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The Importance Of Naturalism In Eveline

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"Eveline" is a short story in the genre of naturalism which means that it centres on life as it is and it stresses the importance of the environment and heredity in shaping human destiny. It was written by James Joyce in 1904 as part of a collection of portraits of people who lived in Dublin around 1900 titled "Dubliners". The story features only two main settings - Eveline's house and the port - and lasts only the span of one day. It was written by Joyce to show the monotonous lives of the people who lived in Dublin at the time.
Joyce was openly critical of Irish parochialism and he wrote "Eveline" to prove his belief that Ireland "does not permit the development of individuality," as the character Eveline is presented by Joyce to be the absolute epitome of Irish parochialism; rather than go after her ambition to leave Ireland for a better life, Eveline's life is lead by her sense of duty. We see this when Eveline doubts her ambitions, "In her home any way she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her," The simplistic reasoning that Joyce uses conveys the absolute autonomy of Eveline's life as her only reasons to not chase her ambition are basic requirements for most people's lives. Eveline, unfortunately, leads the stereotypical life for a woman in Ireland around that time as her life was ruled by her sense of duty and the men in her life rather than by her ambitions and herself. The reason Joyce did this was so he could share the

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