Main themes in Eveline
The main themes in Eveline are Paralysis, Epiphany, Stream of
Consciousness and Irish Social Conditions and Emigration.
Paralysis This sense of stagnation or paralysis is emphasized with the
very words Joyce uses. The story “Eveline” presents an excellent
example. The protagonist(hero) barely moves throughout the story. The
verbs which describe her are often verbs of inaction, for example “sat” in
the first paragraph. Verbs are also deliberately presented in the passive
form: “Her head was leaned.” This stress on inaction or paralysis ends
with the visual description of Eveline frozen, “passive, like a helpless
animal.”
Epiphany The first epiphany, most certainly secular, occurs when
Eveline is jolted to action at the remembrance of her mother repeating the
nonsensical phrase, “Derevaun Seraun.” As Eveline prepares to leave, she
experiences another epiphany. “A bell clanged upon her heart.” The
vision is of drowning.
Stream of Consciousness, the description of Eveline’s thoughts and
emotions dominate the text; most of the “action” (there is virtually none)
takes place within Eveline head. The words convey her thoughts,
emotions and memories rather than describing a series of events.
Irish Social Conditions and Emigration Ireland has endured waves of
emigration, particularly after the Potato Famine of 1848. Many left their
native land to seek a better life elsewhere. The Irish were second-class
citizens within their own nation; Ireland was a British colony and the
Northern Protestants controlled the economy of the country. Catholic
families often faced hardship. Alcoholism and abuse, as portrayed in
“Eveline” were common. As a result, many of the Irish looked for escape.
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Summary:
Eveline sits at the window, watching the avenue. She
thinks of her family, and the neighbors. Years ago, the
children on the avenue used to play on a field where now
stand many houses. She and her siblings are now grown
up, and her mother is dead. Eveline is nineteen years old,
and she is planning to leave Ireland forever. She works
very hard, at a store and also at home, where she cares
for her old father. She won't miss her job in the store. She
has mixed feelings about her father. He can be cruel, and
though he doesn't beat her, as he did to her brothers, he
often threatens her with violence. With her brothers gone
(Ernest is dead and Harry is often away on business)
there is no one to protect her. She takes care of two
young siblings and gives over her whole salary for the
family, but her father is always accusing her of wasting
money and being foolish.
She is going to leave Ireland for good with a sailor named
Frank. (Eveline's beloved, who has asked to marry her. He has a
home in Buenos Ayres, and he wants her to come with him.)
Frank treats her respectfully and with great tenderness,
and he entertains her with stories about his travels around
the world. Her father dislikes him.
Still, she loves her father and regrets the idea of leaving
him in his old age. At times he can be kind. She
remembers her mother's death, when she promised her
mother to keep the home together as long as she could.
Her mother lived a life "of commonplace sacrifices closing
in final craziness". She finished babbling the enigmatic
phrase "Derevaun Seraun!" again and again. The fear of
that memory strengthens the resolve in Eveline to leave.
But at the station, with the boat ready to leave, she is
paralyzed. She cannot go; the world is too frightening.
"All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He
[Frank] was drawing her into them: he would drown her".
Frank calls to her, trying to get her to board with the rush
of people. She merely stares at him as if he is a stranger.
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Analysis:
Yet again, this story focuses on the theme of escape.
Eveline has been given a chance. Yet in the end, the girl
finds herself incapable of going.
Certainly, she has every reason to leave. The portrait we
have of her family life is less than heart-warming. We see
that she has taken on an incredible part of the burden in
keeping the family together, as her mother did before her.
Her father, despite the points he wins for not beating her,
is a domineering violent and unfair man, who makes his
daughter work and then keeps her wages. Rather than
appreciate her sacrifices, he ridicules her. Unpleasant
characters in Joyce's works often criticize the Irishman
who leaves Ireland, the most common sentiment being
that these expatriates are ungrateful children of their
country. Joyce, himself an expatriate, turns this insult
around in "Eveline": we see not an ungrateful child, but an
ungrateful parent. Eveline's stifling family life becomes a
metaphor for the trap that is Ireland.
