English Literature books summary

English Literature books summary

About an hour after "Telemachus" ends, we find Stephen teaching

ancient history and the classics to a disrespectful class of wealthy boys.

Neither Stephen nor the students are particularly interested in the lesson

which concerns the martial exploits of the Greek hero, Pyrrhus. Armstrong,

the class clown, is disruptive and Talbot, a lazy cheater who is reading

the answers out of his book, does not bother to hide his act from Stephen,

who tells him to 'turn the page" when he stammers at his final response.

Stephen struggles to keep the class in order and it is clear that they

disrespect him. Eventually, even Stephen is distant and half-hearted in his

participation and he eventually gives up his attempt to quiz the students

on their classics lesson.

Later, the young boys ask Stephen to tell them ghost stories and

riddles instead of their lesson. Upon recess, one pathetic student named

Cyril Sargent asks Stephen for assistance with his multiplication tables

and Stephen is reminded of his mother as he considers the fact that only a

mother could love as pitiful a creature as what he and Cyril must have

been. Stephen considers his roommate Haines to be much like the spoiled

students to whom he must cater. Because he feels that his students are

incapable of learning, and because he feels that his intellectual talents

are being wasted in his current position, Stephen does not care about his

job and is already considering leaving his position.

At the end of the chapter, the schoolmaster, Mr. Deasy, gives Stephen

his meager pay for the month. and annoys the young teacher with trite

advice on lending money, pro-British and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Mr. Deasy

continues with an unintelligent attempt at philosophy as well as

Shakespearean criticism. At the close of the chapter, Mr. Deasy asks

Stephen to examine his letter on a cattle-disease that has caused foreign

economic powers to consider an embargo on Irish cattle. Deasy intends for

Stephen to use his contacts to get the letter, which is full of

misstatements and incorrect assertions, printed in the Evening Telegraph.

Chapter Three: Proteus

After 11 AM, Stephen Dedalus wanders along Sandymount strand (a beach)

to waste time before he is to go to the Ship at 12:30 to meet Mulligan and

Haines. Though, in the end, Stephen decides not to go to the Ship to see

Mulligan. This occurs immediately after the "Nestor" episode at Mr. Deasy's

school and Stephen is still disgruntled by his unpleasant experience with

Mr. Deasy and also feels burdened because he has to carry Mr. Deasy№s inane

letter to the Evening Telegraph. Later in the chapter, Stephen sits on a

rock and pencils in a few corrections, in an effort to make his upcoming

trip to the newspaper office less embarrassing.

After walking for several miles, Stephen considers visiting his

mother's family (the Gouldings) but after imagining what his father's

objections would be, he decides against it. Stephen imagines a vivid scene

of what would transpire if he did decide to visit the Gouldings. He

imagines his Uncle Richie Goulding who is laid up in bed as he suffers the

consequences of decades of alcoholism. As usually, "nuncle Richie" would be

singing Italian opera while cousin Walter ran around the house in search of

backache pills for his father. In another room, Mrs. Goulding would no

doubt be bathing one of the myriad young children running around the house.

As he walks on the beach, Stephen considers different philosophical

questions on what is real and what is only perceived, on the relationship

of the symbol versus the symbolized, as well as the human senses and how

they interact and overlap. Stephen expresses his feelings of solitude as

his mind wanders on the real and imagined figures that surround him on

Sandymount and he imagines himself to be in Paris, in the company of his

friend, Kevin Egan. Dedalus№ friend, Egan, was reputed to be a socialist

and after exiling himself to Paris, unlike Stephen, he never returned to

Ireland.

Chapter Four: Calypso

Chapter Four marks the opening of Part Two, beginning at 8am with

Leopold Bloom in his house on 7 Eccles Street. It is breakfast time at the

Bloom residence as was the case in Martello, and the scene that we

encounter is one of fractured domesticity. Bloom's wife, Molly, is asleep

in the bed and their daughter Milly is away. Joyce's focus on Bloom's

thoughts is a contrast to Stephen's intellectualism. When he wakes up,

Bloom№s primary concern is to get breakfast made before his wife is

stirring. He likes to serve Molly breakfast in bed, and Molly is very

specific about how she likes her toast corners cut and her morning tea

served. After beginning preparations for her breakfast and serving the cat

her milk, Bloom quickly departs for the butcher shop in search of a nice

cut of pork kidney for his own breakfast. He later burns the kidney when he

spends too much time assisting Molly upstairs.

Indeed, Joyce's Ulysses is more of a comic hero than an epic figure, a

resemblance to Cervantes' Don Quijote. Bloom is doomed to wander for the

day because he has left his key in the pair of pants that he wore the

previous day and he is afraid to go upstairs and disturb his wife Molly.

Like Stephen, Bloom is rather submissive in his relationships. Bloom, for

example, is aware of the fact that his wife is having an affair with Blazes

Boylan, a younger man with whom she professionally sings. Molly has

received a letter from Boylan that morning and Bloom is aware that Molly

and Boylan plan to consummate their relationship that very afternoon.

