Ulysses di James Joyce, Appunti di Letteratura Inglese

Scarica Ulysses di James Joyce e più Appunti in PDF di Letteratura Inglese solo su Docsity! 1 CHAPTER THELEMACUS Place: Torre Martello at Sandycove Time: 8.00 Organ: Science or Art: Theology Color: White, gold Symbol: Heir Technique: Narration The book begins with an invocation to God, a parody of the invocation of the Muses of the Odyssey prologue. Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan have breakfast with their host Haines, an English admirer of Irish folklore; he woke Stephen the night before, screaming in his sleep, because he dreamed of a black panther. The discussion centers around the death of Stephen's mother: the latter refused to satisfy his last will: to pray at his bedside. This behavior affects Mulligan, who considers himself a free thinker. Quoting Nietzsche, he dreams of Hellenizing Ireland and greets the sea as our great common Mother. Stephen, who has abandoned Christianity certainly not to regress in paganism, sees in it only a concentration of Irish idolatry. His gesture concerning his mother obsesses him, and the ghost of this comes to torment him; his conscience, however, rejects any remorse, in the name of a freedom that paradoxically finds echoes in theology and liturgy of the Catholic Church. An old woman comes to bring milk to the young, who then go down to the beach. Haines asks Stephen about his Hamlet theory but Stephen postpones the explanation to when they will go to drink later. Mulligan asks Stephen for the Tower key to lay down his shirt. The latter, who has decided not to return to it any more, delivers it, murmuring: "Usurper". (According to some critics who have tried to decipher the complex symbology of Ulysses, if the old woman is Ireland, Stephen is the dispossessed son, Mulligan the Usurper, Haines the English master). CRITICA ALL’IRLANDA nei quali si delinea un’immagine assai critica della realtà irlandese, caratterizzata da immobilismo e povertà di ideali. Le opere di Joyce raccontano l’Irlanda con tutte le problematiche storiche, sociali, politiche e religiose del suo tempo: ne sono lo specchio. Ad esempio, è lo stesso Joyce che parla di un’Irlanda mai suddito fedele dell’Inghilterra, ma neanche, mai fedele a se stessa. O ancora, su quali percorsi avrebbe potuto intraprendere la cultura irlandese se fosse rimasta nell’ambito della tradizione cattolica europea, anziché dedicarsi allo “scimmiottamento della civiltà inglese”. Irlanda e Inghilterra appaiono complementari. E, restringendo il campo visuale dall’Irlanda alla sua capitale, lo stesso Joyce suggerì che tutta la sua opera era un tentativo di “presentare Dublino al mondo” e di riconciliare il presente con il passato cancellato dalla memoria, l’unico vero fondamento su cui poter di nuovo immaginare la storia della propria nazione. Tanti, quindi, gli argomenti trattati nelle opere di Joyce. Come quello della patria. Della sua amata patria: l’Irlanda, appunto. Quell’Irlanda che lascerà troppo presto a causa di un esilio volontario. Nel 1904 incontrò Nora Barnacle, la donna della sua vita. Gli darà due figli. Lasciarono l’Irlanda e vissero tra Parigi, Italia e Svizzera. Morì a Zurigo il 13 gennaio del 1941 in seguito ad un’operazione per ulcera perforata. Le sue opere oggi sono dei capolavori indiscussi della letteratura mondiale contemporanea. L’Irlanda, la sua patria così martoriata eppure tanto amata, è presente in tutte le sue opere, tanto da diventarne il suo cantore per eccellenza, profeta e poeta, bardo moderno e vate, interprete e divinatore di tracce: la sua intenzione era quella di plasmare e migliorare la cultura e la società irlandese del suo tempo. 