Describe Gabriel’s interactions with women? 1. Lily- Gabriel says to Lily, “I suppose we’ll be going to your wedding one of these fine days with your young man” (p. 178) Lily angrily replies, "The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you" (p. 178). Her words cause Gabriel to worry about his communication with the rest of the party, "They would think that he was airing his superior education. He would fail with them just as he had failed with the girl in the pantry" (p. 179). He also gives her a generous tip. 2. Miss Ivors- She accuses Gabriel of not being loyal to Ireland because he writes for The Daily Express. She calls him a “West Briton” (p. 188). Gabriel feels embarrassed by his encounter with Miss Ivors. 3. Gretta- Gabriel walks to the hotel thinking about his wife. He thinks about all the good times he has had with her, however, learns that she has been thinking about a love from her childhood boyfriend-Michael Furey.
Okay, I'll talk about the snow in honor of the SNOW DAY tomorrow. ;)
Gabriel is introduced into Miss Kate and Miss Julia's home as he scrapes the snow from his galoshes, and the story comes to a close as he reflects on the snow that's blanketing all of Ireland- including the grave of Michael Furey.
Throughout the text, snow is referenced as a symbol of the uncontrollable outside world. As Gabriel worries about his speech, he thinks to himself, "The snow would be lying on the branches of the trees and forming a bright cap on the top of the Wellington Monument. How much more pleasant it would be there than at the supper- table!"
It acts as a stifling force because (although the Aunts view it as romantic) Mr. D'Arcy feigns a cold and blames the weather.
When Gabriel watches Gretta's beautiful profile as she listens to Mr. D'Arcy's song, he experiences a resurgence of love for her. But, when they return to the hotel, she reveals her grief over a young man who died for her many years ago, and she collapses onto the bed in tears. Their mindsets could not have been more different. It's then that the snow begins to fall again outside- the cold barrier between two strangers. The snow represents unpreventable external events... that not even galoshes can protect you against.
The snow in the dead is a paralyzing agent that spreads all over Ireland. Snow brings travel to a halt. It makes people stay inside their homes and do nothing because they cannot stand the cold of the world and activity. It makes them lose sensation in their limbs. It paralyzes everything. Gabriel imagines it spreading all over Ireland. However, he also thinks that winter and snow cannot last forever, and people do have the ability to free themselves from paralysis. The world painted in the previous stories is not inescapable. People have the potential to be a wide range of things, so there is ultimately hope for the future.
At the dinner party, there are certain formal elements, like Gabriel’s speech. These customs have been repeated many times over the years, and are linked to people falling into these ruts of paralysis. They have been repeating the same things over and over so that they do nothing new. However, Gabriel also hints that this is not eternal, by saying people must not dwell on the past but live life in the present.
ok so I just remembered we had to blog ... and bonus, I left my notebook at school and don't ahve the list of questions. But here goes my best shot, better late then never (maybe?).
First of all it's pretty cool that one of the characters is named after me. That was nice of Joyce.
So in The Dead the narrative takes the form of a sort of funnel, it begins broadly with a dinner party, generally a happy, exuberant celebration of life, then we see Gretta's saddness and regret over the memory of her lost love, and it ends with Gabriel contemplating his on mortality. In essence it moves from a celebration of life, to regret over loss, to fear of what is to come, the greatest loss of all, the loss of one's own life.
The function of clothing is interesting in this section. Gabriel is somewhat portrayed as the person who takes care of everything. He is practical, and cautious. In this section he is mocked for his obsession with galoshes. However galoshes are very practical footwear (especailly if you are trudgeing through feet of paralyzing snow). So it may be far-fetched but it seems that people's clothing is supposed to be reflective of their personality.
I thought the naming was extremely interesting. We spoke in class about how Mary is named Mary, Gabriel and Michael are arcangels, and how Lily is a funeral flower. However the others seem significant as well. Julia means youthful (which is probably why she throw such an awesome dinner party). Greta means a pearl, and Kate means pure, which is interesting.
But the thing that struck me the most (aside from the writing style, and the beautifully wrought language), was something I found while researching The Dead a little bit. The dinner party is set around the time of the Epiphany. Since every story of Joyce in Dubliners ends with an epiphany this is extremely important. This signifys the gravity of this final epiphany. Gabriel's epiphany causes him to look at his own life, as well as human nature, and question life and death. He feels trapped between the world of the living and the dead, and wonders if he, like Michael, will live on in the memories of others.
In this short story, Gabriel has a series of uncomfortable encounters with Lily, Mrs. Ivors, and Gretta. At first, he asks Lily about her love life which only stirs her up and makes her defensive; instead of just apologizing, he goes and gives her money to avoid confrontation. Then, when confronted with Mrs. Ivors, he again scrambles for answers to questions he just can't seem to respond to about nationalism sympathies. Finally, with Gretta, he initially becomes infuriated when she tells him she was thinking about a lost lover while listening to the song at the party. Clearly, these three encounters with women show how Gabriel's arrogance becomes diminished in their presence. He seeks control like he does with most things, yet he is instantly powerless when encountering women.
5 comments:
Describe Gabriel’s interactions with women?