Additionally, Bloom is also concerned that his daughter's innocence may be

imperiled on account of her new suitor; Bloom simply shrugs this off and is

passive, if not fatalistic.

We learn a little about Bloom's sexual preferences in his rather

obsessive voyeurism. When Bloom goes to the Dlugacz butcher shop, he

attempts to pursue a young girl at the hope of catching a glimpse of her

underwear. Towards the end of the chapter, Bloom is dressing in all black

on account of the funeral of his acquaintance, Paddy Dignam. And the

chapter ends when Bloom takes a trip to the outhouse and expresses his

concern about again while reading a serialized story which leads him to

consider taking up a literary career to make more money.

Chapter Five: The Lotus Eaters

Chapter Five begins close to 10am as a keyless Bloom leaves his house

and takes a circuitous route to the post office in order to pick up any

responses to an advertisement in which he inquired for a secretary. As a

result of his advertisement, Bloom has been in correspondence with a

flirtatious woman who uses the pseudonym "Martha Clifford" to his "Henry

Flower, Esquire." Despite the fact that he has already found an answer to

his advertisement, Bloom continues to check the post office box and his

advertisement has netted over forty responses and in the end Martha

Clifford was the final consideration, narrowly defeating Lizzie Twigg for

the "position." Regardless of Bloom№s initial intent and whether or not he

was initially searching for a secretary, Martha Clifford has become a

platonic pen-pal and now it seems that the relationship is escalating. Upon

reading Clifford's letter, Bloom regrets the fact that he has goaded

Clifford by responding to her letters and he is afraid that she may want to

meet him instead of continue a Clifford-Flower relationship with non-

committed, teasing love letters. As if to confirm her romantic intentions,

Clifford, the coquette, has included a flower along with her letter.

After leaving the post office, Bloom travels to the Belfast and

Oriental Tea Company, though he only looks through the window and admires

the various spiced teas from the outside. Looking through the large window

of the store, Bloom is lost in a daydream as he imagines the various

advertisement possibilities for the establishment. Bloom continues on his

wandering course until he reaches F.W. Sweny's chemist shop where he buys a

bar of lemon soap and makes plans to return with a recipe for Molly's

lotion. He had forgotten to bring it with him. Bloom sees Bantam Lyons on

the street and Lyons misunderstands Bloom's offer of the newspaper that he

has just finished reading.

Bloom's statement that he was just going to throw away the paper is

misheard by Lyons who thinks that Bloom is giving him a tip on the

racehorse, Throwaway. This rather strained comic scene has unfortunate

consequences for Bloom, later in the novel. Towards the end of the chapter,

Bloom contemplates a Turkish bath, but his peaceful thoughts are

interrupted by his memory of his father's suicide. Bloom№s father, Rudolph,

took an overdose of monkshood poison and died in a resort in Italy.

Chapter Six: Hades

Soon before 11am, Bloom enters a funereal carriage with other friends

of Paddy Dignam. Jack Power, Martin Cunningham, Simon Dedalus (the father

of Stephen) and Bloom, follow Dignam's hearse to Glasnevin Cemetery where

Father Coffey delivers the conclusion of the religious interment ceremony.

Along the way, the carriage passes throngs of urban poor, the small hearse

of an orphan, a widow, Blazes Boylan, as well as Stephen Dedalus. As the

funeral procession passes through the city, all of Dublin№s bleakest

characteristics are exposed and magnified. Bloom imagines it as a city of

the dead and when he passes an old lady, he thinks to himself that she is

somewhat relieved to see the hearse pass by her as she lives in the

constant fear that the next death she sees will be her own. The carriage

has a few navigational problems as the course to Glasnevin Cemetery

requires that they pass over four different rivers including the Liffey,

Dublin№s largest river.

Bloom's outsider status is revealed even in the stilted congeniality

of the cramped carriage. Power and Dedalus are extremely terse in their

comments to Bloom, though Cunningham does make an effort to express his

kindness. Still, the conversation is triangular and Bloom spends most of

his time thinking of ways to jump into the conversation. His attempt to be

sociable is more of a faux pas than anything else and his comments expose

him as a non-Catholic. One of the carriage members comments on the

unfortunate nature of Paddy Dignam№s death, given that he died in a drunken

and unconscious stupor. For the three Catholics, it need not be said that

Dignam was unable to receive last rites, jeopardizing the status of his

soul in the afterlife. Bloom, an outsider, has missed the nuance of the

conversation and he argues that Paddy was lucky, for dying in ones sleep is

the least painful exit. Later the conversation turns to the subject of

suicide and Jack Power makes an inconsiderate remark about the eternal

damnation suffered by suicides. Unlike Power, Cunningham is aware of the

fact that Bloom№s father committed suicide and he steers the conversation

to a lighthearted topic. Despite the stiff sobriety of the occasion though,

Bloom's opinions of the Roman Catholic ceremony provide comic relief from

the somber subject matter of the chapter.

