Transcript How to Read The Dead

Dubliners 1914, after 10 years delay
James Joyce (1882 – 1941)
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Intended as a moral
chapter
Most stories were
written when Joyce
was 22;
15 stories
“The Dead” as a
crowning piece (at
the age of 25)
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The Movie version 1987
Directed by John Huston (1906 –1987)
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received 15 Oscar
nominations,
winning twice
directed both his
father, Walter
Huston, and
daughter, Anjelica
Huston to Oscar
wins in different
films.
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The Dead
John Huston’s “Swan Song”
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The Dead is a 1987
film directed by John
Huston, starring his
daughter Anjelica
Huston as Gretta.
The Dead was the
last film that Huston
directed, and it was
released
posthumously.
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"Huston directed the
movie, at eighty,
from a wheelchair,
jumping up to look
through the camera,
with oxygen tubes
trailing from his
nose to a portable
generator”
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Swan Song
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The phrase "swan
song" is a reference to
an ancient belief that
the Mute Swan (Cygnus
olor) is completely mute
during its lifetime until
the moment just before
it dies, when it sings
one beautiful song.
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an idiom referring to a
final theatrical or
dramatic appearance, or
any final work or
accomplishment. It
generally carries the
connotation that the
performer is aware that
this is the last
performance of his or
her lifetime, and is
expending everything in
one magnificent final
Aunt Julia’s Swan Song
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Aunt Julia’s song,
“Arrayed for the Bridal,”
a colora’tura so’prano
‘aria, is ironic in that
she is unmarried and,
as Columbia’s Hurt
suggests, “her only
bridegroom is death”
(Columbia “Arrayed”
Lyrics).
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Gabriel’s response:
Followed the sound
without looking at
her face
http://www.themod
ernword.com/joyce/j
oyce_paper_warren.
html
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Aunt Julia
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Aunt Julia’s hair, drawn low over the
tops of her ears, was grey; and grey
also, with darker shadows, was her
large flaccid face. Though she was stout
in build and stood erect, her slow eyes
and parted lips gave her the
appearance of a woman who did not
know where she was or where she was
going.
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Background
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Joyce completed this story in Rome in 1907; it was
the last to be written. Because of the content of
some of the dialogue in the story, we can assume it
took place in the first week of January in 1904,
probably between January 2nd (Saturday) and
January 6th (Wednesday). The characters speak of
the party as taking place after New Year's Eve but
still during Christmas time, which would last until
January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany (Twelfth
Night). The date of 1904 is accepted because they
talk about Pope Pius X's recent (November,1903)
Motu ‘Proprio. --Wallace Gray
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Ellmann’s Essay online
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Biographical approach contributes to
interpretations
Karen DiYanni’s example in her analysis of
Kafka;
Richard Ellmann --A revised edition of the
biography was published in 1982. He edited
My Brother's Keeper; by Stanislaus Joyce, and
was co-editor with Ellsworth Mason of The
Critical Writings of James Joyce. Read
Ellmann online.
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The Feast of Epiphany
Epiphany (from Koine Greek
(ἡ) ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia "appearance",
"manifestation") is a Christian feast day
that celebrates the revelation of God in
human form in the person of Jesus
Christ. It falls on 6 January or, in many
countries, on the Sunday that falls
between 2 January and 8 January.
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Epiphany, a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight
into the reality or essential meaning of something,
usually initiated by some simple, homely, or
commonplace occurrence or experience.
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The Greek tradition
The climactic
moment when a god
appears and
imposes order on
the scene as in
Greek dramas
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The Christian
tradition
a Christian festival,
observed on January
6, commemorating
the manifestation of
Christ to the gentiles
in the persons of the
Magi; Twelfth-day.
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Decode the Title
Allusion & a Method
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One of the most
popular and well-known
books of poetry at the
time was Thomas
Moore's Irish Melodies,
written during the
period 1807-34. It is
generally conceded that
the title of this story
comes from a poem in
that volume.
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Robert Scholes’ essay:
“Counterparts and the
Method of Dubliners”
online (as warrant,
something
authoritative);
Counterpoint as a
method of music
composition;
Wei’s theory: the law of
the shadow
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Counterpoint
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In music, counterpoint is the relationship
between two or more voices that are
independent in contour and rhythm and are
harmonically interdependent. It has been
most commonly identified in classical music,
developing strongly during the Renaissance
and in much of the common practice period,
especially in Baroque music. The term
originates from the Latin punctus contra
punctum meaning "point against point".
