Worksheet 2 on “The Dead”

As the main character, Gabriel’s view of
himself and of his folks has been
changed. Document some changes as
revealed in the text. For instance, at the
beginning of the story, Gabriel thought
his folks’ grade of culture differed from
his. What does this opinion reveal about
him? (43/84; 161/195)
Before & After

Feels pretty good
about himself;
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Epiphanies
Mortality—aunt Julia
56/197;
Another kind of
(passionate) love he
lacks;
Empathy: started to
understand his wife’s
pains and Michael’s
passion;
Robert Browning 43/161
(7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889)

an English poet and
playwright whose
mastery of dramatic
verse, especially
dramatic
monologues, made
him one of the
foremost Victorian
poets.
dramatic monologues

A dramatic monologue is a piece of
performed writing that offers great insight into
the feelings of the speaker. Not to be
confused with a soliloquy in a play (which the
character speaking speaks to themselves),
dramatic monologues suggest an auditor or
auditors. The dramatic monologue is now
understood to include short pieces of prose
written for performance.
The Victorian Period Poetry


The Victorian period represented the high
point of the dramatic monologue in English
poetry.
Robert Browning is usually credited with
perfecting the form; certainly, Browning is
the poet who, above all, produced his finest
and most famous work in this form. While
“My Last Duchess” is the most famous of his
monologues, the form dominated his writing
career.
Browning’s Style

Browning’s fame today rests mainly on his
dramatic monologues, in which the words not
only convey setting and action but also
reveal the speaker’s character. Unlike a
soliloquy, the meaning in a Browning
dramatic monologue is not what the speaker
directly reveals but what he inadvertently
"gives away" about himself in the process of
rationalizing past actions, or "specialpleading" his case to a silent auditor in the
poem.
"My Last Duchess"


a poem by Robert
Browning, frequently
anthologized as an
example of the
dramatic monologue.
It first appeared in 1842
in Browning's Dramatic
Lyrics.
Portraits of Elizabeth Barrett
Browning and Robert Browning
“Love Conquers All”

The courtship and marriage between Robert
Browning and Elizabeth were carried out
secretly. Six years his elder and an invalid,
she could not believe that the vigorous and
worldly Browning really loved her as much as
he professed to, and her doubts are
expressed in the Sonnets from the
Portuguese, which she wrote over the next
two years. Love conquered all, however…
“God's in his Heaven All's right with the world!”


If Gabriel included a Browning’s poem,
very likely it is this piece to fit the
context.
Pippa Passes was a dramatic piece, as
much play as poetry, by Robert
Browning published in 1841 as the first
volume of his Bells and Pomegranates
series.
Significance of allusion
to Browning





1. to air Gabriel’s sense of superiority;
2. to refresh Browning’s personal example in his
loving relationship to his wife;
3. to provoke wild speculation on why Browning is
mentioned, a big challenge to the reader since Joyce
did not specify the quote, thus creating an open text;
4. Irony of the so-called the Browning Society
popular in the 19th century—danger of codification
against Browning’s own will;
5. In general, danger of codification of a great
idea/belief, which has lead to endless wars in history
“Super-Ego”
A moral policeman




Inflexibility
Stiffness
Paralysis
Something great, if carried too far
without any flexibility, will lead to
oppression/suppression/tyranny…
Gabriel’s Self-reflection



43/161—Gabriel is still in the dark, not
sure why he’s failed Lily;
He still feels his grade of culture and
education is superior to that of his
country fellows.
A well educated person doesn’t
necessarily fail his or her country fellows
unless stuck with a sense of superiority.
Gabriel vs. Molly
Self-justification



52/168—”Literature was above politics”?
Writing book reviews for The Daily
Express doesn’t make Gabriel a “West
Briton.” 168/170
West Brit (abbreviation for West
British) is a pejorative term for an Irish
person perceived by some of his
countrymen as too ‘anglophile in matters
of culture or politics.
Molly’s complex move



She differs from other women who dress
in low-cut dresses;
As Gabriel’s intellectual equal (unlike
Lily, a servant girl; unlike Gretta, a
country cute), Molly attacks Gabriel but
flirts with him;
51/168—the large brooch, an Irish
device and motto:
IRISH DEVICE AND MOTTO

A Nationalist enthusiasm for Celtic
language, history, and literature began in
the 1890s and is reflected here by the
wearing of reproductions of Celtic
jewelry; one of these brooches carried
the inscription "Tir agus Teanga":
"Country and Language".
The University Question
the National Heritage


