Friday, December 7, 2007
Lilly Briscoe
Lily Briscoe has appeared to be a very important character in "To the Lighthouse." First described by Mrs. Ramsey with her "little Chinese eyes and her puckered-up face, she would never marry; one could not take her painting very seriously; but she was an independent little creature." Lily is a houseguest at the Ramsey's house, and has developed intense feelings towards not only Mrs. Ramsey, but also the life that this family leads. Lily is very in touch with her surroundings, and very aware as to what is going on at all moments. On page 18, the reader receives the first piece of writing from the perspective of Lily as the narrator. It is evident that she is very aware of her scenery at all times, "even while she looked at the mass, at the line, at the color, at Mrs. Ramsey sitting in the window with James, she kept a feeler on her surroundings lest someone should creep up, and she should find her picture looked at." This is a very clear example of how Lily is aware of her surroundings. Through Lily's awareness, she is very in touch with the family and can therefore develop a connection to them and their lives. Along with being a houseguest, Lily is a painter. In the first few chapters we are introduced to the fact that Lily is attempting to paint a picture of Mrs. Ramsey, and that she feels the need for every brush to be perfection. Through being a guest at the Ramsey household, Lily has developed a strong sense of connection with Mrs. Ramsey. This connection is almost to the extent that she wanted to, "fling herself at Mrs. Ramsey's knee and say to her- but what could one say to her? 'I'm in love with you'? But, that was not true. ' I'm in love with this all', waving her hand at the hedge, at the house, at the children?" It is not Mrs. Ramsey herself who Lily has developed the connection towards, yet to the life that she leads. Lily yearns for this idealistic life that she feels she witnesses at the house. While Lily is alone, with no kids or husband, Mrs. Ramsey shares the company and love of a husband and eight individual children. Lily appears to have become infatuated with the life that Mrs. Ramsey leads, " for she is in love with them all, in love with this world." Another love that we have witnessed Lily experience is the love towards William Bankes, another houseguest of the Ramsey family. On page 23, Lily describes in length her feelings towards Mr. Bankes, "she felt herself transfixed by the intensity of her perception; it was his severity; his goodness. I respect you." Overall, as a reader we are just being introduced to Lily Briscoe and have only seen a glimpse of who she appears to be.
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2 comments:
In the passage the writer uses a quote about Lilly describing he as independant, however that her painting basically wasn't any good; it couldn't be taken "seriously". This brought me to so many questions: if Lilly's paintings aren't any good, why does she paint?, what's the significance of her paintings?, are her paintings actually unsignificant, o was Mrs. Ramsay just being rude (or brutally honest)?
Also, the blog shows that Lilly has "intense" feelings for the Ramsay family, Mrs. Ramsay in particular. Later, the writer goes into a paragraph based on a quote about Lilly wanting to claim her love or not love, toward Mrs Ramsay. I thought this was such a strong set of ideas and I loved them! They were so good, because I too was wondering if Lilly did love Mrs. Ramsay, or if she's just infatuated with her family, or her life. Perhaps she's just envious of what Mrs. Ramsay has, and she doesn't. However, she seems so content with what she has!
I'm so glad someone chose Lilly Briscoe! She's such an interesting character. I'm sure the rest of her character will unfold toward the end of the book.
I think you did a really good job of capturing a sense of who Lily Briscoe is from what we have read so far. I think that the connection you made between Lily and Mrs. Ramsay is an important one and I agree with what you said about the connection between Lily and the Ramsay family's life in general. To add to your post, I think Lily and Mr. Ramsay share a deep similarity. Like Mr. Ramsay, Lily is immersed in her work. Also similar to Mr. Ramsay, Lily is doubting her work and having a lot of anxiety over whether or not people will appreciate her work in years to come. I think the similarities and the connections that Lily shares with both Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay ultimately makes Lily a tie for the chasm that lies between the husband and wife. I enjoyed your speculation of Lily because I think she's an important character that will be essential to the rest of the book's progression and I look forward to further discussion about the character.
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