"She looked at the steps: they were empty; she looked at her canvas: it was blurred. With a sudden intensity, as if she saw it clear for a second, she drew a line there, in the centre. It was done; it was finished. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.” Lily Briscoe is one of the most profound characters in Virginia Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse. Lily’s consciousness in the narration explores the abstract dimensions of the artistic creations that are present in the novel by contrasting itself from the rest of the narration. Lily is constantly trying to find unity in her painting, and in doing this it seems at times that she is contrasting the unity of the novel as a whole. The window is present throughout the novel, being Lily’s focal point of her painting and something to reflect upon in the narration. Seeming to be a barrier that separates reality from the artistic realm, the window is an important characteristic of the narration. This separation between Lily and Mrs. Ramsay and James is representative of the barrier that is present between Lily’s artistic world and the societal world of the Mrs. Ramsay. Looking through the window, and having that separation, allows Lily to be an individual which causes her to stand out in the narration as a significant character, especially considering that she brings unity to the end of the novel, “it was finished.”
Throughout the novel the narration changes when the characters that have a philosophical view of the world, versus a simplistic everyday life view of the world. Lily is constantly challenging the norms of society while Mrs. Ramsay is the model female of the pre World War I era. During dinner the characters are discussing the things of life in society while Lily is thinking of her painting and how she could complete it which is reflective of the different level of thought that Lily has throughout the novel. Lily’s significance increases with the passing of Mrs. Ramsay because Mrs. Ramsay is no longer to unify her family. While Lily is still an individual in the final part of the book and still very independent, she feels that the only way that she have closure with Mrs. Ramsay’s passing is to complete the painting that she had began so many years ago. Woolf’s narration is elevated to a different level while Lily’s consciousness is being explored because Lily gives meaning and importance to the artistic process in To the Lighthouse. How Mrs. Ramsay and Lily never understand one another and Lily is always going against the way of life that Mrs. Ramsay leads, creates a barrier which is symbolized by the window. In this symbol there is a great amount of significance, and it goes beyond the barrier between the two of them, it also is the symbol that is present when Lily has closure with Mrs. Ramsay’s death. The window not only represents the barrier, but also the unity that the painting brings to Lily.
In order to explore the abstract dimension of the artistic process in To the Lighthouse, how does Virginia Woolf alter her style when Lily Briscoe is the focal point of the narration? Throughout the novel in her narration, Woolf seems to elevate Lily’s narration to a higher standing than the other characters. Lily is constantly questioning the constraints of patriarchal society in searching for understanding of the philosophical reasoning’s of the world. Lily Briscoe is an individual, but she especially seems to show this through her artwork that is abstract to the norms that are expected by society. Her unique approach to art is representative of Woolf’s distinctive narration style in To the Lighthouse. In our research we found that, Mrs. Ramsay is used to show the normal matriarch of the patriarchal society, and in Lily’s refusal to accept the expectations of Mrs. Ramsay, shows herself to be against the expected place of the females in society. Lily’s artistic process lead to her peace of mind in the end of the novel, when she finally completed the painting at the beach house, but without Mrs. Ramsay’s direct help. Our findings reinforce the idea that Lily is the unifying force in the novel because they show the many different ways that the consciousness and artistic process of Lily can be seen as what unifies the novel, and what unifies the family.
