Help!
Okay, I have to present my research on the story Eveline from James Joyce's Dubliners tomorrow. All was going well, until I reached one point, which for the life of me, I can't work out. Please, if anyone could help, that's be great - you don't have to know the story, it's nothing like that, just I simple reference. Here's the essay I have so far, if it helps... I put the crucuial part in bold, but the rest of the essay's there to give context, or if anyone's bored...;)
Eveline - Dubliners, by James Joyce
Summary:
Eveline sits at the window, watching the avenue. She remembers her life. Years ago, the children in the neighbourhood used to play together in a field, on which there are now houses built. She and her siblings are now grown up, and she is planning to leave Ireland forever. Her mother is dead, and she has to look after her younger siblings, and also works at a store. She gives all of her wages to her father, who still accuses her of being a spendthrift. He is often cruel, and threatens to beat her, but she recalls how nice he can be, such as when she was ill.
She is going to live in Buenos Ayres with a sailor called Frank, who is kind and gentlemanly towards her. He is very well-travelled and entertaining, but her father doesn’t like him. She regrets the idea of leaving her father, remembering her promise on her mother’s deathbed to keep the family together as long as possible. However, this reminds her of her mother’s life, “of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness”. This memory of her mother increases her desire to leave, so that she can escape.
However, once she is about to get on the boat with Frank, she finds herself paralysed with fear, unable to leave the familiar. She stands while Frank tries to get her to board, looking at him as if he were a stranger.
Analysis:
Eveline features, like many of the stories in Dubliners, the analogy of windows – Eveline is sitting in the window, looking out at the world at the beginning of the story. This window represents escape – she has been given a chance to escape her domineering father, and the hard work she must bear. This thought of escape is a common theme in the collection: “Now she was going to go away like the others, to leave her home.” There is a photo of one of her father’s friends from school in the house, a priest. Eveline never discovers his name, only that “He is in Melbourne now.” This is perhaps because people who emigrate from Ireland are perhaps viewed as ungrateful children of the country, so that by leaving the country, the priest forgoes the right to be referred to by name. However, for Eveline, forced to give all her wages to her father, yet still accused of being a spendthrift, it is an ungrateful father that we see. In this way, Eveline’s stifling family life becomes a metaphor for the trap that is Ireland. In contrast, Eveline’s mother appears to have played the part of grateful child, living a life of ‘common-place sacrifices’, which eventually drove her mad. She died crying “Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!” which is corrupt Gaelic, but probably means ‘The end of pleasure is pain.’ However, this phrase is not true Gaelic, and as such, meaningless. The meaninglessness of the phrase suggests that the sacrifices were also meaningless, that Eveline’s mother earned nothing but madness. She also recalls how it was her father’s violence which gave her mother the palpitations – in all probability, her father’s threats possibly caused her mother’s death.
As Eveline looks out at the avenue, she sees the “new red houses”, where once, there was a field. However, a ‘man from Belfast’ came and built houses on the land. This is perhaps symbolic of the British occupation of Ireland – they took all of the best, fertile land in the North, and relegated the Irish to the unproductive land in the South.
She also remembers keeping watch for her father coming with his “blackthorn stick”. Traditionally, the Celtics made shillelaghs out of blackthorn, which were often used as weapons. This shows that Eveline’s father was a violent man, always ready to beat his sons or wife.
As Eveline looks around the house, she sees a broken harmonium, signifying the broken harmony of the house. Eveline’s mother is dead, and Eveline seems to be taking her place, while her father is threatening, domineering and possibly abusive.
Then we hear of Frank, who is described as “manly, open-hearted” and with a “face of bronze”. He is portrayed as an incredibly attractive prospect in comparison to life at home with her father – he takes her to The Bohemian Girl, an opera, and to much more expensive seats than Eveline is accustomed to. “she sat in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with him.” The Bohemian Girl is also alluded to in Clay.
Eveline seems to look upon Frank not as a suitor, but as a way of escaping her life of drudgery. “Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her. He would give her life, perhaps love too.” Her parents’ loveless union leaves Eveline unaccustomed to the idea of love – she sees Frank as a way of escaping her stifled existence, a way of being able to live rather than just exist, and not as a lover. She visualises being his wife not for love, but so she will be respected, and not just a drudge. “First of all it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow, then she had begun to like him.”
At the docks, the boat blows a “mournful” whistle – this word choice highlights Eveline’s paralysis, her inability to break with her old life due to her fear of change and the unknown, and her sense of duty. She lacks the courage and strength to make that leap that will free her of her oppressive situation. While she lingers, “A bell clanged upon her heart”, and this seems to be almost a doom knell.
It is interesting to note that all of the people at the station are soldiers – they could easily have been sailors, or ordinary people, but the fact that they are soldiers signifys What does it signify? my barins' just stopped working!
At this point in the story, there is a lot of religious language – she lapses into “silent, fervent prayer”. It is no coincidence that the name Eveline is so similar to the Eve of the Bible – but for Eveline, the temptation is the prospect of leaving Ireland. However, good Catholic girls do not run away with strange foreigners.
In her indecision, Frank seems almost dangerous. “All of the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he would drown her.” This fear of passion again stems from her parents’ loveless marriage, but her paralysis will cost her: instead of an uncertain but hopeful future, she faces a certain and dismal future that may well echo her mother’s life.
