To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf uses repetition in all or almost all of the works that we have read thus far in the semester. It has been interesting to pick through and see the differences and similarities in the various uses of repetition. In Jacob’s Room it seemed that she repeated phrases or the beginning of a paragraph at the end or at the beginning of the next paragraph to let the reader know that the perspective had changed, or that another character was now talking or narrating.

In To the Light house repetition occurs again but in a different way. There is not as much repetition to signify the change in perspective as there is repetition of phrases by the same character over and over. An example of this is, “Someone had blundered.” (22) Mr. Ramsay repeats this phrase over and over again in different instances. That I know of, he does not go into detail as to who or what the “who” did. This repetition was significant in my reading because it showed the distance Mr. Ramsay was sure to keep between himself and everyone else. He is in his own world and as stated in the book, “What he said was true. It was always true” (8). Mr. Ramsay also repeats himself several times by saying “He was a failure” (40-41). He repeats this at least 3 times within three different paragraphs. Ramsay does this to be comforted by his wife. He breaks the mold of being distant when he is ready to be consoled and praised. He does not break until Mrs. Ramsay says enough of what he wants to hear which shows her function in their marriage. She is not independent, though she believes that she is. She justifies her acts toward members of the community as marks of her being such a good and giving person and as a measure of how happy her life is. It is obvious through her constant need to compliment herself and have pity on others that she is anything but secure and happy.

Another form of repetition that shows up quite a bit is back to back repetition such as, “And after all – after all (here insensibly she drew herself together, physically, the sense of her own beauty becoming, as it did so seldom, present to her – after all…” (44) Which gave a tone of desperation and longing. In this example Mrs. Ramsay is speaking to the reader about her ability to make people like her. There are three uses of “after all” in the beginning of the sentence. It reminded me of a child who stutters to gain attention or more personally of myself. My family calls me “useless chatter” because of my habit of always wanting to talk and almost always having nothing important to say. When it is going to be useless, nine times out of ten, I stutter and repeat the first 3 or so words of my meaningless sentence about four times. Mrs. Ramsay is clearly trying to justify her likability to herself. Although it is noted that her sense of beauty was there, it is also noted that it’s presence is a rarity. She is desperate for approval, which is ironic because it is her that is always giving approval to her husband and other characters through the book, such as Lily.

As it has been covered many times, Virginia Woolf loved flowers. There are different themes throughout all of her books and stories dealing with them. A specific repetition that I have found interesting is her usage of the lily in To the Lighthouse. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a lily is “…large showy flowers of white, reddish, or purplish colour, often marked with dark spots on the inside…” (1.a) I find it interesting that she used this flower as a name of one of the characters in her novel. It is not the first time she has done this. A character was named after the flower in “Kew Gardens” as well. Lily is evolving into a very interesting character. She is an artist who paints what she sees, not what she know people would prefer to see. She is a modernist who paints shapes rather than lifelike images of people. She gets mad at herself and says, “It was bad, It was bad, it was infinitely bad!” (51) She explains that she could have done it differently, more normally, but she just does not see it that way. Ironically, Mr. Tansley whispers in her ear “Woman can’t paint, woman can’t write…” (51) He most likely does not understand or approve of her style because it is ahead of his time. She is on the breaking edge of a new form of painting and he is too bogged down in gender control and in men being better and brighter than women that he is actually the ignorant one. Gender roles in society are also repeated throughout her works. I find it intriguing that Mrs. Dalloway and Mrs. Ramsay are the same in their acceptance of gender roles and Elizabeth Dalloway and Lily are on the cutting edge and are independent in many ways.

Jacob's Room and repetition

It took reading the second half of Jacob’s Room to understand how to read and interpret the first half. I felt like I read the first half of the book without understanding any of it. I was lost. If someone had asked me to give a summary or make an outline without referring to any outside sources I would have been out of luck. All of the different perspectives that the novel was written in was threw me for quite a few loops. I finally broke the or at least one of the codes for reading and understanding Virginia Woolf-repetition.