The argument throughout the nineteenth
century concerned how much Ireland herself,
and her Catholic religion, should be a part of
a university education.
English academic control of all universities
(Trinity in Dublin, as well as Oxford and
Cambridge) required that all students
(including Irish Catholics) pass examinations
in Protestant theology until 1871.
82
Gabriel’s new perspective
He felt ashamed about himself



A pennyboy for his aunts (195): slang an
employee whose duties include menial
tasks, such as running errands, cheap
entertainer;
The party as a cover-up for fundraising
for his aunts to attract more students;
More to the light—Gretta means a child
of light;
Gabriel’s pain becomes pale
in comparison with what Gretta and Michael
have gone through (85/197)

Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He
had never felt like that himself towards
any woman, but he knew that such a
feeling must be love. The tears gathered
more thickly in his eyes and in the partial
darkness he imagined he saw the form
of a young man standing under a
dripping tree.
Molly Ivors 51-54/168-170

Describe the role Miss Molly Ivors has
played in awakening Gabriel from his
cultural Narcissism, his intellectual
insensitivity or his paralysis. Your
critique should be double-edged: Identify
some instance in which Molly also
suffers paralysis, a stiff point of view
when judging people and things around
her. For instance, is that justifiable when
she labels Gabriel as a West Briton?
Impact of something
we do for a while






Human beings are creatures of habit;
Narrow reading of “Eveline” or anything by
different approaches;
Our expertise could block our vision;
Meet the Fockers
The “I” vs. the “Eye”
Colored vision by habit, expertise, by cultural
assumptions or other factors;
Gretta’s paralysis




What was the real reason Michael Furey
died? 82/195 in the middle
He said he did not want to live (196)
Consumption related to the gasworks (82)
(Michael Furey was a boy in the gasworks
where unhealthy working conditions afflicted
him consumption in the first place;
Comment on how Romanticism could
paralyze or colonize someone.
I THINK HE DIED FOR ME 82/195

This statement is crucial, as we now see
that Gretta herself has been unable to
escape the sentimentality, the nostalgia
for the past, and -- most of all -- the
romanticism that has, in Joyce's view,
damaged the Irish soul and spirit.
Michael did not die for her, or even
because he stood out in the rain beneath
her window: he died of tuberculosis. -Gray
Allusion to William Butler Yeats
(13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939)

(Joyce has paid homage here to William
Butler Yeats, one of his early supporters:
in Yeats' play, Cathleen ni Houlihan
(1902), an old woman who represents
Ireland says about an Irish martyr-patriot
who had been hanged "He died for love
of me: many a man has died for love of
me.")
William Butler Yeats


an Irish poet and
dramatist, and one
of the foremost
figures of 20th
century literature.
In December 1923,
Yeats was awarded
the Nobel Prize in
Literature.
Style

Yeats is generally considered to be one of the
twentieth century's key English language poets. He
can be considered a Symbolist poet in that he used
allusive imagery and symbolic structures throughout
his career. Yeats chose words and assembled them
so that in addition to a particular meaning they
suggest other abstract thoughts that may seem more
significant and resonant. His use of symbols is
usually something physical which is used both to be
itself and to suggest other, perhaps immaterial,
timeless qualities.
Michael (Biblical reference)

Michael is viewed as the field
commander of the Army of God. He is
mentioned by name in the Book of
Daniel, the Book of Jude and the Book
of Revelation. In the Book of Daniel,
Michael appears as "one of the chief
princes" who in Daniel's vision comes
to the Archangel Gabriel's aid in his
contest with the angel of Persia
(Dobiel).
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27
Romeo & Juliet
by William Shakespeare
written about 1594–96

a tragedy written
early in the career
of playwright
William
Shakespeare about
two young "starcross'd lovers:
whose deaths
ultimately unite their
feuding families.
Romeo and Juliet 167

used by the editors of the First Folio of 1623.
The characters of Romeo and Juliet have
been depicted in literature, music, dance, and
theatre. The appeal of the young hero and
heroine—whose families, the ‘Montagues
and the ‘Capulets, respectively, are
implacable enemies—is such that they have
become, in the popular imagination, the
representative type of star-crossed lovers.
the "balcony scene"

