James Joyce structured Ulysses to correspond with events in Homer's Odyssey. The relationship between two principle characters in Ulysses, Leopold Bloom as a sonless father and Stephen Dedalus as a fatherless son parallels the circumstances of Odysseus and Telemachus. This interpretation of the relationship between Bloom and Stephen, however, does not account for a significant theme of Ulysses, that of motherhood. Despite the idea that Bloom is a father looking for a son and that Stephen is a son looking for a father, the desires of both of these characters go beyond that of a father and son relationship. Although Joyce makes it evident that Bloom is, in face, in search of a son, Bloom is more suited to assuming the role of a mother than a …show more content…
The intellectual Stephen even ponders the first mother of all life, Eve. Finally, Stephen says that "Amor matris," ambiguously defined as either a mother's love for her child or a child's love for the mother (Gifford, p.241), "may be the only true thing in life" (p. 207).
The emphasis on fertility in Ulysses also indicates the significance of motherhood. Stephen expresses his concern for the "Godpossibled souls that we nightly impossibilise, which is a sin against the Holy Ghost, Very God, Lord and Giver of Life" (p. 389). One of the narrators in 'Oxen of the Sun' echoes this sentiment with "Copulation without population! No, say I!" (p. 423) In this same episode, Mina Purefoy, the mother of numerous children, is currently in labor. The narrator of the episode and Stephen's acquaintances at the hospital beatify Mina Purefoy's husband for being a fountain of fecundity and for performing his "man's work" (p. 423). The reference to Molly as "Marion of the bountiful bosoms" by the anonymous narrator of the 'Cyclops' episode again emphasizes the focus on fertility (p. 319, italics mine). Finally, the importance of fertility is epitomized in the analogy between death and the woman who is no longer fertile: "Dead: an old woman's: the grey sunken cunt of the world" (p. 61).
Only Bloom's wife, Molly, offers a different perspective on the fertility issue. In 'Penelope,' Molly condemns the apotheosis of Mr.
storms of life” if Jacobs’s master catches her (114). The motif of motherhood recurs often
But this word “metempsychosis” that Joyce uses can also refer to both Bloom and Molly as the reincarnation of Odysseus(Bloom) and Calypso(Molly) and a reversed relationship between husband and wife. Leopold asuumes the role of the wife and at the same time the role of a captive man, while Molly assumes the role of the husband who stays in bed and asks for breakfast and the role of a captor
Milton’s Paradise Lost has been praised as being the greatest English epic of all time, most stunningly in its author's depiction of the parents of humanity, Adam and Eve. How Milton chose to portray the original mother and father has been a focus of much criticism with contemporary readers. One of the main subjects of these comments is in reference to Eve, who, according to many, is a trivial character that is most definitely inferior to her mate. Nonetheless, many do not recognize that, after the fateful Fall, she becomes a much more evolved character. When Eve is introduced to the storyline of the epic, her character is shallow and extremely undeveloped, meant simply for display. She is quite firmly set as being inferior to her mate
What can be said of the menacing literary masterpiece that is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is that the gender issues Joyce so surreptitiously weaves into Stephan Dedalus’s character create sizable obstacles for the reader to overcome. Joyce expertly composes a feminine backdrop in which he can mold Stephan to inexplicably become innately homosexual. As Laurie Teal points out “… Joyce plays with gender inversion as a uniquely powerful tool of characterization.”(63) Stephan’s constant conflict with himself and what he wants generate a need for validation that he tries to simulate through day dreams and fantasies but is ultimately unable to resolve. Through exploring the tones of characterization and the character development of
In this global era of evolving civilization, it is increasingly difficult to ignore the fascinating fact about love. Love is a feeling of intimacy, warmth, and attachment. Love is inevitable and it plays a vital role in human life as Janie uses her experience with the pear tree to compare each of her relationships, but it is not until Tea Cake that she finds “a bee to her bloom.” (106).
In the novel All Over but the Shoutin’ Rick Bragg shows the love and devotion of what every mother should have through his mother. The only woman that Bragg truly cares for and takes time out of his day is for his mother Margaret Marie. Bragg tries to do the best for his mother and tries his best to make her proud of him. Bragg learned early in life that his mother strived to give her children everything possible. For Mrs. Bragg her children are the reason she wakes up everyday and tries to make a better life for them.