Her mother provides the chilling example of what it means
to be a grateful child, and to do what is expected: we
learn that she lived a life "of commonplace sacrifices
closing in final craziness". At the end of her life she is true
Irish, babbling in Ireland's native language (which
nationalists had been trying to revitalize). However, the
phrase she utters repeatedly is probably nonsense; The
meaninglessness of the phrase suggests, metaphorically,
that the sacrifices have also been meaningless. Eveline's
mother(She died years ago, but her memory is still vivid for
Eveline. She lived a life of small sacrifices, and died a babbling
madwoman. ) has earned nothing but madness.
The stages-of-life structure continues. Eveline is adult, a
young woman old enough to get married. Joyce gives us
in detail the terrible poverty and pressure of her situation.
The weight of poverty and family responsibilities bear
down on this young woman heavily; her financial situation
is terrible. She is trapped in an ugly situation, responsible
for her siblings and the aging father who abuses her.
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Paralysis is a common theme in Dubliners, and poor
Eveline finds herself unable to move forward. She lacks
the courage and strength to make that leap that will free
her of her oppressive situation. She's too scared to leave
Ireland, and sees her lover as a possible source of
danger: "All the seas of the world tumbled about her
heart. He [Frank] was drawing her into them: he would
drown her". But her paralysis will cost her. Instead of an
uncertain but hopeful future, she faces a certain and
dismal future that may well repeat her mother's sad life
story.
Defeat, Powerlessness, Stasis, Imprisonment, and
Paralysis
These five themes are closely connected. The colonization
of Ireland is paralleled by the sense of defeat and
powerlessness in the lives of individuals. In many stories,
characters are so trapped by their conditions that
struggling seems pointless. Joyce conveys this
powerlessness through stasis. In Dublin, not much moves.
This feeling of stasis is closely connected to a feeling that
Dublin is a kind of prison.
Many characters feel trapped. Eveline is a young woman
crushed by the stifling conditions that entrap her at home
. most of the characters are is some way imprisoned. The
entrapment is often caused by a combination of
circumstances: poverty, social pressure, family situation.
The frustration caused by this stasis, impotence, and
imprisonment has a horrible effect on the human spirit.
Often, the weak in Dubliners deal with their frustration by
bullying the still weaker. Eveline's poor father takes out
his frustrations on his children.
Longing for Escape
Unfortunately, most of the characters are unable to
escape. Eveline finds herself too frightened to leave
Ireland.The greatest barrier to escape is sometime
psychological, as it is with Eveline. As an Irish writer who
lived most of his adult life abroad, Joyce was obsessed
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with the liberating effects of fleeing Ireland, and he
transfers that obsession, in one form or another, onto
many of the characters.
Isolation
Dubliners has some profoundly lonely characters in it, but
the theme of isolation does not end there. Isolation is not
only a matter of living alone; it comes from the
recognition that a man or woman's subjectivity is only
their own, inaccessible to all others. Failed communication
is common throughout the stories. In other stories,
conversations are striking for how little meaningful
communication takes place. Eveline is alone throughout
most of the story. She feels isolated and unable to share
her feelings and wishes with Frank and her brother Harry.
Mortality
Mortality is another theme, a natural result of Joyce's
stages-of-life structure. The preoccupation with mortality
puts a bleak spin on the themes of stasis and paralysis:
although it often feels in Dublin like time isn't moving,
Joyce reminds us that the steady crawl toward death is
one movement we can count on.
SYMBOLISM IN EVELINE
In James Joyce's "Eveline," a young woman faces the
difficult choice of taking a risk or remaining in safety.
Eveline must choose between following her heart and
impulsively following a man she barely knows or
remaining with her family in a relatively uneventful and
predictable life. Joyce uses several certain concepts,
actions, and images such as dusting, names, and Joyce's
past to symbolize the true nature of the short story.
