Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
BATA, Kristine Joy BAYANI, Diana Beatriz CHUA, Adelle DALAGAN, Judith DONES, Antonio Miguel LICUP, Kimberley SIOSON, Minette TUBALLA, Terese UY, Marianne 3 May 2012 LIT188 British Literature Under Danton Remoto
THE AUTHOR
Biography of James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 in Brighton Square Dublin. He was the eldest child of ten children. His parents were John Stanislaus Joyce and Marry Jane Murray. The father had a secured job in the office of the collection of taxes and was able to provide for a comfortable life for the family. While the mother was 10 years younger than her husband and was strongly Catholic in her religious beliefs. When Joyce was 6 years old his tutelage under the Jesuits began in Clongowes Wood College and then at Belvedere College. Then in 1898 he enrolled at the University College. During the years in the University he became fascinated with the Drama of Ibsen. He also learned Norwegian in order to write a letter to him. And in 1900 his review of Henrik Ibsens New drama was published in the Fortnightly Review. Ibsen even sent him a letter of appreciation for the said review of his play. He graduated in 1902 and decided to go to Paris in order to study medicine. But he went back to Dublin when he received news that his mother was dying from cancer. Not long after her death Joyce met Nora Barnacle in 1904. Their relationship developed until they married in 1931 and they had two children, Giorgio and Lucia. In March 1923 he started working on a novel that would become his last work. Extracts of the work appeared as A Work in Progress but the final version that was published in 1939 became Finnegans Wake. After the fall of France in WWII, Joyce returned to Zurich, where he was taken ill. He was diagnosed of having a perforated duodenal ulcer. Then on January 13, 1941 he died after the operation. Joyce was buried in Zurich at Fluntern cemetery. List of Works Dubliners is a collection of short stories written in 1904-1907 and published in 1914. The stories incorporate epiphanies which he meant a sudden consciousness of the "soul". This soul he is pertaining to is the split moment wherein the essential nature of a person, object or moment is perceived all at once. The first 3 stories in the collection are narrated in the first person with a child protagonists and as the stories continue they are told by a third person whose tone and sensibility deal with the lives and concerns of progressively older people. This is in line with Joyce's tripartite division of the collection into childhood, adolescence, and maturity, however, let us not trivialize this structure. Dubliners is not merely a group of short stories structured in sequence to human development. James intended the novel to be read as a side by side
THE STORIES
THE SISTERS Literal Meaning: The Sisters talks about a certain boy and his close relatives. They are saddened, shocked and numbed by the death of a well-priest of their community in Great Britain. The death of the priest has the greatest impact on the boy, as the boy saw the priest as his teacher, mentor, confidant, and friend. In simpler terms, The Sisters is about the experience of losing someone important through the eyes of a child. Figurative Meaning: The Sisters is composed of two main characters namely, the unnamed boy and Father James Flynn. There are also minor characters such as Old Cotter, the boys aunt and uncle, Nannie, and Eliza. They deepen other elements of the story like the plot and setting. First, the unnamed boy will be discussed. He is portrayed as a young child, probably seven to ten years of age. Proof of this is the minor characters referring to him as a child or boy. (They say it was the boys fault atpage 10) (The youngster and he were great friends. at page 2). Despite this portrayal, the child thinks of himself as more mature than he really is, saying that he was angry for Old Cotter for alluding to me as a child (at page 3). This view of the boy, that he is more mature then he really is, may be attributed to Father Flynns teaching him of fields of study (such as Latin and Catechism) that he couldnt fully grasp due to his tender age. This idea of not being able to grasp or understand can also be seen in the way that the boy sees Father Flynns actions. Although he doesnt understand why Father Flynn does some of the strange things that he does, the boy does not doubt, fear or question him as they have grown much attached to each other. This can be seen in the part where the boy tells of Father Flynns habit of uncovering his big discoloured teeth and letting his tongue lie upon his lower lip when he smiles. The boy goes on to tell the readers that Father Flynn had very strange habits that made him feel uneasy before I knew him too well. This shows how close the relationship between the boy and Father Flynn had become over time. Perhaps, too close. All these give an image of a boy who thinks that he is mature enough to face lifes realities but in truth, is too young and nave to grasp and understand lifes truths.
