Analyze the character of Adela Quested from “A Passage to India”

The novel tells the story of a young English lady, called Adela quested, who has come to
chandrapore to visit her future husband, the city magistrate. Straightway at the beginning
of the novel the name “quested ‘suggests many things .Such as the word ‘questionnaire’.
Adela will ask herself lots of questions during her stay in India.

 Adela desires to see the ‘Real India’. However ,Fielding calls her ‘one of the more
pathetic products of western education’
 She wants to learn about India as thought as it were a class at school. Soon, her
rationalism will no longer appear effective.

The bridge party and fielding’s tea party: two main events Adela has doubts about her
marriage with Ronny:

-she fears that she will never get to know the spirit of India if she gets married with
Ronny: we hear nothing interesting up at the club.

 The car accident in chapter V|||, This event “shakes “Adela’s mind: After this little
shock, Ronny touches her hand =physical attraction? Adela says she would like to
marry Ronny after all.

In only one chapter, Adela changes her mind twice about marriage with Ronny .we can
say that she is not reliable.

 In the Mara bar caves :

-she realizes that she and Ronny are not in love

-before entering the caves ,Adela thinks about the relationship with Ronny “wondering
about marriage “.But soon realizes that there is no love and no physical attraction
between them.

 The caves change her: the cave and what follows opens her eyes on what she
really is and what she really want.
 Adela’s character changes dramatically in a few days after the alleged assault.
 She is manipulated by the Anglo-Indians.
 She admits that, she made a mistake, Aziz never touches her-In addition of being
hated by the Indians, and the British now see her as a traitor.
The story turn into different ways according to how Adela acts .she is in the Centre of
several conflicts.

What are some of the symbols used in To “The Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf?

Symbol of the novel “To the Lighthouse”:

 The lighthouse.
 Lily’s painting
 The sea.
 Ramsay’s summer house.
 The Boar’s skull.
 Fisherman and his wife.

The lighthouse:
 It symbolizes light and darkness.
 Spiritual hermit for travel of the sea.
 Symbol of the spiritual strength and emotional guidance.

Lily’s painting:
 Woman’s struggle in patriarchal society.
 “Woman can’t paint and write “this sentence is against gender convention.
 Lily expresses the desire of Mr.’s Ramsay through her painting.
 Painting: vision of Lily Briscoe.

Ramsay’s summer house:

 It symbolizes collective consciousness of the chapter.
 House: physical condition.
 Character: psychological condition.
 Mr.’s Ramsay’s dinner party presents her own inner notion of untidiness and
inability to preserve beauty.
 “Time passes” section presents war and destruction and time reflected in the
condition of the house rather than the emotional development.

The Boar’s Skull:

 The presence of the skull acts as a disturbing reminder that death is always at
hand, even(or perhaps especially)during life’s most blissful moments. Its reminds
of grave digging.
 Symbolizes transient nature of art and life.
Fisherman and his wife:
 The casual cruelly shown towards the fish can easily be interpreted as a
comment upon male violence- thoughtless male violence engendered by lack
of empathy .where the fisherman in the tale took pity on flounder and
released it ,the boy cuts a square out of mackerel’s side and throw the still
living ,mutilated body back into the sea.
 The fairy tale is subverted and instead of the dangers of female willfulness and
desire we are faced with the dangers and horrors of male willfulness and
desire.

The sea:
 It represents forward movement of life.
 Violence and destruction.
 The sea is powerful reminder of the impermanence and delicacy of human life
and accomplishment.