In the course of book 13 Odysseus returns to Ithaca. He is in serious danger of suffering Agamemnon’s fate (being murdered on arrival). Odysseus tests Telemachus’s filial commitment and then reveals himself. Reunited father and son plan an approach of the besieged house.
The time is 1AM; the scene is the cabman’s shelter under Loop Line Bridge. This is the first time that we really see Stephen and Bloom together. They may have bumped into each other on the stairs at the press office, and at the end o Circe they actually talk and Bloom offers to safeguard his money. But it is here in Eumaeus that they go off together. This episode is nice because there are no real person to person match ups other than Stephen and Bloom, and perhaps The cab man’s shelter is meant to be Eumaeus’s hut, and Skin The Goat is meant to be Eumaeus, but there are no far fetched stretched like we have seen in other chapters. Blamires describes the chapter as having a “flabby, weary, rambling style, aptly suggestive of the vague, the sleepy, inert mood of the early hours.
In the first few pages of this chapter Joyce sets up a role reversal- Bloom is Sober and has presence of mind, whereas Stephen’s mind is wandering. However Stephen is still more focused on the high- brow and the mind when they discuss music (and Ibsen), and Bloom on the corporeal (body) and middlebrow (he is also distracted by the smell from Rourke’s Bakery).
When The Italians are haggling over money, and Bloom remarks on the beautiful Italian language Stephen point out that they were in fact haggling over money and that “Sounds are impostures, names meaningless” This only adds to the overall theme of language, in an earlier chapter Stephen remarks at the uselessness of language, but the name is a particular- tied to identity, fitting at the near close of a quest. The fact that this is the second to last chapter in Ulysses carries a certain weight- it is inevitable that certain things will have to happen, for instance Bloom and Stephen will have to spend more time together. And over the course of the chapter Bloom becomes more and more fatherly to Stephen, giving him advice and at the close of this episode paying for his drink with what is said to be “The last of the Mohicans.” This comment is in parenthesis, which in and of itself is a very interesting topic in this particular chapter
It seems as though throughout the episode Molly’s presence is echoed and emphasized either through themes r references: Stephen sings, Bloom shows Stephen her picture, Boylan is mentioned, Molly is mentioned specifically, Bloom ponders the voglio again, etc… She seems to waft throughout as they get closer to her house. And in terms of naming she is Molly or Marion Tweedy NOT Mrs. Bloom or Molly Bloom.
General Themes
• The wander (sailor)
• The homecoming
• The father
• Father’s and sons: Odysseus + Telemachus, Bloom + Stephen, and Murphy + Danny
• Wives/Mother waiting at home: Penelope, Molly, the sailor’s wife
• Stephen and Bloom share a common thought when the Phoenix Park murders are mentioned- thy both think that it is rash in the present company.
• Bloom is feminized once again when he admits to washing Molly’s undergarments, which like serving breakfast is seen as a more female role.
• Stephen says that the trading of bodies is less evil in his eyes than trading in souls- as the church does.
• The idea of a talisman- a way to ward of evil returns with the sailor, who says that he has a special security due to s pious metal he wears, much like Bloom’s potato
• Skin –The-Goat brings back the theme of the usurper, when he discusses the English treatment of the Irish. This renews the comparison of Bolyan to the English
• Stephen brings back the correlation between Christ and Bloom. Bloom the 20th century messiah. Sums up the religion of the tolerant, liberal, pacific, 20th century man. Violance achieves nothing- if this is his philosophy it might account for the reason he hasn’t done anything about Molly and Boylan
• Blamires thinks that when Bloom states that ‘Both belong to Ireland the brain and the brawn’ that indeed it is a trinity: Brain, brawn, and BREAD. There are a number of references to bread in many different contexts.
• Eyes come up a lot in this chapter,
• Bloom thinks of clothing and advertising and then focuses on young men without advantageous family backgrounds, which perhaps stirs pf ro him the image of Rudy in Eton kit.
• Crude humour at the expense of Kitty O’Shea and her ineffective husband echo Bloom and his ineffectualness.
• This is the first time that the trinity in question involves Bloom (the father), Stephen (The son), and Molly (A mother figure)
• Stephen’s resemblance to his mother, and perhaps his father’s vocal talents, this is a less flattering view of Bloom who is thinking of how he can capitalize on Stephen’s various talents.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
15.Circe
In this episode of the Odyssey Odysseus and his men land on Circe’s island, Odysseus divides his crew into 2 groups one under his leadership, the other under Eurylochus, who tries to warn Odysseus. Hermes gives him an herb moly, to protect him against Circes magic and tells Odysseus that he must make Circe swear to release his men and to perform “no witches tricks,” lest he too be UNMANNED by her. She keeps her oath and entertains them for a year.
We find ourselves in nighttown (slang among Dublin journalists for the late shift on a newspaper- which sets the play for the literary elements). It is no coincidence that a chapter like this starts with Stephen discussing language:
STEPHEN: (Looks behind.) So that gesture, not music, not odours, would be a universal language, the gift of tongues rendering visible not the lay sense but the first entelechy, the structural rhythm.
LYNCH: Pornosophical philotheology. Metaphysics in Mecklenburg Street!
This seems to be the most prospective and foreshadowed chapter in the whole book. On the 3rd page Stephen foreshadows Bloom’s horrific ordeal, as well as the goings on of a brothel: “We have shrewridden Shakespeare and henpecked Socrates. Even the allwisest stagyrite was bitted, bridled and mounted by a light of love.” (432) There are also thematic ties and reappearances, such as the bread, that Stephen didn’t partake of, but which he mentions and Bloom carries in his pocket with the chocolate.
The time is 12 midnight and Bloom follows Stephen to the brothel, Mrs. Cohen’s establishment at 82 Tyrone Street.
The art: Magic,
Symbol: Whore,
Technique: Hallucination.
Blamires takes issue with this chapter as he did with the Oxen of the Sun chapter- “It is doubtful whether much is done in this episode, in the way of materializing imagery and concretizing mental sequences…” (159) It does seem to be an odd stretch in many different directions. First of all it is in play form. This is not incongruous in and of itself, yet it could be a book of its own, at a whopping 280 pages. It descends into fantasy and hallucination focusing on gender and the animalistic aspects of the Circe episode and the characters in this part of Ulysses. This reads less like a rehearsed play and more like a raucous rehearsal. Bloom seems to temporarily sink into delusions and then re-surface to reality. The scenes that take place in Bloom’s hallucinations are very fetishized and masochistic.
On 481 the millionaire is defined as "Richly", the noblewoman is defined as "nobly", and finally the feminist is described as "Masculinely". An odd juxtaposition.
One of the more farfetched moments in this chapter is when Bloom recalls meeting Stephen in Oxen of the Sun, at the Hospital, as “Kismet”
THEMES:
THE (PARETHETICALS):
These parenthetical serve as stage directions and let the reader into their facial expressions.
SACRAMENT (BREAD):
(433) A page full of references to bread…
TWINS/DOUBLING/DUALITY OF IDENTITY/CLOAKING:
(433)
(455) Bloom + Henry Flowers
(456) Martha + Peggy Griffin
Merging of titles: “Zoe-Fanny/ Florry-Teresa/” (509)
(488)Cloaking- clothing- uniforms-
(493) “Bisexuality abnormal.” Dr. Mulligan asserts that Bloom is not healthy
(553) “As if you didn’t get it on the double yourselves. No jerks and multiple mucosities all over you.”
THE # 3:
(435) “Third time is the charm.”
(460) 3 female accusers
3 whores
ALLURE OF WOMEN:
MATRONS:
Mrs. Breen 443 “now don’t tell a fib! I know somebody won’t like that. O just wait till I see Molly! (Slily) account for yourself this very minute or woe betide you!”
Bella
EXOTICIZING/DOMINATION OVER/OF WOMEN:
(439) “A coin gleams on her forehead. On her feet are jewelled toerings. Her ankles are linked by a slender fetterchain. Beside her a camel, hooded with a turreting turban, awaits.
(467) Mrs. Bellingham is in “Amazon costume.”
SIGHT/EYES:
563- blind man
THE COLOR BLUE – ON WOMEN:
[The Virgin Mary]
[Gerty]
[Mrs. Breen] “(In a onepiece evening frock executed in moonlight blue…” (445)
[Zoe Higgins] “Zoe Higgins, a young whore in a sapphire slip, closed with three bronze buckles, a slim black velvet fillet round her throat, nods, trips don the steps to accost them.” (475)
[The princess Selene] “in moonblue robes, a silver crescent on her head, descends from a sedan chair, borne by two giants. An outburst of cheering.” (483)
GRANDMOTHERS- FAMILIAL TIES:
Stephen’s favorite whore Georgina Johnson (559) could represent his grandmother, and Zoe () represents Bloom’s grandmother: “
MAKING THE WOMEN MASCULINE:
(481) The feminist
Bella becomes Bello
MAKING THE MEN FEMININE:
Bloom is about to have a baby “O, I so want to be a mother.” (494)
ECHOES OF MACBETH:
(508) The three weird sisters- The three whores
PERSONIFICATION:
The soap
The cap
A hollybush
A crab
The end of the world
The gramophone
The sins of the past
LAMENESS:
Florry’s foot falls asleep and she limps- echoes Gerty.