ARABY The story of Araby is a short story written by James Joyce as a part of his book, Dubliners. The tale itself reflects a structured, but very realistic narration that suggests a slice-oflife sort of scenario for the characters. The language used by Joyce in its creation is seems to be neither flowery, nor blunt but rather, chosen specifically to deliver his intended story and the underlying themes. In effect, the manner by which the story is told is a reflection of the era and the society that influenced the writer; the lingering pragmatism resulting from the Industrial Revolution, the quickening shift to realist and secular belief systems. In the literal sense, the story appears to be linear. The protagonist is a boy, neither a child anymore nor quite yet an adult, narrating a portion of his life, the sensory experience of the streets he was growing up in. He spoke of day to day occurrences, and of attraction, the stirrings of a boy that isnt quite yet a man, towards someone in his community. The storyline is undeviating, jumping from one point of time in the boys life to the next, detailing his nearlymissed adventure to the titular Araby which is something of a fair, and his disappointment upon seeing it mostly closed. Close reading, however, will reveal a far deeper interpretation to the little details in the story. The narrator and protagonist mentioned the death of the priest. Little details such as the passing mention of his death, and the brief mentions of room in which he died, play a small role in the story. Which, in retrospect, may be likened to the idea of God is Dead by Friedrich Nietzsche (Holub, 24-28) with the priest being representative of the Christian faith. This is further expounded upon by the presence of the Araby fair, which seemed to be more of a travelling, gypsy affair than something sanctioned by the church. In Ireland, the authors home country and the setting of the story, the primary religion is Christianity and for years, the church has been protective of its dominion, and many fairs were likely seen as superfluous and base (Heal, 134-177). The aunts objection to the fair being a Freemason affair only seems to round the point out.
EVELINE Eveline is about a young woman, Eveline Hill, who contemplates leaving her desolate life and running off with a sailor, but who changes her mind at the last minute. The story is told in the third person but the narrator is omniscient: it knows exactly what is going on in the mind of Eveline. There are two distinct parts of the story. First, Eveline surveys her present life, compares it with the past and ponders her future. Second, and this is more narrative in nature, Eveline is at the port with Frank, and in the end decides not to go with him to Buenos Ayres after all. From her reflections we gather several details about Eveline. The house where she is living in is the same house she grew up in. She had a normal childhood she had friends, playmates, and her mother provided love and nurturing in the family even as her father was already beginning to show signs of violence.
IVY DAY IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM Point of View The story is told by a third person point of view whose tone and sensibility deal with the lives and concerns of progressively older people. The subject of the story is about politics in Ireland in the early 20th century. Title The title is called ivy day because it commemorates the death anniversary of Charles Parnell. Charles Stewart Parnell was born on June 27, 1846 in Avondale County Wicklow. He was an Irish Nationalist, land reform agitator, leader and founder of the Irish Parliamentary Party and for some the Uncrowned King of Ireland. From 1875-1891 he was a member of the British Parliament. His greatest contribution for Irish politics would be when he led the fight for the Irish Home Rule. The purpose of the said movement was to repeal the Acts of Union of 1800, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, so as to liberate Ireland from the United Kingdom. But his leadership was questioned when he was named in the divorce papers between Captain OShea and his wife, Katherine. Apparently he was having an affair with Katherine OShea. The scandal eventually led to the to the split of the Irish Parliamentary Party and he was replaced as leader. However the said issue did not stop him from traveling through the country giving speeches about the Irish issues. But due to exhaustion he died in October 6, 1891. During his funeral the Dubliners wore the ivy growing by his grave in their lapels that became his symbol. Setting The story was set on October 6 in the early 20th century in the Committee Room in Wicklow Street. The Committee Room was Tierneys campaign headquarters. The Committee Room was described as denuded. There was a small table in the middle of the room where papers were heaped and the chairs where placed near the fireplace. The walls were bare except for a
