Title Signifigance

    The title, Pride and Prejudice, is a representation of the two characters, Darcy and Elizabeth. The two emotions, pride and prejudice, are commonly felt but rarely made evident on purpose by those who feel them. With no personable narrator and the the two feelings put up front by the title, the reader is forced to identify the feelings in the characters; mainly that Elizabeth is prejudice and Darcy is prideful. Elizabeth is prejudice towards Darcy, especially in her first impressions. Darcy is prideful, not in the negative light Elizabeth interprets. The personality traits are the security fronts the characters use during the times when they are forced to put them selves out in society, especially when searching for potential suitors.

The Lighthouse and legacy

     It is evident from the very beginning of the novel that Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay are representations of life purposes and that Lily finds herself caught in between them. Mrs. Ramsay's purpose in life is to be charismatic, nurture relationships with others, and find happiness in the present. Mr. Ramsay obsesses over intillectual hierarchies and strives to be admired and admired for his work, a legacy he may not live to see: "How long would he be read - he would think" (161). Lily stuggles to decide which legacy she wants to Perdue because she wants to be admired for both her intellect and her self as a person. However, ten years pass and Lily is still unsure of her purpose. As everyone prepares to go to the lighthouse, a symbol which can be interpreted as guidance and purpose, Lily is stil questioning: "What does one send to the lighthouse? ... What does one do? Why is one sitting here after all?" (218). In the end, Lily decides that art and expression are the thoughts that pervade her mind the most and after ten years lily finally finishes her painting.

Mrs. Ramsay's enduring influence

      Mrs. Ramsay's influence was the thread that held together the relationships in the beginning of "To the Ligthouse" and even though she has passed away suddenly, her significance is still apparent:  “Mr. Ramsay stumbling along a passage stretched his arms out one dark morning, but, Mrs. Ramsay having died rather suddenly the night before, he stretched his arms out, they remained empty” (141).  This is especially the case in terms of Mrs. Ramsay's relationship with Lily. She has a constant presence in Lily’s consciousness although her impression of her has changed. Initially, Lily was both in awe and discouraged by Mrs. Ramsay; impressed by her charisma but still apprehensive at the reminder of social expectations for women. However as the years pass, Lily has grown to respect the ways in which Mrs. Ramsay effected her, and Lily is finally able to complete painting  after  ten years. Mrs. Ramsay's death is sudden and goes unexplained throughout the novel, meant to be a statement of the spectrum of time and how in the span of the universe, a single death is insignificant. However Mrs. Ramsay's life is captured in Lily's painting  and is a single source of stability in the characters' ever changing lives: “nothing stays, all changes; but not words, not paint.”