Eloquence Of Silence

Virginia Woolf, as a forerunner in modernism literature of the 20 century and a central member of the Bloomsberry Group, with the grace and style is heatedly criticized in the western critical circle. As her fifth novel, To the Lighthouse is written in Woolf's climax of thoughts and artistic maturation. The novel is imbedded with a seemingly simple but profound plot.In the past, nearly all the perspectives have been criticized on Woolf. This paper is going to articulate the female silence and its effects functions in To the Lighthouse. Often, silence is taken as a sort of passive action or disability; however, Woolf subverts the conventional concept on silence, exploiting it into the characterization of female characters and entering into their "inner reality". Therefore, this paper is aimed at searching and surveying on silence in To the Lighthouse, divided into the following five chapters:Chapterâ… presents some Woolf's viewpoints related to silence and sets them as the foundation available for overall and dialectical reading of the silence.Chapterâ…¡focuses on two female characters Mrs. Ramsay and Lily's silence and constructs the meaning of their silence characterizing them. Sometimes, it elaborates the intimacy between human beings. Silence is a carrier seeking the inner reality of the characters. Sometimes, it elaborates the intimacy between human beings. Silence reveals the ambiguity and uncertainty of "ego". So, the silence characterizes the female characters on the scene.Chapterâ…¢focuses on the thematic significance of silence. Death and change, mother-daughter themes are displayed by silence. Specifically, both the two themes involve Mrs. Ramsay and Lily.Chapterâ…£surveys the positive effect silence shadows on the narrative strategy. Silence enlightens the characters' vision of life. Silence is a narrative buffer and space for readers to digest.Chapterâ…¤concludes that silence in the novel is rich in meaning for revealing the characters' inner world. It also performs the communicative function and is available for interpretation. The reading for silence, especially by the common readers, could be processed in a more reasonable and creative way. The readers are entitled to participating into the text, the characters' silent meditation and inner reality more actively. Through the reading of silence, we may grasp an overall and profound understanding of To the Lighthouse, and we may apply the reading of silence to her other works.