1. Lily- Gabriel says to Lily, “I suppose we’ll be going to your wedding one of these fine days with your young man” (p. 178) Lily angrily replies, "The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you" (p. 178). Her words cause Gabriel to worry about his communication with the rest of the party, "They would think that he was airing his superior education. He would fail with them just as he had failed with the girl in the pantry" (p. 179). He also gives her a generous tip.
2. Miss Ivors- She accuses Gabriel of not being loyal to Ireland because he writes for The Daily Express. She calls him a “West Briton” (p. 188). Gabriel feels embarrassed by his encounter with Miss Ivors.
3. Gretta- Gabriel walks to the hotel thinking about his wife. He thinks about all the good times he has had with her, however, learns that she has been thinking about a love from her childhood boyfriend-Michael Furey.
Okay, I'll talk about the snow in honor of the SNOW DAY tomorrow. ;)
Gabriel is introduced into Miss Kate and Miss Julia's home as he scrapes the snow from his galoshes, and the story comes to a close as he reflects on the snow that's blanketing all of Ireland- including the grave of Michael Furey.
Throughout the text, snow is referenced as a symbol of the uncontrollable outside world. As Gabriel worries about his speech, he thinks to himself, "The snow would be lying on the branches of the trees and forming a bright cap on the top of the Wellington Monument. How much more pleasant it would be there than at the supper- table!"
It acts as a stifling force because (although the Aunts view it as romantic) Mr. D'Arcy feigns a cold and blames the weather.
When Gabriel watches Gretta's beautiful profile as she listens to Mr. D'Arcy's song, he experiences a resurgence of love for her. But, when they return to the hotel, she reveals her grief over a young man who died for her many years ago, and she collapses onto the bed in tears. Their mindsets could not have been more different. It's then that the snow begins to fall again outside- the cold barrier between two strangers. The snow represents unpreventable external events... that not even galoshes can protect you against.
The snow in the dead is a paralyzing agent that spreads all over Ireland. Snow brings travel to a halt. It makes people stay inside their homes and do nothing because they cannot stand the cold of the world and activity. It makes them lose sensation in their limbs. It paralyzes everything. Gabriel imagines it spreading all over Ireland. However, he also thinks that winter and snow cannot last forever, and people do have the ability to free themselves from paralysis. The world painted in the previous stories is not inescapable. People have the potential to be a wide range of things, so there is ultimately hope for the future.
At the dinner party, there are certain formal elements, like Gabriel’s speech. These customs have been repeated many times over the years, and are linked to people falling into these ruts of paralysis. They have been repeating the same things over and over so that they do nothing new. However, Gabriel also hints that this is not eternal, by saying people must not dwell on the past but live life in the present.
ok so I just remembered we had to blog ... and bonus, I left my notebook at school and don't ahve the list of questions. But here goes my best shot, better late then never (maybe?).
First of all it's pretty cool that one of the characters is named after me. That was nice of Joyce.
So in The Dead the narrative takes the form of a sort of funnel, it begins broadly with a dinner party, generally a happy, exuberant celebration of life, then we see Gretta's saddness and regret over the memory of her lost love, and it ends with Gabriel contemplating his on mortality. In essence it moves from a celebration of life, to regret over loss, to fear of what is to come, the greatest loss of all, the loss of one's own life.
The function of clothing is interesting in this section. Gabriel is somewhat portrayed as the person who takes care of everything. He is practical, and cautious. In this section he is mocked for his obsession with galoshes. However galoshes are very practical footwear (especailly if you are trudgeing through feet of paralyzing snow). So it may be far-fetched but it seems that people's clothing is supposed to be reflective of their personality.
I thought the naming was extremely interesting. We spoke in class about how Mary is named Mary, Gabriel and Michael are arcangels, and how Lily is a funeral flower. However the others seem significant as well. Julia means youthful (which is probably why she throw such an awesome dinner party). Greta means a pearl, and Kate means pure, which is interesting.
But the thing that struck me the most (aside from the writing style, and the beautifully wrought language), was something I found while researching The Dead a little bit. The dinner party is set around the time of the Epiphany. Since every story of Joyce in Dubliners ends with an epiphany this is extremely important. This signifys the gravity of this final epiphany. Gabriel's epiphany causes him to look at his own life, as well as human nature, and question life and death. He feels trapped between the world of the living and the dead, and wonders if he, like Michael, will live on in the memories of others.
Describe Gabriel's encounters with women:
In this short story, Gabriel has a series of uncomfortable encounters with Lily, Mrs. Ivors, and Gretta. At first, he asks Lily about her love life which only stirs her up and makes her defensive; instead of just apologizing, he goes and gives her money to avoid confrontation. Then, when confronted with Mrs. Ivors, he again scrambles for answers to questions he just can't seem to respond to about nationalism sympathies. Finally, with Gretta, he initially becomes infuriated when she tells him she was thinking about a lost lover while listening to the song at the party. Clearly, these three encounters with women show how Gabriel's arrogance becomes diminished in their presence. He seeks control like he does with most things, yet he is instantly powerless when encountering women.
Post a Comment