ECHOES OF THE SONGS MOLLY SINGS:
(441): “Are you sure about that Voglio? I mean the pronunciati” This echoes Molly’s song
THE BOOK FOR MOLLY- SWEETS OF SIN:
THE GOLD CUP RACE:
Bloom recalls how “Molly won seven shillings on a three year old named nevertall…” (448) All the names of the horses are very obvious- Throwaway (Bloom), Sceptre (Boylan), and nevertell (the affair)
THE DOG/GOD/THE CLERGY:
JOURNALISM/ LITERARINESS:
(458) Bloom lies about his occupation: “Well, I follow a literary occupation. Author-journalist. In fact we are bringing out a collection of prize stories of which I am an inventor, something that is an entirely new departure. I am connected with the British and Irish press. If you ring up…”
(467) Bloom is charged with writing lewd letter (a literary form) to women like Martha.
JINGLING:
Molly’s bed
Boylan’s cab
(467) The Honourable Mrs. Mervyn Talboys’s spurs
THE TIME PIECE- THE CUCKOO CLOCK:
Nausicaa chapter
(469) Timepiece
PEOPLE CUEING BLOOM TO GIVE A SPEECH:
(478) “Go on. Make a stump speech out of it.”
We find ourselves in nighttown (slang among Dublin journalists for the late shift on a newspaper- which sets the play for the literary elements). It is no coincidence that a chapter like this starts with Stephen discussing language:
STEPHEN: (Looks behind.) So that gesture, not music, not odours, would be a universal language, the gift of tongues rendering visible not the lay sense but the first entelechy, the structural rhythm.
LYNCH: Pornosophical philotheology. Metaphysics in Mecklenburg Street!
This seems to be the most prospective and foreshadowed chapter in the whole book. On the 3rd page Stephen foreshadows Bloom’s horrific ordeal, as well as the goings on of a brothel: “We have shrewridden Shakespeare and henpecked Socrates. Even the allwisest stagyrite was bitted, bridled and mounted by a light of love.” (432) There are also thematic ties and reappearances, such as the bread, that Stephen didn’t partake of, but which he mentions and Bloom carries in his pocket with the chocolate.
The time is 12 midnight and Bloom follows Stephen to the brothel, Mrs. Cohen’s establishment at 82 Tyrone Street.
The art: Magic,
Symbol: Whore,
Technique: Hallucination.
Blamires takes issue with this chapter as he did with the Oxen of the Sun chapter- “It is doubtful whether much is done in this episode, in the way of materializing imagery and concretizing mental sequences…” (159) It does seem to be an odd stretch in many different directions. First of all it is in play form. This is not incongruous in and of itself, yet it could be a book of its own, at a whopping 280 pages. It descends into fantasy and hallucination focusing on gender and the animalistic aspects of the Circe episode and the characters in this part of Ulysses. This reads less like a rehearsed play and more like a raucous rehearsal. Bloom seems to temporarily sink into delusions and then re-surface to reality. The scenes that take place in Bloom’s hallucinations are very fetishized and masochistic.
On 481 the millionaire is defined as "Richly", the noblewoman is defined as "nobly", and finally the feminist is described as "Masculinely". An odd juxtaposition.
One of the more farfetched moments in this chapter is when Bloom recalls meeting Stephen in Oxen of the Sun, at the Hospital, as “Kismet”
THEMES:
THE (PARETHETICALS):
These parenthetical serve as stage directions and let the reader into their facial expressions.
SACRAMENT (BREAD):
(433) A page full of references to bread…
TWINS/DOUBLING/DUALITY OF IDENTITY/CLOAKING:
(433)
(455) Bloom + Henry Flowers
(456) Martha + Peggy Griffin
Merging of titles: “Zoe-Fanny/ Florry-Teresa/” (509)
(488)Cloaking- clothing- uniforms-
(493) “Bisexuality abnormal.” Dr. Mulligan asserts that Bloom is not healthy
(553) “As if you didn’t get it on the double yourselves. No jerks and multiple mucosities all over you.”
THE # 3:
(435) “Third time is the charm.”
(460) 3 female accusers
3 whores
ALLURE OF WOMEN:
MATRONS:
Mrs. Breen 443 “now don’t tell a fib! I know somebody won’t like that. O just wait till I see Molly! (Slily) account for yourself this very minute or woe betide you!”
Bella
EXOTICIZING/DOMINATION OVER/OF WOMEN:
(439) “A coin gleams on her forehead. On her feet are jewelled toerings. Her ankles are linked by a slender fetterchain. Beside her a camel, hooded with a turreting turban, awaits.
(467) Mrs. Bellingham is in “Amazon costume.”
SIGHT/EYES:
563- blind man
THE COLOR BLUE – ON WOMEN:
[The Virgin Mary]
[Gerty]
[Mrs. Breen] “(In a onepiece evening frock executed in moonlight blue…” (445)
[Zoe Higgins] “Zoe Higgins, a young whore in a sapphire slip, closed with three bronze buckles, a slim black velvet fillet round her throat, nods, trips don the steps to accost them.” (475)
[The princess Selene] “in moonblue robes, a silver crescent on her head, descends from a sedan chair, borne by two giants. An outburst of cheering.” (483)
GRANDMOTHERS- FAMILIAL TIES:
Stephen’s favorite whore Georgina Johnson (559) could represent his grandmother, and Zoe () represents Bloom’s grandmother: “
MAKING THE WOMEN MASCULINE:
(481) The feminist
Bella becomes Bello
MAKING THE MEN FEMININE:
Bloom is about to have a baby “O, I so want to be a mother.” (494)
ECHOES OF MACBETH:
(508) The three weird sisters- The three whores
PERSONIFICATION:
The soap
The cap
A hollybush
A crab
The end of the world
The gramophone
The sins of the past
LAMENESS:
Florry’s foot falls asleep and she limps- echoes Gerty.
ECHOES OF THE SONGS MOLLY SINGS:
(441): “Are you sure about that Voglio? I mean the pronunciati” This echoes Molly’s song
THE BOOK FOR MOLLY- SWEETS OF SIN:
THE GOLD CUP RACE:
Bloom recalls how “Molly won seven shillings on a three year old named nevertall…” (448) All the names of the horses are very obvious- Throwaway (Bloom), Sceptre (Boylan), and nevertell (the affair)
THE DOG/GOD/THE CLERGY:
JOURNALISM/ LITERARINESS:
(458) Bloom lies about his occupation: “Well, I follow a literary occupation. Author-journalist. In fact we are bringing out a collection of prize stories of which I am an inventor, something that is an entirely new departure. I am connected with the British and Irish press. If you ring up…”
(467) Bloom is charged with writing lewd letter (a literary form) to women like Martha.
JINGLING:
Molly’s bed
Boylan’s cab
(467) The Honourable Mrs. Mervyn Talboys’s spurs
THE TIME PIECE- THE CUCKOO CLOCK:
Nausicaa chapter
(469) Timepiece
PEOPLE CUEING BLOOM TO GIVE A SPEECH:
(478) “Go on. Make a stump speech out of it.”
Sunday, April 13, 2008
14.Oxen of the sun
In book 12 of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men sail from Circe’s island; they pass the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and at nightfall are coasting the island of the sun-god Helios. Both Circe and Tiresias have warned Odysseus to avoid the island and particularly to avoid harming the cattle sacred to Helios. The crew refuses to stay at sea, so they land on the island under the condition that they leave the sacred cattle unharmed. Odysseus falls asleep and the crew slaughters the cattle and feast for 6 days. On the 7th day Odysseus and the crew embark on a ‘clear’ day they embark. Unfortunately Lampote has warned her father, Helios, who has appealed to Zeus. Zeus promises retribution, and sends thunder that destroying ship and crew, fulfilling prophesies of Circe and Tiresias. After this he is beached on Calypso’s island.
Time: 10pm,
Scene: The National Maternity Hospital
Organ: Womb
Art: Medicine
Color: White
Symbol: Mothers
Technique: Embryonic development
Lampote+ Phaethusa- daughters of Helios entrusted with guarding the sacred cattle
Helios-Andrew J. Horne + Patrick J. Barry
Oxen- Fertility
Crime: killing the Oxen
These descriptors are given at the beginning of the annotations, and I usually ignore them, but I skimmed these and it seems that although this may be one of the most complex chapters it seems to be overly cohesive in one sense and completely chaotic in another. It plagues me, but I can’t figure out why this chapter was more coherent for me than the others. While at the same time completely daunting and dizzying like the others. It seemed that looking at the themes and how they interact might clear things up for me.
This chapter opens with an opposition between studied and ignorant men. And proceeds to set up a great many oppositions throughout. The biggest being life and death. Perhaps the narration here is what makes this chapter stand out. Narration has played a key if not determining role in each chapter, allowing a change in perspective: Stephen, Bloom, Gerty, and now and again ambiguous narration.
A particular remark that stood out in a chapter fraught with women and women’s space and trial, is the mention of Lilith; “Then spoke young Stephen orgulous of mother Church that would cast him out of her bosom, of law of cannon, of Lilith, patron of abortions…” (390)
Blamires:
“More detailed correspondences between the subject of fertility outraged and the matter and form of this episode will emerge. They are numerous, complex, and perhaps too elaborately contrived.” (146)
Blamires goes on to describe motifs, while at the same time pointing out how contrived they are.
>“Formally there is a division into nine parts (like the nine months of gestation), and these parts have special references to earlier episodes in the book.” (146)
> THE #9:
# of months in gestation
# of men left to debate
Mention of cat’s lives (numbering 9)
>THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB: Then there are the references to Rudy as the slaughtered lamb, which does a number of different jobs as a metaphor and motif. It ties in fertility, deformity, loss, motherhood, religion, and the episode in the Odyssey together.