Even the act of cleaning a house by dusting the many
objects within emphasizes Eveline's weariness with her
current situation. However, the same act also elaborates
on the comfort and familiarity she feels with such aspects
of her life. Eveline reminisces about the objects in the
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house and how she interacted with these objects through
dusting. There is a picture of a nameless priest, but she
knows this picture just as easily as she knows the dusty
curtains and all of the other comfortable objects. As much
as the task of cleaning and maintaining the home tires
her, she takes comfort in the routine. There is no
predictability in dusting the curtains; she dusted the
curtains last week, but the ever-present dust will still coat
the fabric the very next week. As much as the
predictability tires Eveline, a life in a new world will not
have the same comforts and constants of her life at home.
The various names used in "Eveline" contribute to the
meaning of the story at an etymological level. The name
Eveline is derived from the Gaelic equivalent of Helen, and
several comparisons have been made between Eveline
and Helen of Troy. Like Helen, Eveline considers the
option of running away to elope with a man on impulse.
To Eveline, Buenos Aires is her Troy. However, unlike
Helen, Eveline's motivation is not love for Frank; Eveline's
main concern is her own freedom. At this point, Frank's
name becomes somewhat significant; the name Francis
means "free man" and Eveline's interest in Frank revolves
around his ability to provide an escape from her mother's
fate. Eveline confesses that she does not love Frank, but
she recognizes the potential to love what he represents.
Frank's name signifies a beacon of freedom and Eveline's
name could perhaps be compared to the story of Helen of
Troy.
Several aspects of Joyce's past play significant roles in his
stories, but a grand comparison can be made between
Eveline and James Joyce's sister Margaret. The use of a
nickname such a "Poppens," which Frank calls Eveline,
seems insignificant until certain details of Joyce's family
are revealed. The fact that Margaret was called "Poppie"
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in Joyce's home could have been a complete coincidence,
but the fictional character of Eveline quite clearly reflects
certain aspects of Joyce's Margaret. For example, at the
age of twenty, Margaret made a promise to her dying
mother to keep the household running. Like Margaret,
Eveline takes on the responsibility of running the
household after her mother dies. This responsibility plays
a large role in Eveline's decision to remain at home; as
much as Eveline desires freedom, respect for her
deceased mother and responsibility for two younger
children influences Eveline's decision.
In the end, Eveline makes the decision to remain in her
predictable and overly unhappy life. The overwhelming
control of her responsibilities motivates her choice to
maintain her situation. The presence of symbolic features
such as Joyce's past, the use of significant names, and
small actions such as dusting help to elaborate on
Eveline's nature and the nature of the story.
The Symbolism of Dust in Joyce’s “Eveline”
The first glimpse we get of the main character in James
Joyce’s “Eveline” is as she “leaned against the window
curtains” smelling the “dusty cretonne”. Immediately,
Joyce has introduced the main symbol of this story…dust;
and it continues to appear throughout the story. His use
of dust as a controlling symbol in this story reinforces our
understanding of this young woman’s dreary, suffocating,
arid life.
Dust is usually found in places that are tucked away and
forgotten. It collects on objects that have been put aside
and are no longer the focus of attention. Though only
nineteen, Eveline’s character already felt abandoned and
forgotten. Some of her family members and friends had
died and the rest had moved away. What she had been
left with was the responsibility of working at the Stores,
taking care of her father and her two younger siblings,
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and otherwise running the day-to-day operation of the
household. “It was hard work – a hard life”. The third
sentence of the story seems to sum up Eveline in three
words… “She was tired".
The first mention of dust appears in the very beginning of
the story as mentioned above. The dusty curtains tell us
that Eveline’s character is far too busy with other chores
to take proper care of the curtains. Her life is filled with
the demands of taking care of the needs of others.
Undoubtedly, she receives very little (if any) help from her
father and younger siblings with the management of the
house.
As she stared out her window, she noticed “few people
passed”. Perhaps her neighborhood of “concrete
pavements” and “little brown houses” was being
abandoned by people moving to the nicer neighborhood
with “cinder paths” and “new red houses”. This may have
added to her sense of loneliness and isolation.
The second mention of dust comes as she sits in her home
“reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted
once a week for so many years, wondering where on
earth all the dust came from”. For quite a long time, it
had been Eveline’s job to keep things nice and clean, yet
the dust always returned. There was never an end to the
dust. Much like there was no end to the oppressive life
she led: “She sometimes felt herself in danger of her
father’s violence”, “she had to work hard, both in the
house and at business” , “the invariable squabble for
money on Saturday nights had begun to weary her
unspeakably” , and “she had to meet her lover secretly” .
