The elegy to light by Virginia Woolf
Considered one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century for the experimental language adopted at a mature age by Virginia Adelina Woolf ( 1882 - 1941 ), the novel To the Lighthouse is a real hymn to the light as a fertilizer of life . A light , the one of the Godrevy Lighthouse in St . Ives Bay , Cornwall , “ coming regularly across the waves first two quick strokes and then one long steady stroke ,” which illuminates the memory of the place where Virginia Woolf spent her childhood with her parents , placing the lighthouse , and its light , at the centre of the novel and the memories of the long summers , “ as daylight faded .” The characters of the tale are a mother ( Mrs . Ramsay ), attracted to the Lighthouse , a father ( Mr . Ramsay ), repelled by the Lighthouse , and a woman artist ( the virgin Lily ), who , thanks to the light of the Lighthouse , will reveal , in an autobiographical form , the meaning of the shadow , of the lack of light , and of what was missing in her life . Right from the beginning of the novel , the reader is attracted by the question of whether or not to reach the Lighthouse . “ Yes , of course , if it ’ s fine tomorrow :” this is the first sentence of the book . However , it is not the theme of the story . The real theme is the Lighthouse as a light that ignites the interest and imagination of the main character , the author ’ s mother , because she is
the light herself . And if “ the light is her essence – Nadia Fusini , the Italian translator of the book , notes –, she in turn thinks that light is the essence of life .” Immersed in silence , Virginia Woolf shows a decidedly feminine sensibility , and her writing , extinguishing personality , goes beyond reality by relying on conversation , on something beyond language : “ I insubstantise , wilfully to some extent – Virginia Woolf claimed –, distrusting reality .” So would life be just going back in memory , going back to the Lighthouse , to her mother and father who are no longer there ? To miss , or to die , is not hiding ; life and death , outlined by the light and shadow of the Lighthouse , are the very structure of existence , over which the light of the Lighthouse watches in a protective manner . It is the gap between one light and another that Virginia Woolf praises in the novel , it is the song of nostalgia in the shadow of memory . This is the art that Lily ( and the author ) wants to express , sacrificing the memory , giving it the emotion of truth , and a bright vision . Life is worth more than memory . Virginia Woolf stated it after finishing the book , writing in her diary , on November 28th , 1928 : “ Fathers birthday . He would have been 96 , 96 , yes , today […]; but mercifully was not . His life would have entirely ended mine ”.
15 – For “ Epiphanies of light ”, to date , the following short stories by Empio Malara have been published in LUCE : “ Alessandro Manzoni , a creator of light ” ( n . 317 , September 2016 ); “ Herman Melville . Light that invites us on a journey ” ( n . 321 , September 2017 ); “ Light and dark in the portrait of James Joyce as a young man ” ( n . 322 , December 2017 ); “ Flashes and lights in Hemingway ’ s A Farewell to Arms ” ( n . 323 , March 2018 ); “ The artificial sun in the novel The magic mountain by Thomas Mann ” ( n . 324 , June 2018 ); “ The irreverent and irrational light in some texts by Carlo Emilio Gadda ” ( n . 325 , September 2018 ). “ Philip Roth ’ s revealing lights in American Pastoral ” ( n . 326 , December 2018 ); “ Marcel Proust ’ s lighted windows in the novel Swann ’ s Way ” ( n . 327 , March 2019 ); " In the Light of Leonardo da Vinci " ( n . 328 , June 2019 ); " Fyodor Dostoevsky ' s dark underground as illuminated by Alberto Moravia " ( n . 329 , September 2019 ) ; " Natalia Ginzburg ' s Voices – and lights – in the Evening " ( n . 330 , December 2019 ) ; " The wilderness of light in Emily Dickinson " ( n . 331 , March 2020 ) ; “ The last shadow by Jorge Luis Borges ” ( n . 332 , June 2020 ); “ The Roman “ borgate ”, a world under the light of Pier Paolo Pasolini ” ( n . 333 , September 2020 ); " The elegy to light by Virginia Woolf " ( n . 334 , December 2020 ).
With the homage to Virginia Woolf , this long and intense tale by Empio Malara on light in the great European and world literature comes to an end . Almost surprising for the historical pages of this magazine founded by AIDI in 1962 , it has been a very innovative journey , born from a long meeting and conversation with the author – an architect and urban planner , as well as a dear friend –, back in 2016 . Year after year , Empio Malara has investigated for LUCE the greatest narrative , with a more literary than scientific approach , to tell our readers about the descriptive and poetic origins of light , a protagonist among other immense protagonists in major literature and poetry . Copertina illustrata da Vanessa Bell per la prima edizione di To the Lighthouse , Hogarth Press , 5 maggio 1927 / The cover of the first edition of To the Lighthouse ( Hogarth Press , May 5th 1927 ), as illustrated by Vanessa Bell
EPIPHANIES OF LIGHT / LUCE 334 19