>DEATH + THE CYCLE OF LIFE: Sacrificing the mother for the baby, when deciding from a medical/religious standpoint.
>FERTILITY: Erin (ireland) fertility of the land, of the animals, the crops. The mother the womb, children, procreation, The Quest…
>WASTE LAND + STERILITY: Bloom’s impotence, barren land, barren women, Stephen’s inability to publish anything
>THE CHALICE: The gold cup in the race, the goblet at the last sacrament,
>STAGES OF FEMALE LIFE: “Maid, wife, abbess, and widow…” (440)
>FOOT + MOUTH DISEASE: Ties in cattle, the sun god’s cattle, fertility, breeding, fraud.
>GROWTH + DEVELOPMENT: This broad category applies to so many of the themes floating around: Gestation, marital relationships, the flashbacks that both Stephen and Bloom have, and so on.
>USURPATION: This theme returns again and again, yet in this episode it is both a betrayal and perhaps a necessary measure, if the end goal is procreation. If contraceptives and saving the mother are considered sins then it only follows that tying a fertile woman to a sterile man is like tying a rock around her neck. And is against nature and propagating the species, and here Bloom’s stab at the scientific re-appears.
>TRANSFORMATION: Bloom notices how the medical students transform from wild animals to respectable practitioners when Nurse Callan enters the room, or when duty calls.
>SONLESS FATHER + FATHERLESS SON: Bloom’s loss of Rudy reflects Stephen’s loss of his father and how the mother figure plays into this holy trinity. In an earlier chapter it is said that when the mother goes the whole family falls apart.
>THE GOLD CUP RACE: The metaphorical race between the dark horse “Throwaway” (Bloom) and the phallic “Sceptre” (Boylan)
>GROWTH + DEVELOPMENT: This broad category applies to so many of the themes floating around: Gestation, marital relationships, the flashbacks that both Stephen and Bloom have, and s0 on.
Time: 10pm,
Scene: The National Maternity Hospital
Organ: Womb
Art: Medicine
Color: White
Symbol: Mothers
Technique: Embryonic development
Lampote+ Phaethusa- daughters of Helios entrusted with guarding the sacred cattle
Helios-Andrew J. Horne + Patrick J. Barry
Oxen- Fertility
Crime: killing the Oxen
These descriptors are given at the beginning of the annotations, and I usually ignore them, but I skimmed these and it seems that although this may be one of the most complex chapters it seems to be overly cohesive in one sense and completely chaotic in another. It plagues me, but I can’t figure out why this chapter was more coherent for me than the others. While at the same time completely daunting and dizzying like the others. It seemed that looking at the themes and how they interact might clear things up for me.
This chapter opens with an opposition between studied and ignorant men. And proceeds to set up a great many oppositions throughout. The biggest being life and death. Perhaps the narration here is what makes this chapter stand out. Narration has played a key if not determining role in each chapter, allowing a change in perspective: Stephen, Bloom, Gerty, and now and again ambiguous narration.
A particular remark that stood out in a chapter fraught with women and women’s space and trial, is the mention of Lilith; “Then spoke young Stephen orgulous of mother Church that would cast him out of her bosom, of law of cannon, of Lilith, patron of abortions…” (390)
Blamires:
“More detailed correspondences between the subject of fertility outraged and the matter and form of this episode will emerge. They are numerous, complex, and perhaps too elaborately contrived.” (146)
Blamires goes on to describe motifs, while at the same time pointing out how contrived they are.
>“Formally there is a division into nine parts (like the nine months of gestation), and these parts have special references to earlier episodes in the book.” (146)
> THE #9:
# of months in gestation
# of men left to debate
Mention of cat’s lives (numbering 9)
>THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB: Then there are the references to Rudy as the slaughtered lamb, which does a number of different jobs as a metaphor and motif. It ties in fertility, deformity, loss, motherhood, religion, and the episode in the Odyssey together.
>DEATH + THE CYCLE OF LIFE: Sacrificing the mother for the baby, when deciding from a medical/religious standpoint.
>FERTILITY: Erin (ireland) fertility of the land, of the animals, the crops. The mother the womb, children, procreation, The Quest…
>WASTE LAND + STERILITY: Bloom’s impotence, barren land, barren women, Stephen’s inability to publish anything
>THE CHALICE: The gold cup in the race, the goblet at the last sacrament,
>STAGES OF FEMALE LIFE: “Maid, wife, abbess, and widow…” (440)
>FOOT + MOUTH DISEASE: Ties in cattle, the sun god’s cattle, fertility, breeding, fraud.
>GROWTH + DEVELOPMENT: This broad category applies to so many of the themes floating around: Gestation, marital relationships, the flashbacks that both Stephen and Bloom have, and so on.
>USURPATION: This theme returns again and again, yet in this episode it is both a betrayal and perhaps a necessary measure, if the end goal is procreation. If contraceptives and saving the mother are considered sins then it only follows that tying a fertile woman to a sterile man is like tying a rock around her neck. And is against nature and propagating the species, and here Bloom’s stab at the scientific re-appears.
>TRANSFORMATION: Bloom notices how the medical students transform from wild animals to respectable practitioners when Nurse Callan enters the room, or when duty calls.
>SONLESS FATHER + FATHERLESS SON: Bloom’s loss of Rudy reflects Stephen’s loss of his father and how the mother figure plays into this holy trinity. In an earlier chapter it is said that when the mother goes the whole family falls apart.
>THE GOLD CUP RACE: The metaphorical race between the dark horse “Throwaway” (Bloom) and the phallic “Sceptre” (Boylan)
>GROWTH + DEVELOPMENT: This broad category applies to so many of the themes floating around: Gestation, marital relationships, the flashbacks that both Stephen and Bloom have, and s0 on.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
12.The Cyclops
In this episode of the Odyssey Odysseus describes his adventures with the one-eyed Cyclopes. Poyphemus traps Odysseus and his crew and sets out to devour them at a rate of two a day. On the second day he plies him with wine. In the course of the drinking bout Odysseus announces that his name is “noman”, and when the drunken Cyclops is asleep Odysseus blinds him. Once free Odysseus makes the mistake of revealing his identity. The time is 5pm; the scene is the Tavern, Barney Kiernan’s pub.
In a text so obsessed with perspective this of all the episodes preceding it is the most persepectival. In this episode of an experimental narrative that Joyce has weaved we are not in Stephen or Bloom’s head, though we are still in an unidentified narrators’ head it is a very different experience. As readers we have become acquainted with the characters through Joyce’s unique technique and manipulation of perspective. This episode is not necessarily a break sine the style is still Joyce’s, but schematically it differs. We don’t know this narrator, his agenda, how he fits into the story or where he comes from. He is essentially a more personal third person narrative. Like the man in the mackintosh he is an unknown quantity in a world that has been carefully crafted. This is a chance to see Bloom mores closely than before. Now that we know Bloom and his situation with Molly, Blazes, his son, his religion, and other details of his life and personality this episode is a chance to yet again break down the fourth wall and get the whole picture. On the way to the funeral Bloom is in a carriage with Simon Dedalus and we see how awkward he can be. He is an outcast- a Jew, when they pass a money lender Dedalus remarks ‘we’ve al been there’ and then realizes Bloom probably hasn’t, Bloom proceeds to make an inappropriate joke, and here in the bar when confronted with an uncomfortable social situation he tries to avoid it and talk his way out of it, or in another direction. The reader’s heart goes out to bloom when he is discussing the widow Dignam’s advisors and says “for the wife’s admirers.” (313) This wife theme is picked up again on 324 where the citizen remarks, “-A dishonoured wife, says the citizen, that’s what’s the cause of all our misfortunes.” (324) When they are discussing the funny situation of the hanged-man, a humorous conversation among drinking men, Bloom interjects with a scientific explanation:
“-that can be explained by science, says Bloom. It’s only a natural phenomenon, don’t you see, because on account of the…” (304) Then this commented on in a general way, how the group reacts to Bloom: “And then he starts with his jawbreakers about phenomenon and science in this phenomenon and the other phenomenon.” (304) And later when Blazes is brought up in front of Bloom he yet again tries to change the subject: “-What I meant about tennis, for example, is the agility and training of the eye.” (318) Here many themes converge. Sight in manifold ways and uses of the eye, his situation with Molly, and athleticism and sports, which like the race is culturally important. Race e also brings Bloom’s jewishness back into the picture, which is commented on more viciously in the tavern. “-He’s a bloody dark horse himself, says Joe.” (335) The ‘Gold cup’ at the race further ties this with Molly, or women in general. The cup is the ultimate symbol of the female- the chalice, which was referenced in the Sirens episode as well. Drinking, as much a sport as racing, or wrestling, involves drinking out of what else, but a cup, or chalice.
The tone in this episode is interesting it is a mix of newsroom banter, bar chatter, and what Blamires describes as “the legal, the epic, the scientific, the journalistic, and so on.” (118) The tone switches along with the focus on p 314 “…entrust to me consoled by the reflection that, though the errand be one of sorrow, this proof of your confidence sweetens in some measure the bitterness in the cup.” (314) Content wise there is a thematic link between the views, perspectives, and one-sidedness of some of the characters in this scene that correspond to the Cyclops. The citizen is the closest approximation of the Cyclops who only sees one side of a story.