Throughout the novel there are different forms of repetition. The first example that we spoke about in class was “Jacob! Jacob!” The importance behind the repetition of calling his name by his brother at the beginning of the novel did not strike me as unusual at first. It seemed like it’s only purpose and significance was his brother calling his name. However because I read the introduction, which gave a summary of the novel as well as insight on interpretations, details, and importance, I took this repetition as also asking where Jacob was. It stood as foreshadowing of Jacob’s life as he moved from place to place never seeming to settle or find happiness. He was a bit of a lost soul in my opinion. Also, this same repetition of his name was used again in the last page of the novel. After Jacob died his life long friend called his name in agony. This symbolized that Jacob never “found” himself in my opinion.

Florinda’s appearance was described in one chapter. Part of the description included her shoe have, “silver buckled toe” which was also used in one of her other works, Kew Gardens. Its usage in that short story still is a mystery to me. In Jacob’s Room it was used to describe her shoes. I do not think that it was a coincidence. The only interpretation or insight that I have been able to come up with is this, in both stories it seemed to have a negative connotation.

Another form of repetition that I noticed was a way of changing perspectives. An event or situation would be described in one person’s perspective then it was repeated through the eyes of another person. At first I thought this was just her stream of consciousness on paper but, I noticed it was being used to inform the reader that the perspective had just been changed. I am absolutely amazed with the ingenuity of Virginia Woolf. She found a way to put the ways the human mind works on paper. She writes in a “stream of conscience” but includes patterns such as the importance of repetition, which allows slower and more average individuals like myself to better follow and understand the story line.

I think of her usage of repetition as the keyword to decipher a code. Or at least, that is what it has served as for me. I hope to study her usage of repetition more closely throughout the rest of the semester. Without it in Jacob’s Room I know I would have been discouraged and lost.

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens is my favorite reading so far this semester. I am beginning to familiarize myself with Woolf’s style of writing. Of course, I have not even scratched the surface but it has gotten better. I am starting to understand her random sentences not as words strung together but as a sort of stream of consciousness. I have also learned that I cannot just flip the pages. Virginia Woolf is by no means an easy “beach read.” I have to read each paragraph and circle, highlight, and comment on nearly every sentence in order to understand what it is she is trying to say. Still, I come to class confused.

When reading it before class I immediately noticed the importance placed on color. Of course red, blue, and yellow flowers were explained in the first couple of sentences. Throughout the rest of the work these three primary colors popped up frequently. This is the perfect example of a pattern that I am beginning to notice and understand of Woolf’s. These red and blue flowers are the same color as the flowers on the dress of Woolf’s mother in her first memory, which is documented in “Sketch of the Past.” That first memory is the one that all others are based on which clearly influenced her stories. The constant description of these colors always makes me pause and re read that sentence because I automatically associate them being of importance. Not just minor detail.

Other colors that I was intrigued by were silver, grey, and gold. I still do not understand the significance of the “square silver buckle at the toe.” In class we talked about silver being symbolic of mirrors and reflections. Is the square silver buckle supposed to be a reflection of the past and what could have been? Possibly the shoe symbolizes the mans curiosity of what would have happened if the dragonfly had landed on that flower and Lily had said yes. Not that it would be any better but how it would have been different.

I never thought about the story being told from the point of view of a snail before class. After our discussion I can see how that may have been the case but I am still not completely convinced. The only thing that could persuade me to agree is the lines, “Sugar, flour, kippers, greens, sugar, sugar, sugar.” It seems to be things that a snail would be interested in and that maybe the only words he heard out of a sentence due to selective hearing.

The last paragraph of the story explains each couple moving about in “the same irregular and aimless movement passed the flower-bed…” and describes their colors of green and blue vapor that were once there dissolve into the green-blue atmosphere. This statement of bodies that “had substance and a dash of colour, but later both substance and colour dissolved” immediately stood out as a symbolism of what happens when you commit to someone else. It gives reason to remain independent rather than married because your uniqueness and identity will fade and vanish just as the vapor.