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Colonialism & Colonization
Loss of Independence
Especially a spiritual one
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Colonialism in Ireland
Joyce’s works were
written at the peak of
Irish nationalism to
search for an identity,
national as well as
personal;
Irish nationalism as
represented by Molly
Ivors, an intellectual
equal to Gabriel;
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Colonization in other
forms (a much more
generalized concept)
By an idea (The Tipping
Point);
By a religion;
By cultural practice;
By political party lines;
By habits
By drugs…
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Joyce at 50
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“Signatures of all
things, I am here to
read.” James Joyce,
Ulyless
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To read means to
question, to
interpret, to make
inferences
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Lily 158
Literary Reasoning is associative
with its additional information embodied in its diction;
These associations are directional and intentional;
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Easter Lily: resurrection, rebirth;
Flowers used at a funeral, hence
associated with death,
Associated with the Archangel Gabriel
Lily of the Valley or Madonna lily in
Renaissance art
The Virgin’s chaste purity at the
Annunciation
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Lily & Gabriel
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Archangel is a term
meaning an angel of
high rank.
Gabriel is named an
archangel in the Holy
Bible's New Testament
book, Luke.
Gabriel, traditionally
named as an archangel,
delivering the
Annunciation. Painting
by Paolo de Matteis,
1712.
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Lily’s ‘solecism (Showing mode in writing,
indirect, suggestive, subtler)
a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage
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Lily…was literally
run off her feet.
Here the narrator
has adopted Lily’s
style of speaking;
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159: Gabriel noticed
right away that Lily
added one syllable
to Gabriel’s last
name—Conoroy—
instead of Conroy;
160: poor grammar
in her speech;
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Subtle Suggestiveness
at the level of diction
in literary reasoning
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Morke means
“darkness” in
Danish;
The dark gaunt (of
places, bleak or
desolate) house;
Toddling: tod in
German means
“death”;
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Usher Island, an
ordinary Liffeyside
(River Liffey in
Dublin means a river
of life) quay or a
wharf, a structure
on the shore of a
harbor where ships
may dock to load
and unload cargo or
passengers.
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River Liffey
The Liffey (An Life in Irish) is
a river in Ireland
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Showing vs. Telling
in narrative
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The first paragraph
is an example of
scene writing in
which narrative is
more descriptive;
Note the parallel
structure in the last
sentence--158;
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The second
paragraph is an
example of narration
executed in the
telling mode: more
summative, offering
more background
information about
the annual dance;
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Parallel structure 158
and rhyme
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Miss Kate and Miss Julia were there,
gossiping and laughing and fussing,
walking after each other to the head of
the stairs, peering down over the
banisters and calling down to Lily to ask
her who had come.
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Point & Supporting Point
Developing an idea in writing
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158: Thought their life was modest they
believed in eating well. (a topic sentence
that summarizes the main idea at a more
general level.
Further developing the idea by evidence:
more specific—
1. diamond-bone sirloins;
2. three-shilling tea;
3. best bottled stout (a dark, sweet brew)
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What are you eating?
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Lily’s ‘solecism
Showing vs. Telling
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159: “back answers” means “retort”
Register in language usage: Register in
Linguistics refers to a variety of
language typically used in a specific
type of communicative setting: an
informal register; the register of
scientific discourse, etc.;
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Hy’perbole or exaggeration
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159: …and that was
what brought them
every two minutes
to the banishers to
ask Lily had Gabriel
or Freddy come.
Rhetorical effect:
intensification of
anticipation;
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Understatement:
the act or an instance
of stating something in
restrained terms, or as
less than it is
Less for more
Understatement is a
staple of humor in
English-speaking
cultures, especially in
British humor.
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Three mortal hours 159
Killing two birds with one stone
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Mortal reminds us of
mortality, of death,
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Simultaneously it
reveals something
about Gretta, a
woman who could
spend a long time
dressing up, getting
ready for a party like
this;
Showing vs. telling
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Kate and Julia came
toddling down…159
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Tod in German
means “death”;
Subtly suggesting
death is part of our
life; around the
corner, could
happen any time;
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In the meantime, it
suggests the two
aunts are getting
old;
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A is as right as B 159
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Irish mail is
punctual;
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A touch of irony:
since Gabriel
showed up late for
the party;
Undercutting his
credibility;
Plus, he called out
from the dark…
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Galoshes/Goloshes & Frieze 159
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Goloshes as a text:
Gretta’s reading;
Aunt Julia’s reading;
Gabriel’s attitude;
Goloshes as a
metaphor: how to
take care of
ourselves?