She may have ended up wondering where on earth this
life she was leading came from.
The last reference to dust occurs near the end of the
story. Even as the time grows near for her to leave and
meet Frank for their escape, “she continued to sit by the
window, leaning her head against the window curtain,
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inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne” . Throughout the
entire story, Eveline’s character has not moved from her
position against the dusty curtains. She is surrounded by
the dust just as she is surrounded by responsibility. She
resigns herself to the fact that it is just as futile to try to
escape her destiny as it is to escape dust itself.
Even if Eveline had decided to leave with Frank, she would
have always remembered the “dust” she had left
behind…the chores undone…a job unfinished. The guilt
would have been as suffocating as the dust. Eveline finally
realizes that she is destined to live the same life her
mother lived…surrounded by the same people, the same
things, the same duties, and the same dust.
Setting
.......The story begins on an evening in a residential
section of Dublin, around 1900. It ends the same evening
at a dock where a night-boat (ferry) awaits passengers
bound for a port (probably Liverpool, England) where
oceangoing vessels embark for foreign places.
Point of View
.......Joyce tells the story in third-person point of view. In
the first paragraph, the narrator reports from a distance,
as if he is sitting across the room from Eveline. In the
second paragraph, the narrator enters the mind of Eveline
and reports the rest of the story from there, revealing the
thoughts of the title character as she considers whether to
remain home or go to Argentina to marry. She reviews
the events of her life, comparing the quality of her life in
Dublin over the years with the quality of life she believes
she would have in Buenos Aires.
Writing and Plot Structure
.......Most of the writing imitates the way the title
character would speak if she verbalized her thoughts. The
language is straightforward and easy to understand,
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although not necessarily easy to interpret, and Joyce
makes every word count. Except for the first paragraph,
he structures the plot according to the order of Eveline's
thoughts as they occur. Her thoughts begin in the present,
then flash back, then return to the present. From time to
time, they again flash back. Occasionally, Eveline
attempts to glimpse the future, speculating on what her
life would be like in Argentina.
Characters
Eveline: Dublin woman not yet twenty. She lives at home
with her father, who threatens her. Her name is a
variation of Evelyn.
Mr. Hill: Eveline's father, who mistreats her. The words
he was usually fairly bad on Saturday night suggest that
he drinks heavily on weekends.
Mrs. Hill: Deceased mother of Eveline.
Frank: An exIrish sailor who says he will marry Eveline
after they go to Argentina to live.
Eveline's Brothers, Sisters: Eveline identifies only two
of them: the oldest, Ernest, who is dead at the time that
Eveline reflects on her past, and Harry, who works in the
church-decorating business.
Miss Gavin: Supervisor at the Stores (a retail outlet),
who watches Eveline closely.
Little Keogh: Crippled boy who was a playmate of
Eveline when she was a child.
Two Small Children: Children Eveline takes care of at
home. It is not clear who their parents are.
Devines, Waters, Dunns: Playmates of Eveline when
she was a child. One, Tizzie Dunn, is dead at the time that
Eveline reflects on her past.
Organ Grinder: Italian street entertainer who plays a
song that reminds Eveline of the night her mother died.
He was also playing on the night of her mother's death.
.
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Plot Summary
.
.......Eveline Hill looks out the window of her father's
Dublin home, reminiscing about her childhood days. She
and her brothers and sisters used to play in a field nearby
with neighborhood children from the Devine, Waters, and
Dunn families. Whenever her father came looking for
them with his blackthorn stick, Little Keough, a crippled
neighbor boy, would warn her and her siblings.
.......Now everything is changed. Her mother and her
brother Ernest are dead. The rest of the Hill children are
young adults. Houses now occupy the field where the
children played, Tizzie Dunn has died, and the Waters
family has moved back to England. The Smith home looks
the same, though, with its familiar furnishings. The old
yellow photo of a priest still hangs above the harmonium.
