JAMES JOYCE - EVELINE (1904)
Audio file:
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SHE sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her
nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired.
Sedeva alla finestra osservando la sera che calava sul viale, con la testa appoggiata alle tendine e nelle narici l'odore
del cretonne polveroso; si sentiva stanca.
Few people passed. The man out of the last house passed on his way home; she heard his footsteps clacking along the
concrete pavement and afterwards crunching on the cinder path before the new red houses.
C'era poca gente per la strada. L'uomo che abitava nell'ultima casa passò rincasando; ne sentì i passi risuonare sul
cemento del marciapiede e poi scricchiolare più in là sul sentiero, davanti alle nuove case rosse.
One time there used to be a field there in which they used to play every evening with other people's children. Then a man
from Belfast bought the field and built houses in it – not like their little brown houses but bright brick houses with shining
roofs.
Un tempo in quel punto c'era un terreno, sul quale loro andavano a giocare con i bambini del quartiere. Poi venne un
tale da Belfast, che comprò il terreno e vi costruì delle case; non come le loro case piccole e scure: luminose case di
mattoni con ì tetti scintillanti.
The children of the avenue used to play together in that field -- the Devines, the Waters, the Dunns, little Keogh the cripple,
she and her brothers and sisters. Ernest, however, never played: he was too grown up. Her father used often to hunt them in
out of the field with his blackthorn stick; but usually little Keogh used to keep nix and call out when he saw her father
coming.
I ragazzi del viale erano soliti giocare insieme su quel terreno: i Devine, i Water, i Dunn, Keogh lo zoppetto, lei e i suoi
fratelli e sorelle. Ernest però non giocava mai: era troppo grande. Spesso suo padre li scacciava di lì col bastone di
pruno; ma di solito il piccolo Keogh restava a fare il palo, dando l'allarme non appena lo vedeva arrivare.
Still they seemed to have been rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was alive. That was
a long time ago; she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, too, and the
Waters had gone back to England. Everything changes. Now she was going to go away like the others, to leave her home.
Pure, ripensandoci, le sembrava che, a quei tempi, erano stati abbastanza felici; il padre non era ancora così cattivo, e
poi la mamma era viva. Ma tutto ciò apparteneva ad un tempo molto lontano; lei, i suoi fratelli e le sue sorelle erano
cresciuti, e la mamma era morta. Tizzie Dunn era morto anche lui, e i Water erano ritornati in Inghilterra. Tutto
muta; e lei ora stava per andarsene come gli altri, stava per lasciare la casa.
Home! She looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years,
wondering where on earth all the dust came from.
La casa! Si guardò attorno per la stanza, passando in rivista tutti quegli oggetti familiari che per tanti anni aveva
spolverato una volta la settimana, domandandosi da dove mai provenisse tutta quella polvere.
Perhaps she would never see again those familiar objects from which she had never dreamed of being divided. And yet
during all those years she had never found out the name of the priest whose yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the
broken harmonium beside the coloured print of the promises made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Forse non le avrebbe più riviste quelle cose, dalle quali non avrebbe mai immaginato di doversi separare. In tutti
quegli anni non aveva ancora scoperto il nome del prete la cui fotografia ingiallita era appesa alla parete sopra
l'armonium scordato, accanto alla stampa a colori raffigurante le promesse fatte a santa Maria Margherita Alacoque.
He had been a school friend of her father. Whenever he showed the photograph to a visitor her father used to pass it with a
casual word:
"He is in Melbourne now."
Era stato compagno di scuola di suo padre il quale, ogni volta che ne mostrava la fotografia a un visitatore, soleva
accennarvi con una parola buttata là: « È a Melbourne adesso ».
She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each side of the question. In her home
anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her.
Lei aveva acconsentito ad andarsene, a lasciare la sua casa. Era saggio ciò che faceva ? Cercava di vagliare la
questione da ogni lato. Dopotutto a casa sua aveva un tetto e di che nutrirsi; era attorniata da coloro coi quali aveva
vissuto fin dalla nascita.
Of course she had to work hard, both in the house and at business. What would they say of her in the Stores when they found
out that she had run away with a fellow? Say she was a fool, perhaps; and her place would be filled up by advertisement.
Miss Gavan would be glad. She had always had an edge on her, especially whenever there were people listening.
Certo doveva lavorare sodo, sia a casa che in negozio. Che cosa avrebbero detto di lei ai Magazzini una volta scoperto
che se ne era scappata via con uno sconosciuto? Probabilmente che era impazzita e al suo posto avrebbero assunto
qualcun altro attraverso un'inserzione. La signorina Gavan ne sarebbe stata contenta; era sempre stata pungente
verso di lei, specie in presenza di gente.
"Miss Hill, don't you see these ladies are waiting?"
"Look lively, Miss Hill, please."
« Signorina Hill, non vedete che le signore aspettano? » « Per favore, signorina Hill, un po' di vivacità! »
She would not cry many tears at leaving the Stores.
Non avrebbe versato molte lacrime nel lasciare i Magazzini.
But in her new home, in a distant unknown country, it would not be like that. Then she would be married -- she, Eveline.
People would treat her with respect then.
Nella sua nuova casa, in un luogo lontano e sconosciuto, non sarebbe stato così. Allora sarebbe stata sposata, lei,
Eveline, e la gente l'avrebbe trattata con rispetto.
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. She knew it was that that had given her the palpitations.
Non si sarebbe lasciata sopraffare come sua madre. Perfino ora, benché avesse diciannove anni compiuti, qualche
volta si sentiva in balia della violenza di suo padre. Per questo le erano venute le palpitazioni, 1o sapeva.
When they were growing up he had never gone for her like he used to go for Harry and Ernest, because she was a girl but
latterly he had begun to threaten her and say what he would do to her only for her dead mother's sake.
Negli anni della loro infanzia suo padre non le aveva mai messo le mani addosso, come faceva con Harry ed Ernest,
per che lei era una ragazza; ma più tardi aveva cominciato a minacciarla, dicendole che poteva ringraziare la
memoria di sua madre, se lui si tratteneva.
And no she had nobody to protect her. Ernest was dead and Harry, who was in the church decorating business, was nearly
always down somewhere in the country.
E ora non c'era più nessuno a proteggerla. Ernest era morto e Harry, che si occupava di decorazioni di chiese, era
quasi sempre lontano da casa.
Besides, the invariable squabble for money on Saturday nights had begun to weary her unspeakably. She always gave her
entire wages – seven shillings -- and Harry always sent up what he could but the trouble was to get any money from her
father.
Per di più la vivace discussione per i soldi, che si ripeteva invariabilmente ogni sabato sera, aveva incominciato a indebolirla oltre ogni dire. Lei dava sempre tutto il suo salario, sette scellini, e Harry contribuiva per quanto poteva, ma
il difficile consisteva nel cavar denaro al padre.
He said she used to squander the money, that she had no head, that he wasn't going to give her his hard-earned money to
throw about the streets, and much more, for he was usually fairly bad on Saturday night. In the end he would give her the
money and ask her had she any intention of buying Sunday's dinner.
Lui sosteneva che lei scialacquava il denaro, che non le avrebbe dato quello che guadagnava col sudore della fronte
perché lo buttasse dalla finestra, le diceva anche di peggio perché il sabato sera in genere era particolarmente
intrattabile. Finiva però col darglielo e le chiedeva se aveva o no intenzione di comprare qualcosa per il pranzo della
domenica.
