The Unity of the Ramsay Family through Lily Briscoe’s Artistic Creation

Handley, William R. "The housemaid and the kitchen table: Incorporating the frame in To the Lighthouse." Twentieth Century Literature 40.1 (1994): 15. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Dec. 2010.

Written by William Handley, the article “The Housemaid and the Kitchen Table: Incorporating the frame in To the Lighthouse,” explores the philosophical ideas represented in To the Lighthouse. The author of the article demonstrates the ideas of philosophy and art, but primarily focuses upon the philosophical ideas in To the Lighthouse. Lily Briscoe and Mr. Ramsay are both important elements in the idea of realism represented in the novel. In the article, Lily Briscoe’s artistic mind coincides and enforces the philosophy of the novel but at times her creative process rejects the ideas of Mr. Ramsay’s philosophy. The idea of a frame within the novel is also discussed and represented in the article. The author of the article demonstrates the idea that the frame is not a true frame, but a broken and ineffective.The element of distance in space is discussed by Handley as well in To the Lighthouse.In the article, the idea that Woolf and Lily want to “know or represent the whole truth of things” is also explored.

Lily Briscoe is an intelligent woman and challenges the beliefs of Mr. Ramsay because she is “aware of the constraints of her own eyes.” Lily is constantly trying to approach the “problem” or as Handley refers to it as “the thing.” Handley represents the idea of the Victorian society to be a frame; Lily, through her artistic process, is able to see past the “frame” of society; she is not limmited by the beliefs of society or the patriarchal society. The author reflects that Lily is able to see “her own relation to the frame and its arbitrariness.” Handley describes Lily’s final artistic creation as a “stretching of the body and mind to the utmost.” The author of the article demonstrates Woolf’s narration of Lily’s final painting as “She drew a line there in the centre. It was done; it was finished. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, it was finished.” Handley discusses the purpose of Lily drawing a single line in the center of the canvas. She does not draw an elaborate object or word. Lily Briscoe is the only character in the novel with which Virginia Woolf bestows a vision that must be accomplished. Through Lily Briscoes artistic creation, she paints “a missing person” and through her painting, mourns. According to Handley, Mrs. Ramsay is “a line that holds the painting together,” establishing the significance of Mrs. Ramsay’s unifying significance through Lily Briscoe's artistic creation. Lily Briscoe unifies the Ramsay family not through the ideas of Mr. Ramsay’s philosophy, but with her creation of Mrs. Ramsay. Hadley sugests Lily Briscoe's line represents Mrs. Ramsay and ultimately both Lily's creation and the presence of Mrs. Ramsay unify the Ramsay family.