The priest and her father had been friends at school, and
her father shows the photo to visitors, saying, “He is in
Melbourne now.”
.......Eveline herself is about to leave her childhood home
and her job at a retail store, where Miss Gavin is always
there to order her around: "Miss Hill, don't you see these
ladies are waiting?"
.......In her new home in a far-off land, she will be a
married woman who is treated with respect. Her father
will not be there to threaten her or treat her the way he
did her mother. Though she is going on twenty, she still
fears him. When she was very young, he did not treat her
as badly as he treated Ernest and Harry. Lately, though,
he has been threatening her. Harry usually is not there to
take her side, for he spends a lot of time out in the
country on his church-decorating business.
.......The Saturday-night arguments with her father over
money are a trial. She always gives him all of her pay,
and Harry gives him what he can. But try getting money
back from him. He always tells Eveline she is a spendthrift
and that he will not give her any of his “hard-earned”
money. After a time, he yields. But he expects her to buy
Sunday dinner.
.......In addition to her job, she has to keep house and
tend to the two little children in the household, making
sure they get their meals and get to school on time.
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.......In spite of her hard life, she has reservations about
going to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Frank to be his
wife and live in the home he maintains there. Frank is a
kind man, Eveline thinks. After they met, he called her
Poppens and always accompanied her home from work.
Once, he took her to see The Bohemian Girl, an opera
about a young woman abducted by the leader of a gypsy
band. Frank would also tell her stories about all the lands
he visited serving aboard ships of the Allen Line. When
her father found out about the courtship, he forbade her
from seeing Frank again. Then she had to meet Frank in
secret.
.......On her lap are two letters, one to Harry and one to
her father. She remembers that there were times when
her father was good company. Only recently, when she
was "laid up" in bed, he read to her and made her toast.
Years before, when the family had gone on a picnic, he
wore his wife's bonnet to make everybody laugh.
.......Still looking out the window, Eveline hears the song
of an Italian organ grinder coming from down the street,
the same song he played on the night her mother died.
The song reminds Eveline of the promise she made to her
mother to keep the family together as long as possible.
But she believes she has a right to escape with Frank, a
right to be happy.
.......It is time to leave. Eveline is with Frank, who is
holding her hand. Soldiers are all around with brown bags.
The ship calls for passengers with a whistle. Eveline asks
God for guidance. Should she go aboard with Frank or
turn back?
.......As Frank proceeds, he calls back to her. But Eveline
"set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal.
Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or
recognition."
.
.
.
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Themes
Inertia
.......Like Ireland itself in the last years of the nineteenth century
and the early years of the twentieth century, Eveline struggles to
escape oppression. Her father has ruled her life for as long as she
can remember, just as England has for so long ruled directly or
indirectly the life of Ireland. But independence for Eveline and
Ireland requires bold action. Too often, however, every step
forward also produces another step backward. Eveline takes a
step, then retreats and ends up as she was before. But there is a
glimmer of hope: Eveline has said no to a man in a maledominated society. But when she returns home, will she have the
courage to say no to her father when he makes unreasonable
demands? Will she have the courage to begin taking back her life?
Or will she continue to languish amid the smell of dusty cretonne
and her mother's Gaelic gibberish ringing in her ears?
Environmental Attachment
.......Eveline's attachment to her environment strongly influences
her decision to remain in Ireland, as the following passages
suggest.
Paragraph 3: Perhaps she would never see again those familiar
objects from which she had never dreamed of being divided.
Paragraph 5: In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she
had those whom she had known all her life about her.
Paragraph 9: It was hard work—a hard life—but now that she was
about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life.
Paragraph 13: Her father was becoming old lately, she noticed; he
would miss her. Sometimes he could be very nice. Not long before,
when she had been laid up for a day, he had read her out a ghost
story and made toast for her at the fire. Another day, when their
mother was alive, they had all gone for a picnic to the Hill of
Howth. She remembered her father putting on her mothers bonnet
to make the children laugh.
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Guilt
.......Guilt may have been another factor in Eveline's decision to
remain in Ireland. After all, she had promised her mother that she
would “keep the home together as long as she could.” Running
away to Argentina would break that promise. And what about the
two young children she has been caring for? And what about her
father, who “was becoming old lately [and] would miss her”?
