In Walks a Woman S2 E4 Motherhood in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse
Sonja and Vanessa explore Virginia Woolf’s 1927 novel, To the Lighthouse with a focus on Mrs. Ramsay, one of the great mums of British literature. As a happy coincidence, Sonja’s daughter, Sage McHenry, was in town for the episode recording, and Sage offers her Gen Z-reader thoughts on the classic novel. To the Lighthouse, while not strictly autobiographical, has clear links to Woolf’s own life experience, particularly her memories of her parents. We start off with a look at Woolf’s childhood and formative experiences, her education, her own thoughts on whether to become a mother, and her life-long struggles to maintain mental stability. Please note that that this episode does discuss child sexual abuse.
From there, we examine the 3 parts of the novel: “The Window,” all about the day that starts with little James telling his mother, Mrs. Ramsay, that he wants to go to the lighthouse and ends with a dinner where the whole family and all their guests connect emotionally after a delicious meal. Despite Mrs. Ramsay’s hopefulness that the lighthouse visit will happen the next day, the weather shifts, and the trip does not happen. In the second part, “Time Passes,” the house lies empty and begins falling apart, World War 1 rages, we are parenthetically told of several deaths in the family–including that of Mrs. Ramsay. Finally, in the third part, “The Lighthouse,” the trip that had not happened in childhood, finally happens, but only Mr. Ramsay, James, and Cam are left, and they note the absence of a mother who was able to create an emotional web among all her loved ones.
Join Sonja and Vanessa as they reflect on the many ideas the novel considers: women acting as mirrors for male confidence, the contrast of a woman choosing to create art vs. a woman creating family, motherhood as unappreciated creative work, the idea of male and female in a sort of cosmic balance, nostalgia, the ephemeral nature of childhood and community, and Woolf’s clear admiration for of one woman’s power to use her emotional intelligence to connect a diverse group of people into a harmonious community–if only for a day.
REFERENCES
Emma Woolf, great niece of Virginia Woolf, article that explains why Virginia didn't become a mother herself:
Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own
Emily Dickinson's poem, "Tell All the Truth"
Peter Pan pdf illustrated edition with picture of Wendy on the 2 "tombstone"
Dylan Thomas's poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Vanessa Bell, sister to Virginia Woolf, bio info