Then she had to rush out as quickly as she could and do her marketing, holding her black leather purse tightly in her hand as
she elbowed her way through the crowds and returning home late under her load of provisions.
E lei doveva precipitarsi fuori in fretta e furia per la spesa, tenendo ben stretta in mano la borsa di cuoio nero, mentre
si faceva strada a gomitate tra la folla e rincasava sul tardi carica di provviste.
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.
Era un duro lavoro per lei quello di badare alla casa e stare attenta che i due fratellini che erano stati affidati alle sue
cure andassero a scuola regolarmente e avessero di che mangiare.
It was hard work -- a hard life – but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life. She was
about to explore another life with Frank.
Era un duro lavoro, una vita dura, ma ora che stava per lasciarla non le sembrava poi del tutto insopportabile.
Era in procinto di sperimentare una nuova vita con Frank.
Frank was very kind, manly, open-hearted. She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him
in Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for her.
Frank era molto gentile, risoluto, di animo aperto. Stava per scappare con lui col vapore della sera per diventare sua
moglie e vivere con lui a Buenos Aires, dove una casa tutta per lei l'aspettava.
How well she remembered the first time she had seen him; he was lodging in a house on the main road where she used to
visit.
Con quanta chiarezza ricordava la prima volta che lo aveva visto! Lui alloggiava nella via principale, in una casa che
lei era solita frequentare.
It seemed a few weeks ago. He was standing at the gate, his peaked cap pushed back on his head and his hair tumbled
forward over a face of bronze.
Sembrava che fossero passate poche settimane da allora. Lui era vicino al cancello, il berretto a visiera cacciato indietro sulla testa e i capelli scomposti che scendevano in avanti sul viso abbronzato.
Then they had come to know each other. He used to meet her outside the Stores every evening and see her home. He took her
to see The Bohemian Girl and she felt elated as she sat in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with him. He was awfully fond
of music and sang a little.
L 'aspettava ogni sera davanti ai Magazzini e l'accompagnava a casa. L'aveva portata a vedere La ragazza di Boemia,
e lei si era sentita fiera di trovarsi seduta accanto a lui a teatro, in posti che non le erano abituali. Lui amava molto la
musica e cantava anche un po'.
People knew that they were courting and, when he sang about the lass that loves a sailor, she always felt pleasantly confused.
He used to call her Poppens out of fun.
Tutti li sapevano innamorati, e ogni volta che lui cantava la canzone della ragazza che ama un marinaio, lei provava
un piacevole imbarazzo. Frank, per gioco, la chiamava Papavero.
First of all it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow and then she had begun to like him. He had tales of distant
countries.
Dapprincipio l'avere un corteggiatore le aveva dato un senso di eccitazione, poi aveva cominciato a volergli bene sul
serio. Parlava di paesi lontani;
He had started as a deck boy at a pound a month on a ship of the Allan Line going out to Canada. He told her the names of
the ships he had been on and the names of the different services.
aveva cominciato come mozzo per una sterlina al mese su una nave della Allan Lines che faceva servizio con il Canadà. Le elencò i nomi di tutte le navi sulle quali era stato imbarcato e i differenti compiti cui era stato adibito.
He had sailed through the Straits of Magellan and he told her stories of the terrible Patagonians. He had fallen on his feet in
Buenos Ayres, he said, and had come over to the old country just for a holiday. Of course, her father had found out the affair
and had forbidden her to have anything to say to him.
Aveva passato lo stretto di Magellano e le raccontò delle leggende sui terribili Patagoni. Aveva trovato la sua fortuna
a Buenos Aires ed era tornato alla vecchia terra natia giusto per una vacanza. Naturalmente il padre aveva scoperto
tutto e le aveva proibito di avere a che fare con lui.
"I know these sailor chaps," he said.
« Li conosco, questi marinai! »
One day he had quarrelled with Frank and after that she had to meet her lover secretly.
Un giorno era arrivato al punto di litigare con Frank, e da allora lei aveva dovuto incontrare il suo innamorato di
nascosto.
The evening deepened in the avenue. The white of two letters in her lap grew indistinct. One was to Harry; the other was to
her father. Ernest had been her favourite but she liked Harry too.
Si era fatto più buio sul viale, e il bianco delle due lettere che teneva in grembo diveniva sempre più indistinto; una
era per Harry, l'altra per suo padre. Ernest era stato il suo beniamino, ma voleva bene anche a Harry.
Her father was becoming old lately, she noticed; he would miss her. Sometimes he could be very nice. Not long before, when
she had been laid up for a day, he had read her out a ghost story and made toast for her at the fire.
Negli ultimi tempi suo padre aveva cominciato a invecchiare, lei se ne rendeva conto; avrebbe sentito la sua
mancanza. Anche lui qualche volta riusciva a essere gentile. Non molto tempo prima, un giorno che era indisposta, le
aveva letto una storia di spettri e aveva abbrustolito del pane per lei.
Another day, when their mother was alive, they had all gone for a picnic to the Hill of Howth. She remembered her father
putting on her mothers bonnet to make the children laugh.
Un 'altra volta, quando c'era ancora la mamma, erano andati tutti insieme alla collina di Howth per un picnic, e
ricordava che suo padre si era messo in testa il cappellino della mamma per far ridere loro ragazzi.
Her time was running out but she continued to sit by the window, leaning her head against the window curtain, inhaling the
odour of dusty cretonne.
Il tempo passava rapidamente, ma lei rimaneva lì seduta accanto alla finestra con la testa appoggiata alle tendine,
respirando l'odore del cretonne polveroso.
Down far in the avenue she could hear a street organ playing.
Le giungeva all'orecchio il suono di un organetto ambulante che suonava in distanza sul viale.
She knew the air Strange that it should come that very night to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep
the home together as long as she could.
Conosceva quel motivo. Strano che fosse capitato proprio quella sera a rammentarle la promessa fatta alla mamma di
tenere la casa unita il più a lungo possibile.
She remembered the last night of her mother's illness; she was again in the close dark room at the other side of the hall and
outside she heard a melancholy air of Italy. The organ-player had been ordered to go away and given sixpence. She
remembered her father strutting back into the sickroom saying: "Damned Italians! coming over here!"
Ricordava l'ultima notte della malattia della mamma: si rivide ancora nella stanza buia e chiusa dall'altra parte
dell'anticamera, mentre dall'esterno le giungeva il suono di una melanconica aria italiana. AI suonatore
dell'organetto erano stati dati sei pence ed era stato ordinato di allontanarsi. Riudiva suo padre, che rientrando nella
camera dell'ammalata, imprecava: « Maledetti italiani! Arrivano fin qui! ».
As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother's life laid its spell on the very quick of her being -- that life of commonplace
sacrifices closing in final craziness. She trembled as she heard again her mother's voice saying constantly with foolish
insistence: "Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!"
Mentre rifletteva, la pietosa visione della vita di sua madre, di quella vita di continui piccoli sacrifici quotidiani,
spentasi in un ultimo vaneggiare, raggiunse l'intimo del suo essere. Tremava, e le sembrava ancora di riudire la voce
della mamma ripetere continuamente e con insistenza maniaca:
«Derevaum Seraun! Derevdum Seraun!».
She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape!
Scattò in piedi presa da un improvviso impulso di terrore.
She must escape! Frank would save her. He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she wanted to live. Why should she be
unhappy? She had a right to happiness. Frank would take her in his arms, fold her in his arms. He would save her.
