Scarica Riassunto del racconto di James Joyce, “The Dead” e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Cultura Inglese I solo su Docsity! READING SHEET TITLE OF THE TALE: The Dead (1914) AUTHOR: James Joyce GENRE: Realistic Short Story (part of the collection "Dubliners") MAIN CHARACTERS + BRIEF DESCRIPTION: • Gabriel Conroy: The protagonist of the story, Gabriel is a schoolteacher and a writer. He is married to Gretta and is depicted as an educated and introspective man.  He appears proud of himself, pleased with his superiority over others, eager to excel and to have everything — his wife above all — in his possession. • Gretta Conroy: Gabriel’s wife, Gretta is the main focus of Gabriel's thoughts throughout the story. She is described as beautiful and sensitive. SECONDARY CHARACTERS: • Aunt Julia and Aunt Kate: Gabriel’s aunts who are hosting the Morkan sisters' annual Christmas party. They are elderly and kind-hearted. • Mary Jane Morkan: One of the Morkan sisters, she plays the piano at the party and is known for her musical talents. • Miss Kate Morkan: The other Morkan sister, she is also involved in organizing the party and is a warm and welcoming hostess. PLACES: The story primarily takes place in Dublin, Ireland, at the home of the Morkan sisters where the annual Christmas party is held. TIME: The story is set in the early 20th century, a period marked by political and social turmoil in Ireland. Dublin society is portrayed as conservative and stagnant, with characters like Gabriel symbolizing a certain intellectual class striving for a connection to Europe and modernity. NARRATION TECHNIQUE: Narrator: third-person, omniscient Point of view: from Gabriel's perspective, with his thoughts and feelings Language: past tense + complex and elaborate syntax, which often mirrors the inner workings of the characters' minds Structure: the Dubliners collection is made up of 15 stories that can be divided into different groups: childhood, adolescence, maturity, public life and the dead.  The dominant themes in the 15 stories are failure and frustration (= the opposite of what he would have wanted happens to the protagonist). THE MESSAGE: Themes: • classes differences • poverty (Lily - the maid - and her family) • Irish politics: Miss Ivors - a guest - calls Gabriel a West Briton because he writes for a Dublin unionist pro-British paper, and she is ashamed of him —> West Britons are loyal to British rules and see Ireland as a province of Britain • religion:  - Christian vs Protestants  - critics to Pope Pius X’s decision to exclude women from all church choirs —> Aunt Julia had dedicated a long time to working in choir, but still, she thinks the Pope must be right as always —> the indoctrinated Catholic convictions: the inability to distinguish between what is wrong and what is not • morality —> unmatched between:  - Gabriel and Miss Ivors  - Gabriel and Lily (he tells her about a future husband and she replies annoyed that men just use women)  - Gabriel and Gretta (during their drive home he keeps thinking about them together and their memories, while she is thinking about the guy she was dating when she was a teenager) • isolation (the inability to know others even when we live with them, when we are intimate with them) • death:  - the separation of death becomes a metaphor for the separation between the living  - the journey westwards: a journey towards the death (Gabriel thinks it’s time for him to start his journey westward) Purpose: "The Dead" explores themes of identity, self-discovery, and the impact of the past on the present. It delves into the idea of paralysis and emotional detachment in Dublin society at the time. SUMMARY: Gabriel and his wife participate in the annual Christmas ball at the home of the protagonist's aunts Julia and Kate Morkan, and Gabriel is entrusted with the arduous task of delivering the "speech" in which he underlines the hospitable character of the Irish people and a melancholy look towards the past . At the party there are many guests and particular figures, Gabriel thus comes across different generations, religious affiliations and political ideas. Despite the great ideological diversity of the guests, the political and religious discussions never reach a real confrontation or clash. In fact, they are cut off as soon as they start to generate friction. The evening is dominated by singing and dancing until the guests gradually return home.