During the early 20th century, women were still considered to be inferior among men. They are seen as objects that men display on their arms for the world to see. In the short story, one can see how patriarchy is moulded into the story, though not in the conventional manner, but rather in a ironic, twisted manner. Patriarchy is defined to be the control by men of a disproportionately large share of power. Patriarchy can be seen repeatedly within the story, but it may not be as simple as mere domination of manhood, its ironically twisted. At the start of the story, we see Gabriel trying to make small talk with Lily, the one who welcomes visitors and takes their coats, about her love life, at which he was replied that men only want one thing and they use their charms to get it with great bitterness. As a man, also as an educated person who works in a universitythis implies that he is knowledgeable, he couldve easily defended himself and say that men werent all as she makes them out to be. Instead, he turns coward and to appease Lily he gives her a coin as a Christmas gift and hurriedly left the uncomfortable conversation. Another episode we see in the story that somehow show how Gabriel sees himself as the one in authority is his demand that Gretta wear goloshes in her boots in concern of her health. Goloshes, in the story, was said to have come from the ContinentEast where Gabriel usually travel to. In a lot of ways, it is implied that the women do not travel anywhere outside Ireland and yet they are quite aware that galoshes was somewhat of a current fad in the East, thus showing that they are rather knowledgeable. This, in turn, contradicts Gabriels view of himself as a learned person, who have travelled to the East. Joyce said once that:Travel is adventure in the lands to the East, and travel is the pursuit of power. And yet, in the story, the wom en whove never travelled outside of Ireland, much less to the east were knowledgeable in their own way. Another episode that contradicts the theme of patriarchy is Miss Ivory, who is a colleague and a fellow teacher at the university. Miss Ivory insulted Gabriel to be a West Briton (a derogatory term for someone who is fond of the English culture and tradition; usually applied to Protestant Dubliners with loose moral issues) for writing a review of Robert Brownings poem in
10
Considering the historical context, it was evident that a re-occurring theme was tradition. It was essential to Ireland that they maintain their sense of identity through their rituals and traditions. The very events that occurred throughout the dinner party were traditional. The characters themselves could not tolerate any changes to the event proper. The very beginning of the novella emphasized the painstaking meticulous effort it took to uphold the tradition. Never once had it fallen flat, it presumes. Their society looked at small occasions of defiance with disdain, as seen in the scene describing Lily, the caretakers daughter: But the only thing they [Aunt Julia and Aunt Kate] would not stand was back answers. The characters strictly adhered to the sequence of past vents, the very fact that Freddy Malins, a difficult drunkard to handle under the influence of alcohol, was invited despite the fact that he is a potential threat to the order of the party says a lot about the rigidity of tradition. Even factors which contribute potential discourse are present just to preserve the aspects of the Irish tradition. During the dinner itself, Freddy threw his opinion about negro chieftains in the air and everybody did not know how to react. He dubbed the negro chieftain he has heard as one of the finest tenor voices I have ever heard. D Arcy politely tried to veer away the attention from him by avoiding Freddys questions about the negro chieftain. Is it because hes only a black? He asks. The racial discomfort emanated throughout the room and nobody answered this question. The use of the word only has many implications. The manner in which Freddy phrased his sentence presupposes that he knew how the Irish participants would most likely react to a colored fellow among them. During the same discussion, there was much praise for the grand old operas, the Dinorrah and the Lucrezia Borgia and how it was pointless to bring back the level of greatness they would exude because old talents were gone. Why did they never play the grand old operas now?...Because they could not get the voices to sing them, thats why. The essence of tradition persisted so much so that the tradition of having major operas would not be continued unless the original opera singers would sing themselves. The epitome of a sign for tradition existed in the proceeding of his speech, where situational irony prevailed. The whole speech was in contrary of what was happening around him. He spoke of the Irish qualities of humanity, hospitality and kindly humor which belonged to an older day that he was quite clearly not receiving. Lily the caretaker, who was supposed to
11
12
13
Ingersoll, Earl G. Engendered Trope in Joyce's Dubliners. South Illinois: Southern Illinois University, 1996.
James Joyce, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, April 28, 2012, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/306875/James-Joyce. James Joyce, Works, April 28, 2012, http://www.jamesjoyce.ie/listing.asp?id=14. Turner, Bryan. Orientalism, Postmodernism and Globalism. London: Routledge, 1999. Wynne, Catherine. The Colonial Conan Doyle. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
14