Chapter Seven: Aeolus

After the Dignam funeral, Bloom goes downtown to the newspaper office

(an office for three different publications) to work on his newest

advertising assignment, a two-month renewal for Alexander Keyes. Bloom

appears close to accomplishing his goal because Keyes previous ad is easily

recovered. Problems arise when the business manager, Nannetti, decides that

Keyes should take out a three-month advertisement and he is largely

unwilling to compromise. Nannetti№s tone is sarcastic when he addresses

Bloom and so the ad canvasser is unclear as to whether or not he will have

to re-negotiate his contract with Keyes, though in the end it seems that

this is the case.

To further complicate manners, Bloom learns that he will have to trek

to the National Library to retrieve a specific graphic image of two crossed

keys. The Keyes house wanted to use this image and though it was the same

image that they used in their last advertisement, Bloom is unable to find a

copy of it in the office. Bloom's escapades in the office are interrupted

by the entrance and exit of both Simon and Stephen Dedalus at different

times and within different groups. Simon Dedalus has arrived with a few of

his friends who were also in attendance at the funeral and they eventually

leave for drinks. While they are there, the men discuss and ridicule a

recent patriotic speech that has printed in the paper.

When Stephen arrives, he sends a telegraph to Mulligan, notifying him

that he will not be going to the Ship. Instead, Mulligan and Stephen will

cross paths in the National Library, though Stephen is wholly unaware of

Leopold Bloom and his plans. Stephen is also engaged in a political

discussion in which he tells what he calls the Parable of the Plums,

describing the Irish condition as that of two old women who have begun to

climb the tall statue of the British Lord Nelson. Having stopped midway,

they take a break to eat plums, spitting the pits down into the Irish soil.

At this point, the two old women are horrified and unable to move,

frightened by the distance between their current position and ground level.

At the same time though, they find Lord Nelson№s face to be unwelcoming and

menacing and they refuse to climb any further on the statue, resigned to

live the rest of their lives clutching on Lord Nelson№s midsection. After

telling the parable to his enthusiastic and older audience, Stephen

delivers Mr. Deasy's letter on Irish cattle, which the staff reluctantly

agrees to print. Bloom re-appears towards the end of the chapter as he

attempts to call Keyes to confirm the three-month renewal before beginning

the work but all of his attempts at communication are unsuccessful as his

co-workers are disrespectful and only make Bloom's assignment more

difficult than it needs to be.

Chapter Eight: The Lestrygonians

Chapter Eight is a chronology of Bloom's early afternoon. Rather than

directly venturing to the National Library, Bloom wanders for a little over

an hour and the narrative of the chapter follows his course as he decides

to get something to eat. A young proselytizer affiliated with the YMCA

hands Bloom a "throwaway" tract and when Bloom first reads the words:

"blood of the lamb," he mistakes the letters B-L-O-O for the beginning of

his own name. Soon after, Bloom sees one of Simon Dedalus' daughters

waiting for him outside a bar. Bloom then feeds the gulls, watches the five

men advertising H.E.L.Y.S. establishment, listens to Mrs. Breen's story

concerning her husband, Denis, who is losing his mind. Mr. Denis Breen has

received a postcard in the mail that reads "U. p: up" and enraged, by the

unintelligible prank, he has ventured to a lawyer in order to press

charges. Denis Breen intends to sue for libel, though he is unaware of the

intent or sender of the postcard.

Mrs. Breen also shares the story of Mina Purefoy, who has been in

labor for three days. Purefoy is losing her strength and apparently, Mrs.

Breen has recently visited her in the National Maternity Hospital.

Concerned for Mrs. Purefoy, Bloom decides that he will visit the pregnant

woman and a little after this decision, Bloom encounters an in/famous

character by the name of Cashel Boyle O'Connor Fitzmaurice Tisdall Farell.

Farrell is another Dublin crazyman who spends him time walking in between

the lampposts. After avoiding Farrell's track, a hungry Bloom enters the

Burton Restaurant but he leaves, disgusted by the exceptionally poor habits

of the savage customers. Bloom, in fact, does not even give himself the

chance to sit down in the Restaurant, whose somewhat opulent dйcor

contrasts the loud noise of the animated diners.

After leaving the Burton Restaurant, Bloom continues his wandering

through the city before he finally opts for Davy Byrne's "moral pub," where

he sees Nosey Flynn. Just as the "moral pub" is considerably cleaner than

the Burton Restaurant, Flynn presents himself as a decent man‹though he

too, is not the cleanest. Flynn is constantly picking and brushing lice off

his shoulders. The conversation inside Byrne's touches upon Blazes Boylan

as well as the upcoming horserace in which Sceptre is heavily favored.