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Frieze: a heavy
woolen fabric with a
rough surface,
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Faux pas for False Step
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A faux pas (pronounced /ˌfoʊˈpɑː/, plural:
faux pas /ˌfoʊˈpɑː(z)/) is a violation of
accepted social norms (for example, standard
customs or etiquette rules). Faux pas vary
widely from culture to culture, and what is
considered good manners in one culture can
be considered a faux pas in another. The
term comes originally from French, and
literally means "false step".
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Faux pas for False Step
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This expression is usually used in social and
diplomatic contexts. The term has been in
use in English for some time and is no longer
italicized when written. In French, it is
employed literally to describe a physical loss
of balance as well as figuratively, in which
case the meaning is roughly the same as in
English. Other familiar synonyms include
gaffe and bourde (bourde, unlike faux pas,
can designate any type of mistake).
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Innocent but insensitive
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Innocent moves
Gabriel asked Lily in a
friendly tone (160)
Habitual response to a
situation, calloused by
one’s profession;
The second question is
stereotyping, assuming
a young girl, once out
of school, will marry
someone;
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Unintended
consequences
Lack of empathy of
how others feel;
The assumption is
made from Gabriel’s
perspective since he
is an teacher;
Naturally he will ask
questions about
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Lily’s Paralysis
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Lily got stuck where she is: poorly
educated, doing a low-paying job;
Paralyzed by her failed romance;
Hasty generalization about men, about
love, about relationships;
One bad experience can’t stand for all;
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Their grade of culture
differed from his. 161
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Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12
December 1889) was an English poet
and playwright whose mastery of
dramatic verse, especially dramatic
monologues, made him one of the
foremost Victorian poets.
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Dramatic Irony
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Dramatic irony involves the reader (or audience)
knowing something about what's happening in the
plot, about which the character(s) have no
knowledge. Dramatic irony can be used in comedies
and tragedies, and it works to engage the reader, as
one is drawn into what is happening. The audience
may sympathize with the character, who does not
know the true situation. Or, the reader may see the
character as blind or ignorant (as with Oedipus). The
clues may be rather obvious, but the character may
be unwilling to recognize the truth.
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Puckers and Creases 161
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to gather or contract
(a soft surface such
as the skin of the
face) into wrinkles
or folds, or (of such
a surface) to be so
gathered or
contracted
2. a wrinkle, crease,
or irregular fold
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Cadence 161 Note h
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Cadence refers to the rhythmic flow of
a sequence of sounds or words
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Their favorite nephew 161
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Gabriel’s only rival is his brother, the
priest, who did not appear at the party
Significant by his absence;
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Viand and Sweets 164
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Joyce's use of this rather dramatic,
uncommon term for "food" raises interesting
questions. Unlike "food" it derives from the
Latin vivere (to live), but if it is an example of
stylistic inflection it is not clear which
character would use such a word -- perhaps
Mr. Browne or the caretaker? The repetition
of the equally formal term "sideboard" may
suggest a banquet (or funeral) setting of an
earlier time.
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Pansy 165
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Probably a combination of purple,
yellow and white after the flower Viola
tricolor (also called "heartsease"!), this
red-faced woman -- do we ever find our
her name? -- dressed in pansy seems
the antidote to Mr. Browne, and
perhaps to the funereal tempo of the
evening as well.
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Phoenix Park Murders
Thomas Henry Burke & Lord Frederick
Cavandish, May 6th, 1882
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Zeugma 165
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–noun Grammar, Rhetoric .
the use of a word to modify or govern
two or more words when it is
appropriate to only one of them or is
appropriate to each but in a different
way, as in to wage war and peace or
On his fishing trip, he caught three
trout and a cold.
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Oxymoron 165
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a figure of speech by which a locution
produces an incongruous, seemingly
self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel
kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”
Freddy is a young man of about forty.
Though 40 years old, Freddy is not
mature intellectually or emotionally;
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RIAM 166
Royal Irish Academy of Music
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http://www.riam.ie/homepage.html
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The Judgment of Paris
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James Joyce vs. Homer
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Though the most stable character in Dubliners, Gabriel sounds
somewhat suicidal to some readers when meditating on his
wife’s young lover’s early death:
“Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory
of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age”
(Dubliners 224). This is the crux of the whole text.
The allusion/reference to “that other world” as the realm of
spirits recalls the scene in Homer’s Odyssey, where the
ghost of Achilles addresses Odysseus: “Better, I say, to
break sod as a farm hand for some poor countryman, on
iron rations, than lord it over all the exhausted dead”
(Odyssey 201).
