Virginia Woolf, one of the most innovative and important writers of her time, emphasizes modernist ideals and the importance of the individual in his work. In Virginia Woolf's novels To the Lighthouse and The Waves, Woolf supports the idea that gender roles can be oppressive, often confining men to being harsh and almost emotionless while characterizing women as hysterical, expected to satisfy the ego of men. Additionally, Woolf comments on the temporary nature of life, its fragility, and the idea that one can romanticize objects, events, or people from one's past to give extraordinary meaning to one's existence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Much of To the Lighthouse and The Waves comment on social expectations of men and women, particularly that society expects men to be consistently stolid while expectations of women suggest that their emotions drive them, often causing them to make hasty or otherwise hysterical decisions; Woolf also comments on how society puts women in a position where their only real responsibility is to please men. In The Waves, Woolf describes the headmaster of the boarding school attended by Neville, Luis and Bernard as a stolid and harsh man. When he takes to the pulpit to preach from the Bible, he does so with a severity and seriousness that Louis appreciates; Louis' “heart expands in his bulk, in his authority… There [was] no rawness [there]. No sudden kiss,” exemplifying a man's innate desire to be stern rather than gentle (Woolf 35). Luis prefers the authority of Doctor Crane and his crucifix to the grossness of the emotions attached to a sudden kiss, although the emotions are generally more tender than they are crude while authority is often more crude than comforting However, authority appeals to Luis because he is attempting to suppress the more vulnerable emotions that the unexpected kiss has brought upon him as he sees vulnerability as feminine. and weak while the authority that Doctor Crane exudes is masculine and powerful. In contrast, even in The Waves, Woolf notes that it is possible to be powerful and feminine, as Mrs. Lambert causes everything to become “bright” and “everywhere.” [Mrs. Lambert], everything changes before her eyes,” emphasizing the idea that power does not always have to be dark and intense to be effective (45). still domineering, showing that it is possible to be feminine and powerful. When Mrs. Lambert passes by, she causes the women to stand a little straighter, exemplifying her effect on women and their perception of themselves; Being taller coincides with your confidence, and the more confident you are, the more powerful you become. Lambert essentially makes the students embrace their power while being a source of light, rather than an aggressive force. Mrs. Lambert's power exemplifies the idea that women can adapt to their gender role and bend the role to suit them in a way that can make them powerful rather than weak. This idea contrasts with the idea presented in “Kristevan Themes in Virgina Woolf's Novels” by Chloe Taylor, which states that women are locked into gender roles that will ultimately lead to depression and resentment; Mrs. Lambert owns her feminine power in a way that makes her strong, not resentful (Taylor 6). However, in To the Lighthouse, Lily Briscoe completely departs from her gender role when she does not satisfy Mr. Ramsay's shattered ego after her collected demeanor wears off, as she says she is“not a woman, but a grumpy, bad-tempered, withered old maid,” illuminating the idea that a woman is essentially useless if she does not appeal to men (Woolf 151). However, Woolf challenges this idea by creating Briscoe and is herself a creative and strong figure. While she doesn't gain her power by force, her creativity and self-confidence make her strong, exemplifying the idea that a woman can be powerful, all while staying true to who she is. Furthermore, the power that each of Woolf's characters possesses is manifested through their personality, although each character's power is different, especially between the two genders. In The Waves, Woolf describes Percival as intense, giving him his power. Luis notes that Percival has considerable command over others when he notes that he and his friends “are gathering behind him, his faithful servants, to be shot like sheep, for he will certainly attempt some desperate feat and die in battle. My heart is agitated; it scratches my side like a file with two edges: one, that I adore its magnificence; I despise the other's slovenly accents... and I am jealous” (Woolf 37). Percival's power is intense; although it has weaknesses, these weaknesses do not overshadow its severity. The other characters are drawn to him because he has such a strong presence, but his strength sets a boundary between him and the others. While his intensity earns him respect, it also brings out the other characters' sense of inferiority, essentially placing Percival on a pedestal, but isolating him from his friends. Where Percival's duty as an authority figure is to protect his friends in The Waves, Mrs Ramsay feels her duty is to protect men in To the Lighthouse, as she felt that: she had all of the opposite sex under her protection; for reasons he could not explain, for their chivalry and valor, for the fact that they negotiated treaties, ruled India, controlled finance; finally for an attitude towards herself that no woman will be able to fail to feel or find pleasant, something trusting, childish, reverential; that an old woman could take from a young man without loss of dignity, and woe to the girl who did not feel its worth, and all that it implied, to the marrow of her bones! This quote exemplifies the mindset that it is a woman's duty to take care of men as she sees them as leaders of the world; he also feels that they need protection by experiencing the way they view and treat women (Woolf 11). Mrs. Ramsay caters to her husband's every whim because she believes she has to as a wife, and in turn, Mr. Ramsay makes her feel like he needs her. Ms. Ramsay embodies the idea that one can draw power from one's gender role, even if it is a role that can be constraining. In Kristina Groover's essay, "Body and Soul: Virgina Woolf's To the Lighthouse," Groover addresses the idea that Mrs. Ramsay's beauty is a source of comfort for Mr. Ramsay, as well as a resource from which Mrs. Ramsay can draw power (3). Because Mrs. Ramsay is so beautiful and is essentially the "perfect" housewife, Mr. Ramsay gains a source of stability, which not only gives him a certain sense of vulnerability because it shows that he needs someone to lean on and confide in, but it also empowers Mrs. Ramsay. However, Mrs. Ramsay's comforting presence presents itself as a source of conflict for Mr. Ramsay. