The family and the wounded femininity in "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf Pozzuoli

Abstract

To the Lighthouse, one of the finest novels by Virginia Woolf, published for the first time in 1927 by the Hogarth Press is an esxtremely powerful metaphor concerning the passing of time associated with the theme of interpersonal relationships, especially family ties which prove to be a pivotal issue of Woolf's novel. The main element of the plot in To the Lighthouse are the Ramsays, an english family living between the last years of the so called Eduardian Age and the Great War.

Woolf portrays the conflictual relationship between the head of the house, Mr Ramsay and his Wife. The respectively embody the male principle and the female one that frequently fight each-other.

The recently published Italian version of the novel, published by Feltrinelli enables us to review Woolf's masterpiece in order to put into light the connexion between family ties and the consition of women .