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Dubliners
Context
James Joyce was born into a middle-class, Catholic family in Rathgar, a suburb of
Dublin, on February 2, 1882
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Nonetheless, Joyce attended a prestigious Jesuit
school and went on to study philosophy and languages at University College, Dublin
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In 1903 he returned to Dublin, where he met his future wife,
Nora Barnacle, the following year
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From 1905 to 1915 he and Nora lived in Rome and Trieste, Italy, and from
1915 to 1919 they lived in Zurich, Switzerland
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They returned to Zurich in 1940, where Joyce died in 1941
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With his aunt, the boy views the
corpse and visits with the priest’s mourning sisters
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“An Encounter”
Fed up with the restraints of school and inspired by adventure stories, two boys skip their
classes to explore Dublin
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A strange old man approaches
and talks to them, and his sexual innuendos make the narrator uncomfortable
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“Araby”
A young boy falls in love with his neighbor Mangan’s sister
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He and the girl finally talk, and she
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suggests that he visit a bazaar called Araby, which she cannot attend
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“Eveline”
A young woman, Eveline, sits in her house and reviews her decision to elope with her
lover, Frank, to Argentina
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As the moment of departure approaches, she reaffirms her decision,
but changes her mind at the docks and abandons Frank
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Upon returning to the city, they meet for a fancy
meal and then spend hours drinking, dancing, and playing card games
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“Two Gallants”
Lenehan and Corley walk through Dublin and discuss their plot to swindle a housemaid
who works at a wealthy residence
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Later in the night Lenehan goes to the residence
as planned and sees the girl retrieve something from the house for Corley
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“The Boarding House”
In the boarding house that she runs, Mrs
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Doran
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Mooney intercedes only when she knows
Mr
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Doran to discuss
his intentions
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Doran anxiously anticipates the conversation and the potential lifestyle
change that awaits him
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“A Little Cloud”
One evening after work Little Chandler reunites with his old friend, Gallaher
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Little Chandler imagines freedom
from his wife and child, but he feels ashamed about his thoughts and accepts his
situation
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Even though Farrington pawns his watch to replenish his empty wallet, he finds
himself spending all of his money on drinks for himself and his companions
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At home later that night, Farrington vents his anger by beating his son
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Afterward, she travels to the home of Joe Donnelly, whom she nursed when he was a
boy
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When she arrives
at the house, she realizes she has somehow lost the special plum cake she’d bought
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“A Painful Case”
Mr
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Sinico at a concert in Dublin
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Duffy cuts off the relationship when Mrs
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Duffy’s hand and putting it
against her cheek
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Duffy reads in a newspaper that Mrs
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He feels angry, sad, and uneasy as he remembers her, and he
finally realizes he lost perhaps his only chance for love
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The men complain about their late
paychecks and debate politics
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“A Mother”
An Irish cultural society organizes a concert series with the help of Mrs
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Mrs
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Holohan, so that her daughter is ensured payment for her piano
accompaniment
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Kearney, and she hounds the officers of the society for the money, making a spectacle of
herself and her daughter
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The men hope that this event will help Mr
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At the service, the presiding priest preaches about the
need for the admission of sins and the ability of all people to attain forgiveness through
God’s grace
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At the party, Gabriel
experiences some uncomfortable confrontations
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Finally, Gabriel sees Gretta enraptured by a song sung toward the
end of the party
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He sadly contemplates his life
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The narrator avoids showing outward emotions to his family
members, but he devotes his thoughts to the priest’s memory
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Father Flynn - The priest who dies in “The Sisters
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Old Cotter - The family friend in “The Sisters” who informs the narrator of Father
Flynn’s death
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“An Encounter”
“An Encounter” narrator - The young boy who endures an awkward conversation with
a perverted old man while skipping school
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When imaginary games fail to fulfill his yearning for
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adventure, he embarks on a real one with his friend Mahony by skipping school and
spending the day in Dublin, only to encounter fear
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” When Mahony and the narrator
rest in a field, a strange old man approaches them
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“Araby”
“Araby” narrator - The amorous boy who devotes himself to his neighbor Mangan’s
sister
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When Mangan’s sister tells the narrator about a
bazaar called Araby, the narrator decides to go there and buy something for her
