Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute

Our five weeks will see us immersed in reading and discussing Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece, “To The Lighthouse” (1927). We will look closely at this novel’s meandering flow as it unfolds an intricate story woven around a day in 1910, another in 1920 (and a gap of ten years) in the life of a group of people, family and their guests, assembled in a summer house on the isle of Skye in Scotland.

The modernist, non-chronological flow of Woolf’s “Stream of Consciousness” writing requires close, slow, attentive reading. Each week we’ll read several “chapters,” looking deeply into the sensibilities, yearnings, and interrelations of the characters Woolf gathered in this story. Equally important will be our attention to the way she writes about them. That is, her very style of writing will be an important concern, as will also be the ways she weaves fragments in the life of these people into a coherent whole. 

The minutiae of daily life, the settings, conversations, and dreams are all part of the whole. Anchored in Woolf’s personal life and times, we will consider the place of women and patriarchy in this late Victorian era, the position of men and women within the family and the world, the struggle of an artist to bring out her vision, and much more. The lighthouse is always nearby, with all the symbolism you may wish to ascribe to it. Barely heard is the distant thunder of World War I.

Reading Woolf is both demanding and inspiring, and of course the instructor will be there to help (as a seasoned reader, not a Woolf specialist). After the first meeting, where we'll focus on just a few pages, we'll go on to read about sixty pages a week. There will be no additional assignments though essays by Woolf may be mentioned. Keeping a reading journal (to be explained) is recommended, not required. Sharing your thoughts and questions is what will make the course work—all thoughts are welcome, all contribute to the rest of us.

There are many editions of “To The Lighthouse.” Feel free to choose yours.

For the first class the instructor will assign a short passage from the start of the novel as a kind of “biopsy” to help us approach the rest. Reading it closely, more than once, would be a great help. Come ready to share observations, note what strikes you, what you wish to know more about, and whatever else you feel may need our attention.