Ulysses
Brynne Bona-Miner
April 26, 2004
Professor Cheng
University of Utah
Engl 5770
In Ulysses, we see several compelling characters. However, it is the end of the
novel that I would like to focus on. Molly’s episode, Penelope, is arguably one of the
most shocking scenes in writing. It is also one of the most intriguing. For a first time
reader, it is unexpected to say the least. We are used to Stephen and Leopold’s inner
thoughts, but not Molly’s. The technique is new, Molly’s thoughts are captured in a
different form than Bloom’s, but it is also different in content. It is certainly not an
episode which characterizes Molly as a typical woman of her time. Or perhaps what has
previously been portrayed as the typical woman. However, Molly plays a specific role in
the novel, much as she does in her life. She is the feminine, the unknown, the foil to
Stephen and Leopold’s masculine debauchery. Penelope is the light at the end of the
tunnel, the goal to be remembered throughout the masculine journey. Though she is not
the “typical” woman, neither is Bloom or Stephen the “typical” male.
In Homer’s work, the Odyssey becomes no longer about Odysseus or his
adventures, but about Penelope and her dilemma. Certainly a large part of the story is
how Odysseus is planning on rescuing her from her quandary, and how to do so without
getting himself killed or exposing himself before he chooses, but Penelope is the main
focus. It is her desires and fears that are important, and the assistance of her husband is
no longer something she hopes for. Joyce also shifts his focus. His novel essentially
changes protagonists in the last chapter. Bloom fades out of the spotlight and we see
things from an entirely different point of view. Homer ends his story with Odysseus
winning his wife in a contest, one that he sets up specifically because he is the only one
able to succeed. Molly, however, realizes that her salvation cannot (or will-not) come
from Bloom, and is making an attempt to set the situation on her own terms. She is
shocked at Leopold’s demand for breakfast in bed, because it is so inconceivable that his
desires should reappear after so many years of acquiescence to her own. Though Bloom
has not been traveling the dangerous seas or fighting the Trojans, his opinions and his
will-power have been absent and wandering. Apparently, they have returned, the
consequences to be determined.
Molly is shown to us as more autonomous than Penelope, making choices for
herself, yet it is always done in the context of herself as a married woman. However, in
making choices, Molly is allowed to make the wrong ones. She is a more flawed and
damaged character than Penelope. Where Penelope is the quintessential Greek ideal,
Molly is a real woman. This is a key idea in the novel, the contrast between the
archetypal characters of Homer’s great epic and the realistic interpretations of the ideal
shown to us by Joyce. Penelope is wise, assertive but aware of her place, attractive and
capable in her own right. She has been able to maintain peaceful government of an entire
city-state for 20 years while her husband has been away. Not an easy task, especially for
a woman is what Homer would likely want us to believe. Her strength can only hold for
so long, and her time in control is drawing to a close. There is more need than ever for a
strong male power, opening the doors for possible suitors and also for her husband to
reclaim his rights. Penelope lived alone for twenty years, Molly only ten, but both are
faced with coming to terms with need. Penelope needs Telemachus or someone to rescue
her from the suitors, and perhaps a suitor to rescue her from the control of government, a
role she did not want.
Molly sees Boylan as an escape, boorish as he may be, and knows that in
choosing him she is changing the dynamic between her and her husband. Stephen is also
considered as a solution. If he lived with them, he could save her from loneliness, and
also remind her of her power. And Molly is well aware that she is desirable. She feels
estranged from her husband, and knows that much of that is her own doing, but she
knows that she could change things immediately between them if she put forth the effort.
Molly revisits her memories of past suitors, and imagines possible future suitors,
including Stephen. Where Bloom is drawn to Stephen because he could be the son
Bloom never had, Molly sees him as something a little more, more like the reflection of
what Bloom could be if things had only been different.