After Bloom's exit, Byrne and Flynn discuss the wanderer, concluding rather

fairly that he is a decent man despite his deliberate ambiguity and

consistent refusal to sign his name to any agreement. The chapter ends soon

after Bloom is on the path to the National Library. He helps a "blind

stripling" cross street and soon after, Bloom enters a Museum, presumably

to hide from Blazes Boylan whose path has again crossed with Bloom's.

Chapter Nine: Scylla and Charybdis

This afternoon chapter lasts for approximately an hour and a half and

ends at 3pm. "Scylla and Charybdis takes place in the National Library and

the shift in focus from Bloom to Stephen Dedalus marks Stephen's third

appearance since "Proteus." Stephen has left the news office of "Aeolus"

and after sending a message to Mulligan, he departed for the National

Library rather than The Ship. It is unclear exactly what Stephen has been

doing in the interim, though we do see that he is not alone in the library

and Stephen sees that this casual company provides him with another

opportunity to present himself as an intellectual thinker and budding

literary genius.

Despite Stephen’s continued efforts to impress the men in his company,

he finds that his ploys are mostly frustrated. In contrast to Stephen's

more receptive audience in "Aeolus," two of his library companions, Russell

and Eglington, are men of literary stature who patronize Stephen's ideas

about Shakespeare, ideas that he wedges between commentary on Irish

politics and the difficult predicament of the young Irish literati. In his

discussion of Shakespeare, Stephen aims to make use of his various critical

skills without actually believing the arguments that he makes. Bloom is the

first interruption of the narrative when we learn that he has arrived in

search of the design the Keyes advertisement. Upon Bloom№s arrival, the

head Librarian briefly departs presumably, to help Bloom locate the design

of the "Keys of Killarney."

Later, Mulligan arrives and continues his "tongue-in-cheek" mocking of

Stephen and while Bloom and Stephen do not meet in this chapter, Bloom does

pass between the two young men as he exits, separating them. By the end of

"Scylla and Charybdis," Stephen is irked by the discussion of the Irish

literary renaissance and he wonders if he will ever achieve literary

success in Ireland as Mulligan, a sarcastic medical student, has been

invited to attend a literary function with Haines, while he remains

uninvited.

Chapter Ten: Wandering Rocks

The "Wandering Rocks" chapter of Ulysses is a narrative interlude

midway through the novel. Joyce depicts the adventures of a collection of

Dubliners between 2:40 and 4pm, ending approximately half an hour before

Molly and Boylan meet. The diverse roll of characters includes some figures

that do not appear in other chapters and Joyce's primary concern in Chapter

Ten is painting a vivid portrait of Dublin. Among these, we meet several

figures of the Roman Catholic Church included Father "Bob" Cowley, who a

habitual alcoholic who has lost is collar for previous indiscretions.

We also encounter Father Conmee, who has the noble though naпve dream

of venturing into Africa in the hopes of converting the millions of "dark

souls" who are lost in paganism. Father Conmee№s nostalgic thoughts on his

days at Clongowes College are interrupted when he notices two young people

who are kissing behind a half-hidden bush. Joyce also offers several

glimpses of the Dedalus daughters. One of the four daughters has made a

failed effort to pawn their brother Stephen№s books in the hopes of getting

some money for food. After she returns, another daughter departs for the

bars there father is none to frequent. While she accosts him in the hope of

getting a few coins to purchase some food, her sisters are at home boiling

laundry before taking a break to drink some discolored pea soup.

We receive separate views of Boylan and Molly before they meet. Molly

appears on Eccles Street, offering a coin to a beggar sailor before

preparing her home for her upcoming tryst. Boylan exposes himself as a

hopeless flirt in his relationship with his secretary and in his treatment

of the clerk of the flower shop. Stephen Dedalus appears without mulligan;

a few mourners meet again to discuss Dignam's funeral and two viceregal

carriages cast their shadows over beggars and barmaids, among others.

Bloom's path intersects with Boylan's yet again and Bloom busies himself

with the purchase of a book.

Chapter Eleven: The Sirens

"The Sirens" takes place in the bar and restaurant of the Ormond

Hotel, where Lydia Douce and Mina Kennedy are barmaids. The chronology of

the chapter overlaps with the previous one. Douce and Kennedy have entered

the Ormond bar before the "Wandering Rocks" episode has concluded and Bloom

only arrives at the Ormond after he has made his purchase of Sweets of Sin.

Because Bloom is in the restaurant area of the Ormond he can only hear the

noise coming from the bar area. Boylan arrives at the Ormond to meet

Lenehan and the singer enters and exits without Bloom noticing; all the

while, Bloom sits in dread of his upcoming cuckolding. A despondent Leopold

Bloom accompanies Richie Goulding to a restaurant table. The physical

consequences of Richie's drinking are visible to Bloom who suspects that

Goulding will soon die. Soon after sitting at the table, Bloom begins

writing a letter to Martha while talking to Goulding, disguising his

efforts and insisting that he is only replying to a newspaper advertisement

and not writing a letter as Goulding had suspected.

