To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf
One of the bisexual author’s best works, To the Lighthouse frequently takes a backseat to Mrs. Dalloway when it comes to popular culture recognition. The story spans a number of years at the Ramsay family’s summer home on the Isle of Skye and concludes with a journey to the titular lighthouse. The characters of Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe take much of the author’s focus, as Woolf compares and contrasts the attitudes of the “domestic angel” Ramsay to the more liberated artist Briscoe. For me, the character of Lily Briscoe has always had a strong lesbian undercurrent, her insecurities as a painter have always mirrored Woolf’s own struggle with her art, and the character’s admiration of the quietly feminine Mrs. Ramsay spoke to the author’s own complicated feelings towards her sex.
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