Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse

To the Lighthouse (1927) is Virginia Woolf’s most autobiographical fiction, in which she recreates her childhood summers spent at Talland House in St Ives, Cornwall, though it is thinly disguised in the novel as the Isle of Skye. It raises questions of family relationships, the creation and significance of art, intellectual endeavour, modernist reflections of interior consciousness and the passage of time.

In this course we will address how Woolf’s own life is reflected in the novel; what characterises To the Lighthouse as a modernist novel; how she evokes the passage of time, and what her perspectives are on the role of the artist. 

The only required reading is To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. The recommended edition is the Oxford World’s Classics edition (Oxford University Press, 2006) with an Introduction by David Bradshaw.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this course students will:

1. Have a sound familiarity with the text
2. Have appropriate knowledge of V. Woolf’s biographical background to the novel
3. Be able to identify, explore and discuss key issues raised in the text

Session titles:

1. Introduction, biographical background and first impressions of the novel
2. Virginia Woolf and Modernism
3. Artistic and Intellectual Endeavour in the novel 
4. The Passage of Time  
5. The ending of the novel; conclusions

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.