2 NESTOR Place: School of Mr. Deasy Time: 10.00 Organ: Science or Art: History Brown: colour Symbol: Horse Technique: Catechism Stephen works at Mr. Deasy (Nestor) where he teaches children of wealthy families while he has no money. The history lesson has led him to reflect, with the help of Aristotle, on all the events in power that have not been realized. "The fox who buries his grandmother under a honeysuckle bush" of his riddle is the church that hides its pagan sources, or Stephen who rejects the maternal body from which he was born. Stephen feels compassion for the uncertain and mediocre Sargent, his worst pupil: he reminds him of his childhood and motherly love, "the only real thing in this world". He goes to the director, Mr. Deasy, to receive the salary. The discussion is about politics and bovine diseases, and Deasy hopes to publish an article on this subject. He shows his anti-Semitism (Jews brought corruption and sin against the light) and his misogyny (women brought sin into the world) to Stephen who finally says: "History is a nightmare from which I try to awake" and that God is nothing but "a scream in the street". Riferimento alla situazione politica e religiosa del tempo 3 PROTEUS Place: Sandymount Beach Time: 11.00am Organ: Time: 12.00 Organ: Lungs Science or Art: Rhetoric Red Symbol: Publisher Technique: Rhetoric Tropics. The episode looks like a long series of newspaper articles. The characters from the previous chapter are in the editorial room of The Freeman. Stephen joined them to bring Mr.'s article Deasy. Bloom who is informed about the insertion of the Keyes company is at first well received by Myles Crawford (Aeolus) but is later scrambled. The discussions focus on all topics: politics, history, theology, racing and sports while the doors slam. (First episode in which the text seems to be aware of being such.) For the first time there is someone who filters information for us: there is an external editor who helps us in the comprehension of the facts, due to the fact that the text is presented as a series of newspaper articles). 8 LAESTRIGONYANS Place: Bar of Davy Byrne Time: 1.00pm Organ: Esophagus Science or Art: Architecture Color: Symbol: City Sergeants Technique: Peristaltic prose Bloom walks alone in the city. He is hungry. All his thoughts take a culinary colour, even the most erotic, born from the contemplation of skirts in a shop window. He enters the Burton restaurant but is disturbed by promiscuity and smells, by the spectacle of the mouths chewing the food. He prefers to take a glass of wine with cheese at Davy Byrne's bar. The beautiful curves of the bar are confused in his spirit with those of the female bodies. He decides to go to the Museum of the Library, curious to check if the members of the Greek goddesses present orifices. On the way, he almost avoids his wife's lover, Blazes Boylan. 9 Scylla and Charybdis Place: National Library hour: 14.00 Organ: Brain Science or Art: Literature Color: Symbol: Stratford / London Technique: Dialectic At the library, Stephen starts with some idealist partisans of the "Celtic Rebirth" a conversation about Hamlet. Bloom makes a decent entry and will have only a "phantom" presence in this chapter. Stephen's Aristotelian thesis makes Hamlet his alter-ego. The Danish prince, to escape from a guilty world represented by his mother, returns entirely to the Father, in relation to which he is but "the shadow of a shadow". Shakespeare after being overwhelmed by Anne Hathaway (the wife of the Bardo older than him of 8 years) model of the hag, opened his eyes and closed his ears to this "voice understood only by the heart of him who is the substance of his shadow, the son consubstantial with his father ". Stephen's dialectic opposes the Stratford playwright to the London gentleman (Scylla and Charybdis). Developing the theme of mystical fatherhood, despising the role of the Madonna in the church and motherhood in general, Stephen imagines an androgynous self-created artist in his works. His argument is interrupted by Buck Mulligan, who spells him talking about masturbation. 10 ERRANT ROCKS Place: Streets of Dublin Time: 15.00 Organ: Blood Science or Art: Mechanics Color: Symbol: Citizens Technique: Labyrinth This episode is an assembly of 18 presentations of Dublin characters at the same time. Some cross each other, all await their occupations. Bloom appears in a bookstore. Struggling with a parody of Paride's judgment, he hesitates between three books: one erotic, one philosophical and one spiritual; finally, he will choose an erotic work for Molly. Stephen tries to escape the "remorse of conscience". Mulligan and Haines talk about poetry and grieve over their friend's behavior. All the characters are finally found, coming from all the arteries of the maze of the city, to greet the procession of the Viceroy. In reality, each part subtly echoes a chapter of Ulysses in one way or another. The last part where all the characters meet again obviously corresponds to Molly's monologue, or to the heart in the blood system. 