After the ball, in what is now called the
"balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the
‘Capulet courtyard and overhears Juliet on
her balcony vowing her love to him in spite of
her family's hatred of the ‘Montagues.
Romeo makes himself known to her and they
agree to be married. With the help of Friar
Laurence, who hopes to reconcile the two
families through their children's union, they
are secretly married the next day.
Double Functions of an Allusion



Complement the theme
Romeo and Juliet—the
theme of death fits
Gretta and Michael
Furey’s case
Gretta is emotionally
“dead” since Michael
has taken her to his
grave;



Contradict the
theme
Gabriel is not
Michael Furey; nor
is he Romeo
Age difference
Michael Furey vs. Gabriel Conroy
Gabriel is not Michael
Function of story within story/
comparable to internal frames in photography



I love you and I will
die for you;
Repetition of
Romeo;
But from a
medical/scientific
perspective, nobody
could die of love;

Gabriel’s love for
Gretta: Against his
mother’s wishes to
marry a country cute;
Book a hotel room for
the night so that Gretta
would not catch a cold
again; Got her a pair of
goloshes to protect her
from the cold;
Gabriel vs. Michael




Goloshes for Gretta;
A sensible & intelligent
husband
His intelligence ranges
from academic to
pragmatice
…he shook himself free
of it with an effort of
reason…195


Though passionately in
love with Gretta,
Michael has given up
on living since Gretta is
leaving for a convent
(196);
Standing under a
dripping tree (85/197)—
a romantic but irrational
act
Michael Furey’s Pains




His last name puns on Fury--unrestrained or
violent anger, rage, passion, or the like…
Michael has nothing going for him:
He suffers consumption, incurable at the
time—gasworks produce black lung disease,
TB and other problems;
His love is leaving him for a convent;
His suicidal move is a way out of his
sufferings—”he did not want to live” (83/196)
Oughterard

a small town on
the banks of the
Owenriff River
close to the
western shore of
Lough Corrib in
County Galway,
Ireland.
Coalworker's pneumoconi’osis


Gasworks is a plant where heating and
illuminating gas is manufactured and
piped to homes and buildings.
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis
(CWP), colloquially referred to as
Black Lung Disease, is caused by
long exposure to coal dust.
Gas Works Park in Seattle
Perspective of the park
showing the former plant
The Lass of Aughrim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1C
P5Lz2iHE

The lyrics tell the story of a young peasant
girl who has a child by a Lord Gregory, who
seduced and then left her. She comes to his
castle to beg for his help, but is turned away
by his mother who, behind the closed front
door, imitates her sons voice. She puts out to
sea in a small boat to drown herself and the
child, but is not saved, even though the lord
discovers his mother's ruse and races to find
her. The ballad ends with the lord mourning
for his lost love and bringing down a curse on
The function of the song
Discovery and Recovery?
A portal of discovery and Recovery
 “A man of genius makes no
mistakes; his errors are volitional
(a choice or decision made by
the will) and are the portals of
discovery.” —Stephen Dedalus

• Ulysses, Episode 9
Scylla And Charybdis
Ulysses Episode 9




The famous library scene where Stephen Dedalus
extensively discusses literary works, a brother poet
on a brother poet;
Note a library represents the brain of a city, a
university, or a nation;
Juxtaposition: Hamlet in which nine lives are lost
because of revenge;
Hamlet has become a monster from a noble prince
(just like Odysseus how managed to kill 108 suitors,
in addition to 12 corrupted and unfaithful maids…
Odyssey XII

In Homer's Odyssey XII, Odysseus is given advice by Circe to
sail closer to Scylla, for Charybdis could drown his whole ship:
"Hug Scylla's crag—sail on past her—top speed! Better by far
to lose six men and keep your ship than lose your entire crew"
she warns and tells Odysseus to bid Crataeis prevent her from
pouncing more than once. Odysseus then successfully sails his
ship past Scylla and Charybdis, but Scylla manages to catch six
of his men, devouring them alive:
• "...they writhed
gasping as Scylla swung them up her cliff and there
at her cavern's mouth she bolted them down raw—
screaming out, flinging their arms toward me,
lost in that mortal struggle."
Charybdis
could drown his whole ship

In Greek mythology,
Charybdis or Kharybdis
(pronounced /kəˈrɪbdɨs/; in
Greek, Χάρυβδις) was a sea
monster, once a beautiful
naiad and the daughter of
Poseidon and Gaia. She
takes form as a huge
bladder of a creature whose
face was all mouth and
whose arms and legs were
flippers and who swallows
huge amounts of water three
times a day before belching
them back out again,
creating whirlpools.
Gabriel’s Speech 67/181

