Group Presentation
Cherry, Rita, Grace, Sally and Betty
2002/11/20
SUMMARY and STRUCTURE
Narrative Point of View
3rd person point of view (omniscient)
Summary
I.
The first part: in a Christmas party
One night around Christmas time, Gabriel Conroy goes with his wife Gretta to
the Christmas party held at the home of the Misses Morkan: his aunts, Kate
and Julia, and their niece, Mary Jane. A piano plays in a parlor full of dancing
couples. Gabriel tells his aunts that on account of the cold, he and Gretta will
be staying in a hotel nearby rather than returning home that night.
The group assembles to listen to Mary Jane play a difficult piano piece, and
Gabriel’s mind wanders to his mother, who had opposed his marriage and
described Gretta as “country cute.” Gabriel remembers how Gretta nursed his
mother through her long and ultimately fatal illness.
SUMMARY
The group pairs off for dancing. Gabriel finds himself with a young woman
named Miss Ivors, who becomes cross with him because he writes reviews
for The Daily Express. An Irish Revivalist, she asks sharply if he is a West
Briton; then, she seems to be joking. Gabriel is baffled and reflects that he’s
never had any trouble with Miss Ivors before.
Old Aunt Julia sings a song, and the crowd assembles for dinner. Gabriel
finally takes a break from carving in order to eat, and the table discusses the
state of operatic tenors in Ireland. After the pudding, Gabriel gives a long
speech on the topic of Irish hospitality and the generosity of times gone by.
II. The second part: Gabriel and Gretta are on their ways to hotel
The hour is late; the party is breaking up. Gabriel and Gretta linger, he tells
a story about Patrick Morkan, his grandfather, and his horse Johnny. At last,
Gabriel and Gretta leave, walking through the cold to their hotel.
SUMMARY
Gabriel is full of joy and happiness about his wife; as he looks at her, he
begins to think of scenes from their private life together. They finally find a
cab, which takes them to their hotel. Gabriel begins to feel stirrings of
desire as he thinks about Gretta; he imagines how he will call her to him
when they are alone in their room.
III. The third part: in the hotel room
In the room, Gretta seems tired and somewhat sad. Gabriel questions her,
and she at last confides in him that after she heard a song played at the party,
it reminded her of the memory that when she’s still a girl living in Connacht,
she was in love with a boy named Michael Furey, a seventeen year old
singer who died of consumption after waiting for her in the rain as she
prepared to leave for a Dublin convent. The song triggered the memory of
the young lad for her, and it torments Gabriel with jealousy that she had a
love before him and Michael still “lives” in her mind.
SUMMARY
Gretta begins to sob, and Gabriel is overcome with humiliation and shame.
While he was complacent with his wife and desiring her, Gretta was
remembering another man with whom she had truly been in love. Gabriel
imagines himself as foolish and clownish person; he tries halfheartedly to
comfort Gretta, then lets her hand fall and walks to the window.
Later, Gretta is fast asleep. Gabriel looks at her and thinks about her past
romance, feeling what a poor part he himself has actually played in her life.
He thinks that her face is no longer the face for which Michael Furey was
willing to die. Gabriel thinks of the dead lad and thinks that his two aunts will
soon also be dead. In the silence of the room, he begins to go over the events
of the evening, and so, he begins to see the night for what it was: “From his
aunt’s supper, from his own foolish speech, from the wine and dancing, the
merry-making….” The relationship between sex and death becomes quite
clear.
SUMMARY
Tears fill his eyes; he feels as though the solid world is evaporating
around him, and he is conscious of the flickering forms of the dead.
Gabriel looks out the window and sees snow falling softly in the night.
He thinks about the snow falling all over Ireland, piling up over the
cemetery where Michael Furey lays buried. He climbs into bed, and
his soul swoons as he hears the snow falling faintly throughout the
universe, falling upon all the living and the dead
The Background of this Writing
Compare with “the Lost Generation” in American
Literature in its narrative techniques, tone and style:
For example: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited and
Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro
CHARACTERS
Main character
Gabriel Conroy: The main character in "The Dead" and the most
important character in Dubliners.
egotist : the coin he gives to Lily
dislike of the piano sound played by Mary Jane
emptiness : his relationship with Gretta and others
Gabriel and James Joyce share some characteristics, and Joyce may well be
presenting us with a picture of what he and his life would have been like
had he remained in Dublin.
CHARACTERS
Minor Characters :
Gretta: Gabriel’s wife. As noted earlier, Joyce gives Gretta some of the
characteristics of his wife Nora, particularly Nora's origins in the West of
Ireland as well as her strength and determination.
Michael Fury: He is the dead love of Gretta. His role is significant in that
his love for Gretta can never be matched by Gabriel, Gretta's husband.
Before learning about Michael, Gabriel describes his marriage to Gretta
as "years of...dull existence together." However, learning about Michael
only emphasizes part of Gretta that is dead. Gabriel can never relive what
she had with Michael.
CHARACTERS
Bartell D'Arcy: The tenor. He played the song called "The Lass of
Aughrim". This song was significant in that it reminded Gretta of her
relationship with Michael. Without this song, the memories that Gretta
has of Michael would not have been rekindled.
Molly Ivors: Party guest. Miss Ivors is an earnest nationalist. She
challenges Gabriel's Irish identity and heritage. She accuses him of
being a "West Britton" rather than Irish. The accusation she makes
upsets Gabriel greatly, although he knows it's the truth. This loss of
pride and denial of his own heritage is just another aspect of Gabriel
that is dead.