The piano sets a lively tone for those who are in the bar, including

Simon Dedalus, Douce, Kennedy, Lenehan, Boylan, a singer named Ben Dollard,

Father Cowley and Tom Kernan. This lively group provides intermittent comic

relief from Bloom№s depressing meal. Dedalus is a strong singer and he

engages in several rounds of a few Irish folk songs including the patriotic

ballad, "The Croppy Boy." Ben Dollard, a professional singer, is also

rather obese and he is the butt of a few of the barmaids№ jokes. For their

parts, Douce and Kennedy, fully thrust themselves into their "siren" roles,

luring Boylan and after he departs for 7 Eccles, focusing their attentions

on Lenehan who squanders a significant amount of money in their bar.

Chapter 12: The Cyclops

During the time of Molly's affair, Leopold Bloom wanders into Barney

Kiernan's pub. Bloom is not a drinker and this is not a pub that he

regularly frequents; indeed, Bloom seems to be lost in thought when he

literally wanders into Kiernan№s where he is to meet Cunningham and Power

for a trip to see the Widow Dignam. The pub's fierce scene is a severe

contrast to the mellow drunkenness of the Ormond's bar and Bloom is

immediately uncomfortable. A rabid Irish nationalist called Citizen,

terrorizes Kiernan's pub and focuses most of his verbal attack on Bloom.

Citizen, like many of Joyce№s patriots, is both anti-Semitic and

isolationist in his thinking.

Citizen initially begins his drunken discourse on the subject of the

lost Celtic culture. Though he briefly touches upon the death of the Irish

language, Citizen№s primary focus is on the renaissance of the ancient

Celtic games. Citizen№s verbal spouting is not held in regard, though none

of the pub№s patrons feel as uncomfortable as Bloom. A large dog named

Garryowen is equally menacing for Bloom, and despite Garryowen№s allegiance

with Citizen, who feeds the dog biscuits, Citizen is not the dog№s owner.

Lenehan is present and his conversation reveals the results of the

horserace where Throwaway has upset the heavily favored Sceptre. When

Citizen's anti-Semitism flares, Bloom is forced to assume a heroic role in

defending himself. Specifically, the Citizen accuses Bloom of stealing from

widows and orphans and he goes further, insinuating that Jews can never be

true Irish citizens. Bloom defends himself as an honest person before

offering Citizen a brief catalogue of Jews who have made significant

contributions to European and Irish culture. When Bloom informs Citizen

that his own God (Christ) also happened to be a Jew, Citizen becomes

enraged and as Bloom exits the pub victorious, Citizen chases behind him,

throwing an empty biscuit tin at Bloom's head. The sun temporarily blinds

Citizen, whose missile falls far short of the target. Upon exiting

Kiernan№s pub Bloom continues on his mission to visit the Dignam widow,

accompanied by Martin Cunningham and Jack Power. They intend to discuss the

specifics of Paddy Dignam№s insurance policy and help the widow get her

finances in order.

Chapter 13: Nausicaa

Nausicaa takes place several hours after "The Cyclops," and ends with

the clock striking nine. In the interim between the chapters, Bloom has

visited the Dignam widow to discuss Paddy's insurance policy and in this

chapter he is walking along Sandymount strand, the same beach where Stephen

strolled during "Proteus." There is a group of young people on the beach

including a young woman named Cissy Caffrey who is watching Tommy and Jacky

Caffrey and a smaller baby. Alongside Cissy is her friend Gertrude "Gerty"

MacDowell. Gerty's mostly thinks about her previous boyfriend and later she

considers thoughts of marriage. In her conversation with Caffrey, MacDowell

hides the emotional disappointment that she has suffered. Even as she

maintains a rigid and impassive exterior, MacDowell is deep in thought,

considering (apparently, for the first time) that she may not be able to

find a boyfriend whom she might convince or seduce into marriage.

Midway through her thoughts, Gerty notices the voyeur, Bloom. Leopold

Bloom is still dressed in all black on account of Dignam№s funeral and he

is a somber contrast to the white sand of the beach. MacDowell can easily

detect that Bloom is watching her though he continues his failed attempts

to conceal his furtive staring. Cissy Caffrey suspects that something is

awry when MacDowell appears to be distracted and focused in the direction

of the dark stranger. MacDowell then decides to use Caffrey in a ploy to

get a better look at Bloom who is sitting in the distance. Knowing the

Caffrey did not have a timepiece with her, MacDowell asks her for the time

and when Cissy replies that she does not know, MacDowell ventures over to

Bloom, an "uncle" of hers, so that she might find out.