“But yet,” continued Gabriel, his voice falling into a
softer inflection, “there are always in gatherings such
as this sadder thoughts that will recur to our minds:
thoughts of the past, of youth, of changes, of absent
faces that we miss here tonight. Our path through life
is strewn with many such sad memories: and were
we to brood upon them always we could not find the
heart to go on bravely with our work among the
living. We have all of us living duties and living
affections which claim, and rightly claim, our
strenuous endeavours.
Always talking about
the good old days 62/177
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
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“Oh, well,” said Mr. Bartell D’Arcy, “I presume
there are as good singers today as there
were then.” 178
It is very hard to live at the present and for
the present;
People always live and relive in the past or
long for the future;
This parallels Grett’s nostalgia and her
sentimentality, and idealized romanticism;
Gretta’s Trust
logic in reasoning


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Gretta’s trust: she finally opens up to her
husband; 193
She felt relieved after her “confession”
--she fell asleep (soundly)
The logic (warrant): trust forms the basis
for an intimate relationship;
Her intention is not to lose her husband;
Reasoning



If Gretta did not trust her husband, she would
not reveal her secret to him;
If Gretta thought Gabriel could not stand the
moment, she would not tell him in the first
place—Gretta did not want to kill her
husband (make him feel suicidal)
If Gretta could foresee her confession would
result in a breakup in their marriage, she
would not tell her husband about her painful
love affair in the past;
If you were to write a Sequel to The Dead



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A moment of Prolepsis--The representation
or taking of something future as already
done or existing; anticipation, an important
device to plotting a story;
Gabriel has imaginatively visited Michael
Fury’s grave at the end of the story 85/198.
Gabriel’s imagination of Aunt Julia’s death
197;
None of the events has occurred within the
story;
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Functions of Prolepsis
a device in plotting a story

"[P]rolepsis is a form of looking ahead, of assuming
something to be the case before it has been
encountered, a foreshadowing in some sense.
Novelists do this all the time when they hint at things
to come, or when they omit information, almost as if
they thought the reader already knew it. The result of
such prolepsis [is] that the reader (or hearer)
creates, rather than passively receives, the
information necessary to complete the scene or
circumstances that the writer (or speaker) merely
hints at."
Prolepsis and Flashforward

A figure of speech in which a future
event is referred to in anticipation. For
example, a character who is about to die
might be described as "the dead man"
before he is actually dead. The same
device can be used in non-verbal media
such as film, where it is also called
flashforward.
A flashforward

an interjected scene that takes the narrative
forward in time from the current point of the
story in literature, film, television and other
media. Flashforwards are often used to
represent events expected, projected, or
imagined to occur in the future. They may
also reveal significant parts of the story that
have not yet occurred, but soon will in
greater detail. In the opposite direction, a
flashback (or analepsis) reveals events that
have occurred in the past.
Irony/Allusion

Identify some instances of irony and
allusion in the story. How could irony
and allusion contribute to or complicate
the meaning or interpretation of a literary
text?
Allusion in thematic connection



The Dead; the title/the Homeric tradition
in which a hero must make an
appointment with death and come back
alive—Odysseus’ visit to Hades;
Romeo and Juliet vs. Michael and Gretta
and Gabriel vs. Gretta
Constantine, the first Roman emperor
advocating religious toleration;
Most important 85/197

Better pass boldly into that other world,
in the full glory of some passion, than
fade and wither dismally with age.
Irony

irony, language device, either in spoken
or written form in which the real meaning
is concealed or contradicted by the literal
meanings of the words (verbal irony) or
in a situation in which there is an
incongruity between what is expected
and what occurs (dramatic irony).
dramatic irony

in literature, a plot device in which the
audience’s or reader’s knowledge of events
or individuals surpasses that of the
characters. The words and actions of the
characters therefore take on a different
meaning for the audience or reader than they
have for the play’s characters. This may
happen when, for example, a character
reacts in an inappropriate or foolish way or
when a character lacks self-awareness and
thus acts under false assumptions.
Instances of Irony




Aunt Julia
Arrayed for the
Bridal 56
Freddy 57
Is he a qualified
critic judging Aunt
Julia’s
performance?



Mary Jane’s
performance;
Lily’s name—no
more purity;
Rich students vs.
poor teachers;