Fuggire! Doveva fuggire, Frank l'avrebbe salvata, le avrebbe dato la vita, forse anche l'amore. Soprattutto voleva
vivere. Perche avrebbe dovuto essere infelice? Aveva pur diritto alla felicità, e Frank l'avrebbe presa, stretta tra le
braccia, l'avrebbe salvata.
She stood among the swaying crowd in the station at the North Wall. He held her hand and she knew that he was speaking to
her, saying something about the passage over and over again.
Era in piedi tra la folla ondeggiante alla stazione di North Wall. Lui le teneva la mano, e lei sapeva che le stava
parlando, ripetendole di continuo qualcosa sulla prossima traversata.
The station was full of soldiers with brown baggages.
La stazione brulicava di soldati coi loro scuri bagagli.
Through the wide doors of the sheds she caught a glimpse of the black mass of the boat, lying in beside the quay wall, with
illumined portholes. She answered nothing.
Improvvisamente, attraverso le porte aperte delle tettoie, le apparve a tratti la massa immobile e nera della nave
accostata alla banchina, con gli oblò illuminati. Non rispose;
She felt her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her
duty. The boat blew a long mournful whistle into the mist. If she went, tomorrow she would be on the sea with Frank,
steaming towards Buenos Ayres.
si sentiva le guance pallide e fredde e, in un'angosciosa incertezza, pregava Dio che la indirizzasse, che le indicasse
qual era il suo dovere. La nave lanciò un lungo, 1ugubre sibilo nella nebbia. Se se ne fosse andata, domani si sarebbe
trovata in mare aperto II con Frank, diretta a Buenos Aires.
Their passage had been booked.
I loro posti erano già stati prenotati.
Could she still draw back after all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips
in silent fervent prayer.
Poteva ancora tirarsi indietro dopo tutto quello che lui aveva fatto per lei? L'angoscia le dava un senso di nausea, e le
sue labbra si muovevano in una silenziosa e fervida preghiera.
A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him seize her hand: "Come!"
Il suo cuore fu colpito dal suono di un campanello. Sentì che lui le afferrava la mano. «Vieni!»
All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he would drown her. She gripped with both
hands at the iron railing. "Come!"
Tutte le acque del mondo le precipitarono sul cuore. Lui la tirava verso quei marosi; l'avrebbe affogata. Si aggrappò
con entrambe le mani al parapetto di ferro. «Vieni!»
No! No! No! It was impossible.
No! no! no! Era impossibile.
Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she sent a cry of anguish. "Eveline! Evvy!"
Le sue mani stringevano spasmodicamente il parapetto. Tra le onde lanciò un grido di angoscia. «Eveline! Evvy! »
He rushed beyond the barrier and called to her to follow.
Lui fu sospinto al di là dei cancelli e le urlò di seguirlo.
He was shouted at to go on but he still called to her.
Gli gridarono di andare avanti, ma Frank continuava a chiamarla.
She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition.
Ella rivolse verso di lui il suo volto sbiancato, passivo, come di un animale smarrito. I suoi occhi non diedero un segno,
ne di amore ne di addio; non sembravano neppure riconoscerlo.
WORK ON THE TEXT
Contents
2. The story can be divided into two sections.
1. Section 1: lines 1-113: Eveline's considerations of her life.
2. Section 2: lines 114-140: Her moral failure, her impossibility to go away.
Find a heading for each of them.
3. Read the first section and complete all the activities suggested below.
1. Find out:
the setting in time and place: It is evening and the action takes place in Eveline's living-room;
how the interior of the room is described: Darkness and dust characterise the room;
how Eveline feels: She feels tired (lines 1-3).
2. Explain:
. what the world outside her window makes her think about:
The world outside her window makes her think about her childhood.
She remembers the field in which she and other children once played
until a man from Belfast bought it and built houses on it (lines 4-9).
Ernest, her older brother, was too old to join in their play and is now dead (lines 11-12).
. what role Eveline's father played in the past:
Eveline and the other children of the same avenue used to play and shelter by vigilance against
the inimical adult, Eveline's father (lines 9-16), who used to interfere with and spoil their play.
She also fears her father, because he is a violent and uncontrolled man
and she resents his parsimony.
She herself is only nineteen and there are two younger children still at home (lines 43-63).
However, at the beginning, he was not so bad.
. what objects the girl notices in her room and what feature these things share:
In the room where Eveline stands she notices the picture of a priest, a school friend of her
father's.
The priest has become a yellowing photograph;
the promises made to Blessed Mary Margaret Alacoque are next to his picture (lines 20-28).
All these objects are familiar to her and share their being old and dusty.
. how Eveline considers her job and what she thinks about her superior:
Eveline considers her job as a department store clerk dull and her superior abusive (lines 32-39).
She would not cry many tears at leaving the store (line 40).
. what she has agreed to become and why:
She has agreed to be Frank's wife and to leave her home (lines 30; 42).
. who Frank is and what his. job is: Frank is her boyfriend and he is a sailor (line 75).
. what the girl remembers about him:
She remembers Frank's courtship (lines 64-82), his being kind, open-hearted and lively.
He has a house in Buenos Aires (lines 64-65).
He was awfully fond of music and sang a little (line 73).
He used to call her Poppens (line 75).
. whether Eveline's father accepted the young man:
Eveline's father quarrelled with her boyfriend since he distrusted sailors (lines 82-84).
Because of that fight Eveline accepted to leave home and to go to Buenos Aires with Frank.
Now they had to meet secretly (lines 84-85).
. what the sound of the organ reminds her of:
The sound of a street organ reminds her of the night that her mother died,
and how her father had paid a street organ player to move off,
and how he had cursed all foreigners (lines 96-104).
. how she sees her mother's life and what her last words really meant to Eveline:
She sees her mother's life as a "life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness" (lines
106 - 107). Her mother's last words, meaningless but seemingly Gaelic, were: "Derevaun Seraun!
Derevaun Seraun!". Joyce passes over in silence the improbability that a Dublin woman of this
time and class would know Gaelic (lines 105-109).
. what Eveline is caught between throughout this part:
She is caught between a future far from her family with Frank and the passivity of her home
city.
. what the girl experiences and what she perceives her fate would be if she remained in Ireland:
Terror.
. what Frank represents to her: Frank is her rescue (lines 110-111).
4. Read up to the end of the story and answer the following questions.
1. Where is Eveline? She is on the quayside (banchina) (line 114).
2. Who surrounds her? A swaying crowd (line 114).
3. What happens when she is on the quayside? She is paralysed and is not able to get on board the
ship. “All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart!" (lines 126-134)
4. How does her relationship with Frank turn out to be? Her relationship with Frank turns out to be
a superficial one since she dare not take risks and she gives Frank "no sign of love or farewell or
recognition" (lines 135-140) as he urges her to follow.
5. What does the girl understand about her affections for her family and place? They are the most
important ones even if that place is a home with dusty curtains and that family contains a
frequently drunken and abusive father.
6. What is the effect produced by the last words of the story? The reader becomes aware of the end
of Eveline's dreams about an alternative life linked to love and freedom.
5. Concentrate on the narrator. Note down:
a. what kind of narrator it is: It is a third-person narrator.
b. whose point of view is adopted: Eveline's point of view is adopted throughout the story.
c. which peculiar technique is employed to give voice to Eveline's thoughts: Free indirect thoughts
(lines 20, 110, 131). He opens in medias res.
6. Focus on the character of Eveline.
1. Does Joyce introduce her in a traditional way? What is the reader obliged to do?
The character of the girl is not introduced in a traditional way since we are not given
information about her physical appearance, family and school. The reader is obliged to infer the
pieces of information from the development of her thoughts.
