Essay on Feminism in Dubliners

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.

    In the early twentieth century, Ireland, and more specifically Dublin, was a place defined by class distinctions. There were the wealthy, worldly upper-class who owned large, stately townhouses in the luxurious neighborhoods and the less fortunate, uneducated poor who lived in any shack they could afford in the middle of the city. For the most part, the affluent class was Protestant, while the struggling workers were overwhelmingly Catholic. These distinctions were the result of nearly a century of disparity in income, education, language, and occupation, and in turn were the fundamental bases for the internal struggle that many of Joyce's characters feel.

Throughout history, cultures’ perceptions of women have dramatically shifted, which has lead to movements such as the American feminist wave of the 1960s or the Irish feminist movement of recent years (Huth). These perceptual shifts in Irish culture were not organically created, but manufactured due to British involvement, choking the female empowerment movement before it could even begin. Irish feminism, particularly in terms of marriage, has, like much of Ireland’s infrastructure and modern advances, been choked by the antiquated nature of Ireland pre-Celtic Tiger, and this has led to a history of oppression in marriage that is sharply contrasted with the marriage laws and practices of mythology as well as the pre-British society based off these legends.

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.

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’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.

Literature, apart from being a channel to depict the author’s work and thoughts on a particular subject, is also interpreted as a medium to reflect norms, values, customs, and so on from different times in history. As stated by Milton C. Albrecht, literature reveals “the ethos of culture, the processes of class struggle, and certain facts of social facts.” (425) Through literary works, authors may be able to reflect their thoughts on specific issues, such as social injustices, or just point out the inequity between different social aspects, such as gender, class or social status. This essay, therefore, focuses on “Wifey Redux” and “Fjord of Killary”, two of Kevin Barry’s short stories from Dark Lies in the Island as well as on “Death of a Field” and “Number Fifty-Two” from Paula Meehan’s Painting Rain to show how inequities of class and social status in Irish society are visible through indirect reflections onto the natural and material worlds.

Authors often use literary techniques to convey a central theme in their writing. In his collection of short stories, Dubliners, James Joyce uses a multitude of literary techniques to communicate the ideas of escape and freedom. Joyce’s use of narrative perspective, selection of detail, and conventional diction in his short story “Eveline” allow him to express Eveline’s oppressive environment as well as her ultimate submissive nature to it.

The two primary female consciousnesses to which we, as readers, are given access to are Gerty MacDowell in the “Nausicaa” episode, and Molly Bloom in the “Penelope” episode. These women do not whatsoever dominate the novel in any terms, and rather are vehicles for Joyce’s expression of the feminine voice, which at the time was so often subdued or denied by the patriarchy. The repression of the female sexuality can be seen plainly in the consciousness of both Gerty MacDowell and Molly Bloom, however, both seek to strive out against the rules of female sexual

Joyce wrote “her promise to keep the home together as long as she could,” meaning that it was a struggle for her to keep her promises to her mom. Taking care of her home is a way in which Eveline was oppressed. Around the time the story took place there was a lack of women’s liberation. Women could not really do what they want when they want to, even if it means giving up on their happiness. Not only did Eveline have to keep the house together, she also had to take care of two young children. Joyce wrote “She had hard work to keep the house together and to see that the two young children who had been left to her charge went to school regularly and got their meals regularly.” Eveline was doing everything a wife’s job was around the time the story took place but she did not have a husband and younger children were not hers. She did not have no help from her father because in his mind all that she was doing was a women’s job and all he had to do is provide the money to help take care of the house.

She runs away in anguish as her husband chases her with a cleaver ready to end her at any minute. Mrs. Mooney is able to escape her husband’s attempt to kill and destroy her life. She has two adult children and attempts to start a new life with them by opening up a boardinghouse. Her reputation is already tarnished because her husband was known for being a mad drunk and she separated from the marriage which was a taboo of this time. Although in her time she was looked down upon for her actions, modern day feminist would have praised her because she was freeing herself. In the short story The Boardinghouse, by James joyce, Mrs Mooney would be praised by feminists for unapologetically breaking gender roles, but ironically she imposes those roles onto her daughter.

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.

To begin, the theme of paralysis evolved in the story through the symbolism of her parents, which is why she is unsure if she should leave with Frank and her uncertainty of her own motives for leaving. Eveline’s parents had a contentious relationship which causes her to question whether her relationship with Frank may end out the same. In Joyce’s “Eveline,” he writes, “She would not be treated as her mother had been. Even now, though she was over nineteen, she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence… Her father was becoming old lately, she noticed; he would miss her” (pg. 21-22). Throughout the story, Eveline thinks about how her parents relationship may translate into her own life. She is worried that leaving her father behind may devastate him when she seems to be scared of him still. She is stuck between leaving and staying displaying the theme of paralysis. According to the critic Golbarg Khorsand’s article “Paths to Paralysis: Symbolism and Narratology in James Joyce’s

There are many ways to interpret the short story "Eveline"; however, I feel this story is very meaningful. In the story, the 19 year old Eveline lives at home with her father and works at home and in their store in a small town in Dublin, Ireland. Her brother Ernest has passed and Harry was in the church decorating business and would help the family out by sending money. Eveline worked and would give all of the money she earned to her father. When her father did give her money, Eveline was expected to use that money to buy dinner so she could cook later that evening. In the beginning, Eveline’s father was more kind towards her, but after the mother and his son had passed, he took out his anger on Eveline and the other siblings. Eveline had taken her mother’s place, helping her siblings, cleaning, and cooking. At times she had fell under her father’s violence. At one time he threatens Eveline by saying what he would do to her only for her “mother 's sake.”(Joyce 598)She felt she had no one to protect her. When Eveline talks about her childhood she says how everything used to be and how everything has changed, also how everyone has left or passed on. Eveline then realizes that she to, was to go away like the others and leave her home. This leads to her looking around the room, and all of the familiar objects and thinks of how she may never see those familiar objects again in which she never had thought of being with out and away