To the Lighthouse and Beyond...but not too far...

So far this book seems pretty interesting. I think the relationship between the males and females in this book is very interesting for many reasons. I think it is interesting to note that while Mrs. Ramsey seems very passive and very much stuck in the structure of the pre-modern woman, she also seems very modern in some senses. When I think of modern women of Woolf’s time, I think of women who speak their minds and exist outside of their marriages. Mrs. Ramsey seems to have achieved this. She exists as representation of beauty, not because her husband constantly says so, but because the other men around her are infatuated with her. Also, you can see, in part one, the way she seems to control her husband and his mind. While it is true that he needs her praise in order exist, she still has the power. She does not need him in the same way that he needs her.  
 I also see the way the oedipal complex is created in this novel. At first, I did not think of the hate between James and his father, but was instead more aware of the love between James and his mother. Their love to me did not appear to be coming from a ‘sexual’ place, unconscious or conscious but it seemed to be a commonality between the two. It seems as if James wants to be his mother, not like he wants to be like her. He seems drawn to her commitments and to the ideals that she gives him.
 In his eyes, it seems like his mother represents a sense of hope for him. She seems to represent a sense of acceptance for him while his father deals a reality that he does not seem completely welcoming of. The truth that his father is so drawn to may be because of some reason that we won’t learn until later in the novel. I wonder, rhetorically, if they will become closer.