Question

to the lighthouse is a 1927 novel by virginia woolf. the narrative follows the ramsay family and their guests at a summer home on the isle of skye, including the painter lily briscoe, who struggles throughout the novel to complete her painting. in the novel, woolf presents lily as an artist who must actively defend her personal vision against adversity.
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which quotation from to the lighthouse most effectively illustrates the claim?
a “such she often felt herself—struggling against terrific odds to maintain her courage; to say: but this is what i see; this is what i see, and so to clasp some miserable remnant of her vision to her breast, which a thousand forces did their best to pluck from her.”
b “it was in that moments flight between the picture and her canvas that the demons set on her who often brought her to the verge of tears and made this passage from conception to work as dreadful as any down a dark passage for a child.”
c “she could have wept. it was bad, it was bad, it was infinitely bad! she could have done it differently of course; the colour could have been thinned and faded; the shapes etherealised; that was how paunceforte would have seen it.”
d “with a sudden intensity, as if she saw it clear for a second, she drew a line there, in the centre. it was done; it was finished. yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, i have had my vision.”

Explanation:

To determine the correct quotation, we analyze how well each option illustrates Lily as an artist defending her personal vision against adversity.

• Option A: The quote describes Lily “struggling against terrific odds” to “clasp some miserable remnant of her vision to her breast” while “a thousand forces did their best to pluck from her.” This directly shows her actively defending her vision against adversity.
• Option B: Focuses on the difficulty of translating her vision to the canvas (the “demons” making the process dreadful) but not as explicitly on defending her personal vision.
• Option C: Discusses her dissatisfaction with her work and how others (Paunceforte) might have seen it, emphasizing self - doubt and external perspective rather than defending her vision.
• Option D: Highlights the moment she completes her vision, not the struggle to defend it.

So, Option A best illustrates the claim.

Answer:

A. "Such she often felt herself—struggling against terrific odds to maintain her courage; to say: 'But this is what I see; this is what I see,' and so to clasp some miserable remnant of her vision to her breast, which a thousand forces did their best to pluck from her."