Part of Molly’s appeal, and truly the appeal of the novel itself, is the idea that all
of the characters see possibility in themselves and in each other. Molly sees Stephen as a
possible cure for her loneliness, a possible tutor and a potential suitor for herself. Bloom,
on the other hand, sees Stephen as a possible suitor for Milly, thereby solidifying Stephen
as the son Bloom never had. Bloom also looks at Stephen and sees himself, his youth
and the things that he wishes he could have done differently. Stephen sees Bloom as a
father figure, especially important as he sees himself as hopelessly estranged from his
father and his friends. Stephen sees Bloom as a man that he could become as well. The
list could go on and on, Leopold seeing himself in the ground at Dignam’s funeral, his
incredible and complex tableau of possible figures he could become during the
hallucination of the Circe episode. He sees himself as virile and young but also old and
incapable while watching Gerty MacDowell. Stephen realizes what he could become if
he stays with Buck Mulligan, mindless and wasting. All of our main characters see what
they could become, for good or bad, in each other and in themselves. Leopold knows
that he could be Odysseus, the warrior, the wanderer, ultimately, the victor. Stephen
understands that he could become Telemachus, the heir, the son, the empowered. Molly
knows that she could be Penelope, the faithful and complete wife, the wise and the
patient. In a stroke of genius, Joyce takes the lifeless archetypes and makes them breathe
in the streets of Dublin. Amid squalor and debauchery, he shows us that though these
characters are not perfect, they fulfill something in each other, and are stronger for their
connections.
Molly is certainly not the epitome of the strong and admirable woman. She is
whining, demanding, weak, silly, crude, unfaithful (and proud of her infidelity), selfabsorbed and thoroughly believable because of it. Where Penelope is the ideal, Molly is
real. She thinks things that most of us do, but would never admit. Joyce shows us an
intimate portrait of thoughts that are rarely shared with anyone. Marion Tweedy Bloom
is laid bare, her innermost thoughts on public display for our benefit. Joyce shows us that
his technique is not limited by gender or personal connection to the character, that even
though he is not female, he can enter Molly’s mind and write just as he has with Leopold
and Stephen. Especially at the time of publication, this was unheard of. Not only is
Joyce’s technique revolutionary to the way authors write, 1922 was not especially the
most open and uninhibited time for women’s thought.
Molly’s thoughts are shocking, but perhaps that is to make a point. Molly is a
free-thinking individual, and her thoughts are no more docile or proper than are those of
Leopold or Stephen. In fact, Molly may be even more vulgar than the men, precisely
because she has no outlet for them any other time. The night is when Molly is allowed to
let her mind run free, unrestricted by social norms and expectations. It is also incredibly
private, we are listening in on the innermost and truest thoughts a person has. Molly
doesn’t have anyone to reveal these thoughts to, and even if she did, it is unlikely that she
would dare. She has had a life-altering experience this afternoon, and is unable to share
what she is feeling because she would be ostracized by female friends and thought of as a
woman of no morals by any men who knew. Therefore, she keeps things to herself, even
if that means her thoughts are more scandalous than her husband’s. Bloom is able to
spend his entire day with men of his same mind, drinking and boasting and going to
whore-houses until four in the morning, and no one has anything to say about it. In fact,
Bloom makes friends and is admired for his day-time activities. Molly’s enjoyment is
supposed to be repressed. And Molly makes one of the key elements of a repressed being
clear to us. She dwells internally on precisely what she cannot express or exhibit
externally. She devotes much of her thinking to her romantic or sexual encounters
because not only is she unable to express that part of herself in public, but she is also
limited in her private life as well. We know that she and Leopold have not been sexually
active (at least not with each other) for 10 years, and this naturally weighs on her mind.
Molly is lonely, and a large part of her misses the relationship she once had with her
husband. Molly seems to us to be frustrated with Bloom, a little impatient with the
idiosyncrasies that we have come to understand throughout the day, but are not familiar
enough with to be annoyed. They seem to have a relationship similar to many married
couples, that of separate lives and interests but mutual affection. Molly knows that their
estrangement continues because of her, and yet she is unsure whether she is able to bridge
their breach. She is aware of what she gets if she continues with Boylan, he is certainly a
less complex man than Leopold and infidelity is a less complex relationship than
marriage. She is aware that with Boylan, it will never be Mrs. Boylan, they will not live
together or have children together, though she wonders what it would be like. She
understands that her life is with Bloom, and that there is a possibility that things will soon
be changing. She is shocked.