2. How does she appear? Why? She appears tired linked to stillness and paralysis, since she does
not move and her only life is her mind's.
3. Most of the story takes place in Eveline's mind, however her thoughts are not arranged in
chronological order and they wander from past to present and future. Fill in the table below with her
most important thoughts.
PRESENT
She sat at the window (line 1); she was tired (line 3); she looked out of the room (Line 20); she
tried to weigh... (lines 30-31); she had shelter and food (line 31); she felt herself in danger of her
father's violence (line 44); she has nobody to protect her (line 48); she gave her entire wages (line
53); her father was bad on Saturday night (line 56); she worked hard (line 60); letters to say
goodbye (line 89); she must escape (line 110); she stood motionless among the crowd on the
quayside (line 114); it was impossible for her to escape (lines 131-140); sent a cry of anguish (line
133); passive like a helpless animal (line 138).
PAST
She and her brothers used to play in the field (lines 9-16); her mother was dead (line 17); she had
dusted... (line 21); she had consented. . . (line 30); Frank's courtship (line 69); her father had
forbidden her love (line 83); life with her father (lines 90-94); her mother's last night (lines 109111).
FUTURE
Now she was going away (lines 18-19); she would never see again all the things in her living room
(lines 22-23); she would leave her job (lines 33-34); she would be married and have a new house.
She would be treated with respect (lines 41-43). She was about to explore another life with Frank
(line 64). She was to go away by night-boat and be his wife (line 66). Frank would save her (lines
110-111); She would be on the sea with Frank (lines 121-122).
4. Point out the most important images connected with these time references.
Eveline's present is linked to stillness and dust. Her past is connected with the death of her
mother. Her future has connections with a new life, perhaps love, action, the sea and escape.
5. A simile is used in lines 138-139 to describe the girl. Identify it. What does it add to the description
of Eveline's character?
Eveline is compared to "a helpless animal", since she is passive, paralysed unable to make up
any decision.
7. The access to the character's consciousness is provided by Joyce through the technique of epiphany,
that is "the sudden revelation of a hidden reality" through "casual words or events".
1. Focus on lines 95-101 and explain what revelation the girl has.
The sound of the street organ can be considered as the epiphany of this story; Eveline
remembers her promise to her mother and understands the emptiness and the meaninglessness
of her dreams and of her love.
2. The miserable life of Eveline's mother has influenced her decisions. Sum up the different phases of
the girl's decisions up to the final failure.
At first there is her plan of escape which coexists with her antithetical wish of getting on living in
her home; at the end there is the failure of her project of escaping and paralysis wins inside her
soul, probably too young to take any decision.
8. Eveline is a story of paralysis. Has this state of mind been determined by the girl's conflict either
between love and duty or between familiar boredom and a courageous break? Eveline is a simpleminded girl who can't escape the prison of her home and her father's authority.
9. Refer to Fiction in Welcome Module and explain whether Eveline can be considered a traditional
short story:
Eveline is a modernist short story since there is no introduction, the main character is presented
through her thoughts which provide information about her past and future life. The technique of
free direct speech is also employed.
10. In not more than eight to ten lines clarify the most important stylistic devices and the themes of the
Dubliners present in Eveline. Student's writing activity. Students should point out:
 the realistic description of places
 the use of a limited point of view
 presentation of the character from the inside
 use of a new concept of time
 use of epiphany
 the themes of paralysis
11. Does 'Eveline' still exist in our contemporary society? Discuss with the rest of the class. Student's
speaking activity.
Interesting video-lecture on “Eveline” (8:14)
http://www.oilproject.org/lezione/evelyn-joyce-trama-6252.html
J. JOYCE - A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (1916)
WHERE WAS HIS BOYHOOD NOW? (ch. 4) Lit & Lab p. 698
I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe,
whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some
mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I
allow myself to use - silence, exile, and cunning.
Ti voglio dire quello che farò e quello che no farò. Non servirò ciò in cui non credo più, si chiami questo
la casa, la patria o la Chiesa: e tenterò di esprimere me stesso in un qualche modo di vita o di arte quanto
più potrò liberamente e integralmente, adoperando per difendermi le sole armi che mi concedo di usare: il
silenzio, l’esilio e l’astuzia.
La sua anima era sorta dalla tomba dell'adolescenza, rigettando i suoi lini mortuari. Si! Si! Si! Avrebbe creato superbamente dal
fondo della libertà e della potenza della sua anima, simile al grande artefice di cui portava il nome, una creatura viva, nuova,
ascendente e bella, impalpabile, indistruttibile!
Balzò con uno scatto nervoso dal masso di pietra, non riuscendo più a soggiogare la fiamma del sangue. Si sentiva le guance
infuocate e la gola sussultare di canto. Provò un anelito di vagabondaggio, con quei piedi che ardevano di raggiungere i confini
della terra. Avanti! Avanti! pareva gridare il suo cuore. La sera si sarebbe abbuiata sul mare, la notte sarebbe discesa sulle
pianure, l'alba avrebbe schiarito la strada al vagabondo e gli avrebbe mostrato campi, colline e volti nuovi. Dove? He looked
northward towards Howth Guardò a settentrione verso Howth. […]
In un istante fu a piedi nudi, con le calze ripiegate in tasca e le scarpe di tela che gli penzolavano dalle spalle per le stringhe
allacciate: e raccogliendo dai relitti tra le rupi un bastone appuntito tutto roso dal sale, si calò giù per il pendio della gettata.
C'era sulla riva un lungo ruscello e risalendone lentamente a guado il corso, guardava ammirato l'incessante processione di
alghe. Verdi smeraldo, nere, rossastre, oliva, passavano sott'acqua, snodandosi e rotolandosi. L'acqua del ruscello era oscurata
dal passaggio incessante e specchiava le nuvole che passavano in alto. Le nuvole gli fluttuavano sopra e in silenzio i grovigli
d'erbe gli fluttuavano sotto, la grigia aria tiepida era tranquilla, una nuova vita selvaggia gli cantava nelle vene.
Dov'era adesso la sua adolescenza? Dov'era l'anima che si era ritratta dal suo destino per rimuginare solitaria la vergogna delle
sue ferite e addobbarla regalmente, nella sua dimora di squallore e sotterfugio, in drappi scoloriti e in ghirlande che a toccarle
appassivano? Dov'era quel suo io?
Era solo. Nessuno gli badava e lui era felice, accanto al cuore selvaggio della vita. Era solo e giovane e risoluto e selvaggio,
solo in un deserto di aria selvaggia e di acque salmastre, in mezzo alla messe marina di conchiglie e di ciuffi, alla luce grigia e
velata del sole, alle figure, vestite gaiamente e leggermente, di ragazze e bambine e alle voci infantili nell'aria.
Una ragazza gli stava davanti in mezzo alla corrente: sola e immobile, guardando verso il mare. Pareva una creatura trasformata
per incanto nell’aspetto di un bizzarro e bell'uccello marino. Le sue lunghe gambe nude e sottili erano delicate come quelle di
un airone e intatte, tranne dove una traccia smeraldina di alga era restata come un segno sulla carne.
Le cosce, più piene e sfumate come l'avorio, erano nude fin quasi alle anche, dove gli orli bianchi dei calzoncini erano come un
piumaggio di soffice peluria candida. Le sottane color ardesia erano audacemente rimboccate alla vita e le pendevano dietro a
coda di colombo. Aveva il seno come quello di un uccello, morbido e delicato, delicato e morbido come il petto di una colomba
dalle piume scure. Ma i suoi lunghi capelli biondi erano infantili e infantile, toccato dal miracolo della bellezza mortale, il suo
viso.