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay's children want to go to the lighthouse, even though it seems quite impossible to Mr. Ramsay to get there, and in Mrs. Ramsay's attempt to console her children, Mr. Ramsay experiences a fit of intense anger and pessimism: “She has challenged the facts, he made his children hope for what absolutely wasout of question, he actually told lies. He tapped his foot on the stone step. “Damn you,” he said. But what had he said? Simply that tomorrow could be fine. So it might” (Woolf 31). Ramsay suffers severe episodes of anger and depression throughout the novel, and often states that his wife's optimism is essentially just wishful thinking, based on nothing, providing false hope and setting the children up for utter disappointment. Although Mr. Ramsay finds comfort when Mrs. Ramsay reassures him of his masculinity, she sees her attempts at optimism for the sake of the children as foolish. He believes her head is in the clouds, while he is the only one who can keep it real. Mr. Ramsay's battle with himself and his outward denial of his wife's attempts to appropriate her power to make life more bearable for himself and his children exemplify the idea that men may desire to be dominant, even if their dominance is generated by pessimism, because they may think that women act exclusively based on emotions rather than reality. Furthermore, one's power is not the only determining factor in one's importance as its effect on another individual provides an incredible sense of humanity. In To the Lighthouse, Lily Briscoe sees herself as more of an independent and free young woman who is not tied to a man. She rejected “the reverence that held all women” and “felt praised,” exemplifying that although she does not fit the typical submissive gender role that seeks validation from men, she still validates her state of being by choosing a path for his life. , rather than defining her life based on a man (Woolf 35). Her independence affects her relationship with Mrs. Ramsay because, even though Mrs. Ramsay is content with her life, Lily Briscoe embodies the free spirit that resides within Mrs. Ramsay that she has never had the chance to break free from. Briscoe essentially embodies the idea that someone's relationship with another person depends on how one sees and behaves; Mrs. Ramsay sometimes resents her for being entirely herself, while William Bankes reveres her for this. Furthermore, in The Waves, Louis foreshadows that each character's story will eventually become one, as each person's story is intertwined with the stories of those with whom they have interacted: “The time approaches when these soliloquies will be shared. We won't always make a sound like a struck gong when one sensation strikes and then another. Children, our lives have been like gong strikes; hype and boasting; cries of desperation; blows on the back of the head in the gardens" (Woolf 43). Through Woolf's stream-of-consciousness writing style, she weaves the influences and thoughts of the six characters into each character's story. The characters' relationships with each other demonstrate that each person has a profound impact on another person's life, that even their small idiosyncrasies leave an imprint on each person What makes each of the characters who they are, also influences how the other characters are For example, everyone admires the Percival's severity, but no one wants to be as heavy as him. The essay "Virginia Woolf" comments on the idea that all of Woolf's characters glorify the people in their lives, letting Percival's death haunt the characters Waves (10) When Percival dies in the war, the characters reunite and talk about their past, placing the strong emphasis each of them had on each other, even though that may not be true. The reader can infer that the characters place extraordinary significance on each other's influence because they are mourning Percival's death and that they never had the chanceto thank him for his influence on their lives. Furthermore, Bernard recognizes that his friends are the ones who can "recover him from [his] darkness", showing that each of the characters had a certain duty to understand his friends, who had the ability to save each other. from themselves (Woolf 120). Bernard's introverted personality ostracizes him from his friends, although they have always managed to reach him to some extent. Although Bernard has always been a private and somewhat withdrawn person, his relationships with his friends help him tell his stories and combine each of their lives into one intricate and compelling story. His bond with his friends exemplifies the idea that one's friends often pave the way to a life of peace with oneself. Additionally, the relationship you have with another person can influence how they see themselves. In Woolf's To the Lighthouse, Mr. Ramsay is a man of superb intellect, yet he considers himself so humble, making his self-esteem dependent "...on the praise of others", exemplifying that Mr. Ramsay, intelligent and masculine as much as he should be, he needs constant reassurance (Woolf 22). Throughout the novel, Woolf describes Mr. Ramsay as a rather delicate character. Although she manages to support her family, she is falling apart inside and constantly looks to Mrs. Ramsay to lift her spirits, even though she sees the