Essay on Feminism in Dubliners

Dubliners by James Joyce is a collection of stories centered around Joyce’s intentions to write the moral history of Dublin’s paralysis. Although paralysis seems to be the main theme in Dubliners, another motif comes across in the pages of the stories. As if all of the mental, physical, and emotional problems weren’t enough, many of the characters in Dubliners are alcoholics. Joyce utilizes the character of the drunk in many of the stories in Dubliners; hardly a story skips a mention of a drink. The negative effects of alcohol occur again and again through the collection of stories. For the most part, men are brought down by their addiction to alcohol and their inability to control themselves when they are drunk. In Dubliners, the characters seek their own desires, face obstacles that frustrate them, and ultimately give in to their need to consume alcohol. With Dubliners, James Joyce brings attention to the different issues that consuming alcohol caused in early 20th century Ireland using three particular stories; “Counterparts”, “Grace” and “Ivy Day in the Committee Room”.

In Dubliners, women are victims indeed. They are victims of home, of the recognized virtues by society, of classes of life, of religious doctrines, and of women themselves. In this essay, we are going to analyze the portrayal of women in Dubliners in terms of the aforementioned aspects, namely home, the recognized virtues by society, classes of life, religious doctrines and women themselves.

In "Two Gallants," the sixth short story in the Dubliners collection, James Joyce is especially careful and crafty in his opening paragraph. Even the most cursory of readings exposes repetition, alliteration, and a clear structure within just these nine lines. The question remains, though, as to what the beginning of "Two Gallants" contributes to the meaning and impact of Joyce's work, both for the isolated story itself and for Dubliners as a whole. The construction, style, and word choice of this opening, in the context of the story and the collection, all point to one of Joyce's most prevalent implicit judgments: that the people of Ireland refuse to make any effort toward positive change for themselves.

James Joyce wrote Dubliners to portray Dublin at the turn of the early 20th century. In Dubliners, faith and reason are represented using dark images and symbols. James Joyce uses these symbols to show the negative side of Dublin. In “The Sisters,” “The Boarding House,” and “The Dead” dark is expressed in many ways. James Joyce uses the light and dark form of symbolism in his imagination to make his stories come to life.

“Women at Work” by Thomas Dublin is a case study that focuses on the workforce of the mills located in Lowell, Massachusetts. The author goes into depth about the experiences and lives of American women that faced the demands of industrial capitalism. Thomas Dublin explains in detail the beginnings of the mills that began in the nineteenth century around 1820. The production of the mills lead to the increasing number of women leaving their rural homes to work in the expanding mill towns. The transformation of the work is focused in detail about the social and economic aspects,and the effects it had on the community, workers, and the Irish.

Trapped in a world where mental anguish imprisons her, Eveline is another of James Joyce's paralyzed souls. Her life is full of ups and downs. Every day she struggles with burdens that she should not have to bear and when the opportunity comes for her to get away from this retched life, she denies herself the chance. The reasons why I feel Eveline did not leave for Buenos Aires with Frank is because she was obligated to her family, she was afraid of the unknown and she did not know how to receive love.

Dubliners (1914), by James Joyce (1882-1941) is a collection of short stories representing his home city at the start of the 20th century. Joyce 's work ‘was written between 1904 and 1907 ' (Haslam and Hooper, 2012, p. 13). The novel consists of fifteen stories; each one unfolds lives of the different lower middle-strata. Joyce wanted to convey something definite about Dublin and Irish society.