Amid the very splintered foci and voices in this scene clusters of themes peter out. The use of sound recurs and in this scene they build around an animalistic motif. Like the chicken noises on 315.
In a text so obsessed with perspective this of all the episodes preceding it is the most persepectival. In this episode of an experimental narrative that Joyce has weaved we are not in Stephen or Bloom’s head, though we are still in an unidentified narrators’ head it is a very different experience. As readers we have become acquainted with the characters through Joyce’s unique technique and manipulation of perspective. This episode is not necessarily a break sine the style is still Joyce’s, but schematically it differs. We don’t know this narrator, his agenda, how he fits into the story or where he comes from. He is essentially a more personal third person narrative. Like the man in the mackintosh he is an unknown quantity in a world that has been carefully crafted. This is a chance to see Bloom mores closely than before. Now that we know Bloom and his situation with Molly, Blazes, his son, his religion, and other details of his life and personality this episode is a chance to yet again break down the fourth wall and get the whole picture. On the way to the funeral Bloom is in a carriage with Simon Dedalus and we see how awkward he can be. He is an outcast- a Jew, when they pass a money lender Dedalus remarks ‘we’ve al been there’ and then realizes Bloom probably hasn’t, Bloom proceeds to make an inappropriate joke, and here in the bar when confronted with an uncomfortable social situation he tries to avoid it and talk his way out of it, or in another direction. The reader’s heart goes out to bloom when he is discussing the widow Dignam’s advisors and says “for the wife’s admirers.” (313) This wife theme is picked up again on 324 where the citizen remarks, “-A dishonoured wife, says the citizen, that’s what’s the cause of all our misfortunes.” (324) When they are discussing the funny situation of the hanged-man, a humorous conversation among drinking men, Bloom interjects with a scientific explanation:
“-that can be explained by science, says Bloom. It’s only a natural phenomenon, don’t you see, because on account of the…” (304) Then this commented on in a general way, how the group reacts to Bloom: “And then he starts with his jawbreakers about phenomenon and science in this phenomenon and the other phenomenon.” (304) And later when Blazes is brought up in front of Bloom he yet again tries to change the subject: “-What I meant about tennis, for example, is the agility and training of the eye.” (318) Here many themes converge. Sight in manifold ways and uses of the eye, his situation with Molly, and athleticism and sports, which like the race is culturally important. Race e also brings Bloom’s jewishness back into the picture, which is commented on more viciously in the tavern. “-He’s a bloody dark horse himself, says Joe.” (335) The ‘Gold cup’ at the race further ties this with Molly, or women in general. The cup is the ultimate symbol of the female- the chalice, which was referenced in the Sirens episode as well. Drinking, as much a sport as racing, or wrestling, involves drinking out of what else, but a cup, or chalice.
The tone in this episode is interesting it is a mix of newsroom banter, bar chatter, and what Blamires describes as “the legal, the epic, the scientific, the journalistic, and so on.” (118) The tone switches along with the focus on p 314 “…entrust to me consoled by the reflection that, though the errand be one of sorrow, this proof of your confidence sweetens in some measure the bitterness in the cup.” (314) Content wise there is a thematic link between the views, perspectives, and one-sidedness of some of the characters in this scene that correspond to the Cyclops. The citizen is the closest approximation of the Cyclops who only sees one side of a story.
Amid the very splintered foci and voices in this scene clusters of themes peter out. The use of sound recurs and in this scene they build around an animalistic motif. Like the chicken noises on 315.
Friday, April 4, 2008
11.The Sirens
In the Sirens episode of the Odyssey Odysseus manages to sail past the Sirens without being lured by their irresistible song because he has stuffed his ears with wax, and when that didn’t work his crew tied him to the mast of their ship. Though, as Blamires notes there is not “a point for point correspondence...the episode contains two charming siren barmaids as well as much song, and the style represents an elaborate attempt to imitate form in words.” (106)
“Joyce peppers the episode with lines and phrases taken from opera and operetta popular at the time, from Victorian and Edwardian drawing-room ballads, from music –hall favorites and from traditional songs.” (106)
It is now 4pm and we find our characters in the bar of the Ormond Hotel. Joyce repeats sounds as markers throughout that keep pace and time. There is the Tap and tapping of the blind piano tuner, various musical references, imagery, and the most interesting aspect- the Jingling that was ascribed to Molly and her bed in the fourth episode and is now used in reference to Blazes Boylan and his car that is approaching Molly’s house. Joyce takes this type of characterization much further in this episode: in a narrative sense Joyce describes characters by using onomatopoeia and a musical vocabulary. There are many puns at the expense of music; here noise, sound, and music are blended together here.
“Bloowhoo went by by Mulligan’s pipes.” (258)
“For them unheeding him he banged on the counter his tray of chattering china.” (258)
In other places Joyce’s lines themselves have a musical quality: “Those things only bring out a rash, replied, repeated.” ( )
On 259 when discussing Miss Douce and Miss Kennedy he brings up Siren details: “sweet tea Miss Kennedy having poured with milk plugged both two ears with little fingers.” (259)
The way he describes Miss Douce’s breathing makes her seem almost like an instrument herself: “Miss Douce huffed and snorted down her nostrils that quivered imperthnthn like a shout in quest.” (259)
The question of the organ (piano or phallice) appears later. Both the structure and the details in this episode work with and reference music. The technical way in, which Joyce weaves, and repeats- noises- words- and themes is like music theory ABACABA, for example. Joyce plays with theme and variation in a Peter and the Wolf, or Fugue sort of way.
“The Sweets of Sin. Sweet are the sweets. Of sin.” (260) Here the erotic novel he has bought for Molly (his adulterous wife) is repeated. The themes of this piece of pulp are echoed in his real life- Boylan is “Raul” and they are committing a sin. Along the line of sin, religion is strung along as well. Father Conmee is present along with the ballads. There is a percussion section: “Miss Kennedy lipped her cup again, raised, drank a sip and giggle-giggled. Miss Douce, bending again over her tea tray, ruffled her nose and rolled droll faltered eyes.” (260)
Later in this passage there is one of a few cadences- the music (if you will) returns home, a climatic moment – a lewd moment: “Exhausted, breathless, their shaken heads they laid braided and pinnacled by glossy-combed, against the counterledge. All flushed (o!), panting, sweating (O!), all breathless...” Then one of the barmaids says: “I feel wet.” (260)
This story doubles back on itself on 261 “Not yet Sweets of Sin: Flushed legs, still less, goldenly paled. Into the bar strolled Mr. Dedalus. Chips, picking off one of his rocky thumbnails.” This echoes the first lines of the episode, 256, where we see Dedauls performing the same act.
On 262 Molly’s Jingle is re-introduced and continued throughout the episode and is co-mingled with Boylan by Joyce’s attribution which combines music and its sensual and seductive qualities:
256: “Jingle jingle jaunted jingling.”
262: “Jingle jaunty jingle.”
263: “With patience Lenehan waited for Boylan with impatience, for Jingle jaunty blazes boy.”
264: “Jingle in supple rubber it jaunted from the bridge to Ormond quay”
264: “Jingle jaunted by the curb and stopped.”
267: “Jingle a tinkle jaunted.”
268: “Bloom heard a jing, a little sound. He’s of. Light sob of breath sighed on the silent bluehued flowers. Jingling. He’s gone. Jingle. Hear.” Using the word silence among such an aural chapter puts an extra emphasis on this moment of Bloom’s.
269: “By bachelor’s walk jogjaunty jingled Blazes Boylan, bachelor, in sun, in heat.”
271: “Jiggedy jingle jaunty jaunty.” This punctuates Boylan as a character, even though Joyce doesn’t mention him specifically.
272: “Jingle jogged.”
273: “innocence in the moon. Still hold her back. Brave, don’t know their danger. Call name. Touch water. Jingle jaunty. Too late. She longed to go.”
276: “jingle by monuments of sir john Gray.”
277: “Jingle on Dorset street.”
279: “Jingle, have you? So excited. This is the jingle that jogged and jingled.”
The music in this episode taunts and comments on Bloom’s situation.
Next Joyce introduces the opposing ideas of “The conquering hero” (Boylan) and “the unconquered hero” (Bloom) (264). Bloom secretly watches Boylan and there is an emphasis on seeing without being noticed or seen in return. As we saw in the pres room Bloom is often ignored, so much so that the door was opened onto him. Here again he is able to use this invisibility to spy on Boylan, whereas inside the hotel it is a nuisance to him when he can’t get the attention of the waiter Pat. Later this need to be secretive is illuminated when he is writing a letter to Martha, which he could explain away in a variety of way s when he is questioned, or he could even brag, as some men do, of a mistress, yet he feels guilt and shame and hides the letter (280).
The O!’s are picked up and repeated again on 265 and on 267 themes and motifs collide: “Tossed fat lips his chalice, dranfoff his tiny chalice sucking the last fat violet syrupy drops.” (267) The chalice is the ultimate convergence of religion (the sacrament) femininity, usurpation and eroticism.
As much as there’s a musical back and forth there is a dance-like back and forth in the writing:
274: “Bloom looped, unlooped, nodded, disnoded.”
275: “Lydia for Lidewey squeak scarcely hear so ladylike the muse unsqueaked a ray of hope.”
It seems that on 276 one of the performances (a ballad) has come to an end: “Come well sung. All clapped.”