The last section of the story is separated from the rest by a line of dots, and is the only time so far in the collections that Joyce writes from the point of view of his character; until this point, all of the tales are written in an objective narrative. This drives home to the reader the impact of Eveline’s helplessness and paralysis.
Eveline - Dubliners, by James Joyce
Summary:
Eveline sits at the window, watching the avenue. She remembers her life. Years ago, the children in the neighbourhood used to play together in a field, on which there are now houses built. She and her siblings are now grown up, and she is planning to leave Ireland forever. Her mother is dead, and she has to look after her younger siblings, and also works at a store. She gives all of her wages to her father, who still accuses her of being a spendthrift. He is often cruel, and threatens to beat her, but she recalls how nice he can be, such as when she was ill.
She is going to live in Buenos Ayres with a sailor called Frank, who is kind and gentlemanly towards her. He is very well-travelled and entertaining, but her father doesn’t like him. She regrets the idea of leaving her father, remembering her promise on her mother’s deathbed to keep the family together as long as possible. However, this reminds her of her mother’s life, “of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness”. This memory of her mother increases her desire to leave, so that she can escape.
However, once she is about to get on the boat with Frank, she finds herself paralysed with fear, unable to leave the familiar. She stands while Frank tries to get her to board, looking at him as if he were a stranger.
Analysis:
Eveline features, like many of the stories in Dubliners, the analogy of windows – Eveline is sitting in the window, looking out at the world at the beginning of the story. This window represents escape – she has been given a chance to escape her domineering father, and the hard work she must bear. This thought of escape is a common theme in the collection: “Now she was going to go away like the others, to leave her home.” There is a photo of one of her father’s friends from school in the house, a priest. Eveline never discovers his name, only that “He is in Melbourne now.” This is perhaps because people who emigrate from Ireland are perhaps viewed as ungrateful children of the country, so that by leaving the country, the priest forgoes the right to be referred to by name. However, for Eveline, forced to give all her wages to her father, yet still accused of being a spendthrift, it is an ungrateful father that we see. In this way, Eveline’s stifling family life becomes a metaphor for the trap that is Ireland. In contrast, Eveline’s mother appears to have played the part of grateful child, living a life of ‘common-place sacrifices’, which eventually drove her mad. She died crying “Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!” which is corrupt Gaelic, but probably means ‘The end of pleasure is pain.’ However, this phrase is not true Gaelic, and as such, meaningless. The meaninglessness of the phrase suggests that the sacrifices were also meaningless, that Eveline’s mother earned nothing but madness. She also recalls how it was her father’s violence which gave her mother the palpitations – in all probability, her father’s threats possibly caused her mother’s death.
As Eveline looks out at the avenue, she sees the “new red houses”, where once, there was a field. However, a ‘man from Belfast’ came and built houses on the land. This is perhaps symbolic of the British occupation of Ireland – they took all of the best, fertile land in the North, and relegated the Irish to the unproductive land in the South.
She also remembers keeping watch for her father coming with his “blackthorn stick”. Traditionally, the Celtics made shillelaghs out of blackthorn, which were often used as weapons. This shows that Eveline’s father was a violent man, always ready to beat his sons or wife.
As Eveline looks around the house, she sees a broken harmonium, signifying the broken harmony of the house. Eveline’s mother is dead, and Eveline seems to be taking her place, while her father is threatening, domineering and possibly abusive.
Then we hear of Frank, who is described as “manly, open-hearted” and with a “face of bronze”. He is portrayed as an incredibly attractive prospect in comparison to life at home with her father – he takes her to The Bohemian Girl, an opera, and to much more expensive seats than Eveline is accustomed to. “she sat in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with him.” The Bohemian Girl is also alluded to in Clay.
Eveline seems to look upon Frank not as a suitor, but as a way of escaping her life of drudgery. “Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her. He would give her life, perhaps love too.” Her parents’ loveless union leaves Eveline unaccustomed to the idea of love – she sees Frank as a way of escaping her stifled existence, a way of being able to live rather than just exist, and not as a lover. She visualises being his wife not for love, but so she will be respected, and not just a drudge. “First of all it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow, then she had begun to like him.”
At the docks, the boat blows a “mournful” whistle – this word choice highlights Eveline’s paralysis, her inability to break with her old life due to her fear of change and the unknown, and her sense of duty. She lacks the courage and strength to make that leap that will free her of her oppressive situation. While she lingers, “A bell clanged upon her heart”, and this seems to be almost a doom knell.
It is interesting to note that all of the people at the station are soldiers – they could easily have been sailors, or ordinary people, but the fact that they are soldiers signifys What does it signify? my barins' just stopped working!
At this point in the story, there is a lot of religious language – she lapses into “silent, fervent prayer”. It is no coincidence that the name Eveline is so similar to the Eve of the Bible – but for Eveline, the temptation is the prospect of leaving Ireland. However, good Catholic girls do not run away with strange foreigners.
In her indecision, Frank seems almost dangerous. “All of the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he would drown her.” This fear of passion again stems from her parents’ loveless marriage, but her paralysis will cost her: instead of an uncertain but hopeful future, she faces a certain and dismal future that may well echo her mother’s life.
The last section of the story is separated from the rest by a line of dots, and is the only time so far in the collections that Joyce writes from the point of view of his character; until this point, all of the tales are written in an objective narrative. This drives home to the reader the impact of Eveline’s helplessness and paralysis.