Bloggery

Thursday 27th Oct 2011

Lucinda Corby

Ulysses Support Group Update

Circe and Emmeaus

It seems wrong to try and squish Circe and part of Emmeaus into the same blog but needs must (and also, Circe turned out to be the most difficult and least rewarding section so far). We actually had to divide the section of Circe into two, given that it comprises over 100 pages of often inscrutable playscript. The first half had us perplexed and downcast and the support group meeting provided a much needed boost to confidence and resolve. The section is presented as drama, although characters, dialogue and italicised stage directions are the only real nod to the form that Joyce employs. There is no new unfolding drama until the very end of the section (which of course we hadn’t yet read). Instead, Joyce revisits episodes (and sometimes obscure details) in a number of scenes.

Even this description makes it sound more rational than Circe is. Bloom appears in a multitude of different guises (including morphing into a woman at one point - it would have been panto-esque had it not been for the brothel setting and risque dialogue) Inanimate objects are casually given dialogue in the same way that characters are and often the stage directions are unrelated to the dialogue that follows. We wondered whether, given that we are approaching the end of Bloom's day and the beginning of Molly's testimony, these numerous references and retellings of events from earlier in the book were Bloom's attempt to present himself to the reader for the last time. We had a long discussion over Bloom’s brief transformation into a woman. We have been given lots of evidence throughout Ulysses that Bloom is in some senses performing the nurturing, caring, domestic role towards his wife that could be seen as traditionally feminine. Is he also empathizing with the fallen women of the Brothel? He is certainly unable to sample their wares fully – and his impotence was also discussed: does his love for Molly (or sense of marital duty) prevent him, or is it simply age and deteriorartion?

Bloom’s multi-character performance may also be reminding us that he is in some ways an outsider but in others, a chameleon. He becomes different things to different people. He is a complex conflation of cultures and heritage. His Jewishness provides him with an ability to objectivise (perhaps contrasted with Stephen’s theorizing). We also had to admit that meaning might be deliberately obscured: we are at the end of the day, the characters are either tired (Bloom) or drunk (Stephen).

Our Circe Part II meeting was more upbeat – we had got through the reading and were also back on schedule to finish Ulysses by the end of the year. Also, the drama that unfolds, with Stephen embroiled in a fight with some English soldiers provides a little narrative push. Bloom, in rescuing Stephen is cast as a father figure. The idea of Bloom as Odysseus and Stephen as Telemachus is very clear.

So, on to Emmeaus. Readable prose and a narrator (hurrah) – although as pointed out by Rachel, we are never entirely sure whether the narrative voice is an omniscient third person, or simply Bloom, imagining how his tale might be told. We have an interesting cast of characters at the cab stand refreshment shack: sailors provide an interesting inversion to the Odysseus story. Ulysses finally arrives home on Ithaca and is taken in by a goatherd, to whom he tells seafaring tales in exchange for news of home. Bloom, who has traversed across land, is told seafaring tales by the sailor/Emmeaus figure. The relationship between Bloom and Stephen in this section provides endless theories. Is Bloom taking advantage of Stephen’s incapacity? Are his opinions of Stephen’s duplicitous friends born of concern, or a desire to lead Stephen away from them? And what of Bloom’s idea to turn Stephen into a baritone sensation on the stage? Fantasy or folly? As for Mr. Dedalus, is he to be pitied for his scholastic approach to everything? Lauded for his attempt to escape squalor? Hated for deserting his family when he has the wit and intelligence to earn a decent income and help support them? We had great fun pulling all these possibilities around and searching for textual evidence. We all have a strong sense of why people would be tempted to finish Ulysses, turn to page 1 and start all over again! (Although this idea was of course raised in the comforting surroundings of the Salamander, over food and drink rather than in the cold light of our reading rooms).

So, next section is p619 – 651: Ithaca. Bloom finally returns home and we are inching towards the big reveal that is Molly’s monologue. WEDNESDAY 9^th November at The Salamander for 6:45pm.