Upon returning to her original seat with Caffrey, MacDowell feels

sympathy for Bloom, who she decides must be the saddest man alive. In place

of her thoughts on her boyfriend, Reggie Wylie, MacDowell suggests to

herself that Bloom might be a character worth saving, as only she could

truly understand him. It is not long before MacDowell notices that Bloom is

again engaged in furtive behavior, masturbating himself with a hand cloaked

in his pocket. After a brief consideration, Gerty decides to "loves" him

back, teasing Bloom by displaying her garters as he masturbates. Soon after

this, MacDowell and the Caffreys depart from the beach, having stayed for

the display of the nearby Bazaar№s fireworks. After MacDowell№s flirtatious

departure, Bloom's considers his wife Molly and at the end of "Nausicaa,"

our hero confesses that his nauseous post-orgasmic lassitude is a sure sign

that he is aging.

Chapter 14: The Oxen of the Sun

"The Oxen of the Sun" begins no earlier than 10 pm and ends at

approximately 11pm. After the "Nausicaa" episode, Bloom finally arrives at

The National Maternity Hospital to visit Mina Purefoy who has been in labor

for three days. Because Bloom is concerned that Purefoy has not been able

to deliver the child, he waits in the hospital before briefly seeing Mrs.

Purefoy, whose husband, Theodore, is not present. After a brief discussion

with one of the midwives, Bloom decides to wait outside the maternity room,

until he has received word that, with the aid of Dr Horne and midwives,

Mina Purefoy has given birth to a healthy son.

While Bloom is waiting for information regarding Purefoy's labor, he

meanders into a darkened waiting room where he encounters Stephen Dedalus,

who is sitting at a long table, drinking absinthe in the company of several

other young men who are also drinking. Apparently, Stephen№s acquaintances,

including Buck Mulligan, are mostly medical students and interns at the

hospital. When Bloom sits at the drinking table of the younger men, he is

initiating the first union between the novel's principal characters (Bloom

and Dedalus). Buck Mulligan is a menacing presence in the hospital and

Bloom consciously assumes a paternal role, fearing that Mulligan has laced

Stephen's drink with a harmful substance.

Even after Bloom joins the conversation of the semi-inebriated men,

Mulligan remains as bawdy and irreverent as before, making crass references

to contraception, sexual intercourse, masturbation and procreation. And

Bloom№s paternal aura seems to only extend to Stephen, who he singles out

as the one decent character in the group. Repeatedly, the young men are

cautioned to lower the volume of their laughter and profanity. After

Stephen separates from Mulligan at the chapter's end, Bloom worries for

Stephen's safety and he decides to follow Stephen who has departed for

"Baudyville," alongside his friend Vincent Lynch; presumably, the young men

intend to visit a brothel.

Chapter 15: Circe

Bloom follows Stephen and Lynch out of the maternity hospital as they

head to Bawdyville, a brothel in the red-light district of Dublin that

Joyce refers to as Nighttown. The reader is presented with grisly scenes of

street urchin and deformed children, rowdy British soldiers and depraved

prostitutes. Bloom follows the young men by train but he gets off at wrong

stop and has initial difficulty keeping track of them. He is then accosted

by a stranger who refuses to let him pass and a "sandstrewer" runs him off

the road.

As Bloom progresses deeper into Nighttown with the hopes of finding

young Stephen, the frenetic pace of the red-light district provokes several

hallucinations in Bloom and his secret thoughts and hidden fears are played

out before us. A sober Bloom is greeted by the spirits of his dead parents

as well as the image of his wife Marion (Molly) who speaks to him in

"Moorish." The farce continues when Bloom's bar of lemon soap begins to

speak and Mrs. Breen, the wife of the lunatic Denis, appears in the road

and flirts with Bloom before mocking him for getting caught in the red-

light district. Bloom is suddenly in a courtroom, charged with accusations

of lechery. Several young girls recount sordid stories of his Bloom, the

conspicuous voyeur, and the courtroom's roll includes various characters

from earlier in the day including Paddy Dignam and Father Coffey, who

presided over Dignam's funeral.

The narrative abruptly shifts when Bloom finally arrives at Bella

Cohen's brothel. When Bloom finds Stephen inside, he immediately seeks to

protect the young man from being swindled. Stephen continues his own

descent into drunken madness and Bloom holds Dedalus' money to avoid any

further losses. Stephen's despairing hallucinations reach their climax when

he encounters the vengeful ghost of his mother who begs him to return to

the Roman Catholic Church. Dedalus breaking his symbolic chains to past by

smashing Cohen's cheap chandelier with his walking stick. Chaos ensues when

Bella Cohen tries to overcharge Stephen for the damage and Bloom must

defend Stephen's interests. Again, as they are leaving the brothel, Bloom

comes to the defensive when Private Carr assaults Stephen. Carr attacks the

intoxicated young man despite Bloom's insistence that Stephen is incapable

of protecting himself. Stephen has lost his glasses, his hand wounded and

he immediately faints after Carr's blow. Vincent Lynch deserts Dedalus in

Nighttown and Bloom directs Stephen towards shelter. In the final scene of

"Circe," Bloom is distracted by the vision of his dead son, Rudy, not as a

newborn infant but at the age that he would have been had he lived.

