1 Introduction

1。1 Brief Introduction of the author

Virginia Woolf is one of the most famous English female novelists of the twentieth century。 She is also a noted essayist, critic and a great British writer who contributes to the form of the novel originally, and the pioneer of modernism and feminism。 The novels Mrs。 Dalloway (1925), Orlando (1928) and To the Lighthouse (1927), with the book-length essay A Room of One’s Own (1929) were her most famous works。 

Woolf started her writing in 1905 professionally , initially for the Times Literary Supplement with a journalistic piece about Haworth, home of the Bronte family。 Her first novel, The Voyage Out, was published in 1915 by her half-brother’s imprint, Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd。 An earlier version of The Voyage Out has been reconstructed by Woolf scholar Louise DeSalvo and is now available to the public under the intended title (as the novel was originally entitled Melymbrosia)。文献综述

Her stream-of-consciousness essays and novels provide an invaluable insight into both her own life experiences and those of women at the beginning of the twentieth century．By the time To the Lighthouse was published in May 1927 any novel by Mrs Woolf was bound to receive widespread and serious attention．It was in fact reviewed more extensively than any of her previous works and had the most successful sales．It has also generated more critical writing than any of her other works．This is partly due to the temptation offered for such readings by the symbolic lighthouse and quest-like journey to it，and partly also the way in which Lily Briscoe’s painting seems to be an analogue for the novel itself。 Virginia Woolf successfully used mother and daughter---this seemingly simple but actually delicate and complex relationship to rescue Lily Briscoe from the paradigm of the traditional woman and to shape her a new one。 Woolf also accomplished women’s self-reflection through her mouthpiece Lily Briscoe．

Woolf is considered one of the greatest innovators in the English language。 Stream of consciousness , emotional motives of characters and the potential psychological are full of her works。

1。2 Brief introduction of the book To The Lighthouse

    Woolf’s work To the Lighthouse was published in 1927。 As a landmark of high modernism, the text, centering on the Ramsay family and their visit to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920, skillfully manipulates temporality and psychological exploration。 The novel follows and extends the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel Proust and James Joyce, where the plot is secondary to philosophical introspection and the prose can be winding and hard to follow。 It includes little dialogue and almost no action; most of it is written as thoughts and observations。 It recalls the power of childhood emotions and highlights the impermanence of adult relationships。

    The novel To the Lighthouse as the center clues throughout the book, wrote about the Ramsey family and a few guests in the fragments of life experiences before and after the first world war。 Mr。 Ramsey's youngest son, James wants to go to the lighthouse, but failed due to the bad weather。 After the war broke out, the Ramsays had suffered a lot。 After the war, Mr。 Ramsey carrying a pair of children take the boat out to sea, and finally reach the lighthouse。 While Lily Briscoe, sitting on the shore, drew the central line(illusions lingering on her mind for years)and became a real artist beyond herself。来*自-优=尔,论:文+网www.youerw.com

    On the surface, Lily Briscoe is a character with few words and her main act is to paint Mrs Ramsay but the truth is Lily Briscoe is a character with active thinking and Woolf herself as a prototype creates this figure。 The author shaped this character as her own prototype, giving the character Lily Briscoe the identity of the daughter, just like the heath in the mythical Persephone to her mother Demeter, she is the character filled with desire and rebellious。 And then the author gave her a mission of the hero, by seeking new self and finish the trip to Eleusis。