To the lighthouse. Virginia Woolf. 1927

The modernist narrative dissolves the omniscient narrator so to create a stream of consciousness where the point of view keeps changing, catching thoughts and immediate perceptions of the individual experience by the means of flashbacks and mental associations. However, the specificity of Virginia’s prose lies in an advanced observation capacity, able to notice hidden physical details and to link them to her characters’ psychological and existential narratives, designing both vivid and aery scenarios through poetic effects of rhythm. Besides, while writing the novel, she was processing a few dynamics of her own family constellation, which would add realistic nuances to the story.

The time is that of a family, it flows creating the three chapters of the book – the window, time passes, the lighthouse – discouraging any attempt to stop it. The location is the Skye Island in Scotland, where Mrs Ramsay, Mr Ramsay, their eight sons and a few friends decide to spend the summer hoping of going to the lighthouse.

“Ora le candele erano tutte accese, e le facce ai due lati del tavolo erano avvicinate dalla loro luce, e composte, come non lo erano al crepuscolo, in un gruppo intorno a un tavolo, perché la notte adesso era chiusa fuori dai vetri, che, lungi dall’offrire una visione nitida del mondo esterno, lo deformavano in modo così strano che lì, dentro la stanza, sembravano esserci ordine e terraferma; e là fuori, un riflesso nel quale le cose vacillavano e svanivano, come fossero acqua. D’un tratto furono tutti attraversati da un qualche mutamento, come se fosse davvero così, e fossero tutti consapevoli di essere un gruppo in una baia, su un’isola, a far causa comune contro la fluidità là fuori.”

The lighthouse seems like representing for the characters the idea, working at subconscious level, of being able to save part of the individual experience from the relentless and incessant transformation and refraction of its physical, emotional and intellectual presence. Through the bright and resilient image of the lighthouse that stands out against a landscape in continuous change the novel outlines the individual psychological dimension of its characters and connects it to the collective philosophical perception of human experience.

Hence the craved lighthouse, both near and far, as it were the lens of a camera, allows Virginia to shot pictures made of words for her characters to use against the perpetual flow of time to capture and freeze their own emotions, thoughts and narratives.