Era sola e immobile e guardava verso il mare e quando s'accorse della presenza di Stephen e dei suoi sguardi adoranti, gli volse
gli occhi in una tranquilla tolleranza del suo sguardo, senza mostrare né vergogna né civetteria. Per molto, molto tempo
sopportò il suo sguardo e poi con calma ritrasse gli occhi da quelli di Stephen e li piegò alla corrente, agitando leggermente qua
e là l'acqua col piede. Il primo lieve sussurro dell'acqua mossa leggera ruppe il silenzio, sommesso e lieve e come un bisbiglio,
sommesso come le campane del sonno; qua e là, qua e là e una fiamma lieve le tremolò sulla guancia.
-Gran Dio! -gridò l'anima di Stephen in uno scoppio di gioia profana.
Bruscamente le volse le spalle, incamminandosi attraverso la spiaggia. Aveva le guance infuocate. il corpo bruciante, le
membra in un tremito. Si allontanò sempre avanti, avanti, a gran passi, sulle sabbie, cantando selvaggio verso il mare, salutando ad alta voce l'avvento della vita che lo aveva chiamato ad alte grida.
L 'immagine della ragazza gli era entrata nell'anima per sempre e nessuna parola aveva rotto il sacro silenzio della sua estasi.
Quegli occhi lo avevano chiamato e la sua anima era balzata al richiamo. Vivere, errare, cadere, trionfare, ricreare la vita dalla
vita! Un angelo selvaggio gli era apparso, l'angelo della giovinezza e della bellezza mortale, un messaggero dalle giuste corti
della vita, per spalancargli innanzi in un attimo d'estasi le porte di tutte le strade dell'errore e della gloria. Avanti ! Avanti!
Avanti!
S’arrestò d’improvviso e udì il suo cuore nel silenzio.
WORK ON THE TEXT
Contents
2. Go through the extract and consider the references to the setting, then answer the following questions.
1. Where does this scene take place? It takes place on a shore (lines 13-14).
2. What is Stephen doing? He is gazing at the wild, beautiful scenery of the sea in front of him after he
has clambered down some rocks (lines 11-21).
3. Note down the lines where:
1. Stephen expresses his wish for the future; Lines 1 - 4.
2. he decides to wander along the beach; Lines 5-10.
3. he climbs down a sand slope; Lines 13-14.
4. he watches drifts of seaweeds along the beach; Lines 15-21.
5. he suddenly realises his boyhood is over; Lines 22-25.
6. his loneliness is in antithesis with the multitude of happy children in front of him; Lines 26-30.
7. a lonely, still girl appears in front of Stephen; Line 31.
8. the girl is compared to a bird; Lines 31-40
9. the girl and Stephen become aware of each other's presence; Lines 41-47
10. Stephen is excited at the sight of the girl; Lines 48 - 52.
11. Stephen recognises the existence of mortal beauty in this vision. Lines 53-59.
STRUCTURE AND STYLE
4. Focus on the narrative technique.
1. Who is the narrator of this extract? Whose point of view is adopted? The narrator is a third person and
Stephen's point of view is adopted.
2. Is there action in the usual sense of the term? What is the narrator more concerned with? There are not
any actions in the usual sense of the term since the narrator is concerned only with emotions (lines 1-4,
22-25, 53-58).
3. Find examples of free direct speech and state their function. Some examples can be found in lines 1-2
("Yes! Yes!"), 8 ("On! On!"), 22-25, 55 ("To live... of life!"), 58 ("On and.. .on''). These expressions
allow the reader to get directly in touch with the character's mind.
5. Consider the character of the girl.
1. Identify and explain all the images used to describe her.
IMAGES
MEANING
strange and beautiful sea-bird (lines 32-33)
softness, purity and freedom
her long legs.. .as a crane's (line 33)
purity and elegance
her tights .. .as ivory (line 35)
the white fringes... like featherings of soft white down (lines 36-37)
her bosom... soft and slight ... as the breast of ... dove (lines 38-39)
chastity and purity
2. Does this imagery convey a positive or a negative view of the girl? This imagery conveys a positive
image of the girl who becomes the symbol of purity and freedom. Only her hair turns out to be girlish
and her beauty becomes mortal.
3. What kind of mood does she create in Stephen? Stephen's reaction, which is described in physical terms
(lines 49.,.50), reveals intense emotion and excitement.
6. Epiphany in Joyce is "the sudden revelation of a hidden reality" through "casual words or events"
1. The image of the wading girl looking at the sea is an example of epiphany. What does it reveal about
Stephen's consciousness? It reveals his wish to break free from all the constrictions imposed by the
Catholic Church and the small world of Dublin. Several negative words and phrases are employed to
describe Stephen's negative boyhood: "the grave of boyhood" linked to "grave-clothes" (line 1), that is,
constrictions; "the shame of wounds... her house of squalor and subterfuge…at the touch" (lines 23-24)
are the images used to describe the squalor of Stephen's life in his hometown.
2. This moment of the boy's self-revelation is registered as "mystical". Explain this statement pointing
out words belonging to this semantic area. The expressions "Worship of his eyes" (line 42), "Heavenly
God" (line 48), "soul" (line 48), "holy" (line 53), "ecstasy" (line 54) belong to the semantic area of
'mysticism', which is antithetical to "profane joy"(line 48), ''A wild angel... and beauty" (lines 55-56).
This contrast points out Stephen's break with religion.
3. Consider the sentence: "To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life!" (line 55). It might be
considered a statement of Stephen's artistic creed, in which great emphasis is placed on error. Can you
think of a reason? Like Dedalus, Stephen wants to be an artist to enjoy creativity and freedom; but if an
artist has to escape from the labyrinth of his world, he is destined to be alone, an outcast.
7. The language of this extract can be considered poetic.
1. Joyce pays particular attention to sight and sound. Find expressions connected with these senses. All the
words and expressions used to describe the seashore are connected with sight; hearing is linked to
expressions like "voices childish" (line 29), "the first faint noise" (line 45), "On and On" (line 53).
2. Several sound devices are exploited. Identify them and explain how they affect the atmosphere of the
whole passage.
Onomatopoeia: hither and thither (line 45), on and on (line 53).
Repetitions: lines 1 and 8.
Alliterations: impalpable/imperishable (l. 4), soft/slight/slight and soft (line 38), first/faint (line 45), ...
Assonances: slender/legs (line 33), ...
All these sound devices contribute to underline the magic atmosphere created by the vision of the
wading girl.
8. In not more than ten lines point out the development of Joyce's style from Dubliners to A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man.
Student's writing activity.
9. Think about past experiences of yours. Whose influence became important in making your decisions? A
friend? Family? Teachers? Media? What / Who helped you make the right choices?
ULYSSES (1922)
“It is an epic of two races (Israelite-Irish) and at the same time the cycle of the human body as well as a
little story of a day (life). The character of Ulysses always fascinated me ever since boyhood. I started
writing it as a short story for Dubliners, fifteen years ago but gave it up. For seven years I have been working
at this book - blast it! It is also an encyclopaedia. My purpose is to transpose the myth sub specie temporis
nostri: each adventure (that is, every hour, every organ, every art being interconnected and interrelated in the
structural scheme of the whole) should not only condition but even create its own technique. Each adventure
is so to say one person although it is composed of persons – as Aquinas relates of the angelic hosts.”