Doubt
.......The narrator hints that Eveline harbors doubts about her
relationship with Frank. She considers his good qualities—his
kindness, his manliness, his love of music—but never once does
she note that he loves her. The closest she comes is this thought
in paragraph 18: “She must escape! Frank would save her. He
would give her life, perhaps love, too.” (The key word here is
perhaps.) Nor does Eveline ever note that she loves Frank. When
the night-boat is about to embark, she prays to God “to show her
what was her duty.” Here, duty suggests that she believes her life
with Frank would be like her mother's life with her father—or no
better than Eveline's life with her father. It may be that her doubts
about her relationship with Frank, combined with her attachment to
her environment and her feelings of guilt, overcome her desire to
escape.
.......Eveline may also have been aware that Buenos Aires had a
reputation as a place where young women were often ensnared in
a life of prostitution. Was it possible that Frank was luring her into
such a life?
Difficult Life of Women in a Male-Dominated Society
.......In Joyce's time, a woman like Eveline generally had to endure
male discrimination in every sector of society. At home, a husband
or father expected her to submit to his will even when he treated
her poorly. In educational institutions, overseers severely limited a
woman's opportunities to study for a professional career. In the
workplace, employers usually hired a woman only for menial labor.
And her pay was far less than that of a male doing the same work.
She could not complain about discrimination at the ballot box, for
she did not have the right to vote.
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.......At the beginning of the story, Eveline's desire to escape a life
of drudgery suggests that she believes she will find a new world of
equality in Argentina. However, after considering her choices, she
seems to believe that life for her in Argentina would be the same
as—or possibly even worse than—her life in Ireland.
Emergence From Eden
.......Eveline seems to have enjoyed her childhood, when her father
was “not so bad” (paragraph 2) and her mother was alive. She was
Eve in the Garden of Eden (the vacant field). Of course, her father
now and then invaded her garden with a serpent (the blackthorn
stick). Eventually, she had to leave the garden, which was taken
over by urban sprawl, and enter the world of hard work and
tribulation.
Climax: a Liberating Moment?
.......The climax occurs when Eveline decides not to board the ship
while Frank shouts "Come!" (paragraphs 21, 24). Her refusal to
obey his command could be a liberating moment for her—if she
also refuses to comply with any unreasonable demands of her
father.
Who Are the Children Eveline Looks After?
.......After Eveline reminisces about her childhood, the narrator—in
presenting Eveline's thoughts—says, "That was a long time ago;
she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up [and] her
mother was dead" (paragraph 2). This sentence eliminates the
possibility that the children are Eveline's siblings, children born
before Mrs. Smith died.
.......It is possible that the little ones are the children of Harry,
Ernest, or one of Eveline's sisters. Perhaps financial reversal,
domestic upheaval, or—in the case of Ernest—death required their
placement in the care of Eveline.
.......Whatever the case, the mention of the two children is
significant in that it puts Eveline in the role of a mother, a role that
she may feel she is not ready to take on in a foreign land when she
is not even twenty years old. It is also possible that she feels she
has a responsibility to the children.
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Vocabulary, Symbols, and Allusions
Blackthorn stick: See Emergence From Eden, above.
The Bohemian Girl: Opera by Dublin-born Michael William Balfe
(1808-1870) and libretto by Alfred Bunn. It was first performed at
Drury Lane Theatre in London on November 27, 1843. The story is
about a young woman, Arline, the daughter of a count, who is
abducted by the leader of a band of gypsies. An aria in the opera,
"I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls," centers on Arline's childhood
memories.
Blessed Mary Alacoque: Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690),
French nun of the Visitation order who was canonized in 1920 by
Pope Benedict XV as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She
claimed to have visions of Christ in which He asked her to promote
devotion to His sacred heart as a symbol of love, mercy, and
salvation. Those who take up this devotion, the nun said, would
receive help from Christ in obtaining grace, blessings, and
salvation. (In the story, the phrase promises made to Blessed
Margaret Mary Alacoque refers to the promises of help Christ
made to Blessed Margaret in a vision.) The nun was bedridden for
four years after developing paralysis, then made what appeared to
be a miraculous recovery. Eveline, of course, suffers from a kind of
psychological paralysis in her struggle to escape oppression.
cretonne: Heavy printed cloth, usually of cotton or linen, used to
make draperies and upholstery coverings.
