came into contact with early reformers. She accepted higher education and engaged in some female right movements. Other important influences were her contact with her brothers and unfettered access to her father’s vast library. Thanks to her father’s guide, Woolf began to write professionally since 1900. Besides, the Stephens moved from Kensington to freer place, where they adopted a free-spirited lifestyle. The image of the dead parent emerged in Virginia Woolf’s brain for decades, which even caused her mental illness, so she decided to create a novel to clarify the feelings of her father and mother. Therefore, this is the origin of To the Lighthouse. And the two important characters, Mrs. Ramsay and Mr. Ramsay, are modeled on Virginia Woolf’s parents.

1.3 Main characters and plots in the novel

The book To the Lighthouse is divided into three sections, “The Window”, “Time Passes”, and “The Lighthouse”. The first part described a scene of Professor Ramsay’s family and their friends on a seaside holiday. The son, James, told Mrs. Ramsay his desire to take a boat out to the lighthouse. However, Ramsay always came to interfere and insisted that the weather would not be clear the next day. Even so, the dusk ended in the laughter of the dinner. The second section, “time passes” showed that the villa gradually fell down because the owner spared no time to spend holiday during the First World War. As a response to the above desolate scene, Ramsey’s wife and daughter died, following the son died in the war. The third part of the story took place ten years after the war, Mr. Ramsay and his youngest son James finally went to the lighthouse by boat to realize James’s wish. And the painter Lily Briscoe completed the painting of James via Mrs. Ramsay which was suspended ten years ago.

1.4 Theme of the novel and intrinsic meaning

To the Lighthouse is said to be Woolf’s most autobiographical novel, we know that the main characters in the book are Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lily Briscoe, who represent Woolf and her parents. Firstly, Mr. Ramsay in the novel is the prototype of her father, who represent a well-educated person and has absolute power via status in the family. Mr. Ramsay usually advocates rational thinking, but it also causes his linear thinking on the contrary, which made his thoughts arbitrary and narrow. He can't stand the question from others to his behavior, which especially makes the younger son James unbearable. Then, Mrs. Ramsay is epitome of Woolf’s mother. She is beautiful and virtuous, as well as good at home work and sensuous. The ruthlessness of reality has become warmer through the sensibility and care of Mrs. Ramsay’s women, but the lack of rationality, Mrs. Ramsay, is fond of dreaming. Only the artist Lily Briscoe is a female character with subversive power, and she is also the author's own cast. After directly understanding the rational power of male representation and facing her own experience and emotions as a woman, Lily reached a certain degree of reconciliation between men and women, combining rationality and sensibility, so Lily is a mature modern female.

2. Literature review

To the Lighthouse is said to be the greatest novel among Virginia Woolf’s novels. In the middle of the 20th century, people at home and abroad firstly concentrated on the writing skills and stylistic analysis of the novel. With the development of literary theory after 1950s, the research of text exemplar changed to narrative features. Narrative theory regards novels as an important classification, and analyzes the internal mechanism of texts from the perspective of narratology, which can analyze the author’s creative skills and help audiences read novels. Compared with traditional novels, stream of consciousness novels had their own characteristics. Liu (2014) did research on this novel from the aspect of narrative features.