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Exploring Time, Memory, and Modernism in Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse"

This analysis of Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" delves into key themes such as the nature of time, memory, and identity. Section 1 unfolds within a single evening, while Sections 2 and 3 examine the passage of time and its impact on human connection. Woolf employs modernist techniques like stream-of-consciousness to portray the depth of her characters' internal worlds. The essay encourages readers to engage deeply with the text, focusing on the Ramsay family dynamics and their significance, alongside personal reflections on the reading experience.

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Exploring Time, Memory, and Modernism in Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse"

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Woolf Day 2

  2. Concerns • Time: moving away from being bound to a strict sequence of events. • Section 1 of To the Lighthouse takes place on one evening, between 6:00 PM and dinner. • Section 2: Time passes. Human element completely removed. Only the house remains. • Section 3: Memory. Present displaced by the past. • Devices: memory; foreshortening

  3. Ideas • Truth: who faces reality and who avoids it • Men and women • The artist • Marriage • Solitude vs. society • Nature • Love • Compatibility vs.Incompatibility

  4. Modernist Novel • Argued that the novel needed to be more than popular entertainment • Gatsby, To the Lighthouse, Heart of Darkness, (Robert Frost) • The “art-novel”: as artistic as a painting

  5. Modernist Techniques • Interior monologue: Stream of consciousness • Term comes from William James, philosopher and psychologist • Consciousness not a chain of ideas, but a river or stream, where components are seamlessly merged

  6. Stream-of-consciousness • Best known example: Final 50 pages of Joyce’s Ulysses…unpunctuated, because we don’t think in sentences • Woolf said that this enabled her to show what the interior life is really like and give the reader a deeper intimacy with her characters

  7. Modernism is interested in the poetry of the sub-conscious life, in the psychological, and how that challenges our rational, real-world expectations

  8. To the Lighthouse Pre-Reading • Read sections 1-3. Resist the temptation to use Spark Notes. It’s OK if you’re confused. Read it as she meant it to be read and see what you notice/understand. • When finished, write 2 paragraphs. Also…bring post-its if you have a library copy. • Paragraph 1: Describe the Ramsay family. • Paragraph 2: Describe your experience of reading this text.

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