The pessimism of Mrs. Ramsey is haunting. We see her signs of doubt, her recognition that she can’t control everything. I’m struck in today’s reading, by how many examples there are of unobtainable love-- Lily’s for Mrs. Ramsey, all other men for Mrs. Ramsey and unobtainable women--“love that never attempted to clutch its object”; Lily’s…
The pessimism of Mrs. Ramsey is haunting. We see her signs of doubt, her recognition that she can’t control everything. I’m struck in today’s reading, by how many examples there are of unobtainable love-- Lily’s for Mrs. Ramsey, all other men for Mrs. Ramsey and unobtainable women--“love that never attempted to clutch its object”; Lily’s love for painting and her unobtainable vision; Mrs. Ramsey’s love for children and her hope they might never grow old and her wondering if her own marriage is happy; all of this ending with James’ love for the lighthouse. So much dream like imagery is filtered through through human need.
And the moving between points of view mirror this want, somehow. For me, Lily’s observation of colors-" the colour burning on a framework of steel; the light of a butterfly’s wing lying upon the arches of a cathedral” . Of all that only a few random marks scrawled upon the canvas remained” ––seems similar to how Virginia Woolf is trying to write these characters, shapes and color, small movements against the bigness of ideas and life.
So, so true, yes. Beautifully said. With the responsibility we now bear of caring for these characters because of the access VW is giving us through multiple POVs.
I feel like Mrs. Ramsay is able to be so radiantly alive and loving life because she has this clear knowledge and ever-present awareness that everything is fleeting. She doesn't take anything for granted and so, although I believe she does allow for hope and possibility, she seems to me neither optimistic or pessimistic. To me, she doesn't seem pessimistic about her children but rather realistic--and she reflects that even though she has an idea of what lies ahead for them, still, she created them. This creating is a way of having a relationship with something she herself can't obtain (always being alive, always being happy, always being in a relationship with her husband, etc).
And Lily, although she might feel her vision is unattainable, she continues to create--the creating is a way of having a relationship with what she can't obtain.
And the men, longing (in futility) for Mrs. Ramsay, continue to long although she is obtainable. This is their way of having a relationship with her.
Lily's inner monologue about unity and "intimacy itself, which is knowledge" is in striking contrast to her behavior as she winces and braces "herself to stand the awful trial" of Bankes actually looking at her painting. What we want, and what we actually do are often at odds.
The pessimism of Mrs. Ramsey is haunting. We see her signs of doubt, her recognition that she can’t control everything. I’m struck in today’s reading, by how many examples there are of unobtainable love-- Lily’s for Mrs. Ramsey, all other men for Mrs. Ramsey and unobtainable women--“love that never attempted to clutch its object”; Lily’s love for painting and her unobtainable vision; Mrs. Ramsey’s love for children and her hope they might never grow old and her wondering if her own marriage is happy; all of this ending with James’ love for the lighthouse. So much dream like imagery is filtered through through human need.
And the moving between points of view mirror this want, somehow. For me, Lily’s observation of colors-" the colour burning on a framework of steel; the light of a butterfly’s wing lying upon the arches of a cathedral” . Of all that only a few random marks scrawled upon the canvas remained” ––seems similar to how Virginia Woolf is trying to write these characters, shapes and color, small movements against the bigness of ideas and life.
Truly beautiful writing.
What a prescient insight! Thank you...
So, so true, yes. Beautifully said. With the responsibility we now bear of caring for these characters because of the access VW is giving us through multiple POVs.
I feel like Mrs. Ramsay is able to be so radiantly alive and loving life because she has this clear knowledge and ever-present awareness that everything is fleeting. She doesn't take anything for granted and so, although I believe she does allow for hope and possibility, she seems to me neither optimistic or pessimistic. To me, she doesn't seem pessimistic about her children but rather realistic--and she reflects that even though she has an idea of what lies ahead for them, still, she created them. This creating is a way of having a relationship with something she herself can't obtain (always being alive, always being happy, always being in a relationship with her husband, etc).
And Lily, although she might feel her vision is unattainable, she continues to create--the creating is a way of having a relationship with what she can't obtain.
And the men, longing (in futility) for Mrs. Ramsay, continue to long although she is obtainable. This is their way of having a relationship with her.
Lily's inner monologue about unity and "intimacy itself, which is knowledge" is in striking contrast to her behavior as she winces and braces "herself to stand the awful trial" of Bankes actually looking at her painting. What we want, and what we actually do are often at odds.