lily briscoe's vision

Here are some of my notes from the last paragraph of To The Lighthouse.

Oedipus complex- Lily desires Mrs. Ramsay, and hates Mr. Ramsay because he had what she wants. Also mad at Mrs. Ramsay because she went and died while Lily desired her.

Also could be the other way around, Lily desires Mr. Ramsay, hates desiring him, and so hates herself. She is mad at Mrs. Ramsay for getting to him first, and then dying and putting him off limits.

Therefore, because the lighthouse represents all of this suffering that she has endured, the image in the center of the painting could be the lighthouse. Also, since the blues and greens are blurred and murky, much like having these feelings could be, the line could a penis, which would represent all of her struggle and emotional turmoil.

Lily and her thought- Because of Lily’s life, and its recent focus on the lighthouse, she cannot escape from its shadow, and that is what the center line is. Mrs. Ramsay, her idol, died because of the lighthouse, and her life has been quickly and permanently changed because of the lighthouse. The recent events where a whirlwind and are represented by the blues and greens, surrounding the constant throughout the times, the lighthouse.

Lily and Woolf- Lily is clearly a medium through which Woolf can express her thoughts and problems. The blues and greens and the blurry, swirled nature of them, represent the same thoughts that Woolf has been having in her own life. There is always one character that an author most closely associates with, and puts his or her feelings into, and that character is clearly Lily.