"Eveline"

"Eveline"

1. The author, the period and circumstances of creating the literary work

   • James Joyce, 1882-1941
     • Irish, was born in Dublin
     • novelist, short story writer, poet
     • regarded as one of the most important authors of the XX century
   • first published in 1904
   • added to "Dubliners" in 1914
   • June 1904: J. Joyce meets Nora Barnacle
   • "Eveline" was the first Joyce's short story to be published in the Irish Homestead magazine
   • two other Joyce's works were published but he had to leave Ireland with Barnacle

2. The cultural and historical context

   • had complicated relationships with Ireland
   • left it for Paris but returned after he had learnt his mother was dying
   • stayed in Ireland for a short time

3. The place of this literary work among other works of this writer

   • one of the short stories of Dubliners
     • show the life of middle and lower class in Dublin
     • the 1st script was sent to a publisher in 1905
   • "The Sisters", August 1904
   • "Eveline", June 1904
   • "Araby", 1914, precedes "Eveline"
   • "After the Race", 1914, follows "Eveline"

4. The literary period

   • modernism
   • 00-20s: the explosion of modernism

5. The genre

   • short story

6. Similar and different features of this writing and other works of this writer or this genre

   • the whole collection deals with the life from childhood to maturity

7. The connection with other texts

   • together with other stories of "Dubliners" depicts the life of the Irish
   • some characters later appear in "Ulysses"
   • songs from The Bohemian Girl, a light opera that Eveline saw, are mentioned in the other stories of "Dubliners"

8. The problem touched in the literary work

   • like other stories of the collection, "Eveline" presents a repetitive journey where the character fails to break the vicious circle
   • the main themes presented in the story are
     • memory
       • Eveline remembers her childhood, the time she was happy
       • and also the promise she gave her dying mother
     • responsibility
     • inability to escape

9. The title

   • bears the name of the main character
     • the name is said to be derived from the Old Irish óiph which means "beauty"
     • it might also be connected with Eve which means "living"

10. The semantic structure (composition)

    • retrospective

11. Plot lines and the focus of the literary work

    • Eveline, a 19-year-old girl, muses on her life, waiting for the evening when she will finally escape
      • she recalls her childhood, her parents and siblings, her acquaintance with Frank and how she decided to leave Dublin
        • depressed, she feels she is extremely reponsible for her father (who is abusive) and younger brothers
          • finally, when it's time to escape, she is paralyzed by horror and unable to leave her family

12. The system of images

    • dust
      • Eveline lives in a dirty, dusty town
      • dust is usually found in the abandoned places
        • it collects on objects that are no longer used
          • like the photograph on the wall, which she dusts constantly, Eveline feels abandoned and forgotten
            • dusty cretonne appears in the second sentence of the story, and the next one says that Eveline was tired
              • she was tired not only physically (as all the household chores are to be done by her)
                • moreover, she is tired of responsibility and constant feeling of guilt which is strongly associated with the dust which surrounds her

13. The idea of the work

    • by creating this short story, J. Joyce wanted to present the alternative way
      • Eveline's life has some connections with the biography of the author
        • like J. Joyce, Eveline had faced the death of her mother and the abusive father who left her no chance to live happy
          • trying to remember his own childhood and youth, J. Joyce presents what might have happened if he didn't escape