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In the sea of intellectual men staying with the Ramsay family, Paul Rayley is portrayed as being intellectually dull, although handsome and kind. In Part I, Mrs. Ramsay waits with bated breath to see if Minta will accept Paul’s proposal, projecting her own marriage—and the necessity of marriage—onto Paul and Minta. Paul falls into this role quite easily because of his simplicity and passivity. He never vies for intellectual or artistic recognition, and he doesn’t posture in the same way Charles Tansley or Mr. Ramsay do. As Mrs. Ramsay observes during the dinner party, when Paul talks about Tolstoy, he is actually talking about Tolstoy, not bragging about his own intellect. Thus, Mrs. Ramsay can easily push Paul toward proposing to Minta. Indeed, Paul only gains the confidence to propose through Mrs. Ramsay’s encouragement. Mrs. Ramsay sees value in Paul’s kindness and handsomeness, and therefore encourages him to act as if he has the right to Minta’s hand. After Minta accepts Paul’s proposal, he grows more confident, stepping into the role Mrs. Ramsay has encouraged him into. When Minta loses her broach, Paul immediately becomes a hero and comforter in a way that the stream-of-consciousness narration notes as artificial. Unsurprisingly, Paul and Minta’s marriage is ultimately unhappy because it is built on Paul’s false confidence and Minta’s toning down of herself.
