An Analysis Of Virginia Woolf’s Theory Of Androgyny In To The Lighthouse

It is not until the end of the1920s that people usually relate the termANDROGYNY with HERMAPHRODITISM which is often used in biology. VirginiaWoolf puts forward her literary theory of androgyny in her work A Room of One’sOwn（2004） at the first time in1928, and holds the view that one should possess boththe features of masculinity and femininity which she regards as the most perfect stateof composition for a writer.As a stream of consciousness novelist and feminist writer, Virginia Woolfinherits some assumptions of feminism, and at the same time reviews feminism froma new angle and puts out with some new ideas, which makes feminism moreadaptable and acceptable to the development of the society. The theory of androgynyis one of them.To the Lighthouse (1999) is an autobiographical stream of consciousness novel ofVirginia Woolf. As a feminist female writer, Woolf does not emphasize theimportance of women excessively and on purpose, but criticizes the inequality of thecontemporary patriarchal autocracy and admits women’s traditional roles and regardsa harmony between males and females as the most perfect state. She puts forward theproposal that it is important TO BE ONESELF and gain independence in economy.As other feminist writers, Woolf pursues equality of men and women, while her worksconcentrates more on women’s independence on economy and art, women writingdistinction and necessity to record women’s life (李银河,2005：3). As a result,Woolf’s feminism is distinct from other feminist writers and counterparts of differentperiods, in which she raises a view of harmony between males and females that adaptsto the theme of harmonious society.The thesis consists of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. Its maincontents are as follows:The first part is introduction, which mainly makes a brief summary of the formerstudy on feminism, and pointed out the significance of androgyny for the developmentof feminism.The second part is the main body, which is made up of three chapters: Chapter one mainly introduces feminism and androgyny. Since Woolf’sandrogyny is relevant to her view of feminism, the thesis starts with feminism, andthen develops to androgyny, including the definition of feminism and some basictheories, the process of feminist development and androgyny.Chapter two exposes the inheritance of Woolf’s androgyny to traditionalfeminism, which can be proved by three parts. The first part describes Woolf’scriticism towards patriarchal autocracy in To the Lighthouse by the male characters inthe work to show women’s oppression from men. The second part expresses Woolf’saffirmation for the femininity. And the last part is a statement of Woolf’s idea of herpursuit of equality of men and women.Chapter three concludes a kind of harmonious state which is what Woolf pursues.At first, Woolf’s theory of androgyny emphases a harmonious coexisting state offemininity and masculinity, which is considered as the most perfect personality byWoolf. A certain temperament should overwhelm another in a certain conversation todeal with complex situations. Secondly, Woolf applies the idea of harmony to an idealrelationship between men and women, which is a state of harmony of the two genders,emphasizing different social division of labor according to different careers anddifferent temperament or characteristics. The last part summarizes Woolf’s ambiguousdistinguishing of the two genders. In her opinion, it is not reasonable to emphasizeany single gender. Nothing exists in vain, and people should accept everything that isuseful.The last part is conclusion, which concludes the whole thesis and points out theidea. To gain their political or social status, most traditional feminists regulatethemselves with men’s standard, which reveals a kind of approval and desire forpatriarchal society and a kind of protest of women’s family role. They areself-contemptuous essentially. In addition, the thesis discovers the connection betweenthe essence of Virginian Woolf’s idea of androgyny and traditional Chinese culture,and the consistency with the proportion of harmonious society.