The Importance of Consciousness in Woolf's Art

Daiches, David. "Virginia Woolf." The Novel and the Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970. 187-217. Print.

Within David Daiches article entitled “Virginia Woolf,” he discusses the style of Woolf’s writing and how it has influenced novels, specifically during the modern era. Daiches’ point of view is very supportive of Woolf’s writing style and the type of techniques that she used in order to stray from what was conventional in order to experiment, and have freedom within her style. The focus of this article is set upon Woolf’s subjectivity in the sense that she viewed “the mutations of one person’s consciousness into the differing recollections of that person” as significant; she even considered this thought more significant than the “change from life to death.” Daiches’ basic argument is that Woolf was an advocate for recording the consciousness of characters as opposed to making the “material environment” her sole focus (188). Woolf’s practice when writing was to record and represent the consciousness and subjectivity of characters, rather than focusing on actions within an external environment.

This article would be able to contribute greatly in answering the given research question due to the fact its main focus is describing Woolf’s style and her techniques in writing. Daiches states that Woolf’s “novels are most carefully organized to present real patterns of meaning,” which can be traced back to the character of Lily Briscoe and her art. When painting, Lily is attempting to present “real patterns of meaning” in order to establish some sort of “symbolic significance.” Daiches provides information concerning Woolf’s writing style and what she tries to get across, which can be attributed to Lily’s artistic process and what she also attempts to get across. This source speaks about Woolf’s wanting to be an artist, but to stray from being conventional; she strove to have artistic freedom. This is exactly what Lily Briscoe does when painting; she is not trying to be conventional, she is creating art and trying to represent something that applies to consciousness, not the “material environment” (188). By understanding that Lily Briscoe’s artistic process is her way of expressing what she believes to be important (even if the product is not a realistic representation), Daiches article will contribute in showing how Woolf’s narrative correlates with Lily’s process.

Writing and Identity

Koutsantoni, Katerina. "In all writing, it's the Person's Own Edge that Counts." Virginia Woolf's Common Reader. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2009. 123-146. Print.

Koutsantoni’s article discusses interesting factor’s concerning the works of Virginia Woolf. Her focus is on the beliefs and values that Woolf had which are evident throughout her essays and novels. The specific point of view of Koutsantoni’s article is the subjectivity of Woolf, as well as the relation between that subjectivity and her work. The talent that Woolf possessed in communicating her beliefs and values was through “engaging in an open dialogue with the reader” (130). The point of view that Koutsantoni continually reiterates is that the dialogical way that Woolf expresses opinions gives a clear view of what is being said; Woolf attempts to speak openly about her subjectivity as opposed to concealing aspects of her values and beliefs. In turn, this lead to a correlation between both public art and subjectivity, which allowed writing to become a complex art of personal and external.

Koutsantoni’s article possesses information which would be able to aid in answering the research question. This particular source contains information on Woolf’s writing; it continually states how her inner mind was communicated specifically through dialogue. Throughout the novel of To the Lighthouse, the narration is a consistent dialogue between characters and their inner thoughts. Due to the fact that Koutsantoni reiterates the importance of Woolf recording her own subjectivity, the narration of To the Lighthouse becomes clearer when reading the thought processes of the characters. Lily and her internal, artistic process become more understandable in particular, for Lily attempts to put on a public canvas what she finds so personal. Koutsantoni says that Woolf’s goal was to create “intersubjectivity and, by extension, dialogism;” this contributes to the understanding of Woolf’s narration and her desire for it to reflect what is personal and genuine (146).

The Correlation of Reality and Fiction

Lilienfeld, Jane. "'The Horrors of Family Life': A Feminist Interrogation of the Politics of Codependence in To the Lighthouse." Reading Alcoholisms: Theorizing Character and Narrative in Selected Novels of Thomas Hardy, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf. New York: St. Martin's, 1999. 159-232. Print.

Jane Lilienfeld’s article possesses a strong and central point of view, that being the negative societal beliefs within the Victorian era of women practicing codependency. More specifically, Lilienfeld discusses Virginia Woolf’s family, particularly Woolf’s mother, to further elaborate on the societal values of Victorian practice that are present within the novel To the Lighthouse. By speaking in great detail about Woolf’s mother, and then showing similarities between both mother and Mrs. Ramsay, Lilienfeld states how a Victorian woman was expected to be obedient, submissive and codependent upon their husbands, fathers and sons. Lilienfeld explains the reasoning of Mrs. Ramsay’s behavior within the novel by saying, “codependence is not only a mechanism for her survival, but that certain narrative techniques as well can be interpreted as similar to strategies of codependence” (192). In contrast to Mrs. Ramsay’s character that is acceptable and married due to her codependence, Lily Briscoe remains single due to the fact that she refuses be codependent to men. Lilienfeld then contrasts the choices made between the characters of Mrs. Ramsay and Lily, only to revert back to showing similarities between them, for Lily is codependent upon her art as Mrs. Ramsay is codependent on her husband.

This source has great potential in adding information to the research question’s answer. The way in which this article aids is due to the fact that it provides specific insight into the two main female characters in To the Lighthouse. By explaining Mrs. Ramsay’s codependency upon her husband, and by contrasting that with Lily Briscoe’s need to record her vision through painting, this source reveals the need that Woolf had in recording her vision through writing, which reveals that both Lily and Woolf become codependent upon their art. Lilienfeld states, “Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe have searched for a way to maintain the complexities of truth without dividing things into opposites,” which can reference what Woolf attempted to do within her narrative. Though unable to aid in the artistic process that Lily experiences, this article is able to contribute to the research question due to the fact that it explains the expectations of women during the Victorian era, which reveals in Woolf’s narrative the searching for what is true and free.