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The narrator illustrates the
joys and frustrations of young love
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Mangan’s sister - The love interest in “Araby
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She suggests the familiarity of
Dublin, as well as the hope of love and the exotic appeal of new places
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Eveline makes a bold and
exciting decision to elope to Argentina with her lover, Frank, but ultimately shrinks away
from it, excluding herself from love
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“After the Race”
Jimmy Doyle - The upwardly mobile protagonist of “After the Race
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“Two Gallants”
Lenehan - One half of the pair of swindlers in “Two Gallants
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He excitedly partakes in the exploits of his friend Corley but also
laments the aimlessness of his hard living and lack of stability
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Corley - The scheming friend of Lenehan in “Two Gallants
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A police
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informant and skilled in taking advantage of women, Corley provides one of the most
critical and unsympathetic portraits of betrayal in Dubliners when he dupes the
housemaid into giving him a gold coin
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Mooney - The proprietor and mother from “The Boarding House
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Mooney firmly governs her own life, as
well as her daughter Polly’s
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She demands equal
treatment for men and women but also manipulates relationships to rid herself of her
daughter
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Doran - The lover of Mrs
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” A
successful clerk, Mr
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“A Little Cloud”
Gallaher - Little Chandler’s old friend who visits Dublin in “A Little Cloud
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His gruff manners and
forthright behavior contrast with Little Chandler’s delicacy
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” Little Chandler’s physical attributes match his name—he is
small, fragile, and delicately groomed
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He fleetingly
rebels against his domestic life after hearing about Gallaher’s exciting life, then
shamefully re-embraces it
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”
With his wine-red face and fuming temper, Farrington moves through Dublin as a time
bomb of rage
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His outlets
in life are drinking and fighting, a physical engagement with the world that typifies his
lack of care and thought
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Mr
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” Exasperated by Farrington’s poor
work, Mr
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He serves mainly to exacerbate Farrington’s frustrations and fuel
his anger
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Maria is precise and dedicated to
detail
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Her happiness, however, faces challenges in the smallest of events, and her
disproportionate reactions to small troubles suggest a remote detachment from life
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” Joe’s brief appearance in the story
provides a backdrop for Maria’s own concerns
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He therefore
serves as a sad figure of unhappiness
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Duffy - A solitary and obsessive man who eschews intimacy with Mrs
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” Disdainful of excess and tightly self-regulated, Mr
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His remorse over Mrs
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He is one of the most tragic protagonists of
Dubliners
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Sinico - Mr
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” After being shunned by him,
Mrs
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She once grasped
Mr
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“Ivy Day in the Committee Room”
Mat O’Connor - One of the political workers from “Ivy Day in the Committee Room
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Joe Hynes - Reads the poem about Parnell in “Ivy Day in the Committee Room
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John Henchy - The equivocating political promoter from “Ivy Day in the Committee
Room
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He suspects his boss of shirking the men
out of beer and paychecks, and he suspects Hynes of informing the opposing candidate
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“A Mother”
Mrs
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” One of the four female
protagonists in Dubliners, Mrs
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She orchestrates
her daughter’s upbringing as an exemplary proponent of Irish culture and poise, but she
has trouble dealing with Dubliners of different backgrounds and any challenges to her
authority
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Holohan - The befuddled secretary who organizes the musical concerts in “A
Mother
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Holohan is the subject of Mrs
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“Grace”
Tom Kernan - The out-of-luck businessman of “Grace
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He remains silent about his
accident, never questioning the men who were his companions that night
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Jack Power - Kernan’s friend in “Grace
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Mr
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“The Dead”
Gabriel Conroy - The protagonist from “The Dead
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He feels out of place due to his highbrow
literary endeavors
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Gabriel represents a force of control in the story, but his wife Gretta’s fond
and sad recollections of a former devoted lover make him realize he has little grasp on his
life and that his marriage lacks true love
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” Gretta plays a relatively minor role for
most of the story, until the conclusion where she is the focus of Gabriel’s thoughts and
actions
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Her pure intentions and loyalty to this boy unnerve Gabriel and generate
his despairing thoughts about life and death
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”
Molly Ivors - The nationalist woman who teases Gabriel during a dance in “The Dead
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” Julia has a grey and sullen appearance that combines with her remote, wandering
behavior to make her a figure sapped of life
