A MOTHER (SUMMARY AND THEMES) Flashcards
Summary
Mrs Kearney arranges for her daughter Kathleen to perform in a concert series organized by an Irish cultural society (Eire Abu Society). However, conflict arises as the organisers delay paying Kathleen. On the final night, Mrs Kearney refuses to let her daughter perform without full payment upfront and the organizers cancel the performance humiliating the Kearney’s.
Key characters?
Mrs Kearney- socially ambitious, assertive mother who arranges a concert contract for her daughter.
Kathleen Kearney (older daughter)- Talented pianist, remains largely passive.
Mr Kearney- Quite ‘model father’ who does not advocate for his wife.
Mr Holohan- Disorganized, incompetent, shambolic concert organizer. (Mrs K ‘organises everything’)
Mr Fitzpatrick and the Committee- Incompetent ‘little man’ indifferent to the success of the concert. (he chewed the end of it(programme) into a pulp)
What is the Irish revival (key context)?
a renewed interest in the Celtic and Gaelic precolonial cultures of Ireland and their languages, lit and music.
Key Symbols?
- The Concert= The failure and inconsistency of the Irish Revival.
- The unpaid fee= Symbolizes the struggle for recognition and fairness in a society that resists assertiveness, especially from women.
- “decanter and and the silver biscuit-barrel” inverted and corrupted symbol of the Eucharist to represent Dublin as a fallen Jerusalem full of simony and corrupt business dealings.
Gender & Power (key theme)
Joyce presents a damning portrait of a society where female ambition is criminalized, male incompetence is excused, and social judgement is gendered.
Maternal ambition & control
Mrs. Kearney channels her personal ambitions to further her daughters career/family status. Her ambition reveals both her desperation and frustration with limited female mobility.
Social class & reputation
Mrs. Kearney’s obsession with proper payment and respect reflects anxieties around class recognition.
Post-colonialism & National identity
The Revival is used as a means to an end rather than authentically engaged with by the characters highlights the superficiality of the movement as it has become commercialized. Theme of simony – the corruption of a culture by business. it claims to promote Irish culture but excludes and marginalizes dissenting voices, especially those of women and the middle class.
It fails to provide a shared unifiying culture
Paralysis (key theme)
Mrs Kearney’s paralysis is socially and institutionally enforced by a patriarchal society that criminalizes female ambition and agency.
- Mr Holohan entertains the press, doing nothing to resolve the crisis highlighting his incompetency
- however it is Mrs Kearney who attempts to control the situation is marked as socially disruptive.
- ‘lower her voice’ commanding, didactic and oppresses the female voice, minimizing her agency—he enforces strict patriarchal conduct onto his wife and does nothing to advocate for her
“While Mr Holohan was entertaining the Freeman man, Mrs Kearney was speaking so animatedly to her husband that he had to ask her to lower her voice.”
Climax of Mrs Kearney’s challenge which is incredibly subversive as she violates the expected performance of women (Butler). She openly advocates for her daughter, resisting male power as well as openly discussing maters of finance (masculine public sphere). Legal precision and contractual language. “hobbling out in haste” visually reinforces the idea that male authority is in crisis. Silent room is a disiplinary mechanism loaded with judgment/
Mrs Kearney repeated: She won’t go on without her money…After a swift struggle of tongues Mr Holohan hobbled out in haste. The room was silent.”
Joyce explicitly voices a double standard also highlights how traits such as being ‘daring’ and assertive are heavily gendered. Evokes rage, agency and marks a clear threat to male order (Feminist Killjoy- Sarah Ahmed)
“They wouldn’t have dared to have treated her like that if she had been a man…She would make Dublin Ring”
Simile– suggests her anger has ossified her, and rendered her a mute tableaux of paralysed rage. Curious subversion of the Medusa’s tale perhaps working to mythologise her anger, elevating it as a supreme justice.
She stood still for an instant like an angry stone image…”
The phrase ‘resurrected from an old stage wardrobe’ comically mocks the nostalgic, out of date quality of the performers appearance, suggesting the Revival simply is recycling a theatrical and lifeless past.
During the concert performance, one performer is described as ‘She looked as if she had been resurrected from an old stage-wardrobe and the cheaper parts of the hall made fun of her high wailing notes’
Highlights male entitlement. The repetition of ‘nice’ is almost ritualistic, and incantory highlight his blind rage and perhaps his attempt to reaffirm and legitimise his patriarchal beliefs to himself.
That’s a nice lady! O, she’s a nice lady!”
