2 Literature Review

Since the publication of the masterpiece of Virginia Woolf in 1927，To the Lighthouse，it has

aroused intensive heated discussions and researches in a variety of different perspectives from home and abroad．

Generally, Virginia Woolf's work To the Lighthouse was considered as one of the best works in the stream of consciousness novels。 It was considered as her most highly praised novel since it was first published in 1927。 This novel is also her most widely acclaimed work to date。 The critic Bernard Blackstone commented that “to read any ordinary novel after reading To the Lighthouse was to feel oneself turning away from the light of day into the world of puppets and pasteboard” (Blackstone, 1949,P。47)．

  In the early 1980s, the studies on Virginia Woolf and her works started with Shijing Qu who is a recognized scholar in the stream of consciousness novel and is the first expert making a thorough study on Virginia Woolf in China。 Shijing Qu translated some of Woolf’s crucial essays and edited them into two books：A study of Virginia Woolf and Virginia Woolf’s Critical Essays。

As time passes by and the development in literary criticism, each generation has their own interpretation to Woolf。