China and the West

Yang, Yuehua. Cong dui li zou xiang dui hua [ID D31606].
Yang offers an interpretation of the different gender principles and the metaphorical significance of androgyny through analysis of the three major characters, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe. Yang states that 'Woolf's female principle and male principle refer to the pecular characteristics each of human sexes possesses. Yang claims that Mrs. Ramsay's female principle is the female virtue and temperament. It can influence not only women but also men and, to some extent, excels the male principle approved by social convention. Mr. Ramsay is the representative of the male principle, who, as an obstinate, rigid and self-centered authority, is indifferent to the sufferings of his wife and children, and only concerned with his pursuit of absolute philosophical truth in terms of reason and logic. Yang believes that 'The third part of the novel indicates that with the passage of time and the test of the disaster the confrontation changed to dialogue and integration. Moreover, this dialogue and integration were established on the basis of restoration of the female principle. He concludes that 'The transition of the androgynous painter Lily Briscoe from a letter character to a major one reveals profoundly the progress of the masculine and feminine powers in an individual from imbalance to balance and integration as well, bringing her creative talent into full play'.