Name : Komal Jadav

Roll no. : 14

Paper : The Modernist Literature

Topic : Symbolism in “ To The Lighthouse ”

To The Lighthouse

● Published on 1927
● Novel is landmark of high modernism
● Language of Psychoanalysis
● Stream of consciousness
● Center of the novel is Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay
● Woolf wrote about this novel…

“I suppose that I did this work for myself ”

Modernist literature and Symbolism

● Deals with. Many symbols

● To show reality, hidden meaning
For example, Gulliver's Travel by Jonathan Swift.
Novel is widely appreciated novel by critics and
readers. Fourth part of the novel “A voyage to the
country of the Houyhnhnms”. It deal with human, it
shows that animals are more rational and civilized in
the novel. It used to show degradation of human.
What is Symbolism
An action, person, place, word, or object can all have a
symbolic meaning.

Examples of Symbolism
When an author wants to suggest a certain mood or
emotion, he can also use symbolism to hint at it, rather
than just blatantly saying it. Let's explore some
examples of symbolism in the arts and our everyday
lives.
Example of Symbols
Use of Symbols in the novel

● Lighthouse : Titular Significance

● Summer House
● Lily’s Painting
● The Boar’s Skull
● The Sea, the Storms, the rock, reefs and shallow
water
Lighthouse

● The lighthouse symbolizes human desire, a force

that pulsates over the indifferent sea of the natural
world
● Stands constantly night and day
● Darkness and light
● Mr. Ramsay : Sees as source of stability and comfort,
It stands as strong feelings of ownership
Lily's Painting

● Represents a struggle against gender convention

● Problematic Statment
“ Women can't paint or write ”
● Symbolizes the condition of woman during those
days
● Lily makes the choice to establish her own artistic
voice
The Sea

● It symbolically conveys contradictory themes,

depending on how one looks at it.
● It is both destroyed and protector
● Virginia Woolf also suggest other aspects of the sea
in terms of life and reality
● Sea is a powerful reminder of the impermanence
and delicacy of human life and accomplishments
Citation

Ahmed Aboudaif, Said. "Conceptual Symbolic Narration in Virginia Woolf’s To

The Lighthouse and The Waves from a Reader-response perspective." Arab
World English Journal For Translation and Literary Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2020, pp.
56-68
Thank you
Thank You