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” Kate is vivacious but constantly worries about her sister, Julia, and the happiness
of the guests
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…………………………………………………………………………
Analysis of Major Characters

Gabriel Conroy, “The Dead”
Gabriel is the last protagonist of Dubliners, and he embodies many of the traits
introduced and explored in characters from earlier stories, including short temper, acute
class consciousness, social awkwardness, and frustrated love
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To
his aging aunts, he is a loving family man, bringing his cheerful presence to the party and
performing typically masculine duties such as carving the goose
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With
Miss Ivors, he stumbles defensively through a conversation about his plans to go on a
cycling tour, and he offends Lily when he teases her about having a boyfriend
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Such
qualities do not make Gabriel sympathetic, but rather make him an example of a man
whose inner life struggles to keep pace with and adjust to the world around him
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He carefully reviews his thoughts
and words, and he flounders in situations where he cannot predict another person’s
feelings
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He illustrates the tense intersection of social isolation
and personal confrontation
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When he dances with Miss Ivors, she interrogates him about his
plans to travel in countries other than Ireland and asks him why he won’t stay in Ireland
and learn more about his own country
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While each story implicitly or explicitly
connects the characters’ hardships to Dublin, Gabriel pronounces his sentiment clearly
and without remorse
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Gabriel delivers his own message not only to Miss Ivors but
also to himself and to the readers of “The Dead
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In the final scene of the story, when he intensely
contemplates the meaning of his life, Gabriel has a vision not only of his own tedious life
but of his role as a human
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Her
dilemma does not illustrate indecisiveness but rather the lack of options for someone in
her position
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So close to escape,
Eveline revises her view of her life at home, remembering the small kindnesses: her
father’s caring for her when she was sick, a family picnic before her mother died
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When faced with
the clear choice between happiness and unhappiness, Eveline chooses unhappiness,
which frightens her less than her intense emotions for Frank
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Eveline holds an important place in the overall narrative of Dubliners
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Eveline is also the first central adult character
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Her story, rather than being
limited by the first-person narration of earlier stories, suggests something about the
hardships and limitations of women in early twentieth-century Dublin in general
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Other female characters in Dubliners explore
different harsh conditions of life in Dublin, but Eveline, in facing and rejecting a lifealtering decision, remains the most tragic
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He experiences paralyzing, mechanical repetition day after day as a copy
clerk, and his mind-numbing tasks and uncompromising boss cause rage to simmer inside
him
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The
root of Farrington’s problem is his inability to realize the maddening circularity that
defines his days
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No one part of his life can serve as
an escape from any other part because each element has the potential to enrage him
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He slips away from work
as he pleases, insults his boss, and matter-of-factly pawns his watch to buy alcohol
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This lack of mindfulness
about the consequences of his actions spills over into Farrington’s anger, over which he
appears to have little or no control
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Mr
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Eveline, too, chooses her familiar routines instead of leaping into the
unknown, even though those routines are far inferior to the possibilities before her
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As
the brutal bully of Dubliners, Farrington shows what can happen when a life consists
primarily of mindless repetition: sooner or later violence will surface, and those who
witness or are subject to the violence may themselves act violently in the future
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Like
the narrator of “An Encounter,” he yearns to experience new places and things, but he is
also like Eveline and other adult characters who grapple with the conflict between
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everyday life and the promise of love
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However, his inability to actively pursue what he desires
traps him in a child’s world
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The “Araby” narrator is the last of the first-person
narrators in Dubliners, all of whom are young boys
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The Prison of Routine
Restrictive routines and the repetitive, mundane details of everyday life mark the lives of
Joyce’s Dubliners and trap them in circles of frustration, restraint, and violence
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The young boy of “An Encounter” yearns for a respite
from the rather innocent routine of school, only to find himself sitting in a field listening
to a man recycle disturbing thoughts
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Farrington’s
work mirrors his social and home life, causing his anger—and abusive behavior—to
worsen
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The most consistent consequences of following mundane routines are loneliness and
unrequited love
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In “A Painful Case” Mr
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Eveline, in the story that shares her name, gives up her chance at
love by choosing her familiar life over an unknown adventure, even though her familiar
routines are tinged with sadness and abuse
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The Desire for Escape
The characters in Dubliners may be citizens of the Irish capital, but many of them long
for escape and adventure in other countries
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The schoolboy yearning for escape and Wild West
excitement in “An Encounter” is relegated to the imagination and to the confines of