“Joyce peppers the episode with lines and phrases taken from opera and operetta popular at the time, from Victorian and Edwardian drawing-room ballads, from music –hall favorites and from traditional songs.” (106)
It is now 4pm and we find our characters in the bar of the Ormond Hotel. Joyce repeats sounds as markers throughout that keep pace and time. There is the Tap and tapping of the blind piano tuner, various musical references, imagery, and the most interesting aspect- the Jingling that was ascribed to Molly and her bed in the fourth episode and is now used in reference to Blazes Boylan and his car that is approaching Molly’s house. Joyce takes this type of characterization much further in this episode: in a narrative sense Joyce describes characters by using onomatopoeia and a musical vocabulary. There are many puns at the expense of music; here noise, sound, and music are blended together here.
“Bloowhoo went by by Mulligan’s pipes.” (258)
“For them unheeding him he banged on the counter his tray of chattering china.” (258)
In other places Joyce’s lines themselves have a musical quality: “Those things only bring out a rash, replied, repeated.” ( )
On 259 when discussing Miss Douce and Miss Kennedy he brings up Siren details: “sweet tea Miss Kennedy having poured with milk plugged both two ears with little fingers.” (259)
The way he describes Miss Douce’s breathing makes her seem almost like an instrument herself: “Miss Douce huffed and snorted down her nostrils that quivered imperthnthn like a shout in quest.” (259)
The question of the organ (piano or phallice) appears later. Both the structure and the details in this episode work with and reference music. The technical way in, which Joyce weaves, and repeats- noises- words- and themes is like music theory ABACABA, for example. Joyce plays with theme and variation in a Peter and the Wolf, or Fugue sort of way.
“The Sweets of Sin. Sweet are the sweets. Of sin.” (260) Here the erotic novel he has bought for Molly (his adulterous wife) is repeated. The themes of this piece of pulp are echoed in his real life- Boylan is “Raul” and they are committing a sin. Along the line of sin, religion is strung along as well. Father Conmee is present along with the ballads. There is a percussion section: “Miss Kennedy lipped her cup again, raised, drank a sip and giggle-giggled. Miss Douce, bending again over her tea tray, ruffled her nose and rolled droll faltered eyes.” (260)
Later in this passage there is one of a few cadences- the music (if you will) returns home, a climatic moment – a lewd moment: “Exhausted, breathless, their shaken heads they laid braided and pinnacled by glossy-combed, against the counterledge. All flushed (o!), panting, sweating (O!), all breathless...” Then one of the barmaids says: “I feel wet.” (260)
This story doubles back on itself on 261 “Not yet Sweets of Sin: Flushed legs, still less, goldenly paled. Into the bar strolled Mr. Dedalus. Chips, picking off one of his rocky thumbnails.” This echoes the first lines of the episode, 256, where we see Dedauls performing the same act.
On 262 Molly’s Jingle is re-introduced and continued throughout the episode and is co-mingled with Boylan by Joyce’s attribution which combines music and its sensual and seductive qualities:
256: “Jingle jingle jaunted jingling.”
262: “Jingle jaunty jingle.”
263: “With patience Lenehan waited for Boylan with impatience, for Jingle jaunty blazes boy.”
264: “Jingle in supple rubber it jaunted from the bridge to Ormond quay”
264: “Jingle jaunted by the curb and stopped.”
267: “Jingle a tinkle jaunted.”
268: “Bloom heard a jing, a little sound. He’s of. Light sob of breath sighed on the silent bluehued flowers. Jingling. He’s gone. Jingle. Hear.” Using the word silence among such an aural chapter puts an extra emphasis on this moment of Bloom’s.
269: “By bachelor’s walk jogjaunty jingled Blazes Boylan, bachelor, in sun, in heat.”
271: “Jiggedy jingle jaunty jaunty.” This punctuates Boylan as a character, even though Joyce doesn’t mention him specifically.
272: “Jingle jogged.”
273: “innocence in the moon. Still hold her back. Brave, don’t know their danger. Call name. Touch water. Jingle jaunty. Too late. She longed to go.”
276: “jingle by monuments of sir john Gray.”
277: “Jingle on Dorset street.”
279: “Jingle, have you? So excited. This is the jingle that jogged and jingled.”
The music in this episode taunts and comments on Bloom’s situation.
Next Joyce introduces the opposing ideas of “The conquering hero” (Boylan) and “the unconquered hero” (Bloom) (264). Bloom secretly watches Boylan and there is an emphasis on seeing without being noticed or seen in return. As we saw in the pres room Bloom is often ignored, so much so that the door was opened onto him. Here again he is able to use this invisibility to spy on Boylan, whereas inside the hotel it is a nuisance to him when he can’t get the attention of the waiter Pat. Later this need to be secretive is illuminated when he is writing a letter to Martha, which he could explain away in a variety of way s when he is questioned, or he could even brag, as some men do, of a mistress, yet he feels guilt and shame and hides the letter (280).
The O!’s are picked up and repeated again on 265 and on 267 themes and motifs collide: “Tossed fat lips his chalice, dranfoff his tiny chalice sucking the last fat violet syrupy drops.” (267) The chalice is the ultimate convergence of religion (the sacrament) femininity, usurpation and eroticism.
As much as there’s a musical back and forth there is a dance-like back and forth in the writing:
274: “Bloom looped, unlooped, nodded, disnoded.”
275: “Lydia for Lidewey squeak scarcely hear so ladylike the muse unsqueaked a ray of hope.”
It seems that on 276 one of the performances (a ballad) has come to an end: “Come well sung. All clapped.”
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
9.Scylla and Charybdis
It’s 2 pm Stephen is in the director’s office of the National Library. Present with him are A.E. (George Russell), the poet, John Eglinton, and Lyster.
In book 12 of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men return from the land of the dead (Hades), to Circe’s isle where they fulfill Odysseus’s promise to bury Elpinor’s body (the crew member who was forgotten until found in Hades). Circe gives Odysseus ‘sailing directions’ She tells him about the Sirens and offers him a choice of roots: one by way of the wandering rocks, the other by way of the passage between Scylla and Charybdis.
Origins in general, and of names in specific, are important in this highly analytical and philosophical chapter.
Stephan remarks about his own name:
“Stephanos, my crown. My sword.”
“-You make good use of the name.” (210)
Stephanos is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "crown, garland". Variant of Stephanos. Biblical: Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Common until the late 18th century. Stefan is a German, Scandinavian, and Slavic form. Steffan and Steffon (STEH-fen) are Welsh forms.
Megeeglinjohn says “ Names! What’s in a name?” (209) A reference to Shakespeare’s famous ‘A rose by any other name…’ speech in Romeo and Juliet, which makes sense since this chapter is steeped in Hamlet and other Shakespearian references and interpretations.
“But I, entelechy, form of forms, am I by memory because under everchanging forms.” (189)
The idea of memory has an interesting origin. ‘Mnemosyne’ in Greek mythology was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus and the mother of the muses by Zeus. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Kings and poets receive their powers of authoritative speech from their possession of Mnemosyne and their special relationship with the muses.
Zeus and Menmosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights and thereby created the nine Muses. Mnemosyne was also the name for a river in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe (dead souls drank from the river Lethe so they would not remember their past live when re-incarnated). Memory is extremely to (the basis of) religion. “So in the future, the sister of the past, I may see myself as I sit here now but by reflection from that which then I shall be.” (194) Time here is imagined as circular not unlike the Midgard serpent or world serpent, or a mobius strip.
Four additional themes/ motifs stood out in my reading:
1). Fertility: Eggs, children, parents, warmth (statues like Venus are cold)
“-People do not know how dangerous love songs can be, the auric egg of Russel Warned occultly” (186)
“Felicitously he ceased and held a meek head among them, auk’s egg, prize of their fray.” (196)
“
2). Sleep + death: sleep-walking:
“The corpse of John Shakespeare does not walk the night.” (207)
3). Shadows + Ghosts:
Bloomsday says:
“Stephen obliges. He defines a ghost as ‘one who has faded into impalpability through death, through absence, through change of manners’. In this sense, the Shakespeare who returns to Stratford after his sojourn in London is a ghost, and the Stephen (for Joyce) who returns to Dublin from Paris is a ghost. Likewise Bloom, long sexually impalpable in relation to Molly, is a ghost in his own home.” (78)
“-If you want to know what are the events which cast their shadow over hell of time of King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, look to see when and how the shadow lifts.” (195)
“He is a ghost, a shadow now, wind by Elsinore’s rocks or what you will, the sea’s voice, a voice heard only in the heart of him who is the substance of the shadow, the son consubstantial with the father.” (1970
4) And OBVIOUSLY The Father + The Son:
Bloomsday says:
“Old John Shakespeare, the poet’s father is securely at rest, not an unquiet ghost. Stephen returns to formulate his doctrine of fatherhood. There is no such thing as an act of conscious begetting in which a man knows himself a father. Rather fatherhood is a ‘mystical estate’ handed down from begetter to begotten. This is the true mystery on which the Christian Church is founded. Love of mother is grounded in an evident physical relationship; but the mystery (in every sense) of paternity grounds a son’s allegiance on incertitude as the world itself is founded upon a void.” (86-87)
Here Bloomsday connects both the idea of the ghost and that of paternity and the father. This elucidates the fact that where mother’s and motherhood were the focus of the previous chapter here fathers are the subject.
