Abstract:Virginia Woolf is a famous British writer, literary critic and theorist. She is a representative of stream of consciousness literature, known as the pioneer of Modernism and Feminism in the 20th century. As one of the best novels of Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse demonstrates the theory of her novels specifically and vividly—exploring life’s authenticity lies in showing the “inner truth” of characters, namely human’s complicated and changeable spiritual world. Taking a family as the background, the characters’ consciousness as the center of narration, a house located in the seaside as the site of activities, to the lighthouse as the central event of the full text, the couple Ramsay, their children and several visiting guests as the main characters, To the Lighthouse describes the people who make unremitting efforts to strive for harmony and unity.

Since the advent of novel, critics at home and abroad have analyzed the novel mostly from the perspective of feminism, aestheticism, androgyny, narrative strategy, themes and so on. But few scholars pay attention to the rich symbols of the work. On the basis of previous studies, this paper will focus on the symbolic interpretation of the novel, such as the lighthouse, the window, characters, etc. The first chapter will briefly introduce Virginia Woolf’s life and literary achievements, together with the main content and present study on To the Lighthouse. The second chapter will briefly comb the definition, development and characteristics of Symbolism. The third chapter is the core part of this novel, which will analyze symbols in the novel to excavate the potential meanings of various symbols and the inherent personality and thought of the characters. It also explores the spiritual connotation and depth of thought, so as to explore the author’s perception of life, modern civilization, insight and intuition, death and eternity. Finally, this paper will make a conclusion.

Keywords: Virginia Woolf   To the Lighthouse   symbol

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Virginia Woolf-1

1.2 To the Lighthouse-1

1.3 Literature Review-2

1.4 Thesis Structure-3

Chapter Two Symbolism-4

2.1 Origin and Development of Symbolism-4

2.2 Definition of Symbol-4

2.3 Symbolism and Literature-5

Chapter Three Symbolic Interpretation of To the Lighthouse-7

3.1 Object-7

3.1.1 Lighthouse-7

3.1.2 Window-9

3.2 Character-10

3.2.1 Mr. Ramsay-10

3.2.2 Mrs. Ramsay-11

3.3 Color-12

3.4 Scene—the Sea-13

Chapter Four Conclusion-15

References-16