To the Lighthouse – Role of Wife and Mother
Woolf portrays the character of Mrs. Ramsay as a self sacrificing woman and mother as defined through her interactions with men: Charles Tansley, Mr. Carmichael, Paul, Mr. Bankes, Mr. Ramsay, and James. During Mrs. Ramsay's lifetime she is admired by most of these men, and is continually striving to be esteemed by all of them, at any sacrifice to herself. Although there is goodness in Mrs. Ramsay, not unselfishly given, there are also rising questions of this representation of mother by Woolf, primarily put forth through the characters of Lily and Mrs. Ramsay's daughters.
In thinking about herself as a mother, Mrs. Ramsay says that, "She often felt she was nothing but a sponge sopped full of human emotions."(p.32) She is the person responsible for appeasing the worries of her husband and caring for the needs of her children, not to mention the stray people, mostly men, for whom she cares. In this particular paragraph, she defines what is to be a woman, wife, and mother in England at the beginning of the centu...
Why would I start with Julia Duckworth Stephen to get to Virginia Woolf? One answer is Virginia’s often quoted statement that "we think back through our mothers if we are women" (Woolf, A Room of One’s Own). Feminism is rooted not just in a response to patriarchy but also in the history of females and their treatment of each other. Part of feminism is a reevaluation of the value of motherhood.
Alexander Hamilton, on the other side, distrusted popular rule and emphasized law, order, authority and property. Alexander Hamilton wanted to promote commerce and industry through a strong central government. He also would diversify American economic life by encouraging shipping and creating manufacturing by legislative directive. Hamilton also believed that a ...
As president, George Washington appointed cabinet members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph as is trusted advisors. However, Hamilton and Jefferson had opposing political view, which developed American’s first political parties by the mid-1790s. The Federalist Party led by Hamilton and supported by Washington, believed that merchants and manufacturers were the backbone of the economy, they also supported a strong central government. On the other hand, Jefferson led The Democratic- Republic, advocated limited national government, and believed that artisans and farmers were the backbone of the economy. The rivalry between the Federalist and Democratic- Republican was the result of disputing the interpretation of the Constitution, conflicting political ideologies, and opposing agendas for the future of the American Republic.
A group of people with similar ideas and beliefs that agree on how the country should be ran is one of the many definitions of what a political party is. Although both Hamilton and Jefferson were both very successful and thriving men, Hamilton in my opinion was more efficient with his thinking. Hamilton was the first secretary of treasury of our nation and was one of the founding fathers of the United States. I chose Alexander Hamilton based on most of his thoughts and beliefs for the best of America our country.
Jefferson’s agrarian ideas have been pushed far aside in today’s world. The United States is far from an agriculture society and has definitely followed Hamilton’s ideas of pro-commerce and manufacturing. We can see this in our everyday lives; most people we know are not farmers, but office workers working for businesses of mass production. There is also our federal government which is a powerful government just as the Federalists wanted. It might be stronger than what the founders intended, but it is still the same principle. An example of this would be the ruling done last year by the Supreme Court allowing same-sex marriages nationwide. Originally, this was something the individual states decided, but now each state has to follow the law made by the federal government. Our government today also follows order and stability. There are so many regulations and laws today it would probably be overwhelming for the Federalists of Hamilton’s time. The government today is very “organized” in the sense that there is a process for everything from obtaining a driver’s license to filing for bankruptcy. Whether you are the one requesting the driver’s license or the judge granting the bankruptcy, there is an order that must be followed. The one place where the Federalists and Republicans could overlap would be in the interpretation of the Constitution. There are times where the laws are loosely interpreted and other times where they are strictly interpreted. It is normal for us to see celebrities or people with money get off from crimes easier than those who do not have money. In those situations, laws are “loosely” interpreted. For those of us who do not have the luxury of extra cash in our bank accounts, we have
Hamilton's role as Treasurer was to develop a healthy economy. He believed that in order to do this it was essential to have a central bank to make the economy stronger and the nation's currency more stable. He wanted to correct the economic problems that the country faced under
Artists of all mediums offer the public different perspectives of reality and within the multitudinous amount of works, a truth is brought to the attention of the viewer. The truth brings awareness to the masses and changes the means of thinking of the public. Virginia Woolf’s novel, To The Lighthouse, represents a cultural shift in thought from the 19th to the 20th century state of mind by being inspired by the situation of the world at the time and the changes turn of the century brought to humanity by creating a novel that alludes to major revolutions of the time, such as the social, physiological and philosophical, and social revolutions. Woolf does this by creating a new way of expressing thought in writing, and creating characters with
Whose side would you have been on in the 1790s, Thomas Jefferson’s or Alexander Hamilton’s? Both of these men served under George Washington in the first presidential cabinet, yet they had very different views of what government should be (Davis 86). My objective in this research essay is to inform the reader of why there was so much controversy between these two founding fathers, and to determine which side had the better views for our newly forming country.