Dublin, while Eveline’s hopes for a new life in Argentina dissolve on the docks of the
city’s river
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More often than offering a literal
escape from a physical place, the stories tell of opportunities to escape from smaller,
more personal restraints
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In “Two Gallants,” Lenehan wishes to escape his life of schemes, but
he cannot take action to do so
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Doran wishes to escape marrying Polly in “A
Boarding House,” but he knows he must relent
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The Intersection of Life and Death
Dubliners opens with “The Sisters,” which explores death and the process of
remembering the dead, and closes with “The Dead,” which invokes the quiet calm of
snow that covers both the dead and the living
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Encounters
between the newly dead and the living, such as in “The Sisters” and “A Painful Case,”
explicitly explore this meeting point, showing what kind of aftershocks a death can have
for the living
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Duffy, for example, reevaluates his life after learning about Mrs
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In other stories, including “Eveline,” “Ivy Day
in the Committee Room,” and “The Dead,” memories of the dead haunt the living and
color every action
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The dead cast a shadow on the present, drawing attention to the mistakes and failures that
people make generation after generation
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The monotony of Dublin life leads Dubliners to
live in a suspended state between life and death, in which each person has a pulse but is
incapable of profound, life-sustaining action
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Paralysis
In most of the stories in Dubliners, a character has a desire, faces obstacles to it, then
ultimately relents and suddenly stops all action
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Such immobility fixes the Dubliners in cycles of experience
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Eveline freezes like an animal, fearing the
possible new experience of life away from home
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The opening
story introduces this motif through the character of Father Flynn, whose literal paralysis
traps him in a state suspended between life and death
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Epiphany
Characters in Dubliners experience both great and small revelations in their everyday
lives, moments that Joyce himself referred to as “epiphanies,” a word with connotations
of religious revelation
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Rather, these epiphanies allow
characters to better understand their particular circumstances, usually rife with sadness
and routine, which they then return to with resignation and frustration
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For example, in “Clay,” during
the Halloween game when Maria touches the clay, which signifies an early death, she
thinks nothing of it, overlooking a moment that could have revealed something about
herself or the people around her
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At the end of “The Dead,”
Gabriel’s revelation clarifies the connection between the dead and the living, an epiphany
that resonates throughout Dubliners as a whole
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Betrayal
Deception, deceit, and treachery scar nearly every relationship in the stories in Dubliners,
demonstrating the unease with which people attempt to connect with each other, both
platonically and romantically
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Mooney traps Mr
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Doran dreads the union but will meet his
obligation to pursue it
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Concerns about betrayal frame the conversations in “Ivy Day in the
Committee Room,” particularly as Parnell’s supporters see his demise as the result of
pro-British treachery
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All of the men in “Ivy Day” display wavering beliefs that suggest betrayal
looms in Ireland’s political present
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This feeling evokes not only the sense of
displacement and humiliation that all of these Dubliners fear but also the tendency for
people to categorize many acts as “betrayal” in order to shift blame from themselves onto
others
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In the first
story, “The Sisters,” Father Flynn cannot keep a strong grip on the chalice and goes mad
in a confessional box
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The strange man of “An
Encounter” wears the same clothing as Father Flynn, connecting his lascivious behavior,
however remotely, to the Catholic Church
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In “Grace,” Tom
Kernan’s fall and absent redemption highlight the pretension and inefficacy of religion—
religion is just another daily ritual of repetition that advances no one
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The presence
of so many religious references also suggests that religion traps Dubliners into thinking
about their lives after death
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Windows
Windows in Dubliners consistently evoke the anticipation of events or encounters that are
about to happen
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The suspense for these
young boys centers in that space separating the interior life from the exterior life
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Both Eveline and Gabriel turn to windows when they reflect on their own
situations, both of which center on the relationship between the individual and the
individual’s place in a larger context
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No streams of sunlight or cheery landscapes
illuminate these stories
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Characters walk through Dublin at dusk, an in-between time that hovers between
the activity of day and the stillness of night, and live their most profound moments in the
darkness of late hours
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In this state, life can exist and
proceed, but the darkness renders Dubliners’ experiences dire and doomed
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In “A Painful Case,” Mr
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Sinico’s death
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” The party meal in “The Dead” might evoke conviviality, but the rigid order
of the rich table instead suggests military battle
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Food in Dubliners allows Joyce to portray his characters and their experiences through a
substance that both sustains life yet also symbolizes its restraints

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