To the Lighthouse

Vanessa Bell, Woolf’s artist sister, wrote a letter to Woolf on May 11, 1927 in which she states that Woolf’s portrayals of both Mrs. Ramsay, who represents their beloved mother, and Mr. Ramsay, who represents their father, are accurate. Bell goes on to say that the portrayal of Mr. Ramsay “isn’t quite so difficult,” implying that the portrayal of an individual with whom one had a challenging relationship is easier to accomplish than the opposite. From what you know about Mr. Ramsay, why might Bell have this opinion? Support your response with evidence from the text.

In To the Lighthouse, Woolf never refers to World War I by name, and she mentions war only briefly. What indirect references to the war are present in the novel, and what effect do they have on the atmosphere of Parts 2 and 3?

This study guide discusses the lighthouse primarily as a symbol of light in times of emotional darkness. Create an argument discussing the lighthouse as the symbol of a goal or endpoint on a journey. Support your response with evidence from the text.

Lily Briscoe’s descriptions of her painting technique are highly impressionistic. In what ways does her finished painting parallel the novel as a whole? Support your response with evidence from the text.

At the end of Part 1, Mrs. Ramsay describes a feeling of triumph. What is the cause of this feeling? Examine her marriage to Mr. Ramsay and support your response with evidence from the text.

Select a passage from Part 2 that contains a personification of the house and its own reaction to the deaths of Mrs. Ramsay, Prue, and Andrew. Analyze it and select other literary devices present in Part 2 that enhance the melancholy tone.

The autobiographical elements in the novel are easily traced thanks to the availability of Woolf’s diaries and letters. What aspect of the novel is the most personal and the most revealing of Woolf herself?

On the boat journey to the lighthouse in Part 3, Macalister’s boy mutilates a mackerel while it is still alive and throws it back into the sea to its death. Analyze this image in the context of the symbol of the sea and the theme of subjectivity of experience.