Born in the British West Indies, Alexander Hamilton was a bright and talented young man. In 1772, he moved to the mainland to attended King’s College in New York City. Soon after, he quickly embarked on an extraordinary career. Between his arrival in America and his death, Alexander Hamilton contributed greatly to establish our governmental framework. He fought under George Washington in the Revolutionary war and was a member of the Continental Congress. He was an advocate for the ratification of the Constitution and established a prestigious law career. He then served as the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton was always one step ahead, his leadership skills and intelligence demonstrated to be valuable in his political path.
Contrastingly, Mrs. Darling, his wife, is portrayed as a romantic, maternal character. She is a “lovely lady”, who had many suitors yet was “won” by Mr. Darling, who got to her first. However, she is a multifaceted character because her mind is described “like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East”, suggesting that she is, to some extent, an enigma to the other characters, especially Mr. Darling. As well as this, she exemplifies the characteristics of a “perfect mother”. She puts everything in order, including her children’s minds, which is a metaphor for the morals and ethics that she instils in them. Although ...
In Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”, the struggle to secure and proclaim female freedom is constantly challenged by social normalcy. This clash between what the traditional female ideologies should be and those who challenge them, can be seen best in the character of Lily Brisco. She represents the rosy picture of a woman that ends up challenging social norms throughout the novel to effectively achieve a sense of freedom and individuality by the end. Woolf through out the novel shows Lily’s break from conventional female in multiply ways, from a comparison between her and Mrs.Ramsey, Lily’s own stream of consciousness, as well as her own painting.
It is easy to accept one character’s version of reality as true and Woolf periodically warns us, through the confusion of her characters...
To the Lighthouse is a novel full of hidden messages, symbolism and history. All of these elements make “To the Lighthouse” a novel that is not easy to read. There are no clears signs within the novel telling us “Hey look here!! This is where the action is!!” The novel also lacks to mention when the events all takes place, who is speaking, and lastly does not give us an indication in what way we should think and feel of them. Virginia Woolf’s novel opens with an answer to a question that hasn’t been asked yet. This answer is given by a character who is not identified or described, and is addressed to the child who is sitting on the floor near a “drawing room window” in an undisclosed place that is also not described or identified. Also within this novel, there is not much respect for the standard novelistic conventions of clock time or consecutive action. Just when the audience starts to think that they’ve begun to establish an order of events, they start to realize that Woolf seems to take pleasure in confusing her audience by inserting an event or idea that has happened in the past or she anticipates a reaction, so that time in her novelistic world, the past and present and future, seem to flow into one another in an unbroken stream of consciousness.
Clarissa's relationships with other females in Mrs. Dalloway offer great insight into her personality. Additionally, Woolf's decision to focus at length on Sally Seton, Millicent Bruton, Ellie Henderson, and Doris Kilman allows the reader to see how women relate to one another in extremely different ways: sometimes drawing upon one another for things they cannot get from men; other times, turning on one another out of jealousy and insecurity. Although Mrs. Dalloway is far from the most healthy or positive literary portrayal of women, Woolf presents an excellent exploration of female relationships.
Woolf presents three characters who embody three different gender roles. Mrs. Ramsay is the dutiful wife and mother. Mr. Ramsay is the domineering patriarch. Lily Briscoe is an independent, aspiring woman. Woolf sets these three roles in contrast with each other. She allows the reader to see the power and influence each character has. Mrs. Ramsay’s submissive and supportive nature arouses admiration. Mr. Ramsay’s condescending manner provokes animosity. Lily Briscoe’s independence enables her to find meaning and fulfillment in her life.