Plot Overview

Note: To the Lighthouse is divided into three sections: The Window, Time
Passes, and The Lighthouse. Each section is fragmented into stream-of-
consciousness contributions from various narrators.

The Window opens just before the start of World War I. Mr. Ramsay and
Mrs. Ramsay bring their eight children to their summer home in the Hebrides (a
group of islands west of Scotland). Across the bay from their house stands a
large lighthouse. Six-year-old James Ramsay wants desperately to go to the
lighthouse, and Mrs. Ramsay tells him that they will go the next day if the
weather permits. James reacts gleefully, but Mr. Ramsay tells him coldly that
the weather looks to be foul. James resents his father and believes that he enjoys
being cruel to James and his siblings.
The Ramsays host a number of guests, including the dour Charles Tansley, who
admires Mr. Ramsays work as a metaphysical philosopher. Also at the house is
Lily Briscoe, a young painter who begins a portrait of Mrs. Ramsay. Mrs.
Ramsay wants Lily to marry William Bankes, an old friend of the Ramsays, but
Lily resolves to remain single. Mrs. Ramsay does manage to arrange another
marriage, however, between Paul Rayley and Minta Doyle, two of their
acquaintances.
During the course of the afternoon, Paul proposes to Minta, Lily begins her
painting, Mrs. Ramsay soothes the resentful James, and Mr. Ramsay frets over
his shortcomings as a philosopher, periodically turning to Mrs. Ramsay for
comfort. That evening, the Ramsays host a seemingly ill-fated dinner party.
Paul and Minta are late returning from their walk on the beach with two of the
Ramsays children. Lily bristles at outspoken comments made by Charles
Tansley, who suggests that women can neither paint nor write. Mr. Ramsay
reacts rudely when Augustus Carmichael, a poet, asks for a second plate of
soup. As the night draws on, however, these missteps right themselves, and the
guests come together to make a memorable evening.

The joy, however, like the party itself, cannot last, and as Mrs. Ramsay leaves
her guests in the dining room, she reflects that the event has already slipped into
the past. Later, she joins her husband in the parlor. The couple sits quietly
together, until Mr. Ramsays characteristic insecurities interrupt their peace. He
wants his wife to tell him that she loves him. Mrs. Ramsay is not one to make
such pronouncements, but she concedes to his point made earlier in the day that
the weather will be too rough for a trip to the lighthouse the next day. Mr.
Ramsay thus knows that Mrs. Ramsay loves him. Night falls, and one night
quickly becomes another.

Time passes more quickly as the novel enters the Time Passes segment. War
breaks out across Europe. Mrs. Ramsay dies suddenly one night. Andrew
Ramsay, her oldest son, is killed in battle, and his sister Prue dies from an
illness related to childbirth. The family no longer vacations at its summerhouse,
which falls into a state of disrepair: weeds take over the garden and spiders nest
in the house. Ten years pass before the family returns. Mrs. McNab, the
housekeeper, employs a few other women to help set the house in order. They
rescue the house from oblivion and decay, and everything is in order when Lily
Briscoe returns.

In The Lighthouse section, time returns to the slow detail of shifting points of
view, similar in style to The Window. Mr. Ramsay declares that he and James
and Cam, one of his daughters, will journey to the lighthouse. On the morning
of the voyage, delays throw him into a fit of temper. He appeals to Lily for
sympathy, but, unlike Mrs. Ramsay, she is unable to provide him with what he
needs. The Ramsays set off, and Lily takes her place on the lawn, determined to
complete a painting she started but abandoned on her last visit. James and Cam
bristle at their fathers blustery behavior and are embarrassed by his constant
self-pity. Still, as the boat reaches its destination, the children feel a fondness
for him. Even James, whose skill as a sailor Mr. Ramsay praises, experiences a
moment of connection with his father, though James so willfully resents him.
Across the bay, Lily puts the finishing touch on her painting. She makes a
definitive stroke on the canvas and puts her brush down, finally having achieved
her vision.

Character List

Mrs. Ramsay - Mr. Ramsays wife. A beautiful and loving woman, Mrs.
Ramsay is a wonderful hostess who takes pride in making memorable
experiences for the guests at the familys summer home on the Isle of Skye.
Affirming traditional gender roles wholeheartedly, she lavishes particular
attention on her male guests, who she believes have delicate egos and need
constant support and sympathy. She is a dutiful and loving wife but often
struggles with her husbands difficult moods and selfishness. Without fail,
however, she triumphs through these difficult times and demonstrates an ability
to make something significant and lasting from the most ephemeral of
circumstances, such as a dinner party.
Read an in-depth analysis of Mrs. Ramsay.

