The Symbolism in To the Lighthouse
Abstract
As Virginia Woolfs masterpiece, To the Lighthouse is loaded with various symbols which grant the novel different reading and multiple perspectives. In fact, To the Lighthouse embodies Virginia Woolfs new concept about novel writing—to probe the deeper levels of the human psyche. Her symbolism is one of her attempts to achieve the aim of rendering "true life"—the characters inner reality. As a writer who rarely has a secure vision of reality and the external world, Virginia Woolf has an obvious interest in the ambiguity, suggestiveness and uncertainty of symbols, particularly as each symbol can take on different meaning for the person who looks at it, thus emphasizing the uniqueness of each individual and the distance that can exist between them, even when gazing on external and shared reality. And also Virginia Woolf reveals the relation between subjectivity and objectivity from her symbolism. This thesis tries to interpret the symbolism in To the Lighthouse through analyzing the objects, characters and the structure of this novel, revealing that characters inner mind and the reality of life.
Key Words: Woolf; To the Lighthouse; symbolism; lighthouse; window
摘 要
《到燈塔去》作爲伍爾夫意識流小說的壓卷之作,多樣的象徵賦予了小說不同的解讀與多樣的見解。小說展示了伍爾夫的小說理論--探求人物深層的精神世界.她小說中的象徵主義的運用是1種探求生活的真實性的1種嘗試，在於表現人物的內在真實。因爲微妙的'心理活動本來就是捉摸不定的，只可意會不能言傳。不同的人對相同的象徵，即相同的客觀對應物可以有截然不同的詮釋，這1特點也被伍爾夫巧妙的運用來刻畫人物性格，展示人物豐富的情感世界。通過象徵主義手法在小說中的運用，作者有力的揭示了人類精神世界與客觀世界之間的關係。本文將從分析小說中的事物、人物，以及小說的結構來解讀小說的象徵主義手法，揭示了人物的內心世界與生活的現實意義。
關鍵詞: 伍爾夫、《到燈塔去》、象徵主義、燈塔、窗