1. At the end of “Telemachus,” Stephen decides to leave the Martello Tower. What factors lead to this decision? 2. In “Nestor,” how do Mr. Deasy’s views on women, history, Jews, and finances anticipate similar viewpoints of other characters in Ulysses? How do his ideas contribute to Joyce’s satiric intent […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsJames Joyce Biography
Born in Rathgar, a township of Dublin, on February 2, 1882, James Joyce was the oldest of ten children, five others dying in infancy. Joyce’s father, John Stanislaus Joyce (1849-1931), the prototype for Simon Dedalus of Ulysses, was a charming, bright, but improvident “Mr. Micawber” sort of man, one whose […]
Read more James Joyce BiographyCharacter Analysis Hugh Blazes” Boylan”
Molly Bloom presents the most complete picture of her lover of June 16, 1904, in “Penelope,” but other glimpses of Blazes Boylan are scattered throughout Ulysses. In fact, Boylan’s presence in Bloom’s mind is ubiquitous, and several times in the novel, Bloom’s thoughts of his rival call forth his physical […]
Read more Character Analysis Hugh Blazes” Boylan”Character Analysis Molly Bloom
The Penelope Episode of Ulysses presents a full picture of Molly Bloom, one told through her own sleepy thoughts. In “Penelope,” Molly emerges as a thoroughly real person: freely accepting her sexual self, jealous of other women, sometimes melancholic, demanding when dealing with a lover, and completely knowledgeable about her […]
Read more Character Analysis Molly BloomCharacter Analysis Stephen Dedalus
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen was treated with both irony and sympathy. Joyce admired his young protagonist’s battle against orthodoxy, but he also found Stephen’s intolerant cynicism a bit pompous. In Book Five of A Portrait, Stephen became a mock Christ figure, preaching his […]
Read more Character Analysis Stephen DedalusCharacter Analysis Leopold Bloom
The first impression that one has of Leopold Bloom, Joyce’s modern equivalent of Ulysses and also Joyce’s Wandering Jew, is that Bloom is as much of an outsider in Dublin as his prototypes were in their peregrinations through various foreign countries. Bloom is shut off from his Roman Catholic, often […]
Read more Character Analysis Leopold BloomSummary and Analysis Chapter 18 – Penelope
Summary In Homer’s epic, Odysseus is reunited with Penelope after he has slain the numerous suitors. At first, however, Penelope does not recognize her husband; she is convinced that he is indeed Odysseus, her husband, only after he is able to describe to her the construction of their bed, a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 18 – PenelopeSummary and Analysis Chapter 17 – Ithaca
Summary “Ithaca” takes place at Bloom’s house at 7 Eccles St. at about 2:00 a.m. on June 17. Bloom and Stephen discuss a huge variety of topics; Bloom makes Stephen cocoa (Joyce implies that this is a “communion”), and, after Stephen leaves, Bloom assesses his day’s activities and gingerly crawls […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 17 – IthacaSummary and Analysis Chapter 16 – Eumaeus
Summary In Homer’s epic, Odysseus meets with the faithful and hospitable swineherd Eumaeus after Odysseus has returned to Ithaca; shortly thereafter, Odysseus joins with Telemachus and slaughters Penelope’s suitors. In Joyce’s novel, a coffeehouse which is said to be run by Skin-the-Goat (James) Fitzharris provides a symbolic place for Bloom […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 16 – EumaeusSummary and Analysis Chapter 15 – Circe
Summary This episode of Ulysses is based more loosely upon Homer’s epic than are the other episodes in the novel. In Homer’s Odyssey, Circe turned Odysseus’s men into swine; Odysseus, however, never succumbed to Circe’s spells. In Joyce’s Ulysses, Circe (the symbolic female of this chapter) is Bella Cohen, and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 15 – Circe