Mr. Ramsay - Mrs. Ramsays husband, and a prominent metaphysical

philosopher. Mr. Ramsay loves his family but often acts like something of a
tyrant. He tends to be selfish and harsh due to his persistent personal and
professional anxieties. He fears, more than anything, that his work is
insignificant in the grand scheme of things and that he will not be remembered
by future generations. Well aware of how blessed he is to have such a
wonderful family, he nevertheless tends to punish his wife, children, and guests
by demanding their constant sympathy, attention, and support.
Read an in-depth analysis of Mr. Ramsay.

Lily Briscoe - A young, single painter who befriends the Ramsays on the Isle
of Skye. Like Mr. Ramsay, Lily is plagued by fears that her work lacks worth.
She begins a portrait of Mrs. Ramsay at the beginning of the novel but has
trouble finishing it. The opinions of men like Charles Tansley, who insists that
women cannot paint or write, threaten to undermine her confidence.
Read an in-depth analysis of Lily Briscoe.

James Ramsay - The Ramsays youngest son. James loves his mother deeply
and feels a murderous antipathy toward his father, with whom he must compete
for Mrs. Ramsays love and affection. At the beginning of the novel, Mr.
Ramsay refuses the six-year-old Jamess request to go to the lighthouse, saying
that the weather will be foul and not permit it; ten years later, James finally
makes the journey with his father and his sister Cam. By this time, he has grown
into a willful and moody young man who has much in common with his father,
whom he detests.
Read an in-depth analysis of James Ramsay.

Paul Rayley - A young friend of the Ramsays who visits them on the Isle of
Skye. Paul is a kind, impressionable young man who follows Mrs. Ramsays
wishes in marrying Minta Doyle.

Minta Doyle - A flighty young woman who visits the Ramsays on the Isle of
Skye. Minta marries Paul Rayley at Mrs. Ramsays wishes.
Charles Tansley - A young philosopher and pupil of Mr. Ramsay who stays
with the Ramsays on the Isle of Skye. Tansley is a prickly and unpleasant man
who harbors deep insecurities regarding his humble background. He often
insults other people, particularly women such as Lily, whose talent and
accomplishments he constantly calls into question. His bad behavior, like Mr.
Ramsays, is motivated by his need for reassurance.

William Bankes - A botanist and old friend of the Ramsays who stays on the
Isle of Skye. Bankes is a kind and mellow man whom Mrs. Ramsay hopes will
marry Lily Briscoe. Although he never marries her, Bankes and Lily remain
close friends.

Augustus Carmichael - An opium-using poet who visits the Ramsays on the

Isle of Skye. Carmichael languishes in literary obscurity until his verse becomes
popular during the war.

Andrew Ramsay - The oldest of the Ramsays sons. Andrew is a competent,

independent young man, and he looks forward to a career as a mathematician.

Jasper Ramsay - One of the Ramsays sons. Jasper, to his mothers chagrin,
enjoys shooting birds.

Roger Ramsay - One of the Ramsays sons. Roger is wild and adventurous,
like his sister Nancy.

Prue Ramsay - The oldest Ramsay girl, a beautiful young woman. Mrs.
Ramsay delights in contemplating Prues marriage, which she believes will be
blissful.

Rose Ramsay - One of the Ramsays daughters. Rose has a talent for making
things beautiful. She arranges the fruit for her mothers dinner party and picks
out her mothers jewelry.

Nancy Ramsay - One of the Ramsays daughters. Nancy accompanies Paul

Rayley and Minta Doyle on their trip to the beach. Like her brother Roger, she
is a wild adventurer.
Cam Ramsay - One of the Ramsays daughters. As a young girl, Cam is
mischievous. She sails with James and Mr. Ramsay to the lighthouse in the
novels final section.

Mrs. McNab - An elderly woman who takes care of the Ramsays house on the
Isle of Skye, restoring it after ten years of abandonment during and after World
War I.

Macalister - The fisherman who accompanies the Ramsays to the lighthouse.

Macalister relates stories of shipwreck and maritime adventure to Mr. Ramsay
and compliments James on his handling of the boat while James lands it at the
lighthouse.

Macalisters boy - The fishermans boy. He rows James, Cam, and Mr.
Ramsay to the lighthouse.