(Letters I, 146-47 – C. Linati))
Read the definition of “mythical method” p. 665 (T.S.Eliot) and 702.
SCHEMA GILBERT:
Give an account of the following excerpt in English:
“Mentre autori come la Woolf impiegano il monologo interiore per dare significanza drammatica o lirica ad uno snodo della narrazione, Joyce
vi fa ricorso proprio per esprimere l'insignificanza e la banalità della vita quotidiana.
Ecco, dunque, perché questo Ulisse riesce là dove tutti falliscono. Mentre una generazione di grandi scrittori si lasciava sviare dal desiderio di
dare subito un senso allo stream, Joyce invece tirava diritto, accettando tranquillamente la sua scarsa funzionalità narrativa, e la sua immensa
banalità.
Il suo stream è il solo che non si vergogni di sé stesso. Non cerca di essere poesia. Accetta la banalità, e anche l'insignificanza. Non vuole
nobilitarsi, e dunque evita di annacquarsi. Egli riesce così a definire un nuovo orizzonte percettivo e simbolico: quello della modernità,
dominata appunto dalla banalità e dall'insignificanza dell'anonimato di massa. Ad esempio, nel monologo di Molly penetrano infiniti particolari
infimi e banali, da quelli della vita fisiologica più bassa alle considerazioni sulla gatta e sul cibo.
Il mondo dell'insignificanza entra così nella struttura narrativa. Il monologo interiore è la tecnica attraverso la quale esso trova per la prima
volta piena cittadinanza nella letteratura. Si tratta, come è ovvio, di una conseguenza culturale del freudismo, che valorizza la zona bassa del
sesso e quella oscura del sogno e della fantasticheria, comune a tutti gli uomini; ma è anche una conseguenza dei processi di massificazione e
di alienazione della vita contemporanea che hanno investito e trasformato l'uomo occidentale dagli anni dell'imperialismo a oggi. In un mondo
in cui regna l'insignificanza, il monologo interiore è lo stile più appropriato e, per certi versi, più realistico.”
Franco Moretti, “Opere mondo”, 1994
THE FUNERAL (PART II EPISODE 6 – HADES)
Mr Bloom s'era fermato dietro, col cappello in mano, a contare le teste scoperte. Dodici. Sono il
tredicesimo. No. Quel tale col macintosh è il tredicesimo. Il numero della morte. Da dove diavolo e
uscito? Non era nella cappella, ci giurerei. Sciocca superstizione quella del tredici.
Che bel tweed soffice quel vestito di Ned Lambert. Un'ombra di violetto. Ne avevo uno così quando si
abitava a Lombard street west. Una volta era un elegantone. Si cambiava tre volte al giorno. Devo far
rivoltare da Mesias quel mio completo grigio. Olà. È tinto. Sua moglie dimenticavo che non è sposato
o la sua padrona di casa gli avrebbero dovuto riprendere quei fili.
La bara scomparve, fatta scivolare giù dagli uomini a gambe spalancate sopra le assi gettate sulla
fossa. Si rialzarono scostandosi con fatica: e tutti si scoprirono. Venti.
Pausa.
Se a un tratto tutti fossimo qualcun altro.
Lontano un ciuco ragliò. Pioggia. Non tanto asino. Non se ne vede mai uno morto, dicono. Vergogna
della morte. Si nascondono. Anche il povero babbo se ne andò via.
Una dolce brezza spirava con un sussurro sulle teste scoperte. Sussurro. Il ragazzo a capo della fossa
reggeva la sua corona con ambedue le mani fissando tranquillamente il vano nero aperto. Mr Bloom si
portò dietro al corpulento bonario custode. Frac ben tagliato. Forse li soppesa con lo sguardo per
vedere chi se ne andrà per primo. Be' è un lungo riposo. Non sentire più. Solo al momento si sente.
Dev'essere diabolicamente spiacevole. Non ci si crede da principio.
Ci dev'essere un errore: qualche altro. Provate alla casa di fronte. Aspetti, volevo. Non ho ancora. Poi
la camera ardente abbuiata. Luce vogliono. Mormorio tutt'intorno. Vorresti il prete? Poi farneticante e
a vagare. Delirio quello che avevi nascosto tutta la vita. Lotta con la morte.
Il suo sonno non è naturale. Premere la palpebra inferiore. Guardare se il naso è affilato la mascella è
rilassata le piante dei piedi son gialle. Tirar via il cuscino e lasciarlo finire per terra giacché è
condannato. Il diavolo in quel quadro della morte del peccatore che gli mostra una donna. Muore dalla
voglia di abbracciarla in camicia.
AUDIO FILE:
http://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/valoris/5/THE_FUNERAL_-_SELECTION.mp3
WORK ON THE TEXT
Contents
1. Read the extract and arrange Bloom's actions and thoughts in the order in which they are presented. Then note
down the relevant lines.
1. Bloom stands in front of the grave. Line 1
2. He counts the people in front of him. Line 1.
3. He looks at Ned Lambert's suit and thinks about a similar suit of his. Lines 5-6.
4. The coffin disappears into the black hole. Line 10.
5. Bloom realises there are twenty gravediggers. Line 11
6. He hears a donkey braying in the distance. Line 14.
7. He remembers his father's death. Line 15.
8. He stands behind the portly kindly caretaker. Line 18.
9. He muses on mortality and the very moment of death. Lines. 19-28.
Structure and Style
2. Concentrate on the narrative technique of this passage.
1. Has the time of narration any link with chronological time? Why? The time of narration does not have any
link with chronological time.
2. Where does the action take place? In Bloom's mind where there is no difference between past, present and
future.
3. Some sentences describe the scene from the outside, others reproduce Bloom's thoughts. Underline them with
two different colours; then note down the two levels of narration specifying the points of view adopted.
a. 1st level of narration: The action is narrated from the outside (lines 1, 10, 14, 16-17); neutral point of view.
b. 2nd level of narration: Thoughts of Leopold Bloom; his point of view.
4. Consider the sentence structure throughout the passage. Some sentences are regular with a conventional use of
grammar; others lack subjects, verbs or are made by only one word. Decide which level of narration they belong to.
Regular sentences: 1st level of narration of external actions
Irregular sentences: Bloom's flow of thoughts.
3. Mr Bloom sees several bared heads in front of him; this turns out to be a stimulus which deviates the course of
his thoughts. Complete the sequence below in order to get a clearer idea of his "flow of thoughts".
bared heads  Thirteen  Unlucky number  Silly superstition that about thirteen. Ned Lambert's suit.  His
similar suit  He must get his grey suit turned by Mesias The coffin disappears  He sees twenty  He would
like to be somebody else  Far away a donkey brayed.  He has never seen a dead one donkey  Also his papa
died.  A gentle sweet air blows round the bared heads in a whisper.  The whisper of the boy by the grave-head
with his wreath  Mr Bloom moves behind the portly kindly caretaker  He watches the caretaker's well cut
frockcoat  Death is a long rest  You feel no more  The very moment of death must be damned unpleasant 
You can't believe it at first  He sees a darkened death-chamber  He hears people whispering around him  He
wonders if it is worth seeing a priest  The death is a struggle  His sleep is not natural.  It is possible to pull
the pillow away and finish it off on the floor since he's dead  There is a devil in that picture of sinner's death
showing him a woman  He dies embracing her.
4. How would you define the language and tone of the passage? The language is colloquial and the tone is ironic.
5. In not more than eight to ten lines compare this extract from Joyce's Ulysses to the Victorian novels you have
studied as regards:
a. setting in time and place;
b: narrative technique and points of view;
c. subject matter;
d. characters and language.