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Two Value Codes
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Achilles chose to die
young but in glory
His mother warned him if
he went to war, he would
die young;
Achilles’mother hid the
youth in a girl’s dress;
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The allusion/reference to
“that other world” as the
realm of spirits recalls the
scene in Homer’s
Odyssey, where the ghost
of Achilles addresses
Odysseus: “Better, I say,
to break sod as a farm
hand for some poor
countryman, on iron
rations, than lord it over
all the exhausted dead”
(Odyssey 201).
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Is Gabriel Suicidal?
Could You Write a Sequel to The Dead?
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For the most part, their existence together
seems dull as revealed in the text;
Is the life of Gabriel and Gretta worse than
what Gretta would have had with Michael
then?
What does it take to recover from a
discovery like Gabriel makes? Could
Gabriel overcome his paralysis and go on?
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James Joyce’s Delicate Balance
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Flip-flop Symbols, Tropes & Metaphors throughout:
Lily: Flowers used for funerals; but Easter symbolizes the
Resurrection of the dead;
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Incongruity: between the title, “The Dead” and time of
the party, the high point of the Christmas / New Year
celebration & the time for the feast of epiphany.
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West: an established trope for death in the Western
Literature: “The time had come for him to set out on his
journey westward” (Dubliners 225). But The West also
represents the true Ireland, and the home country of
Gabriel’s wife, Gretta—who wants to vacation there.
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Death Weighs Heavily Throughout
Framed by The Sisters & The Dead
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List of deaths of family
members, relatives, &
friends in The Dead:
_______________;
_______________;
_______________;
_______________;
_______________;
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List of deaths in fiction,
plays, ballads, songs &
paintings:
_______________;
_______________;
_______________;
_______________;
_______________;
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Ambiguity is not the same as Ambivalence
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The most striking strength of “The Dead” lies in its
delicate balance, and more important, something shadowed,
unstated, & veiled. This has made the story a great
challenge in literary interpretation.
Wayne Booth puts the most shrewdly, “In short, the
author’s judgment is always present, always evident to
anyone who knows how to look for it.”[1] But this doesn’t
help much, it seems.
[1] Wayne Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1961), page 20.
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Putting Things in Perspectives
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Structurally & Thematically, without The Dead, Dubliners
would have been quite different. Before this story, most
characters are in some way paralyzed or stuck in repeating
patterns (as in Counterparts, the most symmetrical story
that shows how terrible patterns in Irish life are repeated).
The Dead signals a turn towards what I would call Joyce’s
Counterpoint Narrative that weaves together multiple story
lines into a new story, therefore breaking the new ground
not only technically but also thematically.
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Joyce’s New Perspective on his Home Country
Irish Warmth, Generosity & Hospitality vs. Joyce’s
experience in Rome—In September of 1906, Joyce
wrote:
“Sometimes thinking of Ireland it seems to me that I
have been unnecessarily harsh. I have reproduced (in
Dubliners at least) none of the attraction of the city for
I have never felt at my ease in any city since I left it
except in Paris. I have not reproduced its ingenuous
insularity and its hospitality.[1]
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[1] http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDdead.notes.html
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Recurrent Explorations
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The Dead in Dubliners—Gabriel’s generous tears.
Gabriel has been surprised and wounded. He feels
his identity is under attack; but this makes a portal
of great discoveries about other people, about his
home country; & about himself.
However, in “A Painful Case,” a man who cannot
be generous causes the suicide of the only woman
who ever loved him.
Joyce treats this theme elsewhere, less
satisfactorily in Exiles but more fully in Ulysses.
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Generosity: A Consistent Theme
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Gabriel weeps (as Jesus weeps), but no longer for himself;
“A shameful consciousness of his own person, assailed
him. He saw himself as a ludicrous figure, acting as a
pennyboy for his aunts, a nervous well-meaning
sentimentalist, orating vulgarians and idealizing his own
clownish lusts, the pitiable ‘fatuous fellow he had caught a
glimpse of in the mirror. Instinctively he turned his back
more to the light lest she might see the shame that burned
upon his forehead” (221).
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Truly Connected to the Living through the Dead
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Generous tears filled Gabriel’s eyes. He had never felt like that
towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love.
A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had
begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark,
falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to
set out on his journey westward. Yes, the newspapers were right: snow
was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark
central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen
and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon
waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on
the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the
crooked crosses and headstones,on the spears of the little gate, on the
barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling
faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their
last end, upon all the living and the dead.