Chapter Sixteen: Eumaeus

After Stephen is revived, Bloom directs him towards a "cabman's

shelter," a coffeehouse owned by a man named "Skin-the-Goat" Fitzharris. As

Stephen begins to slowly sober up, Bloom begins a conversation in earnest,

discussing his ideas of love and politics. Bloom's desperation makes his

desire for a "son" transparent and even when Stephen is sober, he does not

seem to be particularly interested in Bloom's thoughts. The conversation

between Bloom and Dedalus resembles the conversation in the Dignam funeral

carriage, where Bloom appears as a man who is desperate for acceptance.

In his efforts to win Stephen№s favor, Bloom attempts to play the role

of an intellectual. Upon entering the cabman№s shelter, Bloom hears a few

Italians speaking their native language and he turns to Stephen, to

proclaim his love of the Italian language, specifically its phonetics.

Stephen (who knows Italian) calmly replies that the Italian melody that

Bloom has heard, was a base squabble over money. Though Bloom soon realizes

that he does not know the brooding young Dedalus very well, he believes

that the student's company would be beneficial for the Blooms. He could

perhaps be a singer like his father and his economic potential is all the

more pleasant to Bloom because he considers Stephen to be an "edifying"

partner in conversation. Later in the conversation, Bloom demonstrates his

intellectual deficiencies as he attempts to discuss politics with Dedalus

arguing a shallow and superficial Marxist Leninism. Bloom№s reform calls

first, for all citizens to "labor" and second, for all citizen№s needs to

be secured regardless of their varying abilities, provided that this reform

is carried out "in installments." Perceiving Stephen№s negative reaction to

be a non-intellectual aversion, Bloom seeks to immediately assuage Dedalus

by explaining that poetry is "labor."

Bloom leaves the cabman's shelter and invites Stephen to his home at 7

Eccles Street and the young man grudgingly accepts. While inside the

coffeehouse, Stephen's paid less attention to Bloom and more attention to a

man named W. B. Murphy, a self-described world sailor who had just come

home to see his wife after many years. The comic sea bard adds a comic note

to the tiring chapter, with his stories of acrobats, conspiracies and

tattoos. As he is leaving the cabman's shelter, Stephen sees his dissipated

friend, Corley. When Corley explains that he is in need of work, Stephen

suggests that Corley visit Mr. Deasy's school to apply for an opening, as

Dedalus intends to vacate his post.

Chapter Seventeen: Ithaca

The novel's penultimate chapter marks the pre-dawn hours of June 17,

1904. Stephen returns with Bloom to his residence at 7 Eccles Street and

after a strained conversation and a cup of cocoa, Dedalus departs, turning

down Bloom's invitation to stay for the night. When the two gentlemen reach

7 Eccles, Bloom realizes that he does not have his key and he is forced to

literally jump over a gate in order to gain entry into the house. After

navigating his way through the dark house, Bloom retrieves a candle and

returns to lead Stephen through the dark house. Their conversation is more

spirited as Stephen is considerably more conscious and lucid than he was in

the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters. And unlike his demeanor in the

cabman№s shelter, Stephen is less sullen as he sits in the Bloom residence

drinking cocoa. Bloom№s conversation eventually tires Dedalus though, and

despite Bloom№s efforts, he departs without committing to Bloom№s offer for

a future engagement for "intellectual" conversation. Dedalus does not know

where he is going to go, as he declines returning to his father№s house and

is locked out of Martello. Guiding Stephen outside of the house, Bloom

lingers outside to stare at the multitude of early morning stars. Upon re-

entering the house, Bloom retires for the night, focusing his thoughts on

the untidy house.

There is visible evidence of Boylan's earlier visit and after briefly

contemplating a divorce, Bloom silently climbs into bed, offering Molly a

kiss on the rear end. It seems that Bloom is eager to forget the matter,

and will sacrifice his self-respect for comforts of married stability.

Bloom's submissiveness presents a sharp contrast to the triumphal actions

of Homer's Ulysses. In the original "Ithaca" episode, Ulysses and his son

Telemachus attack Penelope's suitors, executing them all before re-

establishing Ulysses on his throne.

Chapter Eighteen: Penelope

"Penelope" is Ulysses' eighteenth and final chapter. Molly Bloom

thinks on her life before marriage and she defends and regrets her affair

with Boylan, while bemoaning the social restrictions on women. Mrs. Bloom

catalogues the detriments of her married life, describing her nagging

loneliness, the deceptive allures of adultery and the betrayals she has

suffered on account of her emotionally absent "Poldy." Molly№s narrative

quickly slides between the distant and recent past and we learn of her

years as an unmarried and attractive young lady in Gibraltar, a British

colony on the southernmost tip of Spain. Her years with her mother Lunita

and her father, a military man named Tweedy, seem to offer her the most

pleasure as she is largely displeased with Boylan№s rough manners and her

husband№s effeminate deficiencies.