Kate and Julia Morkan: Hosts of the Annual Morkan dance. Aunts of
Gabriel. They are important because they are symbolic of a dead
generation. They hold on to their old traditions of the annual dance,
appreciation of music and the arts. However, they have the tradition
and culture that Gabriel lacks and definitely never appreciates.
Gabriel needs to revive this precious part in his heart so that he will
know what identity he has and who he is.
CHARACTERS
Johnny the Horse is mentioned in a story told mockingly by
Gabriel in which Johnny the Horse, lonely and confused, circles a
statue of King Billy. The story is significant because by circling the
statue, Johnny is showing recognition and attachment to the past.
Gabriel, however, cannot understand it because this part of him is
dead.
Mary Jane: Niece of Kate and Julia Morkan. She comments on the
monks and the coffins by saying, “The coffin is to remind them of
their last end.” This statement is rather gloomy, yet helps to set a
dark tone for the party.
Ellen Morgan: She is the dead mother of Gabriel. Her picture still
hangs in the Morgan's home as a reminder or another presence of
death
CHARACTERS
Freddy Malins: Party guest. He is a drunkard. His presence is a
reminder of all that is lost and confused. In his state, he is like a walking
dead.
Parkinson: He is a dead tenor that Miss Kate brings up in conversation.
He is another mentioning of a dead character. He is part of the old
generation of singers that are lost with time. The idea of the old
generation being forgotten and dead is being reinforced.
IMAGERY OF NAMES
•Lily-- In choosing this name Joyce wants the reader to make the
associations that the flower has with:
1) death (it is frequently used at funerals)
2)the Archangel Gabriel (it is symbolic of the this guardian of the
gates of death); and
3) Easter,and thus with rebirth. The reader will want to decide
whether or not there is a rebirth at the end of this story.
•Gabriel-- In the Bible, one of the archangels. In the New
Testament he revealed to Zechariah the coming birth of John the
Baptist and appeared to Mary in the Annunciation to tell her she was
to be the mother of Jesus. In Christian tradition it is believed that he
will blow the trumpet on Judgment Day. Gabriel represents fire, is
called “the prince of fire,” and associated with gold.
IMAGERY OF NAMES
• Michael represents the element water, is called “the prince of snow,”
and is associated with silver. Michael is primarily the angel of the Last
Judgment and Gabriel of the Annunciation.
•Mr. Browne-- In Dublin, Browne is a distinctly protestant name.
Romeo and Juliet –The reference to the picture of the balcony
scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is prophetic; it foreshadows
the scene Gretta will recount to Gabriel of Michael Furey
standing below her window.
The two murdered princes in the tower--Richard III, king of
England form 1483-1485, may have been responsible for the murder
of his two nephews in order to protect his ascension to the throne.
IMAGERY OF NAMES
•West Briton--A pejorative term for one who denies a separate
Irish nationality and sees Ireland as simply a western extension of
Great Britain.
Paris--Son of Priam, King of Troy, and his wife Hecuba. Paris
had been exposed on a mountainside as an infant because his
mother had a dream that he would be the cause of the destruction
of Troy. Paris’s seduction of Helen causes the Trojan war and
eventually brings the ruin of Troy.
SYMBOLS
Ø The Title: “The Dead”
Ø Setting: Around Christmas time
Place: Usher’s Island.
Music:
Each performance reveals the performers’ inner
emotions and feelings.
The performance itself is as a contrast to the state of the
performer.
EX.
“Arrayed For the Bridal”:
Arrayed for the bridal, in beauty behold her
A white wreath entwineth a forehead more fair
I envy the zeohyrs that softly enfold her
enfold her
And play with the locks of her beautiful hair
May life to her prove full of sunshine and love
full of love yes! yes! yes!
Who would not love her
Sweet star of the morning! Shining so bright!
Earth9s circle adorning, fair creature of light
fair creature of light
SYMBOLS
• Paintings—
Two Princes in the Tower –Silent Death
Romeo and Juliet--Passionate Love
• Phrases----
“these monks sleep in their coffins” /
“accepted the glass mechanically”…..which is the
underlying theme of death.
•Terms
Michael’s coffin
Windows
• Snow Image----Death or Rebirth
Paintings of Romeo and Juliet
THEME
• The dead v.s. the living
The living dead
1. Fixed in the past
* Gabriel’s aunts
* Gretta’s attachment of past romance
2. Emotionally dead lack of love
* Gabriel
THEME
Human’s shallowness
1. Lily’s opinion toward men (p. 2242, first line)
2. Mrs. Malin does not confront her drunk son
3. Kate and Mary Jane’s argument of pope’s
authority .
4. Guests’ shallowness ( p. 2247 line17 from the top)
5. The impalpable alienation among the guests.
THEME
Egotism
1. Gabriel’s egotism
2. Pride v.s. Love ( p. 2267, line 11 from the bottom)
Formality and Ritual
1. Dance of the Morkans
2. Mary Jane’s academy piece.
3. The monk sleeping in coffins. (p. 2255 at the bottom)
THEME
• Gabriel’s Self-revelation: epiphany
Revelation of his shallowness, deadness and egotism
( from the bottom of p. 2267 to the end. )
His rediscovery of self
( p. 2268, line 10 from the bottom )
Acceptance of life and death
( p. 2268, last sentence )
References
Tindall, William. A Reader’s Guide to James Joyce. The Noonday
Press. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1959.
Ryf, Robert S. A New Approach to Joyce. Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1966.
www.sparknote.com
www.stg.brown.edu/~org/WWD/WWDdead