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If you were to write a Sequel to The Dead
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A moment of Pro’lepsis--The representation or
taking of something future as already done or existing;
anticipation: Gabriel has imaginatively visited
Michael Fury’s grave at the end of the story.
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Who will be there hand in hand by his side?
Is Gabriel going to commit suicide?
Is Gabriel going to leave Grette for good?
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Gabriel’s Gaze: Sympathetic but Critical
Two Models Under Critical Lens
I
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“Better Pass boldly into that
other other world in full glory
of some passion”--like Michael
Fury—Let Me Like a Solider
Fall, a ballad mentioned on
page 200;
Gretta claims that “I think he
died for me” (Dubliners 221).
Romanticism has paralyzed
Gretta for so long.
“But he (Michael) [actually]
said he did not want to live”
(Dubliners 223).
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II
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“Than fade and wither dismally
with age”—like Aunt Julia.
The song Arrayed for the Bridal vs.
the singer who has passed her
prime time.
During her singing, Gabriel follows
Aunt Julia’s voice instead of
looking at her face; Fred’s applause
at the wrong time;
When “the table burst into applause
and laughter at this sally, Aunt
Julia vainly asked each of her
neighbors in turn to tell her what
Gabriel had said” (Dubliners 205).
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Are these the only models?
What’s Left Out, Unstated?
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The general patterns in comparison or contrast are: goodbetter-best; bad-worse-worst. What is the best? It is up to
the reader to infer.
It is true that “passing boldly into that other world in the
full glory of some passion” is admirable; Joyce did not
claim that this option is better than anything else. It is only
a partial confirmation. Examined closely, a partial
confirmation is a form of partial negation, which implies
that Michael’s model is not the best.
Aunt Julia’s--fading and withering dismally with age is
evidentially the worst. Perhaps she will not make it to the
next party—Consult Dubliners 224.
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The Third Model—Gabriel is not Michael!
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When you run into a problem, do you run away?
When you are disappointed, do you take it out on
somebody else?
When you recognize that you are not perfect, do you fall
into despair?
Remember the question: what is the sequel, what follows
this story?
Imagine Gabriel and Gretta, actually going back to her
home to visit Michael’s grave.
She needs closure too, and they both need to go on.
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Why do We Still Need to Read Prose Fiction?
--To Expand Sympathy-
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All over the world, seeking justice often goes hand in hand
with either seeking revenge with violence or falling into
self-pity as evidenced on the daily basis.
We are still living in a “less spacious age” in Joyce’s own
words; Prose fiction makes it available to us others’
experience across time and space, therefore expanding
sympathy.
The question is not: will you die for me if you love me?
But:
If you love me, WILL YOU LIVE FOR ME?!
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Consistent Voice, if not the same resolution
Exiles vs. Ulysses
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Michael Seidel comments that, “In a sense, Exiles is Ulysses under
psychoanalysis…The play offers a sequence of glosses on the day of
Ulysses, and even, retrospectively, on the evening of the long short
story ‘The Dead’” (Seidel 74). What Richard says to Robert of Bertha
sounds just like what Leopold Bloom in Ulysses, if he could frame it
quite this way, might say to Blazes Boylan, if he could understands it
that way, of Molly Bloom.
“I would not suffer her to give to another what was hers and not mine
to give, because I accepted from her loyalty and made her life poorer
in love. That is my fear. That I stand between her and any moments
of life that should be hers, between her and you, between her and
anyone, between her and anything. I will not do it. I cannot and I will
not. I dare not.” (Seidel 69)[1]
[1] Quoted in Seidel, page 73.
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Joyce’s Artistic Credo
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"Still I think that out of the dreary sameness of existence, a
measure of dramatic life may be drawn. Even the most
commonplace, the deadest among the living, may play a
part in a great drama. It is sinful foolishness to sigh back
for the good old times, to feed the hunger of us with the
cold stones they afford. Life we must accept as we see it
before out eyes, men and women as we meet them in the
real world, not as we apprehend them in the world of faery.
The great human comedy in which each has share, gives
limitless scope to the true artist, today as yesterday and as
in years gone." [1]
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[1] http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDdead.notes.html
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“Autonomous Self” vs. “Fragmented Self”
The Role of Art as Mediation & Empowerment
What is the role of art in general and
literature in particular in healing the postmodern notion of fragmented self on the one
hand, and on the other, balancing the naïve
Romantic notion of the autonomous self in
the current multicultural milieu?
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