Mrs. Ramsay Through My and Charles Tansley's Eyes

With a husband, eight children, and various house guests, Mrs. Ramsay has eyes on her at all times. Somehow, she manages to please them all. She has even managed to capture the hearts of most of her male guests, even at her much older age. And despite being an older woman, Mrs. Ramsay is full of youth, she timeless, and as she grows older, she has become more and more beautiful. Her beauty becoming more prominent as she ages. Mrs. Ramsay has a certain innocence to her. She may be married with eight children, yet an air of innocence remains within her. She has a shapely face, adding to her innocence, with brown hair that has grayed over time and eyes as bright as the blue sky. Her face is aged, with laugh lines and wrinkles from living a happy life with her husband and children. Speaking of laugh lines, Mrs. Ramsay has a smile that could light up a room. She is prim and proper when faced with the eyes of society, but when comfortable and around the people she cares for most, she opens up and is immensely kind. Mrs. Ramsay has taken care of herself over the years, meaning that while age may drastically affect the body, she has maintained her figure. She is well dressed in a manner that indicates she is not quite from the upper class, but not much below it. With veils and flowers in her hair and a proper dress that flows and nearly touches the ground. She is fashionable and knows what suits her and what doesn’t. She is the type of person who invests deeply in maintaining her assigned gender role. Because of this she has strong opinions on relationships, gender roles, and maintaining her family. Overall, Mrs. Ramsay is a beautiful older woman, who is thoughtful, capable, and kind.

            Mrs. Ramsay is a much older woman, yet Mr. Charles Tansley is immersed in her beauty, and deems her “…the most beautiful person he had ever seen.” It all begins with Mrs. Ramsay asking Mr. Tansley if he’d like to join her on her errand. He obliges and so begins his journey with her. Mr. Tansley is walking with her and can’t escape the thought that not only does he want to tell Mrs. Ramsay all about himself, he also desperately wants to hold her purse. It is as Mrs. Ramsay leaves for a moment to speak for a moment to a woman at a parlour that Mr. Tansley realizes why he is feeling such things. He goes on to describe Mrs. Ramsay, stating “With stars in her eyes and veils in her hair, with cyclamen and wild violets – what nonsense was he thinking” (pg. 14). When imagining what Mrs. Ramsay would look like, I went over this passage over and over again. The stars in her eyes gave way to blue eyes that gleamed and sparkled like the night sky. This gives her an innocence that could be achieved despite her age. The veils and flowers in her hair depict Mrs. Ramsay as strictly following her assigned gender role as a woman. She remains flirty and joyful, girly yet mature. Mr. Tansley, as he refers to his liking of Mrs. Ramsay, states that it is nonsense, as “She was fifty at least; she had eight children…” (pg. 14). To continue off of Mrs. Ramsay’s innocence, I pictured her with brown hair that has grayed with time and age. With age would come wrinkles and blemishes of the skin. She has raised several children and so it would show in her appearance due to her age. With her bright eyes and overall youthful appearance, she is described as “Stepping through fields of flowers and taking to her breast buds that had broken and lambs that had fallen…” (pg. 14). The mentioning of lambs, of this youthful animal, also adds to the idea that Mrs. Ramsay remains youthful and innocent despite her age. Mr. Tansley ends his description of Mrs. Ramsay by stating, “With the stars in her eyes and the wind in her hair – He took her bag.” Throughout his description of Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Tansley refers to the “stars in her eyes,” repeatedly, implying not only how highly he sees her, but ultimately comparing the beauty in her eyes as out of this world, something many would wish to see. The chapter ends with Mr. Tansley taking Mrs. Ramsay’s bag to carry and being immensely proud of being able to carry the bag of such a beautiful woman.