Silliness and Wind Direction: Gender Conformity in To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse is about several aspects of life. The novel provides commentary on selfhood and society, but it is above all a story about the development of gender differences. At every turn, the reader is reminded of the many differences between men and women. While the gender divide is clearly addressed, Woolf does not offer two opposing sides and allow one to emerge the winner. Instead, she presents the many ways in which both genders can interact and conflict, but her writing does not claim to have any answers about whether these interactions are correct or even reasonable. With To the Lighthouse, Woolf provides a place to consider gender and how it operates without ever pushing her opinions upon the reader.

Each character in To the Lighthouse provides an example of gender in the novel. Mrs. Ramsay, for example, is the quintessential mother figure. She is kind and generous but also becomes too involved in affairs that don’t concern her. In the first section, Woolf writes of Mrs. Ramsay’s view of men, explaining, “She had the whole of the other sex under her protection; ...for the fact that they negotiated treaties, ruled India, controlled finance; finally for an attitude towards herself which no woman could fail to feel or to find agreeable, something trustful, childlike, reverential...” (Woolf 1). Here, the reader is shown how Mrs. Ramsay feels about the male gender. She believes that men need to be protected and that they are “childlike.” At the same time, she respects them for their abilities to “negotiate treaties” and “[control] finances.” This shows men as both needing the care of a mother and being in control. In this section, it also seems that Mrs. Ramsay defines her worth, and the worth of other women, based on how they are perceived by the men around her. She worries about whether or not Lilly will be married and if Paul has proposed to Minta (Woolf 10). It is interesting to note these various conflicting stereotypes being portrayed in the opinion of one woman.

If Mrs. Ramsay is the quintessential mother figure, her husband, Mr. Ramsay, is the quintessential father figure. Where Mrs. Ramsay is optimistic that they will be able to travel to the lighthouse the next day, Mr. Ramsay feels he must be the voice of reason and explain that they will not. Their reasoning for each is decidedly based on gender stereotypes as well. Mrs. Ramsay’s reasoning is a simple, “the wind often changed” (Woolf 6). Mr. Ramsay, however, refers to the barometer and the specific direction of the wind. Mrs. Ramsay’s reasoning is based on gentle hope, whereas Mr. Ramsay’s reasoning is based on scientific facts. Considering the fact that To the Lighthouse was written in 1927, it is no surprise to see such cut and dry views of gender in its pages.

While Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay do reflect specific gender stereotypes in To the Lighthouse, they are not the only characters whose actions provide commentary about gender throughout the work. In fact, nearly every character adds an aspect to the discussion, either in the conforming to or straying from conventional ideas of gender. Again, To the Lighthouse is, at its core, a novel about gender. Examining characters other than Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay helps illuminate the subject of gender as it appears in the novel.

Throughout To the Lighthouse there are many instances of men thinking about the women in the novel as being weaker and of having silly or fragile minds. When Andrew, Paul, and Minta are on their walk, Minta loses her grandmother’s brooch. She is understandably upset, but Andrew does not sympathize. Woolf writes, “she had no control over her emotions, Andrew thought. Women hadn’t” (14). Andrew cannot entertain the idea that Minta’s reaction to losing a family heirloom is justified—only that she is acting this way because she is not in control of her emotions. Andrew is only one character in the novel that seems to believe that women are inferior.

Mr. Tansley is possibly worse than Andrew in his assessment of the female character. He is frustrated by the act he feels he must put on at the dinner table, complaining that he is “not going to be condescended to by these silly women...They did nothing but talk, talk, talk, eat, eat, eat. It was the women’s fault. Women made civilisation impossible with all their ‘charm,’ all their silliness” (Wolf 17). Mr. Tansley believes that not only are women inferior but that they cause men to act poorly as well. Taking both Andrew and Mr. Tansley into consideration, it seems that Woolf is trying to convey men’s belief that women are unreasonable and frivolous.

Overall, To the Lighthouse is full of characters that conform to fairly negative stereotypes, but in Lilly Briscoe, Woolf presents a character that could not adhere any less to ideas of what is acceptable for one’s gender in 1927. First of all, Lilly is not concerned with marriage. In fact, while Mrs. Ramsay is correct in thinking that Lilly and William Bankes would be compatible, the two never marry. Instead, they have a healthy, non-sexual relationship that lasts their entire lives. This is totally non-conforming to the idea that a woman should be seeking out a partner for marriage. In addition, despite Mr. Tansley’s assertion that “women can’t paint,” (Woolf 9) Lilly does finish her work by the novel’s end. She is headstrong, independent, and capable in ways more in line with Mr. Ramsay than Mrs. Ramsay. In a novel so full of ideas of gender conformity, her non-conformist ways are important to consider.

To the Lighthouse examines one group of people over a span of time. It looks at many aspects of their lives, but one, in particular, stands at the core of the work. Virginia Woolf takes much time in the novel to explore gender and how it operates within the various characters of the novel. While it seems that most of her characters adhere to the ideas about gender the others hold, there are instances of certain characters deviating from these ideas. In To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf offers many ideas to be considered about gender equality, but no definite answers.

Work Cited

Woolf, Virginia. "To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf." eBooks@Adelaide. University of Adelaide, 1927. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.