Reappraising patriarchy and matriarchy in Virginia Woolf's to the lighthouse : a feminist study

Abstract EN

This study investigates Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, which develops a kind of analysis of human values and reality, examines and criticises the complex workings of the inner life.

In her narrative, Woolf portrays life itself through the positions of patriarchy and matriarchy in the family.

The main concern of this study is to explore To the Lighthouse in relation to the concepts of patriarchy and matriarchy.

This study suggests, therefore, that in order to understand those concepts more fully, an attention is needed to be paid Feminist theory since Woolf's understanding of history and narrative is intimately bound up with ways of thinking about women.

Moreover, she intended her fiction to address the great problem of the true nature of women.

In this novel, she uses her skills to good account: making many literary techniques such as the contrast of 'fact' to 'vision' and the stream of consciousness in order to invest in the inner personae of her characters.