Hadchiti 1
Tatiana Hadchiti
WRIT 015-08
Due Oct. 16, 2014
Professor Lipscomb
Women in Dubliners:
Two Contrasting Personalities
James Joyce’s Dubliners is a collection of short stories in which he critiques twentieth century Dublin and explores the paralysis that entraps people in this city. Most of the characters in his stories, namely women, are passive; instead of trying to surmount the obstacles that prevent them from achieving their goals, they relent in pursuing their targets altogether. One of Joyce’s later short stories, “A Mother,” introduces a character that differs from the stereotypical Dublin woman. It tells the tale of Mrs. Kearney, a determined, assertive woman who actively tries to defy the gender confines of her society. In one of the many criticisms of Dubliners, Jane Miller argues that the importance of “A Mother” in the overall context of Dubliners is often overlooked. She points out that the story effectively illustrates “the social and economic position of middle-class women in Dublin at the turn of the century” (Miller 349): women such as Mrs. Kearney who are outspoken and fight for their rights are judged and criticized. Critics dismiss this story as satire and fail to fully analyze Mrs. Kearney in depth. Miller, however, explores how twentieth century Dublin is gender paralyzing, and how women’s opportunities are severely limited during this time period. Mrs. Kearney, in Jane Miller’s eyes, is portrayed as “an outsider and an intruder” (361) who cannot escape the rampant gender inequalities. She concludes by explaining that critics need to pay less attention to Mrs. Kearney’s “defeat” (369) and more attention to the paralysis caused by the tremendous disparities in Ireland at the time.
While Miller is right to attribute less importance to Mrs. Kearney’s assertive personality and more importance to the context that provokes her behavior, she fails to address how many women do not adopt an active role in escaping gender confines. In her argument, Miller claims, “In Dubliners, Joyce depicts an Ireland where the women are the ones who hold things together, who are the practical caretakers of the family, and where the men tend to be the weak ones, the feckless dreamers and drunks” (Miller 360-361). Miller does not acknowledge that not all women fit this description; two female characters that disprove her statement are Mrs. Kearney’s daughter, Kathleen, and Eveline from “Eveline.”
Mrs. Kearney differs from other women in Dubliners living in the same gender-discrimination epoch. Unlike many of the women portrayed in these stories, Mrs. Kearney actively tries to find a voice in her male-dominated society. She wishes to assert her power and authority and gain traction in a man’s world, and tries to establish a position in society that is outside of her defined gender role. She actively pursues Mr. Holohan and insists that her daughter get paid the money for her concerts. However, no matter how persistent she is, the men around her continually put her down and dismiss her. She is willing to escape this ladylike role that she is supposed to inhabit and act in certain ways that aren’t necessarily viewed as appropriate for a woman at the time, to the point where even her husband tells her to “lower her voice” (Joyce 124). Her efforts ultimately prove to be futile when Mr. Holohan condemns her behavior and says, “I thought you were a lady” (149). This statement is the ultimate assertion of paralysis for Mrs. Kearney, and is proof that no matter how hard she tries to stand up for her daughter and for herself, she ultimately has “no outlet for expression” (Miller 364). She is described standing still “like an angry stone image” (Joyce 149), a literal image of paralysis. Her personality conflicts with the gender roles society has imposed, and as a result she will never be able to accomplish anything of substance in Dublin; she is paralyzed.
While Miller makes a valid point in arguing that critics should sympathize more with Mrs. Kearney instead of dismiss her as being too aggressive, it is important to note Mrs. Kearney’s overly meddlesome behavior in her daughter’s life. In twentieth century Dublin’s male-dominated society, the men generally occupy the positions of power; they are the “men of the house,” and the women are often just housewives. Mrs. Kearney, however, attempts to break this gender stereotype and occupy a dominant position in her life. Her first endeavor to achieve this goal, however, is a failure. She is not able to assert herself with Mr. Holohan and the other men involved in her daughter’s concert; they simply dismiss her and disregard her efforts. Because Mrs. Kearney is not able to prove herself to society, she exerts the modicum of power she has in her life over her daughter, since there is no other instance where she can stand her ground. Mrs. Kearney lives vicariously through Kathleen and wants to give her daughter the life Mrs. Kearney always longed for. Mrs. Kearney speaks for her daughter throughout the whole story and fights for her daughter’s rights for her own satisfaction and personal gain, driven by her determination to break the gender barriers of society. We can, therefore, notice a hierarchy: society exerts its power over Mrs. Kearney, who in turn exerts her power over her daughter.
Although Mrs. Kearney seems to be commanding her daughter’s life, Kathleen doesn’t fight with her mother and let her deal with the situation on her own. Kathleen is one of the many characters in Dubliners who has an element of passivity built into her personality. In “A Mother,” Kathleen is mostly silent throughout the story and speaks only once. She doesn’t actively look to get paid for her performances; her mother is more adamant that she receives the money. Kathleen replicates her mom’s youth and is, in a sense, trapped in a sort of paralysis; if her mother pursued an education in the arts and has grown up to be a mother who cannot even receive the eight guineas she was promised, what does the future hold for Kathleen? Unlike her mother, Kathleen doesn’t have the determination to fight for her own rights, suggesting that she will not even make the efforts to defy gender norms in her society; she will always accept the situation as it is.
We encounter another passive character like Kathleen earlier in Dubliners with Eveline. She, like Kathleen, undercuts Miller’s statement of Dublin women. She ponders changing the course of her life and exploring the unfamiliar in Buenos Ayres with her supposed lover, Frank. Towards the end of the story has an epiphany: “She must escape! Frank would save her. […] She had a right to happiness” (Joyce 40). This statement suggests that Eveline is determined to change the course of her life and escape the paralysis of Dublin by embarking on this journey with Frank. However, the last scene describes Eveline standing at the dock, “her white face to [Frank], passive, like a helpless animal” (41). This image of Eveline is the ultimate portrayal of paralysis; she is “passive” and “helpless,” and is unable to even speak to Frank. Oddly, she finds a comforting familiarity in Dublin, pursuing the same mundane routine every day and being submissive to her drunken father’s orders. Her inability to change her habits emphasizes the overpowering influence passivity possesses on her personality, and how she, like Kathleen, will never change the circumstances in a way that benefits her. Both female characters seem too afraid to leave their comfort zones.
Joyce exposes us to two contrasting personalities in women in Dubliners. On the one hand, we have women like Mrs. Kearney, who has an assertive behavior and tries to stand up for herself with the more powerful men in her society. Jane Miller argues that we should appreciate Mrs. Kearney’s personality and attempt to escape the paralysis gender confines have trapped women in. However, her statement that “women are the ones who hold things together” proves to be inaccurate with two other female characters, Kathleen and Eveline. Their personalities contrast with Mrs. Kearney’s; they have an element of passivity built into them. Kathleen and Eveline accept the circumstances they are under and do not actively try to change them if they are unhappy or unsatisfied. The question then becomes, what does the future hold for these characters? If Mrs. Kearney cannot break the gender barriers with her strong, determined personality, what does the future hold for Kathleen and Eveline? Will they ever escape?
Works Cited
Joyce, James. “A Mother.” Dubliners. Ed. Robert Scholes and A. Walton Litz. New York: Penguin, 1996. 149. Print.
Joyce, James. “Eveline.” Dubliners. Ed. Robert Scholes and A Walton Litz. New York: Penguin, 1996. 40-41. Print.
Miller, Jane E. “‘O, She’s a nice lady’: A Rereading of ‘A Mother’.” 1991. Dubliners. Ed. Robert Scholes and A. Walton Litz. New York: Penguin, 1996. 348-369. Print.