“Yes because he never did a thing like that before as ask to get his breakfast in be
with a couple of eggs” is our first glimpse of Molly’s inner self. This also shows us a
turning point in their relationship. Where Bloom starts off his day making breakfast for
Molly in bed, at the end of his journey he is requiring her to satisfy that role. He has
changed, and instead of being indignant and refusing, as a truly selfish and demanding
character would, she starts thinking of how that can happen. She will wake early, go to
the market and bring his breakfast. Maybe she’ll show him a little skin as well.
Certainly this new-found authority of Bloom’s will cause problems in the future, but for
now it is intriguing to Molly. She credits this to Boylan, thinking about writing him a
letter thanking him for reawakening her, but one wonders if it is also due to Bloom
making a simple request before falling into bed. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and
for so long Bloom has been silent about his needs and desires. Ten years, more or less,
though we also get the picture that Bloom has been content to allow his Penelope to rule
Ithaca for longer than that. And he is now ready to take the reins again. Just as he did
when trying to get on Mrs. Riordan’s good side, he is making his presence known and
making demands. Molly is noticing, and confused but captivated. Though they have
been living different lives for ten years, and she has cuckolded him this afternoon, it isn’t
as though there isn’t any love in this home. Molly is worried, as any wife would be,
about where and what (and who) Bloom has been doing this night, and though she has
been unfaithful, she still desires to be closer to Bloom. However, she also is frequently
annoyed with him, and dislikes many of his habits. Any wife would likely think the same
thoughts. Especially a wife such as Molly Bloom, she is an exacting task-master, aware
that she had many suitors and that Leopold was not her only option for marital bliss, and
will not accept just anyone. She is also aware that her powers of seduction are waning,
perhaps due to too much stout at dinner, perhaps passing to her daughter Milly, whom
she is a bit jealous of. Milly is coming into her beauty, into her prime, and Molly is
moving out. It is interesting that the two women in Leopold’s life have such similar
names; perhaps this indicates an ability to replace one with the other.
Molly understands that she is losing her hold on the people in her life, she is no
longer able to control Milly, who is away at school, her relationship with Leopold is
changing, and even though she is beginning a relationship of sorts with Boylan, she
knows he is not going to be a permanent figure in her life. Molly, as Penelope, has
reached the end of her rope and is seeking help. She can no longer manage her home
alone; she is lonely and looking for that relationship which will complete her again.
All of our characters are looking for ways in which to be complete. That is the
nature of life, of humanity. Stephen wants to feel like he is admired and respected by his
peers and by his father, that he is valued and successful. He tries to gain this feeling by
intellectual exploits and friendships with people of a lesser caliber than himself, but in
finding Bloom he gets the devotion and the father that he craves. Bloom wants a son, he
sees his son a number of times during the day, and wants the acceptance and appreciation
of everyone. He imagines himself as a figure with much power during the Circe episode,
and in his relationship with friends seems to be constantly looking for their approval. In
Stephen he finds a son, someone to care for and someone to guide. He then changes how
he relates to Molly, he understands that she is able to fulfill a different part of himself,
and asserts his desires. Molly feels as though her sexuality and her ability to attract have
been stunted for too long, and in drawing Boylan to her she has reestablished herself, as
well as realizing her desire for Bloom, even if tempered with an element of annoyance.
We see only one day of Bloom and that’s entirely enough, she lives with him everyday
and has a different take on his character flaws.
Our characters work well because we are also looking for the things which will
make our lives more complete, more meaningful. We find the people closest to us
exasperating, we desire praise and respect. Joyce moves brilliantly from the pattern laid
out by Homer and fills in the details with scenes from everyday life. Where Homer was
focused on the journey, the process, the movement from Ithaca out into the cruel world
and home again, Joyce wants us to see the people doing the moving. He wants the reader
to understand the intricacies of his characters motivations, of their distress and also their
everyday activities that we can’t focus on in an epic. Joyce gives us a microcosmic eye
into the lives of three main characters which allows us to connect with them and make
their lives our own. Though they aren’t perfect, neither are we, and thus we feel for them,
they are more authentic and attractive for their flaws.