James Joyce e le opere più importanti, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica James Joyce e le opere più importanti e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! ULYSSES Joyce's masterpiece, which first appeared in serial form, and then was published as a book. It is a novel in 3 books and 18 episodes, all set in Leopold Bloom’s life, in Dublin on June 16, 1904, his first meeting with Nora Barnacle, his future wife. The three main characters are:  Leopold Bloom  a middle-aged advertising agent. (Ulysses)  his wife, Molly Bloom  a singer (sensuality and fecundity) (Penelope)  Stephen Dedalus  a young school teacher and aspiring writer (Telemachus)  represents Joyce's alter ego and every young man.  his name is that of the Christian martyr, his surname is that of the legendary Greek craftsman. BOOK 1  3 episodes about Stephan Dedalus  1st: called "Telemachus". Stephan is evicted from his house by his housemates (Just like Telemachus is forced to leave his home, where his mother's suitors bully him).  2nd: called "Nestore" Stephen attends a history class at a boys' school and gets good advice from the teacher, Mr Deasy (Like the wise Greek king, Nestor, gives advice to Telemachus). BOOK 2  12 episodes on Leopold Bloom's wandering (while his wife Molly commits adultery) • Leopold Bloom gets up, walks around Dublin and meets various people along the way • In the episode titled "Hades" Bloom goes to a funeral in Dublin Cemetery and thinks of the dead he has known (reference to Ulysses' descent into the underworld where he speaks to the souls of dead heroes). • Bloom meets Stephen several times during the day and tries to help him • In the episode "Circe" Bloom and Stephen reunite in a brothel and almost get lost in there by getting drunk. (Like Ulysses' companions are transformed into pigs by the witch Circe). BOOK 3  3 episodes that bring together all the characters.  Bloom saves the young man from a fight and then takes Stephan to his house.  When Stephen leaves, Bloom goes to sleep with his wife.  Molly questions him about his day but he falls asleep and after thinking about her husband decides to give him another chance. EXPLANATION Ulysses' story had been interpreted as a man's journey through life, so Joyce tried to suggest the full range of human experience, both realistically and symbolically.  Joyce put this story in contrast with the epic model to uderline the lack of heroism, ideals, and love in the modern world. At the basis of this, there is his interest in the theory of cycles in human history of the Italian Giovambattista Vico, who thought that the historical process includes 3 stages of development: the divine, the heroic and the human (the stage we are experiencing). PARALLELISMS WITH HOMER'S ODYSSEY Bloom's wanderings represent the epic journeys of Odysseus Joyce argued that the modern traveler doesn’t need to start a physical journey to discover new lands, but he must face a psychological one. - Structure: The novel's 18 episodes are modeled on equivalent episodes in Homer's text, but in Ulysses these usually become parody. And Bloom's twenty- four hours correspond to the twenty-four books of Homer's Odyssey. - Heroes / Anti-heroes: Joyce shows how the problems, conflicts, triumphs, and tragedies of the classical world are the same problems faced by modern man. - Characters: The main characters of the book are based on the Homeric ones, but still have some differences (LeopoldUlysses, StephenTelemachus and Molly Penelope) DIFFERENCES - Ulysses has "seen many cities of men” while Leopold Bloom knows only Dublin. - Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, is faithful to her husband, as a matter of fact she resists the advances of her suitors by keeping busy weaving a never-ending work, - they all seem to be in an endless state of despair. - Even when they want to escape, they are unable to do that because they are spiritually weak. A perfect example is the young Eveline, protagonist of the first story in "Adolescence", who instead of choosing a new life in Buenos Aires, decides to stay in Dublin. REALISM AND SYMBOLISM The description in each story is realistic with the presence of several external details which generally have a deeper meaning, so realism is mixed with symbolism - colors: for example brown, gray and yellow often suggest the pervading atmosphere of despair and paralysis. THE USE OF EPIPHANY - Joyce, being a modernist writer, saw symbolism as a way of taking the reader beyond the usual aspects of life through analysis of the particular. So, he used the technique of the “Epiphany”  a kind of "sudden spiritual manifestation" caused by a trivial gesture or situation or an external object that reveals the character's inner truths.  And it’s in these revelatory moments that the reader's attention is focused on the true meaning of the narrative. STYLE He main used 2 elements: the interior monologue and the chiasmus Interior monologue: - In the first 3 stories, in the childhood section, Joyce employs a first-person narrator, who remains anonymous and unidentified (the events are described from the child's point of view) - In the other 12 stories there is a third-person narrator who often shares the perspective of a particular character. The narrator then tends to disappear in the interior monologue (free direct speech) The protagonist's thoughts are inserted without any introduction or connections, are used exclamations, questions, repetitions, interjections, and exaggerations.  The language of the Dubliners is instead simple, objective and neutral, but above all always adapted to the characters based on their age, social class and role. Chiasmus: It is a technique that consists of a patterned repetition of images to create melodic effects, as in the final phrase of "The Dead". PARALYSIS Paralysis is a persistent theme in Dubliners, from beginning to end and gradually becomes more powerful and universal. It's a paralysis both physical (deriving from external forces) and moral (linked to religion, politics and culture). Joyce's Dubliners are paralyzed in their lives in which they accept their sad condition either because they are unaware of it or because they lack the courage to break the chains that bind them. But the main theme therefore is not the paralysis itself but the inability to find a way out of the 'paralysis'. (the opposite of paralysis is escape and its consequent failure). EVELINE "Eveline" is a short story about a 19 yo girl called Eveline Hill. The story starts in the dark and dusty living room in the evening. Eveline feels tired but near the window she curiously looks at what is happening outside.  She sees a musician playing a melody that reminds her of a melody she had heard shortly before her mother's death accompanied by her last words in Gaelic and meaningless. At that point all the memories of her childhood come back to her: - the field where she played until a man named Belfast came to buy it and built houses on it. - her father, a violent and uncontrollable man who was rarely good to her. - her mother and brother Ernest, both died. In the room she then notices the yellowish photo of a priest, a friend of her father and all the objects in the room old and dusty, all linked to past moments. - She then starts thinking about her job in a dept store where her boss bullied her and she feels frustrated - then she starts thinking about her boyfriend Frank, a sailor who had proposed to become her wife and flee with him to Buenos Aires  She Remembers when he was courting her, his being kind, open and lively, and his love for music and then he calls her as “Poppens”. At first, she Evelyn seems to choose the new and better life that Frank offers her, as a chance to escape her house and be treated with respect. Before leaving she holds two letters in her hand, one for Harry, her brother still alive, and the other for her father, but soon after she lets herself be caught up in doubts, no longer being sure she wants to abandon her family. However, the memory of the monotonous and sad life of her mother pushes her to leave; But once she arrives with Frank at the port she is unable to board the ship and she remains tied to the handrail while Frank is dragged onto the ship by the crowd. Paralysis evident in the final scene Evelyn can't change her life, but she can’t also decide to continue with her old one. She only manages to remain paralyzed, almost unable to think, "like a helpless animal", while life around her decides for her.