1. Michelle, Brandi, Annette
Lily Briscoe
Michelle, Brandi, Annette

2. Who is Lily Briscoe? Occupation: painter Friend of the Ramsays
“Inn”mates with Mr. Bankes
Little “Chinese Eyes” and puckered-up face
Opposite of Mrs. Ramsay
independent
creative
non-marrying
Represents idea of “A Room of One’s Own”

3. How Old is Lily Briscoe? Physically smaller than Minta More mature
“With Lily it was different. She faded, under Minta’s glow; became more inconspicuous than ever, in her little grey dress with her little puckered face and her little Chinese eyes. Everything about her was so small. Yet, thought Mrs. Ramsay, comparing her with Minta, as she claimed her help (for Lily should bear her out, she talked no more about her dairies than her husband did about his boots--he would talk by the hours about his boots) of the two, Lily at forty will be the better” pg 104 XVII
Physically smaller than Minta
More mature

4. Relation to Mr. Tansley
“She could have wept. It was bad, it was bad, it was infinitely bad!...And it was never be seen; never be hung even, and there was Mr. Tansley whispering in her ear, “Women can’t paint, women can’t write…” pg 48 IX
Strained relationship
Mr. Tansley represents male superiority of the time

5. Relation to Mr. Tansley
“Oh, Mr. Tansley,” she said, “do take me to the Lighthouse with you. I should so love it.” She was telling lies he could see. She was saying what she did not mean to annoy him, for some reason. She was laughing at him.” pg 86 XVII
Sarcastic manner
Abhorrence for Mr. Tansley
Lily does not succumb to Mr. Tansley’s insults
Mr. Tansley not superior

6. Relation to Mrs. Ramsay
Mrs. Ramsay pities Lily Briscoe, but likes her also, saying “an unmarried woman has missed the best of life” pg 49 IX
Foils
Traditional victorian house wife vs new, independent, modern woman

7. Relationship to Mr. Ramsay
“For who could be deceived by him? He asked you quite openly to flatter him, to admire him, his little dodges deceived nobody. What she disliked was his narrowness, his blindness, she said, looking after him. A bit of a hypocrite?...Oh, no--the most sincere of men, the truest (here he was), the best; but, looking down, she thought, he is absorbed in himself, he is tyrannical, he is unjust; and kept looking down, purposely, for only so could she keep steady, staying with the Ramsays.” pg 46 IX
Looks upon Mr. Ramsay with contempt

8. Profession/likes/dislikes
“Indeed, he almost knocked her easel over, coming down upon her with his hands waving shouting out… never was anybody at once so ridiculous and so alarming… But so long as he kept like that, waving, shouting, she was safe; he would not stand still and look at her picture.” pg 17 IV
Artist
Insecurity of judgement

9. Motivations Longing for deeper connections with the other characters
“How then, she had asked herself, did one know one thing or another thing about people, sealed as they were? Onlike a bee, drawn by some sweetness or sharpness in the air intangible to touch or taste, one haunted the dome-shaped hive, ranged the wastes of the air over the countries of the world alone, and then haunted the hives with their murmurs and their stirrings; the hives, which were people” pg 51 IX
Longing for deeper connections with the other characters
Mrs. Ramsay

10. Motivations LOVES her work
“He has his work, Lily said to herself. She remembered, all of a sudden as if she had found treasure, that she had her work.” pg 84 XVII
LOVES her work

11. What Lily Thinks of Mr. Ramsay
On Mr. Ramsay: “[She] wondered why such concealments should be necessary; why he needed always praise; why so brave a man in thought should be so timid in life; how strangely he was venerable and laughable at one and the same time” pg 45 VIII
Mr. Ramsay = deeply self- conscious man

12. What Lily Thinks of Mr. Bankes
“Then when she turned to William Bankes, smiling, it was as if the ship had turned and the sun had struck its sails again, and Lily thought with some amusement because she was relieved, Why does she pity him? For that was the impression she gave, when she told him that his letters were in the hall. Poor William Bankes, she seemed to be saying, as if her own weariness had been partly pitying people, and the life in her, her resolve to live again, had been stirred by pity. And it was not true, Lily thought; it was one of those misjudgements of hers that seemed to be instinctive and to arise from some need of her own rather than of other people's. He is not in the least pitiable. He has his work, Lily said to herself.” pg 84 XVII
Unlike Mrs. Ramsay, acknowledges his contentment similar to her own
Does not pity him

13. What Lily Thinks of Mr. Tansley
“He was really, Lily Briscoe thought...the most uncharming human being she had ever met. Then why did she mind what he said? Women can’t write, women can’t paint--what did that matter coming from him, since clearly it was not true to him but for some reason helpful to him, and that was why he said it?” pg 86 XVII
Contempt
Mr. Tansley adheres to victorian beliefs

14. What Lily Thinks of Mrs. Ramsay
“...confront Mrs. Ramsay’s’ simple certainty...that her dear Lily, her little Brisk, was a fool. Then she remembered… [and] laughed almost hysterically at the thought of Mrs. Ramsay presiding with immutable calm over destinies which she completely failed to understand. There she sat, simple, serious.”
Does not take her advice seriously
Values her own contentment and independence

15. What Lily Thinks of Mrs. Ramsay
“And yet, she knew knowledge and wisdom were stored up in Mrs. Ramsay’s heart” pg 51 IX
Admiration

16. Images/Symbols
“With her little Chinese eyes and her puckered-up face, she would never marry; one could not take her painting very seriously; she was an independent little creature, and Mrs. Ramsay liked her for it…” pg 19 One=Mrs. Ramsay (it is her thoughts) VIII
Unique physical description = unique occupation and deviation from the norm