Neha D Mehta Semester- 3 Year- 2014-15 Topic: Symbolism to the lighthouse Subject: The modernist literature Submitted: Smt.S.B. Gardi Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar university,

Bhavnagar

Symbolism:In

‘To the Lighthouse’

The novel is published on 5th May-1927.

The novel is landmark of high modernism.

To the lighthouse, Virginia Woolf used the language of psycholoanalysis.

To the lighthouse

The divide into three part

The novel’s First section taking place on a day

before the first world war The Window

A Middle period in which all the action happens “off stage”

during the war.Time passes Last section taking

place on a day after the first world war

The lighthouse

What is symbolism

Symbolism is anything which signifies something; in this sense all

worlds are symbol.

Traffic lights

Hospital

Modernist literature and symbolism

The modern period the decades after world war I, was a notable era of symbolism in literature.

During those day it was very dangerous and harmful to raise against the voice of authority, if you have raised voice against them the writer and their life may be in danger.

Symbolism in Virginia wolf’s “To the lighthouse”

Lighthouse Titular significanceLily’s paintingRamsay ‘s summer houseThe boar’s skullRose’s arrangementThe sea, the Storms, the Rock and

Shallow water

Lighthouse: Titular Significance

That light symbolized the ray of goodness.

It is symbolized like truth triumph over darkness.

The lighthouse is stand alone on a rock with the huge construction.

Lily’s Painting

A young single woman who do painting of Mrs. Ramsay.

Lily makes the choice to establish her own artistic voice.

Lily Briscoe's painting it is victory of woman in patriarchal world.

Ramsay’s Summer House The Ramsays’ house

is a stage where Woolf Woolf and her characters explain their beliefs and observations.

The house stands in for the collective consciousness of those who stay in it.

The Boar’s Skull The presence of

the skull acts as a disturbing that death is always at hand.

Even during life’s most blissful moments.

Rose’s arrangement of the grapes and pears (The fruit Basket)

.The fruit basket that Rose arranges for Mrs. Ramsay's dinner party symbolizes the unity that may be out of disparity.

The basket testifies both to the “Frozen” quality of beauty that Lily describes and to beauty’s seductive and soothing quality.

The sea, the storms, the rock, reefs and shallow water

The sea

The sea shows the instability of time and life.

Consists of both wind (air) and rain (water). And as air is the element representing the mind, and water is the element representing the emotions, storms symbolize agitated thoughts and emotions, Metaphorically, storms are our Inner Demons which torment both our mind and our subconscious.

The Storms

The Rock The rocks, reefs

and Shallow water symbolized the final danger and miseries.

Just as the saying “its always seems always darkest before the dawn.

Reefs/ Shallow water

Those symbol are showing certainty of life. The rock show the life is too hard to life.

Conclusion

while finding symbols in the, it is still a subject of debates. Still critics are interpreting the symbols in different ways. To the lighthouse is a master piece of construction though symbolism it is an organic whole.