11 THE SIRENS Place: Hotel Ormond Time: 16.00 Organ: Ears Science or Art: Music Color: Symbol: Waiter Technique: Escape to canon Bloom has lunch at the Ormond Bar, in the middle of the songs that the tenors address to the beauties of the place: Miss Douce and Miss Kennedy (the Sirens). The language of the chapter is transformed into music and the thoughts of Bloom are mixed with the voices, which speak of love and return to the beloved, in a long melopea. Bloom does not let himself be distracted and writes to Martha, so he leaves the bar farting discreetly. 12 THE CICLOPE Place: Barney Kiernan Inn Time: 17.00 Organ: Muscle Science or Art: Politics Color: under his protection and leaves the brothel. A vision of Rudy with a little lamb in his pocket concludes this chapter. It's the longest but it does not happen much, in fact all the hallucinations happen within a couple of seconds. 16 Eumaeus Place: The coaching station for coachmen Time: 1.00 Organ: Nerves Science or Art: Navigation Color: Symbol: Sailors Technique: Narration In the goat skin (Eumaeus) stable, Bloom and Stephen, both exhausted, rest for a moment. The identities of the characters are dubious: the owner would be a famous terrorist, and the sailor, come down from the tri-trees Rosevean, spotted by Stephen in the morning, an adventurer half Ulysses and half Sinbad. Bloom takes care of Stephen and talks to him, encourages him to eat; the young man takes a little strength, recognizes his partner and agrees to follow him to his house. In the deserted streets, the conversation resumes, between the confusion of half-sleep and the fumes of alcohol. 17 ITHACA Place: Bloom's House at 7 Eccles Street Time: 2.00 Organ: Skeleton Science or Art: Science Color: Symbol: Comets Technique: Catechism (impersonal) Arrived in front of his house, Bloom has forgotten the key and climbs from the basement through the kitchen, then opens the door to his guest. They drink a cocoa and compare the Jewish and Irish cultures. Bloom tends a picture of Molly to Stephen and offers him the room for the night but the young man refuses and decides to leave. Stephen discovers humanity, charity and maturity in Bloom. They urinate in garden, contemplating the starry sky: Bloom reflects on the role of man, Stephen considers the potentialities of creation. They also observe the illuminated window of the room where Molly sleeps. After Stephen's departure at dawn, Bloom stayed alone, remembers his day, then joins his wife. Stephen became a man, Bloom was once again a child in the marital bed. Ulysses falls asleep without having accomplished anything other than arguing with an artist, who will leave for the promised land of his work. 18 PENELOPE Place: Bed Time: 3.00 Organ: Meat Science or Art: Color: Symbol: Earth Technique: Monologue (feminine) stream of consciousness Bloom falls asleep but on his return he woke Molly. Then begins the famous monologue in 8 sentences without punctuation. Start and end with the word "Yes". Molly's thoughts accumulate the most prosaic memories and considerations, in a flow comparable to the one she urinated on her chamber pot, whose echo will resonate throughout the Finnegans Wake. Compared to the terrestrial globe, the woman retains by attraction the men on earth, at the service of the species and its reproduction. Molly's word is lavish and frank. Sparks men, superficial and vicious, and justifies their use for the reproduction of the species. Criticizes her husband but recognizes great human qualities and accepts him for what he is, as at their first meeting, in the final "yes". Joyce was Irish, but hated what Ireland was in its time. In fact, he believed that Irish people suffered a deep paralysis, highlighted both in thought and in acting [paralysis masterfully represented in "Dubliners", or "People of Dublin"]. This situation is, according to Joyce, due to religion, that is, to the influence that the Catholic Church exercised over Irish people, making it incapable of acting and thinking for itself. This has generated in him a profound hostility towards religion and in particular Catholicism.