The Working of Masculine Mind Vs Feminine Mind in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse

Abstract

Fiction represents life. Inner life unknown to the characters in the novel is known to its readers
through each character’s inner thoughts reflected in various ways. The present study explores
Virginia Woolf’s usage of stream of consciousness technique for male and female genders
working differently. It also analyzes the behaviors of all four major characters with respect to
their genders and investigates how a small incident or sight creates its psychological influence on
their lives. The study draws parallel between the working of masculine mind; that is Mr. Ramsay
and Charles Tansley and the working of feminine mind; that is Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe.
The study reflects societal influence as a significant cause on human minds and experiences of
fictional characters portrayed in the novel illustrate the complexity of their minds and thought
process with respect to gender variance. The study asserts roles of Mr. Ramsay and Charles
Tansley as man’s dominance and philosophic pursuance whereas women’s domesticity is
illustrated through character depiction of Mrs. Ramsay. Portrayal of Lily Briscoe’s independent
nature despite social obstruction highlights the feminist stance of the novel. The study also
covers a huge time interval and marks the novel as a text engrossed in thought processes
stretched on many chapters. It concludes that contrastive working of human mind; masculine and
feminine, characters’ past life experiences and present circumstances, the thought processes, and
characters’ beliefs, emotions, actions, and the dialogues are what Virginia Woolf has laid down
and what the present article has focused.