Study Questions
1. What do Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay talk about during their evening stroll?

2. What worry preoccupies Mrs. Ramsay?

3. How do Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay feel about Prue? about Andrew? about Jasper?

4. What does Mr. Ramsay regret?

5. How does Mr. Ramsay feel about his family?

6. What are Mrs. Ramsay’s feelings about her husband at this point?

7. What does Mrs. Ramsay hope about Lily and Bankes?

8. What scene captures Lily’s attention?

9. What is this scene symbolical of for her?

10. What does Lily realize about Mrs. Ramsay’s thoughts about her and William Bankes?

Answers
1. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay talk about the garden, the children, and their houseguests.

2. Mrs. Ramsay is preoccupied with the 50 pound bill for the greenhouse. She is also concerned about all aspects of the upkeep of the garden.

3. Mrs. Ramsay worries about Jasper shooting birds. Mr. Ramsay believes it is just a stage. Mrs. Ramsay believes Prue is a great beauty; Mr. Ramsay hasn’t noticed it. Mr. Ramsay worries about Andrew’s efforts to obtain a scholarship; Mrs. Ramsay doesn’t value this one way or the other.

4. Mr. Ramsay laments the loss of his solitude, his ability to think his own thoughts without interruption.

5. Mr. Ramsay feels a deep devotion to his family and chastises himself for sometimes wishing they weren’t there (so he could work, uninterrupted).

6. She admires his youthfulness. She marvels at his unusual mind, yet knows that he’s totally unaware of the world around him. She’s concerned about his talking to himself.

7. Mrs. Ramsay has a sudden insight that Lily and Bankes will marry.

8. Lily is struck by the scene of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay watching their children playing catch.

9. Lily sees this scene as somehow representing what marriage is about: a man and a woman watching their children.

10. Lily suddenly realizes that Mrs. Ramsay will be thinking that she and Bankes should marry.