英美文学论文 到灯塔去

Analysis of Stream of Consciousness and Feminism in

To the Lighthouse

By

10-3，名字(No.201015310325)

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for literature class

to the Qinggong College

Hebei United University

December 2012

ABSTRACT

Virginia Woolf is one of leading writers through Europe in the beginning of 20th century, who is one of the famous writers like George Eliot, Jane Austin. To the Lighthouse is one of famous works, which hasn‟t complete and complex plots. Stream of consciousness is previous characteristic of her works. She pays more attention to describing internal emotion of characters; meanwhile, she also uses symbolism, and lighthouse is hope to people. She is also a feminist, and she thinks female should have independence, only like that, could female have real life of themselves. The paper mainly studies feminist and stream of consciousness of Woolf‟s novel of To the Lighthouse.

KEY WORDS:Stream of Consciousness To the Lighthouse Feminist

摘要

弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫是英国20世纪初期风靡欧美的意识流小说的开山鼻祖之一，与乔治·艾略特﹑简·奥斯丁同为英国最杰出的女作家。《到灯塔去》是她最著名的作品之一，这部小说并无完整复杂的故事情节，意识流是她作品最大的特点，她注重对人物内心世界的微妙刻画；同时，她还运用了象征主义手法，灯塔对人们来说是希望。她又是一个女权主义者，她认为女性应该拥有独立的女性意识，这样女性才能拥有真正属于自己的生活。本论文主要研究《到灯塔去》中所体现的女性主义精神和伍尔夫意识流小说的写作特点。

关键词：意识流到灯塔去女权主义

CONTENTS

Abstract (Chinese)

A bstract (English)

1. Introduction (1)

1.1Virginia Woolf (1)

1.2To the Lighthouse (2)

2.TheStreamofConciousnessin Tothe Lighthouse (2)

2.1 Social and Cultural Backgrounds of the Novel (2)

2.2 The Characteristics of Stream of Conciousness (2)

3.Feminism in To the Lighthouse (3)

3.1VirginiaWoolf‟s Feminism (3)

3.2Mrs.Ramsay‟s Feminism (4)

3.3Lily‟s Feminism (4)

4. Conclusion (5)

Bibliography (6)

1.Introduction

Virginia Woolf is one of the key figures of Modernism. She is a novelist, short story write, essayist and critic and part of a large of circle of writers, artist and intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury group. Her most famous novel, To the Lighthouse shows great technical mastery, with a form tightly organized through the use of recurrent images and a restricted time frame. The book is generally regarded as one of her masterpieces for its special style that combines a stream of consciousness with the accumulation of many details and thus creates a strong feeling of intensity that is quite common in Woolf‟s works.

1.1Virginia Woolf

Born in London to well educated upper-middle-class parents, Virginia grew up as a member of a large and highly literary family. Leslie Stephan, his father, was a famous Victorian philosopher, bibliographer and critic. Encouraged by her father, she read widely and freely in his extensive library. She never went to school. She was taught at home by her parents and tutor with her sister Vanessa, who became a famous modern painter later. From an early age Virginia got into the way of writing stories and kept a journal. She even tried out experiment with various narrative literary forms and voices. The death of her mother in 1895 and her father in 1904 influenced her life greatly and a mental illness began to develop then into the late years. In 1913 she attempted suicide. After the death of her parents, Virginia and her sister Vanessa moved out of the family to Bloomsbury, a district of London, to have a freer life. There they entertained their literary and artistic friend and with the gathering of a group of intellectuals outstanding at the time, there was the famous Bloomsbury Group where their conversations and ideas sparkled. In 1912, she married one of the group members, Leonard Woolf, journalist, essayist and political thinker.

Her works, influenced by contemporary movement such as psychology, impressionism, and feminist, reveal her preoccupation with the complexity of both the individual‟s perception and the large cultural system that shape them. Woolf was famous for her works‟ bea utiful style. In her works, it was filled with breath of life. Her works and ideas have informed many of great feminist thinkers, novelists and poets. Her radical and experimental writing laid a foundation for them.

1.2 To the Lighthouse