Derevaun Seraun: While Eveline looks out the window and
inhales the "odour of dusty cretonne" (paragraph 14), she recalls
that her mother repeated "Derevaun Seraun"—which is gibberish
resembling Irish Gaelic (or Goídelic)—with "foolish insistence"
(paragraph 16). Because it is gibberish, it signifies nothing. This
fact—together with the phrases "dusty cretonne" and "foolish
insistence"—call to mind a famous passage in Shakespeare's
Macbeth, when the title character uses the words "dusty" and
"fools" and refers to life as a "tale told by an idiot . . . signifying
nothing."
Perhaps "Derevaun Seraun" was Mrs. Smith's way of saying that
life in Ireland, around 1900, was a tale told by an idiot, signifying
nothing.
Dust: The word dusty occurs twice in "Eveline"; dust and dusted
each occur once. All the words suggest that Eveline (and Ireland)
has a difficult time shaking off the dust of the past in an effort to
begin anew.
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Eveline: See Emergence From Eden, above.
Field where children played: See Emergence From Eden, above.
Harmonium: a musical instrument resembling an organ. The Hill
family's harmonium is broken. It may symbolize the broken
harmony in the home, in the heart of Eveline, and in Ireland itself.
Hill of Howth (Howth rhymes with both): Recreation area at the
village of Howth on Dublin Bay, north of Dublin. Cliffside walking
trails on the hill offer spectacular views of the bay and the Wicklow
Mountains.
night-boat: Ferry that carried passengers to England, where ships
debarked for foreign ports.
nix: Keeping watch; standing guard.
Patagonians: Natives of Patagonia, a region in southern Argentina
between the Andes Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
pavement: In Britain and Ireland, a sidewalk.
shilling: Coin worth one-twentieth of a pound.
sixpence: Coin worth six pennies; half a shilling.
Stores: General retail store in Dublin.
Strait of Magellan: Channel separating the southernmost tip of
South America, the island of Tierra del Fuego, and the mainland.
The channel connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan (1480?-1521)
discovered the strait in 1520 while sailing under a Spanish flag.
Water: Escape; a new beginning. The Waters family returns to
England. Eveline considers crossing an ocean to begin anew.
Water also signifies rejuvenation, the possibilities of a
new life. In contrast to her present life full of "hard work-a
hard life," Eveline looks forward to exploring "another life
with Frank" and a new her across the seas. Compared to
re-living her dead mother's life, Eveline has a chance to
live her own life and begin something with Frank that is
brand new, open-ended, and unstamped by the
impressions of the past. Though she can hardly imagine
what her new life might be like, Eveline knows it will be
unlike the one mapped out for her by her father. But
perhaps it is the very uncertainty about her life with Frank
that finally terrifies her. Known duty and hardship is
finally preferable to unknown possibility, and as Frank
draws her into the "seas of the world," she feels at last
that "it was impossible".
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One cannot begin a new life unless one leaves behind the
old, and "the seas" of rebirth are too much for her. Unable
to make that leap of faith, she remains behind, "passive,
like a helpless animal" .
Symbolism:
1. Dust: nothing changes in the house (paralysis)
2.Broken harmonium: lack of harmony in Eveline life in
contrast to the happiness of her childhood
3.Portholes: light indicates that, that of leaving Ireland is
the right direction to follow (in contrast to the Fading light
of Eveline's room)4. The black boat-a monster that
Eveline believes will kill her
Main themes:
-Escape: she has every reason to leave.
1. She has to work hard and is accused of squandering
money
2. Her father abuse to her
3. Nobody protects her
4. Perspective of living the same life as her mother's She
has been given a chance
-Paralysis: cause the feature of her escape continuous
shift from living and not living . Eveline is a passive
character
-Feature: frank is considered by Eveline as a father more
than as an object of desire
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