“Who is the father of any son that any son should love him or he any son?” (207)
“The son unborn mars beauty: born he brings pain, divides affection, increases care.” (207)
In book 12 of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men return from the land of the dead (Hades), to Circe’s isle where they fulfill Odysseus’s promise to bury Elpinor’s body (the crew member who was forgotten until found in Hades). Circe gives Odysseus ‘sailing directions’ She tells him about the Sirens and offers him a choice of roots: one by way of the wandering rocks, the other by way of the passage between Scylla and Charybdis.
Origins in general, and of names in specific, are important in this highly analytical and philosophical chapter.
Stephan remarks about his own name:
“Stephanos, my crown. My sword.”
“-You make good use of the name.” (210)
Stephanos is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "crown, garland". Variant of Stephanos. Biblical: Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Common until the late 18th century. Stefan is a German, Scandinavian, and Slavic form. Steffan and Steffon (STEH-fen) are Welsh forms.
Megeeglinjohn says “ Names! What’s in a name?” (209) A reference to Shakespeare’s famous ‘A rose by any other name…’ speech in Romeo and Juliet, which makes sense since this chapter is steeped in Hamlet and other Shakespearian references and interpretations.
“But I, entelechy, form of forms, am I by memory because under everchanging forms.” (189)
The idea of memory has an interesting origin. ‘Mnemosyne’ in Greek mythology was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus and the mother of the muses by Zeus. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Kings and poets receive their powers of authoritative speech from their possession of Mnemosyne and their special relationship with the muses.
Zeus and Menmosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights and thereby created the nine Muses. Mnemosyne was also the name for a river in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe (dead souls drank from the river Lethe so they would not remember their past live when re-incarnated). Memory is extremely to (the basis of) religion. “So in the future, the sister of the past, I may see myself as I sit here now but by reflection from that which then I shall be.” (194) Time here is imagined as circular not unlike the Midgard serpent or world serpent, or a mobius strip.
Four additional themes/ motifs stood out in my reading:
1). Fertility: Eggs, children, parents, warmth (statues like Venus are cold)
“-People do not know how dangerous love songs can be, the auric egg of Russel Warned occultly” (186)
“Felicitously he ceased and held a meek head among them, auk’s egg, prize of their fray.” (196)
“
2). Sleep + death: sleep-walking:
“The corpse of John Shakespeare does not walk the night.” (207)
3). Shadows + Ghosts:
Bloomsday says:
“Stephen obliges. He defines a ghost as ‘one who has faded into impalpability through death, through absence, through change of manners’. In this sense, the Shakespeare who returns to Stratford after his sojourn in London is a ghost, and the Stephen (for Joyce) who returns to Dublin from Paris is a ghost. Likewise Bloom, long sexually impalpable in relation to Molly, is a ghost in his own home.” (78)
“-If you want to know what are the events which cast their shadow over hell of time of King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, look to see when and how the shadow lifts.” (195)
“He is a ghost, a shadow now, wind by Elsinore’s rocks or what you will, the sea’s voice, a voice heard only in the heart of him who is the substance of the shadow, the son consubstantial with the father.” (1970
4) And OBVIOUSLY The Father + The Son:
Bloomsday says:
“Old John Shakespeare, the poet’s father is securely at rest, not an unquiet ghost. Stephen returns to formulate his doctrine of fatherhood. There is no such thing as an act of conscious begetting in which a man knows himself a father. Rather fatherhood is a ‘mystical estate’ handed down from begetter to begotten. This is the true mystery on which the Christian Church is founded. Love of mother is grounded in an evident physical relationship; but the mystery (in every sense) of paternity grounds a son’s allegiance on incertitude as the world itself is founded upon a void.” (86-87)
Here Bloomsday connects both the idea of the ghost and that of paternity and the father. This elucidates the fact that where mother’s and motherhood were the focus of the previous chapter here fathers are the subject.
“Who is the father of any son that any son should love him or he any son?” (207)
“The son unborn mars beauty: born he brings pain, divides affection, increases care.” (207)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
8.Lestrygonians
On the first page of this section Bloom reads the top of the throwaway and sees ‘Bloo’ and inserts and M and an E which both completes the word to spell Bloom and forms the word me. Further down he notes an ad, this is an obsession of his because he’s in the business and notices other people’s work as well. Next there is a haunting line: “Wake up in the dead of night and see him on the wall, hanging.” (151) Sleep is a powerful theme and weapon in the Odyssey that transfers to this line. Haines has a nightmare; Stephen mentions a nightmare of his own which is echoed in Aeolus “Nightmare from which you will never wake.” (137) And yet another nightmare is added to the list When Mrs. Breen speaks “Woke me up in the night, she said. Dream he had, a night mare.” (158) Later Bloom recalls Parnell and thinks: “Like a man walking in his sleep.” (165)
The image that struck me most in this chapter was the multiple references to eyes, and the descriptions of eyes that Joyce offers up. In the previous chapter (Aeolus) sight and being seen and heard are very important to Bloom who is excluded and ignored for the most part as an outsider in many respects. Here it seems that Joyce is pointing us towards sight in a very obvious way. Eyes connect various themes.
“Knew her eyes at once from her father.” (151) This reference reminded me of Shakespeare how sight functions in his plays, and also Cassandra- who saw the future but went unheard.
“His eyes sought answer from the river and saw a rowboat rock at the anchor on the treacly swells lazily it plastered board.” (153) This weaves water, death at sea, and the Lestrygonians into the mix.
“Mr. Bloom moved forward raising his troubled eyes.” (154)
“I am sure she was crossed in love by her eyes.” (155)
“-Sad to lose the old friends, Mrs. Breen’s womaneyes said melancholily.” (157)
“Let her speak. Look straight into her eyes.” (158)
“See the eye that woman gave her, passing. Cruel. The unfair sex.” (158)
“His oyster eyes staring at the postcard.” (160)
“His eyes followed the high figure in the homespun, beard and bicycle, a listening woman at his side. Coming from the vegetarian. Only weggebobbles and fruit. Don’t eat a beefsteak. If you do the eyes of that cow will pursue you through all eternity.” (165)
“His parboiled eyes.” (167)
“Flayed eyed sheep hung from the haunches,” (171)
It occurs to me that a lot of these quotations have to do with animals and women. I wonder why this might be?
The image that struck me most in this chapter was the multiple references to eyes, and the descriptions of eyes that Joyce offers up. In the previous chapter (Aeolus) sight and being seen and heard are very important to Bloom who is excluded and ignored for the most part as an outsider in many respects. Here it seems that Joyce is pointing us towards sight in a very obvious way. Eyes connect various themes.
“Knew her eyes at once from her father.” (151) This reference reminded me of Shakespeare how sight functions in his plays, and also Cassandra- who saw the future but went unheard.
“His eyes sought answer from the river and saw a rowboat rock at the anchor on the treacly swells lazily it plastered board.” (153) This weaves water, death at sea, and the Lestrygonians into the mix.
“Mr. Bloom moved forward raising his troubled eyes.” (154)
“I am sure she was crossed in love by her eyes.” (155)
“-Sad to lose the old friends, Mrs. Breen’s womaneyes said melancholily.” (157)
“Let her speak. Look straight into her eyes.” (158)
“See the eye that woman gave her, passing. Cruel. The unfair sex.” (158)
“His oyster eyes staring at the postcard.” (160)
“His eyes followed the high figure in the homespun, beard and bicycle, a listening woman at his side. Coming from the vegetarian. Only weggebobbles and fruit. Don’t eat a beefsteak. If you do the eyes of that cow will pursue you through all eternity.” (165)
“His parboiled eyes.” (167)
“Flayed eyed sheep hung from the haunches,” (171)
It occurs to me that a lot of these quotations have to do with animals and women. I wonder why this might be?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
7.Aeolus
A thoroughly frustrating chapter, that puzzled me. Being in Mr. Leopold Bloom’s head is like being at a rummage sale. One can find anything: a spare shoe, a cracked mirror, or even a dead dog lying around –and free-association is not only present in his head but encouraged by Joyce. In the first description of the press office there is a line “They always build one door opposite another for the wind to. Way in. Way out.” (117) This sounds like when god closes a door… In the next line when discussing ‘Our savior’ he says in the next breath “Mary, Martha.” (117) Another linking of Mary (Molly his wife) and Mary (the typist), which continues through the chapter.
Noise is very important component. There is industrial noise- of the machines that recurs, and the odd mention of silence, and the power entailed in each. Both the foreman’s (119) and the typesetter’s (121) actions are described using the word ‘silently.’ Silence holds a weight a power, having been able to silence the noise around them. To be seen + heard is of the utmost importance, Bloom is treated like a woman (Castiglione- The Courtier, ‘To be seen and not heard).
One of the columns that Bloom enjoys in the paper is ‘Country Bumpkin’s queries’ which reflects his character since it is jovial and interested in learning. This focus on learning has been established with all the characters in some respect. Stephen is obviously the most invested in the creative side of learning – the deep understanding of the things he chooses to study. Mulligan is interested in studying so far as medicine is concerned, in a more removed sense- he seems to be more about appearances, skin deep, than a nourishing understanding of anything. Medicine is a profession that is held in high regard, and earns him more respect (even from the milkmaid) than Stephen gets. He also has an interest in learning so far as it can make him money, which is why he is eager to exploit Stephen’s gifts- the fruits of learning.
