A comparison of Lily's artifice and Mr. Ramsey's work in To the LighthouseIn Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, l Mr. Ramsey's solitary philosophical work contrasts with Lily's encompassing paintings. . Lily and Mr. Ramsey's professions require sacrifice; Lily abandons the ideal married life while Mr. Ramsey asks his wife to give up her happiness to restore his. Through his work, Mr. Ramsey is able to develop and resemble a strong masculine figure. Lily also finds strength in her artistic talent, rejecting the traditional "mother-wife" image and assuming a unique identity in her society. Mr. Ramsey and Lily's thought process is specific to their work; a philosopher must think in linear terms to arrive at a final conclusion while a painter must imagine and imagine his art in more abstract symbols, shapes and images. As Mr. Ramsey grows up, he loses sight of his original intentions as a craftsman and comes to care more about the immortality of his work than its content. Lily, on the other hand, focuses on the continuity and harmony that her paintings represent. Lily wants to capture the essence of life; Mr. Ramsey cannot do this because he cannot fully express his emotions without an intermediary such as Mrs. Ramsey. Without Mrs. Ramsey, he is not a complete self, which makes his work lack the original illumination it once contained. Mrs. Ramsey informs Lily and Mr. Ramsey's work in different ways; Lily receives her "vision" (209) through the past maternal presence of Mrs. Ramsey and Mr. Ramsey needs her to energize his often flagging spirit. Whether they are the artists themselves or those around them, it takes martyrs to build art ...... middle of paper ...... in the world. Mr. Ramsey, who needs the energy of others to generate his work, ultimately finds himself alone in the world. He wanders aimlessly looking for Mrs. Ramsey to help him birth new ideas but she is no longer there. Although he got exactly what he wanted, loneliness brings him despair and unhappiness; he cannot be complete without his wife by his side. Lily manages to free herself thanks to the completion of the painting representing the mother and child. With the conclusion of this work, she finally has a matriarchal figure in her life and is freed from the oppression of society's stereotypical female role. She describes this painting as "intimate" because she shared something very personal with Mrs. Ramsey: the ability to give life. Work cited Woolf, Virginie. At the Lighthouse. Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1927.