Student's writing activity. Students should use the data of the following table:
VICTORIAN NOVEL
JOYCE'S "ULYSSES"
Setting in time and place
Victorian towns (London)
Dublin
English countryside
Narrative technique
Third-person narrative technique
Stream-of-consciousness technique
Mythical method
Subject matter
Realistic, naturalistic
The character's mind
Characters
Presented from the outside
Presented from the inside
Language
Realistic and concrete
The language of the mind
6. Write down your flow of thoughts caused by an external trivial object. What does your paragraph communicate
to your classmates? Student's writing activity.
Ch. 18: PENELOPE - “Molly’s Monologue” (last 50 lines)
…I saw them not long ago I love flowers Id love to have the whole place swimming in roses God of heaven theres
nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and the waves rushing then the beautiful country with fields of
oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers
and lakes and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even out of the ditches primroses and
violets nature it is as for them saying theres no God I wouldnt give a snap of my two fingers for all their learning why
dont they go and create something I often asked him atheists or whatever they call themselves go and wash the
cobbles off themselves first then they go howling for the priest and they dying and why why because theyre afraid of
hell on account of their bad conscience ah yes I know them well who was the first person in the universe before there
was anybody that made it all who ah that they dont know neither do I so there you are they might as well try to stop
the sun from rising tomorrow the sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the rhododendrons on
Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat the day I got him to propose to me yes first I gave him the bit of
seedcake out of my mouth and it was leapyear like now yes 16 years ago my God after that long kiss I near lost my
breath yes he said was a flower of the mountain yes so we are flowers all a womans body yes that was one true thing
he said in his life and the sun shines for you today yes that was why I liked him because I saw he understood or felt
what a woman is and I knew I could always get round him and I gave him all the pleasure I could leading him on till he
asked me to say yes and I wouldnt answer first only looked out over the sea and the sky… (p. 591)
…le ho viste non è mica molto i fiori mi piacciono vorrei che la casa traboccasse di rose Dio del cielo
non c'è niente come la natura le montagne selvagge poi il mare e le onde galoppanti poi la bella
campagna con campi d'avena e di grano e ogni specie di cose e tutti quei begli animali in giro ti
farebbe bene al cuore veder fiumi laghi e fiori ogni specie di forme e odori e colori che spuntano anche
dai fossi primule e violette è questa la natura e quelli che dicono che non c'è un Dio non darei un soldo
bucato di tutta la loro sapienza perché non provano loro a creare qualcosa gliel'ho chiesto spesso gli
atei o come diavolo si chiamano vadano e si lavino un po' prima e poi strillano per avere il prete
quando stanno per morire e perché perché perché han paura dell'inferno per via della loro cattiva
coscienza ah sì li conosco bene chi è stato il primo nell'universo prima che ci fosse qualcun altro che
ha fatto tutto chi ah non lo sanno e nemmeno io eccoci tanto vale che cerchino di impedire che domani
sorga il sole il sole splende per te disse lui quel giorno che eravamo stesi tra i rododendri sul
promontorio di Howth con quel suo vestito di tweed grigio e la paglietta il giorno che gli feci fare la
dichiarazione sì prima gli passai in bocca. quel pezzetto di biscotto all'anice e era un anno bisestile
come ora sì 16 anni fa Dio mio dopo quel bacio così lungo non avevo più fiato sì disse che ero un fior
di montagna sì siamo tutti fiori allora un corpo di donna sì è stata una delle poche cose giuste che ha
detto in vita sua e il sole splende per te oggi sì perciò mi piacque sì perché vidi che capiva o almeno
sentiva cos'è una donna e io sapevo che me lo sarei rigirato come volevo egli detti quanto più piacere
potevo per portarlo a quel punto finché non mi chiese di dir di sì e io dapprincipio non volevo
rispondere guardavo solo in giro il cielo e il mare pensavo a tante cose che lui non sapeva di Mulvey e
Mr Stanhope e Hester e papà e il vecchio capitano Groves e i marinai che giocavano al piattello e alla
cavallina come dicevano loro sul molo e la sentinella davanti alla casa del governatore con quella cosa
attorno all'elmetto bianco povero diavolo mezzo arrostito e le ragazze spagnole che ridevano nei loro
scialli e quei pettini alti e le aste la mattina i Greci e gli ebrei e gli Arabi e il diavolo chi sa altro da
tutte le parti d'Europa e Duke street e il mercato del pollame un gran pigolio davanti a Larby Sharon e i
poveri ciuchini che inciampavano mezzi addormentati e gli uomini avvolti nei loro mantelli addormentati all'ombra sugli scalini e le grandi ruote dei carri dei tori e il vecchio castello vecchio di mill'anni sì
e quei bei Mori tutti in bianco e turbanti come re che ti chiedevano di metterti a sedere in quei loro
buchi di botteghe e Ronda con le vecchie finestre delle posadas fulgidi occhi celava l'inferriata perché
il suo amante baciasse le sbarre e le gargotte mezzo aperte la notte e le nacchere e la notte che
perdemmo il battello ad Algesiras il sereno che faceva il suo giro con la sua lampada e Oh quel
pauroso torrente laggiù in fondo Oh e il mare il mare qualche volta cremisi come il fuoco e gli
splendidi tramonti e i fichi nei giardini dell'Alameda sì e tutte quelle stradine curiose e le case rosa e
azzurre e gialle e i roseti e i gelsomini e i gerani e i cactus e Gibilterra da ragazza dov'ero un Fior di
montagna sì quando mi misi la rosa nei capelli come facevano le ragazze andaluse o ne porterò una
rossa sì e come mi baciò sotto il muro moresco e io pensavo be' lui ne vale un altro e poi gli chiesi con
gli occhi di chiedere ancora sì e allora mi chiese se io volevo sì dire di sì mio fior di montagna e per
prima cosa gli misi le braccia intorno sì e me lo tirai addosso in modo che mi potesse sentire il petto
tutto profumato sì e il suo cuore batteva come impazzito e sì dissi sì voglio Sì.
The most conspicuous deviations from the conventions of written texts are obviously the lack of punctuation,
division into sentences and absence of paragraphs. Without any interference by the narrator, this pure "stream of
consciousness" technique attempts to represent the natural, disordered sequence of thoughts and feelings as they
crop up in the individual mind. There is no apostrophe in the contracted verbs and there are some broken
sentences, especially at the end of the passage: see, for example, Shall I wear a red, my mountain flower…. But
if we consider the whole passage, we will note that sentences maintain the basic structure of subject - verb –
complement and we can not only define the setting (place: Molly’s bedroom – time: late night, early morning)
but also summarize the chain of “mind events”:
1) she loves flowers
2) she loves nature
3) she scorns atheists who cannot understand
4) she remembers that it was in the middle of a wonderful natural environment that Bloom conquered her
5) she remembers other previous loves during her Gibraltar days
6) her Gibraltar lovers mingle with her full self-giving to her husband
The impression we get that the passage is not grammatically correct derives from the fact that Molly's mind
continuously moves on from one topic to another. The various ideas that come to her mind are mingled with no
logical coordination or organization: words flow constantly and are arranged with no other basis than the free
uninhibited association of ideas (they might as well try to stop the sun from rising tomorrow the sun shines for
you he said…) , passing from past memories to future (plans for the day after: …or shall I wear a red…) and
finding in YES and flower functional connectors. But the most frequent connector between sentences in this
uninterrupted flux of thoughts is AND (repeated in the excerpt 67 times, while because is repeated twice). So
coordination is predominant which means that all the thoughts simply follow each other. But more than
thoughts, the most substantial part of the monologue is a sort of unorderly flash of SENSATIONS. There is only
one “philosophical” point, the one in which she seems to charge her husband with atheism, and in which she
enlarges the point as an ingenuous declaration of faith in God. This association that starts from her love for
nature and arrives to God discloses us a surprising religious woman (which is typical of Irish people) who loves
the gift of life, who loves creation.