Something that stood out is Bloom’s “mm” (119) that continues the theme of noise and sound, and echoes Molly’s ‘mn.’ It seems that the noise in this chapter serve as a device to further defeat and overshadow Bloom. Being heard is hard for him for many in this text, but especially Bloom, the odd man out for many reasons, cuckold, Jewish, and not part of a group. His otherness is furthered under the title AND IT WAS THE FEAT OF THE PASSOVER, (122) when he notices that the typesetter reads backwards, Bloom is backwards at times, and the hagadah book is read right to left as well.
The title LOST CAUSES NOBLE MARQUESS MENTIONED appears to be like a key- the theme that all the characters play towards in one way or another:
“-We were always loyal to lost causes, the professor said. Success for us is the death of the intellect and of the imagination. We were never loyal to the successful. We serve them. I teach the blatant Latin language. I speak the tongue of a race the acme of whose mentality is the maxim: Time is money. Material domination. Dominus! Lord! Where is the spirituality? Lord Jesus! Lord Salisbury. A sofa in a westend club. But the Greek! (133)
Noise is very important component. There is industrial noise- of the machines that recurs, and the odd mention of silence, and the power entailed in each. Both the foreman’s (119) and the typesetter’s (121) actions are described using the word ‘silently.’ Silence holds a weight a power, having been able to silence the noise around them. To be seen + heard is of the utmost importance, Bloom is treated like a woman (Castiglione- The Courtier, ‘To be seen and not heard).
One of the columns that Bloom enjoys in the paper is ‘Country Bumpkin’s queries’ which reflects his character since it is jovial and interested in learning. This focus on learning has been established with all the characters in some respect. Stephen is obviously the most invested in the creative side of learning – the deep understanding of the things he chooses to study. Mulligan is interested in studying so far as medicine is concerned, in a more removed sense- he seems to be more about appearances, skin deep, than a nourishing understanding of anything. Medicine is a profession that is held in high regard, and earns him more respect (even from the milkmaid) than Stephen gets. He also has an interest in learning so far as it can make him money, which is why he is eager to exploit Stephen’s gifts- the fruits of learning.
Something that stood out is Bloom’s “mm” (119) that continues the theme of noise and sound, and echoes Molly’s ‘mn.’ It seems that the noise in this chapter serve as a device to further defeat and overshadow Bloom. Being heard is hard for him for many in this text, but especially Bloom, the odd man out for many reasons, cuckold, Jewish, and not part of a group. His otherness is furthered under the title AND IT WAS THE FEAT OF THE PASSOVER, (122) when he notices that the typesetter reads backwards, Bloom is backwards at times, and the hagadah book is read right to left as well.
The title LOST CAUSES NOBLE MARQUESS MENTIONED appears to be like a key- the theme that all the characters play towards in one way or another:
“-We were always loyal to lost causes, the professor said. Success for us is the death of the intellect and of the imagination. We were never loyal to the successful. We serve them. I teach the blatant Latin language. I speak the tongue of a race the acme of whose mentality is the maxim: Time is money. Material domination. Dominus! Lord! Where is the spirituality? Lord Jesus! Lord Salisbury. A sofa in a westend club. But the Greek! (133)
Monday, March 10, 2008
6.Hades
The annotation supplies us with some peripheral information: The time is 11 am, and we are in Prospect Cemetery, Glasnevin. In this episode Odysseus recounts his adventures to the land of the Cicones, The Lotus-Eaters, and the Cyclops. Circe advises him to go down to Hades and consult the blind prophet Tiresias. Later Odysseus is told by Tiresias that Poseidon is preventing him from reaching home. At the close of this episode Odysseus returns to Circe’s island.
This section- Hades- was for me the most Odyssey like so far. It could be a coincidence, but the connections that (I believe) are there seem all too appropriate. For instance they cross a body of water- to get to Hades one must cross the river Styx. also there is a reference to ‘lowered blinds of the avenue,’ which is annotated as a custom of lowering shop blinds during a funeral procession, but this reminds me of shades, another word for blinds, and shades is another word for shadows- of the underworld perhaps. These buildings with blinds drawn bring to mind the image of watching- witnessing and memory. Blamire’s points out that there is an emphasis on nails and hands and that this suggests Bloom’s private crucifixion, since the reference is sparked by Blazes Boylan, This image is also mentioned in the first page of this section when Bloom is musing that after death hair and nails still grow, and perhaps they should be cut and saved. Later when Bloom is trying to recall the words from Don Giovanni ‘vorrei e non vorrei’ he remembers them incorrectly. This starts a trend throughout the chapter, later he reverses the priest’s prayer and remembers it as ‘Dominenomine’ when it is really ‘il nominee Domine.’ A great deal of the words in this have a very lyrical sing-songy quality to them – and it also has a great deal of references to Operas that Bloom is recalling. This musicality is not unlike church bells.
Here Bloom is slowly being exposed, but ironically he is not the one revealing the details. We find out how Bloom lost his father, and the connections to Stephen multiply page by page. Firstly Simon Dedalus is with him, secondly they both fatherless in one way or another, and thirdly, and this may be a dissimilarity but non the less links them because they are directly opposite, Bloom s religious and Stephen seems to be spiritual in a different way. Where Stephen avoids a bath and water (baptism) like the plague Bloom enjoys his bath with his soap and carries it as a sort of talisman to ward off evil.
This section- Hades- was for me the most Odyssey like so far. It could be a coincidence, but the connections that (I believe) are there seem all too appropriate. For instance they cross a body of water- to get to Hades one must cross the river Styx. also there is a reference to ‘lowered blinds of the avenue,’ which is annotated as a custom of lowering shop blinds during a funeral procession, but this reminds me of shades, another word for blinds, and shades is another word for shadows- of the underworld perhaps. These buildings with blinds drawn bring to mind the image of watching- witnessing and memory. Blamire’s points out that there is an emphasis on nails and hands and that this suggests Bloom’s private crucifixion, since the reference is sparked by Blazes Boylan, This image is also mentioned in the first page of this section when Bloom is musing that after death hair and nails still grow, and perhaps they should be cut and saved. Later when Bloom is trying to recall the words from Don Giovanni ‘vorrei e non vorrei’ he remembers them incorrectly. This starts a trend throughout the chapter, later he reverses the priest’s prayer and remembers it as ‘Dominenomine’ when it is really ‘il nominee Domine.’ A great deal of the words in this have a very lyrical sing-songy quality to them – and it also has a great deal of references to Operas that Bloom is recalling. This musicality is not unlike church bells.
Here Bloom is slowly being exposed, but ironically he is not the one revealing the details. We find out how Bloom lost his father, and the connections to Stephen multiply page by page. Firstly Simon Dedalus is with him, secondly they both fatherless in one way or another, and thirdly, and this may be a dissimilarity but non the less links them because they are directly opposite, Bloom s religious and Stephen seems to be spiritual in a different way. Where Stephen avoids a bath and water (baptism) like the plague Bloom enjoys his bath with his soap and carries it as a sort of talisman to ward off evil.
5.Lotus Eaters
The Annotation situates: Time: 10am. After Odysseus escapes from Calypso’s island and the sea, he lands on Scheria and is entertained by King Alcinous’s court. Some of Odysseus’s crew meet the Lotus- Eaters and eat the Lotus, which makes them long ‘to stay forever.’
Blamires has a great deal to say about this short chapter. There is an emphasis of memory, or the loss of memory, which makes sense in light of the Lotus’s properties. The image of the dead sea recurs here, before a funeral, and shows Bloom’s clinical nature. This chapter seems to denote a new importance of objects. Blamires notes that the rolled up newspaper is “The Ulyssean sword of the modern advertising agent” (29), and it is passed to another character and used to parry conversational jabs. It is a form of verbal fencing- Blamires even says that Bloom “deflects the talk of his wife…”(30)
There is an interesting comparison of Marion/Mary/Molly (his wife) and Martha (‘pen pal’) that starts in this chapter. In a novel so obsessed with knowledge and language Bloom holds a privileged position in regard to these women, Molly asks him to explain metempsychosis and Martha asks him to “please tell [her] what is the real meaning of that word.” (77). In addition he pins the flower that Martha sends to his coat, and then there is a verse: “O, Mary lost the pin of her drawers” (78) this compares and links the two, as well as highlighting her infidelity.
