To The Lighthouse

Woolf's best known novel records the daily life of a large English family and their guests on holiday in the Hebrides. The surface action is minimal, but Woolf uses the stream of consciousness technique, a progression of internal impressions and thoughts, to capture the characters' moment - by - moment reactions to the passing of time. The underlying tensions between the nurturing Mrs. Ramsay and the coldly rational Mr. Ramsay speak volumes about the conflicts of female and male relationships. But perhaps Woolf's most dazzling accomplishment in To the Lighthouse is her depiction of the painter Lily Briscoe's triumphant creative moment as she struggles to complete a painting and ultimately experiences the transcendence of art.