AN EXPLORATION OF SYMBOLISM IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S TO THE LIGHTHOUSE.

Abstract

The use of symbols in a literary work is referred to as symbolism, which is a literary device. Symbols are things that stand for or imply something else; they represent ideas or concepts that go beyond their literal meaning. Being a Modernist writer, Virginia Woolf used many symbols in her works. In To the Lighthouse we may find many symbols but it is quite difficult to know their meanings.

To the Lighthouse is not a conventional story; it is written from several points of view, gracefully navigating between times and characters. Instead, it reads characters' minds and relates their many experiences as they happen through an intricate symbolic web. In this paper, the symbols that are employed in the novel and their significance will be interpreted. The major symbols that Woolf used in her novel are - the lighthouse, Lily’s painting, Ramsay’s summer house, the boar’s skull, Rosei’s arrangement of the grapes and pears, the sea, the storms, the rock, reefs, and shallow water, the window etc. Besides these, there are some minor symbols which are also important.