She states that the wisdom of a mother benefits her sons immensely, for wise sons cannot exist without wise mothers, as the mother stays at home with the children most often, while the father works and earns wages for the family. So long as society degrades women in this way, she says, and treats them as slaves, their sons will grow up as fools, never to bring their fathers any pride. With pride in women comes pride in future generations, and that cannot occur unless and until men treat women more
In the beginning when Adam was created, God knew man needed a woman to fulfill the Earth so he made Eve. The household perception of society in the 1970’s was that men needed a woman to do everything for him. A husband went to his job and did nothing while his wife ran the household, cared for their children, including the husband himself. The wife rarely had time for herself and acted as a slave for her family. Judy Brady uses logos to connect with her audience in “Why I Want a Wife”.
Shortly after his mother's death, in place of Stephen Hero, Joyce wrote A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which was based on the events of his life (Gifford 160). In this largely autobiographical novel, Joyce wrote that "I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to force in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race" (Gifford 177). Joyce appears as the character Stephen Dedalus in this book. Like Joyce, Stephen finds himself in conflict with his family, the Roman Catholic Church, and the nationalistic zeal of the Irish people. Also, like Joyce, Dedalus leaves Ireland and wishes to become a writer (www.jamesjoyce.ie). By depicting Stephen with a mixture of irony and sympathy, Joyce suggests the special importance of the artist in the modern world.
In Raymond Carver’s story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” there is a wide array of opinions concerning the true definition of love. I believe that the character with the most absurd idea of love is Mel. Mel is Terri’s second husband. He claims to only believe in spiritual love. In his past, Mel spent “five years in seminary.” This is obviously what he bases his idea upon. Mel declares that if he could go back in time, he would enjoy being a knight in armor to shield him from other people. This reveals to me that Mel is emotionally closed off and concealed from other people. Furthermore, as seen through his wife, Terri, Mel does not have the passion inside him that is necessary to experience love. The only love that Mel does experience is the love toward his children, but that is love in a different sense. Loving his children is a natural instinct. They are born into his care, and are made with his own blood. His love for them was not searched for. It just came to be when they were born. Mel’s relationship with Terri, or any other women that he may have encountered in the past is distant and indifferent as to who they are inside. Mel’s ideas toward love are
James Joyce’s Dubliners is a compilation of many short stories put together to convey the problems in Ireland during that time. Many of his characters are searching for some kind of escape from Dublin, and this is a reoccurring theme throughout the stories. In the story “Little Cloud,” the main character, Little Chandler, feels the need for both an escape from Dublin and also from his normal everyday life. Gabriel, the main character in Joyce’s final story of the book, “The Dead,” desires a different form of escape than Little Chandler. He desires to escape his aunts’ party, and also at times, Dublin society. Although the stories
"From the time of my marriage to this day the love I have borne my wife has been sincere and unabated; and only those who have felt the glowing tenderness a father cherishes for his offspring, can appreciate my affection for the beloved children which have since been born to us" (22).
In a world in which abortion is considered either a woman's right or a sin against God, the poem "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks gives a voice to a mother lamenting her aborted children through three stanzas in which a warning is given to mothers, an admission of guilt is made, and an apology to the dead is given. The poet-speaker, the mother, as part of her memory addresses the children that she "got that [she] did not get" (2). The shift in voice from stanza to stanza allows Brooks to capture the grief associated with an abortion by not condemning her actions, nor excusing them; she merely grieves for what might have been. The narrator's longing and regret over the children she will never have is highlighted by the change in tone
In the story "The Dead" James Joyce gives his protagonist, Gabriel, a characterization through imagery and symbolism. He brings Gabriel into the perspective where the reader can understand him better through techniques and devices.
In the chapter entitled Nausicaa, one gets acquainted with Gerty MacDowell. She leans toward the seductive, sexual side which explicates her ability to entice. She uses these attributes to seduce Leopold Bloom. She is described as a, "winsome Irish girl" whose figure was, "slight, and graceful", thus does not hinder her allure yet adds to it. This chapter thrusts (no pun intended) into the open. Bloom recalls his sexual escapades with Molly on Howth Hill, and his interaction with the woman he mistook for a prostitute.