Woolf’s Love for Art Expressed Through Words

White, Roberta. "Journey to the Silent Kingdom: Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse." A Studio of One's Own: Fictional Women Painters and the Art of Fiction. New Jersey: Rosemont & Printing Corp., 2005. 85-108. Print.

Within Roberta White’s article “Journey to the Silent Kingdom: Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse,” she expresses a point of view that describes Lily Briscoe as an influential literary character due to her artistic abilities, while also explaining factual information about Virginia Woolf and her attempt to wed the two art forms of painting and writing. White discusses Woolf’s love of painting and observations of the visual arts, while also expressing Woolf’s attempt to portray the painter’s mind through the character of Lily Briscoe. One main focus that White continually states is the mimicking of the artistic process that Woolf constantly tries to portray within her work. Woolf states that there are three ways of looking at the artistic process, “first, by reacting to color…second, by seeing the painting in a literary way and attempting to express its meaning in words; and third, by trying to experience the painting as artists do in their own wordless realm” (90). By understanding the love that Woolf had for the visual arts, as well as the effort that was made in recording such a process as painting, White is successful in presenting the point of view of Lily Briscoe’s presence as an influential literary character.

This particular article is an excellent reference to the present research question. The focus of White’s novel as a whole is the existence of female painters within literature, and the chapter described above is dedicated entirely to Lily Briscoe and her author, Virginia Woolf. The article is able to aid in answering the research question due to the fact that it specifically explains Woolf’s attempt to show the inner artistic process of Lily. By understanding the process in Lily’s head, one is able to better understand the direction that Woolf’s narration goes towards. White clearly states Lily’s attempt to create a vision of “Surface and structure” which then leads her to say, “Woolf distinguishes between Lily’s artistic vision of the painting and her actual work in progress” (94). The essence of this article is focusing on Woolf’s attempt to record a painter’s artistic process, while Woolf herself tries to mirror that process through her writing; that alone is evidence of the article’s ability to contribute greatly to the research question.

An Interpretation of Post-Impressionist Art Theory

Kelley, Alice van Buren. To The Lighthouse: The Marriage of Life and Art. Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1987.

Among the many important influences in Virginia Woolf’s life, one of the primary ones was her interest in art and art theory. Woolf developed a close friendship with the prominent artist and art critic Roger Fry, who was also a fellow member of the Bloomsbury Group. In To The Lighthouse: The Marriage of Life and Art, Alice van Buren Kelley explores the friendship between Woolf and Fry, and the similarities between Fry and Lily Briscoe. Kelley examines the theory discussed by Fry in his work, Vision and Design, which was published five years before To The Lighthouse, and then connects the elements of his theory to Lily’s thoughts as she is painting. Lily’s art is generally acknowledged to be in the style of Post-Impressionism. Roger Fry was the person who, in 1910, bestowed the name Post-Impressionism upon the new art movement emerging from France. Fry believed that the most important elements of art were rhythm, balance, spatial arrangement, color, and the use of line in a significant way. Kelley notes Lily’s struggles to achieve these elements throughout To The Lighthouse; moving a tree to the middle, bringing a branch across one side, connecting the mass on the left with the mass on the right. Fry also discusses the importance of striving for purity of vision, regardless of what is currently seen as acceptable in the larger world. When Lily views the jacmanna as bright violet against a vividly white wall, she knows that her vision is different from that which is fashionable, but she stubbornly tells herself, “But this is what I see; this is what I see.” (TtL 23) Kelley suggests that Lily’s commitment to remain true to her vision is a manifestation of Woolf’s own creative dedication.

One of the hallmarks of Post-Impressionist art is a movement away from traditional representation, which can be seen in Lily’s choice of a purple triangle to represent Mrs. Ramsay reading to James. In Vision and Design, Fry also emphasizes the importance of rhythm and balance. Lily’s efforts to paint are stymied when she focuses on her mental activity. It is only when she stops thinking, and gives herself over to a rhythm, that her creativity flows: “Then, as if some juice necessary for the lubrication of her faculties were spontaneously squirted, she began precariously dipping among the blues and umbers, moving her brush hither and thither, but it was now heavier and went slower, as if it had fallen in with some rhythm which was dictated to her by what she saw, so that while her hand quivered with life, this rhythm was strong enough to bear her along with it on its current.” (TtL 163) At the very end of the book, Lily’s painting is completed when she draws a line down the center of the canvas, which is a direct expression of Fry’s philosophy on balance: “In a picture, unity is due to a balancing of the attractions of the eye about the central line of the picture.” (70) Woolf’s effort to transfer Fry’s theories to her writing is clear in the construction of To The Lighthouse. The stream-of-consciousness narrative style that Woolf uses is her way of moving beyond the traditional representation of the novel. Woolf’s narrative style maintains a beautiful rhythm and her composition of the characters achieves a composed balance. The form of her narrative, with its exquisite emphasis on each person’s thoughts, presents a new way to represent characters and their relation to one another. Kelley refers to the goal of Fry and Woolf as the achievement of a “purified reality”. Kelley’s book provides an understanding of Fry’s theories as they relate to Lily’s creative process, which in turn gives the reader a more authentic experience of Woolf’s narrative.