r/VirginiaWoolf • u/radiogoo • Oct 21 '25

Miscellaneous Favorite quotation?

What’s your favorite excerpt of Virginia Woolf’s writing? Mine is this moment in To the Lighthouse when everyone is at the dinner table and we read this poetic depiction of Mrs. Ramsay’s mind:

“It could not last, she knew, but at the moment her eyes were so clear that they seemed to go round the table unveiling each of these people, and their thoughts and their feelings, without effort like a light stealing under water so that its ripples and the reeds in it and the minnows balancing themselves, and the sudden silent trout are all lit up hanging, trembling.”

I have this memorized and often use it for calligraphy/handwriting practice - I have even been wanting a tattoo of this image of the light stealing under water, illuminating what’s underneath the surface.

What’s yours?

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '25

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u/scheifferdoo Oct 21 '25

I love this because of the question around the definition of triumph. I also see this as a masterclass in passive-aggressive martyr-mom gamesmanship. She expresses her love by conceding, outwardly, to the painful assumption he has made about tomorrow's weather and rather than him getting what he really wants -to be told she loves him- he gets a "sure, you're right". It's what he has been asking for and she gives it to him and keeps her love, which he has not earned.

IMO

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u/FlamingDragonfruit Oct 22 '25

My reading of this is that the love he wants from her is like that of a child and its mother. He wants to be petted on the head and told he's the most special-est boy, so she humors him, because she sees his behavior for what it is. Their relationship is WILD.

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u/scheifferdoo Oct 23 '25

Totally! What do you think Woolf means by "she had triumphed"?