[F]or it was not knowledge but unity
that she desired, not inscriptions on tablets, nothing that could
be written in any language known to men, but intimacy itself. .
. .
See Important Quotations Explained
Summary: Chapter IX
William Bankes considers Mr. Ramsay’s behavior and concludes that
it is a pity that his old friend cannot act more conventionally. He
suggests to Lily, who stands beside him putting away her paint and
brushes, that their host is something of a hypocrite. Lily -disagrees
with him. Though she finds Mr. Ramsay narrow and self-absorbed,
she also observes the sincerity with which he seeks admiration.
Lily is about to speak and criticize Mrs. Ramsay, but Bankes’s “rapture”
of watching Mrs. Ramsay silences her. As he stares at Mrs. Ramsay,
it is obvious to Lily that he is in love. The rapture of his gaze
touches her, so much so that she lets Bankes look at her painting,
which she considers to be dreadfully bad. She thinks of Charles
Tansley’s claim that women cannot paint or write.
Lily remembers the criticism she was about to make of
Mrs. Ramsay, whom she resents for insinuating that she, Lily, as
an unmarried woman, cannot know the best of life. Lily reflects
on the essence of Mrs. Ramsay, which she is trying to paint, and
insists that she herself was not made for marriage. She muses, with
some distress, that no one can ever know anything about anyone,
because people are separate and cut off from one another. She hopes
to counter this phenomenon and achieve unity with, and knowledge of,
others through her art. By painting, she hopes to attain a kind
of intimacy that will bring her closer to the world outside her
consciousness.
Lily braces herself as Bankes looks over her portrait
of Mrs. Ramsay and James. She discusses the painting with him. As
they talk about the shadows, light, and the purple triangle meant
to represent Mrs. Ramsay, Lily wonders how to connect them and make
them whole. She also feels that Bankes has taken her painting from
her by looking at it and that they have shared something intimate.
Summary: Chapter X
Cam Ramsay, Mrs. and Mr. Ramsay’s devilish daughter, rushes
past and nearly knocks the easel over. Mrs. Ramsay calls to Cam,
asking after Paul Rayley, Minta Doyle, and Andrew, who have not
returned from their walk on the beach. Mrs. Ramsay assumes that
this delay means that Paul has proposed to Minta, which is what
she intended when she orchestrated the walk. A clever matchmaker,
Mrs. Ramsay has been accused of being domineering, but she feels
justified in her efforts because she truly likes Minta. She feels
that Minta must accept the time that she and Paul have spent alone
together recently.
Mrs. Ramsay believes that she would be domineering in
pursuit of social causes. She feels passionately that the island
needs a hospital and a dairy, but rationalizes that she can further
these goals once her children grow older. Still, she resists the
passage of time, wishing that her children would stay young forever
and her family as happy as it now is. Mrs. Ramsay further meditates
about life, realizing a kind of transactional relationship between
it and herself. She lists social problems and intersperses them
with personal anxieties, noting, for instance, that “the bill for
the greenhouse would be fifty pounds.” This anxiety extends to her
thoughts of Paul and Minta, thinking that perhaps marriage and family
are an escape that not everyone needs. She finishes reading James
his story, and the nursemaid takes him to bed. Mrs. Ramsay is certain
that he is thinking of their thwarted trip to the lighthouse and
that he will remember not being able to go for the rest of his life.
Summary: Chapter XI
Alone, Mrs. Ramsay knits and gazes out at the lighthouse,
thinking that children never forget harsh words or disappointments.
She enjoys her respite from being and doing, since she finds peace
only when she is no longer herself. Without personality, in a “wedge-shaped
core of darkness,” she rids herself of worry. She suddenly becomes
sad, and thinks that no God could have made a world in which happiness
is so fleeting and in which reason, order, and justice are so overwhelmed
by suffering and death. From a distance, Mr. Ramsay sees her and
notices her sadness and beauty. He wants to protect her, but hesitates,
feeling helpless and reflecting that his temper causes her grief.
He resolves not to interrupt her, but soon enough, sensing his desire
to protect her, Mrs. Ramsay calls after him, takes up her shawl,
and meets him on the lawn.