Molly has nothing to worry about, she does not feel humiliated like Bloom, she has no enemies to fight against,
no aesthetic creed to declare, no book to write like Dedalus. Molly Bloom, the modern "Penelope", lives and has
lived her life to the full, in a sensual, acritical acceptance of love in its simplest and most physical aspects. The
memory of her first passionate love affair mingles with the memory of the day when she accepted Bloom's love
"on Howth head among the rhododendrons". Together the two memories form a joyous unconditioned
acceptance of the human condition. …O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes
like fire… could be the figurative echo of this merging: she lets the river of her thoughts flow into the sea. Once
again, form and content coincide. At a subconscious level, there is harmony, where all the disparate experiences
find their natural place. In doing so, the “tip of the iceberg” of real life reverses everything and in her finding
her husband hidden in the deepest of her mind, she becomes the faithful Penelope Joyce wanted to ridicule.
From the chaos arises the possibility of everything, new forms, new expressions, new life: this is why Molly has
been defined as the “life-enhancer”.
In line with the character of the protagonist, the passage is full of sensual descriptive details, as if Molly was a
single receiver reacting to all sorts of stimuli and vibrating with them all:
smell: perfume, flower, jessamine smell
touch: long kiss, put my arms, drew him down, feel my breasts, heart going like mad, half roasted
sight: Moors all in white, sea crimson, glorious sunsets, figtrees, pink and blue and yellow houses, jessamines,
geraniums, cactuses etc.
hearing: Spanish girls laughing - all clucking - big wheels - heart going like mad - castanets - Yes
taste: a bit of seedcake, fairy cakes
The same rhythm of the speech is a crescendo, since the repetition of “Yes” creates an increasing excitement:
the rhythmical placing of YES comes in fact at closer and closer intervals, culminating in the final “Yes” which
seems to be the definitive EPIPHANY (YES to life) summing up Molly’s sensuality.
Since this is the conclusion of the book, it can be assumed that Molly's intense assertion of her love for life and
her desire to love and to be loved makes up for the miseries, the meannesses, the squalor of the human
landscape, which the wanderings of Leopold Bloom, the modern Ulysses, have presented to our eyes.
Molly's whole monologue and these final pages reveal a woman whose main quality is the intensity of her
physical approach to life and to love. She is not an intellectual and is not particularly learned (note that she has
some problems with a difficult word like "atheists"); she lets her actions be ruled by instinctive good sense,
untroubled by particular moral concerns or by excessive expectations about the future. She says that what
attracted her to her husband was that she knew she could make him do what she liked (…and I knew I could
always get round him…): a reassessment of the Wife of Bath, that in its turn was paradoxically a Renaissance
invitation to accept an idealistic form of love able to metamorphose any heart.
She has been defined a "Magna Mater", an "earth-goddess", "Gea Tellus", and so on. All these definitions
underline the instinctive adhesion to life and the natural cycle of being of this passionate woman. The whole
chapter presents a circle, sign of perfection, since it begins and ends with the same word: YES. This is
NOSTOS, the coming back home, the harbour. All the events of the day, the whole range of human experience
have a final destination. Molly is the origin of man’s existence in her role as a mother as well as his objective in
her role as a lover.
Links to videos:
Video-lecture on “Ulysses” in general and “Molly’s soliloquy” in particular.
http://www.oilproject.org/lezione/analisi-ulisse-james-joyce-molly-bloom-monologo-interiore-7761.html
Short video on James Joyce (Loescher ed.)
http://www.loescher.it/isw/webtv/16177 (without subtitles)
http://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/valoris/5/James_Joyce_SUB.m4v
(with subtitles)
(if you can’t open the links, copy and paste them into your browser address bar)
Short video on Literary Dublin (Loescher ed.)
http://www.loescher.it/isw/webtv/16173 (without subtitles)
http://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/valoris/5/Literary_Dublin_SUB.m4v (with subtitles)
The street ballad “Finnegans Wake”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6CHq9mXkJ8
J. Joyce - Finnegans Wake 1939
Riverrun
The story begins in the evening and ends at dawn, for this is the story of a Dublin night, while Ulysses is the story of a Dublin
day. Earwicker Humphrey Chimpden, commonly known by his initials H. C. E., which may also stand for "Here Comes
Everybody", is the host of a pub. He goes to bed after drinking too much, like the Finnegan of the ballad, and he is tormented
by hundreds of dreams throughout night.
Finnegans Wake is without beginning and end: it has a circular structure which the writer openly demonstrates by starting his
narration with the last part of the sentence that he left unfinished on the last page.
The extract that follows comprises the three opening paragraphs of the novel. They are centred on the man's falling asleep; at
first the semi-conscious level can be detected, then the unconscious level overwhelms it.
Samuel Beckett, in one of the first critical commentaries on Finnegans Wake, announced that Joyce's “writing is not about
something. It is that something itself.”
riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of
recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. Sir Tristram, violer d'amores, fr'over the short sea,
had passen- core rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy isthmus of Europe Minor to
wielderfight his penisolate war: nor had topsawyer's rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselse
to Laurens County's gorgios while they went doublin their mumper all the time: nor avoice from afire
bellowsed mishe mishe to tauftauf thuartpeatrick not yet, though venissoon after, had a kidscad buttended
a bland old isaac: not yet, though all's fair in vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe.
Rot a peck of pa's malt had Jhem or Shen brewed by arclight and rory end to the regginbrow was to be
seen ringsome on the aquaface. The fall (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoo-hoordenenthurnuk!) of a once wallstrait oldparr is retaled
early in bed and later on life down through all christian minstrelsy.
fluidofiume, passato Eva ed Adamo, da spiaggia sinuosa a baia biancheggiante, ci conduce con un più
commodus vicus di ricircolo di nuovo a Howth Castle Edintorni. Sir
Tristram, violista d'amores, da sopra il mar d’Irlanda aveva passencore riraggiunto dall' Armorica del
Nord su questa sponda l'istmo scosceso d'Europa Minore per wielderbattere la sua guerra penisolata: né le
topsawyer's rocks presso il fiume Oconee s'altrerano ingrandite fino ai gorgi della Laurens County mentre
continuavano a raddublinare per tutto il tempo il loro mùmpero: né ’navoce da 'nfoco aveva soffiorato
mishe mishe al tauftauf tuseipeatrizio: non ancora, benché venisson dopo, una cadaglia aveva buttestato
un blando vecchio isacco: non ancora, benché tutto sia lecito in vanessità, le sosie sesterelle s'erano
adirate con un duun natangiò. Rutta un poco del malto di pa' Jhem o Shen avevano fatto fermentare con
luce d’arco e una rorida fine al regginbaleno si doveva ancora vedere ringsull'acquafaccia.
La caduta (bababadalkarakmennydorkamminarrronncaammbrontonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounaaskaatoohoohordenentornah!) di un già wallstretto oldparr viene riconta presto a letto e più tardi nella vita
attraverso tutta la menestrelleria cristiana.
Trad di Luigi Schenoni