The Daunting Process of the Artistic Creation

Viola, André. "Fluidity versus Muscularity: Lily's Dilemma in Woolf's To the Lighthouse." Journal of Modern Literature 24.2 (2000): 271. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Dec. 2010.

The article, “Fluidity vs. Muscularity: Lily’s Dilemma in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse,” by André Viola, creates a sharp contrast between the presence of the male characters and the female characters in To the Lighthouse. The idea that Lily’s artistic process is not always pleasant but at times a dark venture into the past is represented as well. Lily Briscoe’s intuition to paint is described as a natural “fluidness.” Lily Briscoe’s blank canvas takes on a new meaning according to the author of the article. Viola also explores the concept of Lily’s fear of Mrs. Ramsay, and ultimately the dysfunctional relationship Lily and Mrs. Ramsay fear. In fact, the article shows that Lily Briscoe constantly wants to establish distance between Mrs. Ramsay and herself. Viola also introduces Mr. Ramsay as a distant father figure to Lily. Mr. Ramsay disrupts the continuous mother daughter relationship between Mrs. Ramsay and Lily. Lily and Woolf’s desired accomplishment through the artistic process is also explored by Viola. The idea that the canvas posses a hostile quality is expressed by Viola as “its uncompromising white stare,” “its cold stare,” its “emptiness.”

The author of the article shows that Lily Briscoe’s artistic ability, like Virginia Woolf’s writing process, is daunting. Viola points out that Lily Briscoe is prevented from painting because of a looming mass which “she could feel pressing on her eyeballs.” Lily Briscoe’s creative abilities are compared to “a liquid force” which is more powerful than Lily Briscoe herself. The author describes Lily Briscoe’s “art of creation involves trying to stay afloat in a sea of hostile waters.” Viola discusses Woolf's narration of Lily viewing Mrs. Ramsay as an “august shape; the shape of a dome,” reinforcing the idea that Lily’s thought process is prominent, and she is constantly thinking as things of reality as shapes belonging in a painting. Despite Lily’s seeming fear of painting, Viola shows that Lily wants her art work to be “beautiful and bright,” “feathery and evanescent,” “one color melting into another like the color of a butterfly’s wing; but beneath, the fabric must be clamped together with bolts of iron.” The phrase “clamped together with bolts of iron,” expresses Lily Briscoe’s desire to establish order and meaning to the “fluid process” of her creation and in life in general. Lily’s torturous process of creation elevates her above the characters, and makes her the reference point of the novel. Woolf's narration of Lily's tortorous venture convey the difficulties of the artistic process and the durabilty of art.