Ulysses (James Joyce) - A literary discussion

[MrPedantic]

Hello Haihao, I hope you had a good weekend.

1. It seems so, yes: his letter anticipates the possibility that it will be disregarded, by warning that Cassandra was also disregarded. The allusion may be to her warning about the Wooden Horse (possibly his metaphor in the letter for what he calls "jew merchants" later); or possibly to her warning about the doom of Troy, when Paris embarked on the voyage that would end in the kidnapping of Helen (presumably the "woman who was no better than she should be", i.e. a woman of loose morals).

2. That is a strange adverb. Would-be wisdom sounds likely, as you say; or does his finger shake a little?

3. I think he passes through the sunbeam once, his eyes "coming to blue life", then turns and halts, not quite passing through the sunbeam again, and therefore looking "across" it at Stephen. I would agree with you about its (decorative?) connection with the following "light".

See you later,

MrP

[Haihao]

Hello MrP, Good evening!

My weekend is wonderful and today (still morning here) is a national holiday in Japan so it becomes a three-day-weekend this time.

Thank you for your ever straight-to-the-point comments, which I am sure will make my finial holiday even nicer!

Best regards,

Haihao

[Haihao]

[MrPedantic]

Hello Haihao, good morning,

1. I wonder if there's a certain element of dramatic irony here: Mr Deasy's comments seem to suggest that a) Stephen is not very "humble" – with the implication that he, Mr Deasy, is "humble", and therefore a great "learner"; and b) that Stephen is young and has much to learn – with the implication that he, Mr Deasy, has learnt much, simply because he is older. But we know, from Mr Deasy's letter and comments, that he is not very "humble", and not very sage.

(In some respects, it resembles the comment Bloom sensibly decided not to make, in the "catechism" section, about attending the "University of Life".)

2. This seems to be an attempt to replicate the "aithousa" or open portico of the Greek; though what that would imply in terms of English architecture, I can't envisage.

3. "Toothless terrors" perhaps like the lions of England? In the context of Pylos, it's also difficult not to recall pre-classical city gates. "Toothless" too as a reminiscence of "toothless Kinch", as you say.

4. Yes; if Stephen helps Deasy with his letter, Buck will devise an appropriately half-hexameter Homeric epithet for him: "bullock-befriending bard". Bulls and oxen feature much in Odyssey III. (It also recalls the "Bous Stephanoumenos" of Portrait.)

5. I think the "wise shoulders" reflects Mr D's estimation of himself, which is unlikely to be the reader's or Stephen's opinion (and which is thus indeed an example of enantiosis); while the dancing coins are an image of Stephen's, which seems to summarise the themes of this visit to "Nestor". (An ordinary writer would have merely said "dappled" at this point.)

All the best,

MrP

[Haihao]

Hello MrP, a good Wednesday evening to you!

[MrPedantic]

Hello Haihao,

That's a tricky passage. I'm not entirely sure I follow it; but:

1. I think he sees himself as the tonsured priest ("him me"), descending to the footpace, presumably during Mass, as in this image.

2. I should think he means an altar such as this one. There may be implications also of a classical altar; "horned" then puns too on the bulls that you would sacrifice to Poseidon.

3. "Jack" generally has a pejorative sense, in compounds, with a sense of "ordinary", "everyday", "pedestrian", "unexceptional". Here, "jackpriest" suggests the unspecial priestly underlings.

4. This comes from Deuteronomy, and means the finest part of the wheat:

"Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape."

Joyce's phrase probably implies "fat with eating the left-over consecrated bread, after Mass".

Best wishes,

MrP

[Haihao]

Thank you, MrP. They are really helpful for the tricky passage and the whole Proteus.

Best regards,

Haihao

[Haihao]

A real puzzle puzzling me today:

[MrPedantic]

I've never noticed that before; but yes, it is undoubtedly the wrong hat. Could it be a trophy? Or a disguise?

I'm puzzled too!

[Haihao]

I have a feeling that the whole Proteus bears a well-rhymed writing and sometimes the feet or rhyming words seem to me more important than their literal meaning. However, this one I really understand not:

[MrPedantic]

Yes, it seems to break into various kinds of metre from time to time – pentameters, or rhymed couplets, or snatches of alliterative verse.

1. Here, I think yes, the pard recalls Haines's black panther; I would say (tentatively) simply as an association in S's mind, rather than a particular allusion.

2. Perhaps "begotten in adultery" ("spousebreach" has an air of Anglo-Saxon verse).

3. Perhaps "feeding on the dead like a vulture"; presumably in reference to a canine tendency to dig up corpses.

Have a good Wednesday!

MrP

[Haihao]

Thank you, MrP, very much again and a trifle again:

[MrPedantic]

Hello Haihao, sorry about the late reply!

1. I see them walking across the sea in front of the breaking waves, where the waves run in. But it's by no means clear.

2. I think you're right about Moses, and the connection with the dead baby. The passage seems to combine (in S's imagination) the finding of Moses with the deposition after the Crucifixion. (I wonder whether it also relates to S's reflections on the sea in the scene with Buck.)

Best wishes,

MrP

[Haihao]

Hello MrP, a good Monday evening to you! (in your time)

Not at all! Your reply is never late and I am just putting up my questions very randomly.

Best regards,

Haihao