James Joyce’s “Eveline” is a short story about a nineteen-year-old Eveline, who contemplates abandoning a life she is accustomed to and moving to a distant land with a man she hardly knows. In one hand she holds the weight of uncertain happiness, in the other, inevitable misery. Eveline needs to make a choice between two contrasting lives; one in which she is a servant to her father, in other, a respected wife. Following her mother’s death, Eveline assumes the role of a parent and inherits all the chores accompanying it. She works hard at home and “the Stores” (Joyce 74), but for all her troubles, Eveline gets little respect in return. Now with one brother dead and other away on business, she is left alone to keep the family together and

change in her life by moving with her boyfriend Frank from her homeland of Ireland and making a life with him in Buenos Ayres. Joyce illustrates that one of our most inherent qualities as humans and one that Eveline displays is that we are resistant to change. Through Eveline's relationships with her father, Frank and various peripheral relationships, Joyce demonstrates to us how Eveline has come to have certain beliefs about change.

The short stories of Ireland are distinct and many times distinctly Irish. “The Limerick Gloves” by Maria Edgeworth, “The Pedlar’s Revenge” by Liam O’Flaherty, “The Poteen Maker” by Michael McLaverty, and “Loser” Val Mulkerns are each distinct Irish short stories that deal with Irish topics in original ways. These stories are stylistically and thematically Irish. They are moralistic and offer clear themes that pertain to Irish values. This analysis will explore the Irish-ness of the works and explore their meaning when held against Irish literary tenants.

Eveline’s idea of escaping the potential abuse from her father and starting a new life is the driving force of running away with Frank. Eveline cannot end up like her mother, who was rejected by the town people, she feels her only option is to escape with Frank. In the story, Eveline’s sudden impulse drives her to admit that Frank would save her if she goes with him east across seas. Her life would be so much better and complete, but what would her father think? Her father would reject her for trying to find her own happiness the same way her father has rejected Frank and forbidden her from seeing him.

Eveline's internal struggle illustrates clearly how one struggles between the past and the future, leading to the failure to escape. While weighing her options as to whether or not leave Dublin, Eveline remembers her mother's wishes: "Her promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could" (Joyce 40). Even though Eveline's home contains an abusive father, absence of family members, and the struggles of domestic work, she is unable to let go. Awaiting her a promised adventurous and free spirited life with her respectful and kind lover, Frank. He has the ability to rescue Eveline from a troubling past and allow her to enter a new phase in her life, liberated from the ugliness of Dublin. However,

Eveline loves Frank but his love proves not enough to free her from the cage of a lonely life she has become trapped in. Miserably alone, Eveline finds herself after the passing of her mother and living with a controlling alcoholic father.: “At the center of each story is the conscious decision-making process, the pros and cons of running away, the security of the hearth against the freedom of escape” (Putzel 5). Whether it is the promise she made her mother to take care of the family or her father that stops her from leaving, Eveline makes her choices based on the feelings and thoughts of others. After reading “Eveline” by James Joyce it is clear that Eveline Hill is longing for a new life, one that brings her face to face with adulthood struggles, leaving her literally stuck within her mind and dark surroundings.

In Joyce’s, “Eveline”, most of the story is situated in the mind of the main character, Eveline. Eveline is characterized as passive, easily-influenced, and indecisive. Joyce highlights Eveline’s indecisiveness as she struggles with her immediate predicament; should she leave her abusive father and disobey her duty as a daughter, or pursue a new life with her potential husband Frank, to be free? As she contemplates, readers are taken inside Eveline’s mind to discover factors from her past and present that contribute toward her final decision. While Joyce utilizes rich literary devices including symbolism and dramatic irony, Eveline’s final choice is based on what is repressed in her unconscious mind – her mother’s last words. Eveline’s mother’s last word “Derevuan Seraun” is the deciding factor in which why Eveline chooses stays home.

In James Joyce’s “Eveline”, Eveline remains in Dublin to care for her father, to take care of the house and the kids, and she realized she was already comfortable in her current home. Eveline has lived in Dublin her whole life in Dublin and has seen her siblings either leave home or pass away through time. Yet she remains in the house that she grew up in, experienced the changes in environment, changes in time, and the change in the people around her. She has seen her mother pass away, her father grow older and crueler. She has witnessed the field “in which they used to play every evening with other people’s children” be destroyed by a man from Belfast who “bought the field and built houses in it – not like their little brown houses but