Blamires has a great deal to say about this short chapter. There is an emphasis of memory, or the loss of memory, which makes sense in light of the Lotus’s properties. The image of the dead sea recurs here, before a funeral, and shows Bloom’s clinical nature. This chapter seems to denote a new importance of objects. Blamires notes that the rolled up newspaper is “The Ulyssean sword of the modern advertising agent” (29), and it is passed to another character and used to parry conversational jabs. It is a form of verbal fencing- Blamires even says that Bloom “deflects the talk of his wife…”(30)
There is an interesting comparison of Marion/Mary/Molly (his wife) and Martha (‘pen pal’) that starts in this chapter. In a novel so obsessed with knowledge and language Bloom holds a privileged position in regard to these women, Molly asks him to explain metempsychosis and Martha asks him to “please tell [her] what is the real meaning of that word.” (77). In addition he pins the flower that Martha sends to his coat, and then there is a verse: “O, Mary lost the pin of her drawers” (78) this compares and links the two, as well as highlighting her infidelity.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
4.Calypso
This section is by far the most corporeal that we have read so far. It is a vivid stream of consciousness that reveals temperatures, and senses in a far more humanizing way than Stephen. When we are in Stephen’s head he is focusing on everything around him, even as far as his peripheral, whereas Bloom seems to have a child-like quality about him. He is fully interested and occupied with his surroundings. When “a cloud began to cover the sun…” (61) the following description is disturbing to say the least. I got the feeling that it was important, because it deals with the theme of infertility- of barren land, and also the “dead sea in a dead land, grey and old.” (61) Molly is more objectified in the few pages she is present than anything else in the text. When she is described it is the most real moment- the fold of her knee in the bed, as well as ‘her full lips.’ This objectification is tied into sexualizing her since she is flaunting her affair. She is a very interesting choice on Joyce's part. She makes me wonder why she is presented so early in the book? I assume that she is supposed to be analogous to Penelope, since Bloom is like Odysseus. Though this presents an interesting twist- in the Odyssey Penelope is chaste and faithful while Odysseus is away, while Molly is anything but chaste and goes so far as to flaunt her indiscretions. I actually found it difficult to see that she was flaunting it, perhaps because Bloom’s reaction, or the lack there of an obvious reaction lulls the reader into an odd position since we are in his head. I find it hard to write much more since I feel that this was even more difficult to fully grasp this than even the ‘sandtrap’
Sunday, February 24, 2008
3.Proteus
Though this chapter builds on the themes and motifs of the previous two it is a great departure. The first chapter sees Stephen, Buck, and Haines, three, in the tower, It introduces the characters, and introduces Stephen’s dilemma; that he did not pray when his mother asked him on her deathbed. It establishes the dynamic of the group and the prejudices of the time and place. The second chapter sees Stephen and Deasy, two, in the school, dealing with history and continuing where the last chapter left off- usurper… This third chapter sees Stephen, and then there was one, by himself walking to deliver Deasy’s letter. Along the way Joyce uses both a mix of first and third person. This stylistic choice gives the impression of being in Stephen’s head and has a dizzying effect. It seems as though this part is the most heavy in references thus far, most being of a religious tone. It feels like a bridge, between what has come before and what will follow. It has a pensive tone and follows Stephen on what is essentially a walk along the water. Sight and vision emerge, yet again, and meander with perception. Stephen looks around and almost free-associates to what he “sees” which complicates sight when the references to Aristotle are introduced; “Aristotle argues that color is the ‘peculiar object’ of sight, as sound is that of hearing” (Gifford, 45).
Blamires suggests “Stephen’s starting- point is that things are presented to us under the shifting mode of their visibility.” (Blamires, 14) It is within this web of visibility that Stephen is struggling to ‘see’ who he is. There are a number of deaths by water alluded to in this very personal chapter, which makes sense, in the Odyssey Odysseus is still lost at see and presumed dead, though Menelaus discovers that he is marooned on Calypso's island.
1. “A drowning man. His human eyes scream to me out of the horror of his death. I….With him together down…I could not save her. Waters: bitter death; lost” (46). Here drowning and death mingle with the memory of his mother and his powerlessness. This couples with the idea that the Irish are helpless against the British- He envies Buck who had the courage to save someone (45). Also the idea of destiny- there is a higher power at work, this idea is made more interesting in reference to themes and structure borrowed from the Odyssey, a story obsessed with destiny.
2. A corpse rising saltwater from the undertow, bobbing landward, a pace a pace a porpoise. There he is. Hook it quick. Sink though he be beneath the watery floor. We have him. Easy now” (50). This references, perhaps, the man that was mentioned in the previous chapter, that they were waiting to surface.
The most significant line for me is when Stephen hypothesizes about Kevin Egan: “They have forgotten Kevin Egan, not he them” (44). This doubles back on the idea of history and memory- the two are closely related, yet not necessarily the same thing, and curiously both have a great deal to do with sight.
Blamires suggests “Stephen’s starting- point is that things are presented to us under the shifting mode of their visibility.” (Blamires, 14) It is within this web of visibility that Stephen is struggling to ‘see’ who he is. There are a number of deaths by water alluded to in this very personal chapter, which makes sense, in the Odyssey Odysseus is still lost at see and presumed dead, though Menelaus discovers that he is marooned on Calypso's island.
1. “A drowning man. His human eyes scream to me out of the horror of his death. I….With him together down…I could not save her. Waters: bitter death; lost” (46). Here drowning and death mingle with the memory of his mother and his powerlessness. This couples with the idea that the Irish are helpless against the British- He envies Buck who had the courage to save someone (45). Also the idea of destiny- there is a higher power at work, this idea is made more interesting in reference to themes and structure borrowed from the Odyssey, a story obsessed with destiny.
2. A corpse rising saltwater from the undertow, bobbing landward, a pace a pace a porpoise. There he is. Hook it quick. Sink though he be beneath the watery floor. We have him. Easy now” (50). This references, perhaps, the man that was mentioned in the previous chapter, that they were waiting to surface.
The most significant line for me is when Stephen hypothesizes about Kevin Egan: “They have forgotten Kevin Egan, not he them” (44). This doubles back on the idea of history and memory- the two are closely related, yet not necessarily the same thing, and curiously both have a great deal to do with sight.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
2.Nestor
The chapter Nestor takes the framework that Joyce has set up and delves into Stephen Dedalus’s character. At the opening Stephen is questing his class on Pyhrrus, which echoes the last word of the Telemachus section : Usurper, since Pyrrhus was another hero who suffered from usurpation. (Blamires, 10) This section is told from his perspective, in first person, and provides the reader clues to his character and showcases his wit and compassion. He is not only kind to the boy Cyril Sargent, but also shows a great level of tolerance when Mr. Deasy speaks of the Jews:
“-A merchant, Stephen said, is one who buys cheap and sells dear, jew or gentile, is he not?” (34)
To which Mr. Deasy replies:
“-They sinned against the light, Mr. Deasy said gravely. And you can see the darkness in their eyes. And that is why they are wanderers on the earth to this day.” (34)
Here, Gifford explains, Deasy is referencing the jews as the ‘Wanderers of the earth’ this is based on a Christine legend that a jew who reject s Christ at the time of the crucifixion is condemned to wander the earth until last judgment, or until the last of is race dies. (Gifford, 38) Comparing this reference to Stephen’s treatment of his mother makes this even more complicated. If we forget for a moment that Stephen in not Jewish, and proceed to compare him to the jew, it becomes clear that he has committed a sin, for not praying at his mother’s deathbed when it was her last request. Now he is doomed to wander until judgment. Perhaps this is a stretch.
Mr. Deasy’s lines introduce a truly traditional and classical theme: Sight; vision, seeing, foresight, and even prophecy. The whole novel is (I assume from what I have heard) based on perspective; who is telling the story and how their own personal beliefs, motives, and heritage (be it Irish or other) influence their perception of the story and ultimately the main characters. Stephen says: “history is to blame:” (30) which appears to be foreshadowing of what is to come, because the whole story is based on a history that is based on the Greek oral tradition of history- The Bard. There is a great emphasis on vision in every capacity; Stephen’s eyes are described as having “seacold eyes” (30) and there are numerous references to sight. Stephen has a vision of his mother (ala Hamlet) in Telemachus (p10). In Nestor this issue evolves into the perception of light, as Mr. Deasy points out “they sinned against the LIGHT…DARKNESS in their EYES.” (p10) all very telling clues, also interesting in light of the fact that Leopold Bloom is Jewish, it will be interesting to see the further connections and how sight and vision function in relation to him in the following chapters.
There are many references to bards throughout the first two sections. This seems to be in the vernacular, and at the close of Nestor Stephen thinks that “Mulligan will [him] a new name: the bullockfriending bard.” (36)
“-A merchant, Stephen said, is one who buys cheap and sells dear, jew or gentile, is he not?” (34)
To which Mr. Deasy replies:
“-They sinned against the light, Mr. Deasy said gravely. And you can see the darkness in their eyes. And that is why they are wanderers on the earth to this day.” (34)
Here, Gifford explains, Deasy is referencing the jews as the ‘Wanderers of the earth’ this is based on a Christine legend that a jew who reject s Christ at the time of the crucifixion is condemned to wander the earth until last judgment, or until the last of is race dies. (Gifford, 38) Comparing this reference to Stephen’s treatment of his mother makes this even more complicated. If we forget for a moment that Stephen in not Jewish, and proceed to compare him to the jew, it becomes clear that he has committed a sin, for not praying at his mother’s deathbed when it was her last request. Now he is doomed to wander until judgment. Perhaps this is a stretch.
Mr. Deasy’s lines introduce a truly traditional and classical theme: Sight; vision, seeing, foresight, and even prophecy. The whole novel is (I assume from what I have heard) based on perspective; who is telling the story and how their own personal beliefs, motives, and heritage (be it Irish or other) influence their perception of the story and ultimately the main characters. Stephen says: “history is to blame:” (30) which appears to be foreshadowing of what is to come, because the whole story is based on a history that is based on the Greek oral tradition of history- The Bard. There is a great emphasis on vision in every capacity; Stephen’s eyes are described as having “seacold eyes” (30) and there are numerous references to sight. Stephen has a vision of his mother (ala Hamlet) in Telemachus (p10). In Nestor this issue evolves into the perception of light, as Mr. Deasy points out “they sinned against the LIGHT…DARKNESS in their EYES.” (p10) all very telling clues, also interesting in light of the fact that Leopold Bloom is Jewish, it will be interesting to see the further connections and how sight and vision function in relation to him in the following chapters.
There are many references to bards throughout the first two sections. This seems to be in the vernacular, and at the close of Nestor Stephen thinks that “Mulligan will [him] a new name: the bullockfriending bard.” (36)
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