Woolf: The Other Einstein

Brown, Paul. "Realativity, Quantum Physics, and Consciousness in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse." Journals of Modern Literature 32.3 (2009): 39-64. Print.

“For Woolf, a unifying pattern exists behind the arbitrary divisions associated with subjects and objects, which suggests some form of unification in the whole.” (14) Throughout his essay, Brown argues that Virginia Woolf was a highly intellectual being, on a literary level versus the scientific level of Einstein. He wrote that there was only one difference between Woolf’s views and those of her father and Einstein could be seen “through the contrast between the table as an object of permeability and connectivity versus the table as an object of independence and separation.” (8) Brown makes multiple references to scientific thought, and how it correlates with the writing style of Virginia Woolf, displaying a logical argument that the majority of To the Lighthouse is showing Woolf’s interest in the thought of relativity. Supporting his argument that she is interested in relativity, Brown discusses the different philosophical views of the table that are brought up multiple times throughout the novel through Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lilly Briscoe. Brown’s view of Woolf’s writing style in To the Lighthouse is very scientific and is supported using a vast amount of research and reasoning that Einstein used around the same time period that Woolf was writing this novel.

In his argument, Brown brings up many points of what Woolf’s purpose is for Lily Briscoe and why the narration changes while the focus is on her rather than another character. Brown expresses his feelings that Lilly is used to show an abstract representation of Mrs. Ramsay as well as relativity. Using the example of how Lilly placed the kitchen table in the tree as she was envisioning her painting, Brown explains that Lilly is used to show Woolf’s views of relativity by writing that she needed to be able to separate the wood from the tree to from the wood of the table. In his explanations, Brown expresses that Lilly is used indirectly to show Woolf’s view of relativity because without taking into consideration the other philosophical reasoning that other characters have, he cannot fully support his argument of Woolf writing in sense of relativity. Brown writes as if Lilly is used to show relativity on a broad spectrum, such as the relation between Lilly and the Ramsay’s, but also on more specific level, such as the thought processes that Lilly goes as she is painting. The view that Brown has for why Woolf’s narration changes from character to character is that Lilly is indirectly how Woolf was able to express her view of relativity.