How should one approach the hugely influential and celebrated twentieth-century writer James Joyce in preparation for a forty-minute presentation? Cecilia K. did it with great control and clarity as she focussed primarily on the unsettled, short story “Eveline” from Joyce’s short story collection, Dubliners (1914). 

Unlike a Joycean lecture, Cecilia encouraged group participation and provided handouts of “Eveline” for close reading. After reading the story in its entirety, Cecilia asked discerning questions, such as “Can we describe Eveline’s final scene as an epiphany or is it more a matter of paralysis?” And, “How is paralysis used as a metaphor for Joyce’s doomed and self-defeating life of Dublin?” An in-depth discussion by the members followed each of the questions.

To assist her own close reading of Joyce’s works, Cecilia consulted Harold Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: James Joyce and The Art of the Short Story by Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn. She also noted and shared Edna O’Brien’s excellent introduction to Dubliners (Signet Classic, 1991 edition). 

The Irish-born writer James Joyce was a modernist writer known for his experimental writing techniques, including interior monologue and stream of consciousness. In Dubliners, Joyce portrayed “a chapter in the moral history of [his] country,” focusing on the moral and spiritual paralysis of Dublin. Many Irish readers were angered by his sentiments and of his handling of sexual and family relationships, drawing much criticism to this and other of Joyce’s works. 

Members greatly enjoyed and applauded Cecilia’s bite-sized approach to James Joyce. Now, who’s ready for Ulysses?!

Written by Mooréa G.