Studies in Literature and Language
Towards a Vision of the Self: Knowing One’s Self and Others in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse
Abstract
Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse tackles venerable philosophical issues. The novel depicts the characters’ incessant search for knowledge of themselves and others. Knowledge of one’s self and others is a goal that eludes characters. Lily Briscoe, Mr., and Mrs. Ramsay all fail in their quest for each other and become confronted with their epistemological deficiencies for one another. This article draws on Emmanuel Levinas’ perceptions of the relationship between the Self and the Other to examine the question of knowing one’s self and others in To the Lighthouse. This article seeks to illustrate how the self is burdened by the impossibility of knowing the other. This study also seeks to illuminate how Virginia Woolf’s authorial image of the vision functions as a moment of self-knowledge for both Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13900
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