female mind as inferior. His insight into a woman's way of thinking interferes with her mental state, as he sees vulnerability as a weakness, although he is probably the most emotionally unstable and vulnerable character in the entire novel, thus demonstrating that a man might prefer to reject own emotions. demonstrate his dominance, even at the cost of his own sanity. Furthermore, in The Waves, Woolf addresses the idea that one's perception of oneself is the result of those around us. As Bernard reflects on the lives of his friends, he notes that they are “a multifaceted substance cut out of this darkness; a flower with a thousand facets. Let's stop for a moment; let's look at what we have done. Let it blaze against the yew trees. A life. There. It's over. Gone out,” illuminating the idea that he and his friends may have taken different paths in their lives, but ultimately lived one life (Woolf 85). He and his friends are the same. Even when Percival dies and Rhoda kills herself, it's as if they too have lost a part of themselves. The characters define themselves by how others see them. Even so, Bernard notes that “they were all different—the virginal wax that coats the spine loosed in different areas for each of us,” highlighting that the narrators saw things that made them who they are (Woolf Waves 102) or troubled—cruelty, secrecy, order, and love—and as they developed on their own, some of these things made them “suffer terribly as [they] all became separate bodies” (Woolf 102), transforming them into the people they have become, but their identity comes at a price: turmoil. Woolf's novels focus heavily on this that makes a person who they are because through struggle; Woolf's characters also demonstrate that it is possible to emerge stronger from traumatic experiences, even if they may leave a scar. While an individual can have a profound impact on someone else, Woolf's novels also demonstrate that life is ultimately fragile and everything, essentially, is temporary; therefore, characters in Woolf's novels place a strong emphasis on their surroundings to add extraordinary meaning to something that shouldn't mean much. The essay “Virginia Woolf” states that Woolf's emphasis on the childhoods of Mrs. Ramsay's children reinforces the idea thatinnocence quickly fades as time passes (11). Because of the temporariness of youth, Mrs. Ramsay looks at her children and states that she "would have liked to keep them forever as they were, demons of wickedness, angels of delight, never to see them grow up to be long-legged monsters." " because she doesn't want to see the effect that time and effort will have on her children (Woolf Lighthouse 101). Although Mrs. Ramsay's children might have been loud and rambunctious, she would have preferred them to remain frozen in a stage of life where nothing corrupting could touch them; where they were essentially immune to all the evil in the world. However, he knows that keeping them safe from the reality of the horror that exists in the world is impossible and that they will inevitably grow and become as corrupt as their surroundings are. Furthermore, in To the Lighthouse, Mrs.Ramsay notes that her incredible evening has already passed as she leaves the kitchen: “Now it was necessary to take everything one step further. With her foot in the doorway she waited a moment longer in a scene that was just fading away he looked at it, and then, as he moved and took Minta's arm and left the room, it changed, took shape differently; he had become, he knew, giving him one last look over his shoulder, already the past” (Woolf 50). The evening had consisted of a delicious meal, and she had felt like the perfect housewife for hosting such a wonderful dinner. , but at the end of the meal, he realizes that it would only last a brief second. Once the meal was over, her “perfect” evening was over and nothing, she knew, would seem as wonderful as that perfect night. Furthermore, in The Waves, Bernard notes that he and his friends are just “shells, bones, and silence,” highlighting that every person is the same after death (Woolf 55). What one goes through doesn't matter when they're six feet under, nor does it matter what made that person unique. Time erases everything that one may have attributed to oneself sooner or later; Bernard recognizes this temporariness and this scares him. He knows that he and his friends have woven this amazing story that will ultimately mean nothing after they're all gone and he's eager to share the story while he has the chance. The story is the only chance he and his friends have to achieve immortality since that is essentially what writing does: it documents one's journey so others can understand what it was like to be someone else. In Bernard's case, immortalizing his friends' stories in writing helps the reader understand what it was like to be a group of six people who suffered incredible losses. As time passes come the years of harshness and disappointment that each of the characters endures. . Neville is afraid to express his “violent passion” for fear that Bernard will turn it into a story, thus depriving it of its sincerity (Woolf Waves 25). Neville recognizes that some of his feelings are absurdly deep, so much so that putting them into words diminishes their impact. He ultimately lets these unexpressed feelings tear him apart inside because expressing such horrible thoughts or experiences would be harmful to both the listener and himself. Furthermore, Susan notes that she “loves…and hates” intensely, sometimes simultaneously, making life one giant ball of turbulent emotions (Woolf 35). The intensity of the emotions that come and go in the lives of Susan and the rest of the characters makes them somewhat solitary, even though they ultimately piece together a touching story of happiness and suffering. Each of the characters hides in the face of intense emotions, though emotions ultimately, weaves their own stories and develops their understanding, as well as the reader's, of the world around them. Also, in To the Lighthouse, Lily