For all of the negative assessments of hearth and home, "Penelope" is

emphatically braced with the word "Yes" at the beginning and conclusion,

and we have every reason to believe that-at least for June 17-the Bloom's

intend to preserve their marriage. Perhaps in irritation and gratitude for

Bloom's "kiss on the rump," Molly intends to turn his servility on its head

by waking up early to serve Bloom "his breakfast in bed with a couple of

eggs." After analyzing Bloom№s faults, Molly suggests that she knows Bloom

better than anyone else and that their shared memories represent an

emotional wealth that she would be unable to duplicate in a relationship

with Boylan.

Vanity Fair by W.Thackeray

Chapter 1. Chiswick Mall

Two young ladies-Amelia Sedley and Rebecca (Becky) Sharp are preparing

to leave Miss Pinkerton’s finishing school. Amelia is the kind hearted,

conventional beauty who is loved by all, while Rebecca is a defiant young

woman, who is disliked by almost everyone, including Miss Pinkerton. Only

Miss Pinkerton’s sister, Jemima, and Amelia seem to be fond of Becky. Becky

is to leave with Amelia and spend some time at her home before she can take

her job as a governess at Queen’s Crawley.

Owing to the difference in the social status as well as their

temperaments, only Amelia is gifted a copy of Dr Johnson’s Dictionary, as

per the tradition of Chiswick Mall, as a parting gift. Miss Pinkerton

refuses to give Becky a copy. Just as their carriage is about to move, Miss

Jemima runs to Becky and hands over a copy of the Dictionary to her, but

Becky, in her defiance, flings the gift out of the carriage, leaving Miss

Jemima shocked!

Chapter 2 In which Miss Sharp and Miss Sedley prepare to open the

campaign.

Becky is wickedly satisfied with the heroic act she has just

performed. She tells Amelia that she was treated with contempt and

compelled to teach French at the mall and that she was glad to bid it

goodbye.

Amelia, excitedly, shows Becky around her house and gifts her a Cashmere

shawl (which her brother had brought for her from India), besides a lot of

other things. The knowledge that Amelia’s brother, Joseph Sedley is rich

and unmarried fills hope into Becky’s heart and she is determined to make

an attempt to woo him.

Chapter 3 Rebecca is in presence of the Enemy.

Joseph Sedley is a very stout man, vain as a young girl usually is. He

is greatly flattered, by the fact that Becky considers him to be handsome.

Becky tries all her charms on him. She shows immense interest in tales

about India and suffers the spicy Indian curries and the hot chillies to

win Jos over.

Notes

Chapter 4 The Green Silk Purse

Rebecca is all set to please everyone at the Sedley House. She makes

the right moves towards Jos. Amelia insists that Jos take her and Becky to

Vauxhall. It is decided that Lieutenant George Osborne, the godson of Mr.

Sedley, is to accompany Amelia while Jos is to lead Becky to Vauxhall. Mr.

Sedley and Mr. Osborne are good friends and wish to see Amelia and George

married.

Due to a thunderstorm, the young couples are prevented from going to

Vauxhall that night and so they spend the evening indoors. George and

Amelia sing songs, while a besotted Jos helps Becky in weaving a silk

purse. Later he is in ‘a state of ravishment,’ when he hears Becky

performing. Jos makes up his mind to ask Becky to marry him.

Chapter 5 Dobbin of ours

This chapter begins with a flashback. Years ago, at Dr. Swishtail’s

famous school, a boy named Dobbin used to be constantly ridiculed because

his father was a grocer and it was said that he paid for Dobbin’s

education, not in money but in goods.

One day, Dobbin saw the dreadful school bully, Cuff, harassing a

scared boy. Dobbin stood in support of the poor victim and as a result, had

to fight with Cuff. At his victory over Cuff, Dobbin was made the hero of

the school and the little boy, who was George Osborne, began to love him as

a friend. Humbled by the love of George, Dobbin, since that day, became

George’s shadow, his devoted friend.

Back to the present, the party prepares to go to Vauxhall and George

requests them to take Dobbin along. Dobbin enters the Sedley House and

notices the young, beautiful Amelia, singing happily, and instantly falls

in love with her.

Chapter 6 Vauxhall

As the possibility of a match between Jos and Rebecca increases, Mr.

Sedley becomes more and more indifferent towards his son. The five people,

at their best, go to Vauxhall- Becky full of hope and expectations, with

Jos and Amelia extremely happy with George. All Dobbin does at Vauxhall is,

takes care of the shawls, and make payments at the gate.

When the time actually comes for Jos to propose marriage to Becky, he gets

drunk, and in his nervousness creates such a riot that everyone is

miserably embarrassed. Disappointed though, Rebecca does not leave hope.

The next day, George pays a visit to Jos at his apartment and narrates to

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