Context Flashcards
Population in Dublin in 1900
400,000
Area of Dublin in 1900
24 square miles
Gaelic Revival
Attempts to reintroduce Irish language, literature and sports in the late 1800s
Industry in Dublin
Did not industrialise like Belfast and northern English cities did
Had breweries, distilleries and other smaller industries - but no large scale trade sector
‘The second city of Empire’
Many felt that Dublin had lost the right to this name due to the swift industrialisation of other cities
When did Ireland effectively lose its independence to begin with?
Norman invasions of 1169 and 1171 - from then on, Ireland had been under Norman/English control
When did Ireland gain dominion status?
1922 - Anglo-Irish Treaty (thus during Joyce’s time, many saw it as an era of occupation by an overtly hostile enemy)
Parnell
Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (1882-1891)
Politically sidelined due to his affair with William O’Shea’s wife
Led to the stagnation of Irish politics
Joyce’s feelings regarding Parnell
Believed that the scandal had been hypercriticised and fabricated by Parnell’s opponents
Felt that the Irish people had betrayed Parnell (particularly the Church)
Historian A. J. P. Taylor on Parnell
‘More than any other man he gave Ireland the sense of being an independent nation’
Joyce’s education
The Society of Jesus - a Jesuit order - strict and rigorous education
Joyce’s religious beliefs
Felt that the church as a whole kept society ‘backward’ compared to the social and philosophical developments being made in the rest of Europe
However, many commentators feel that a Catholic sensibility continued to shape Joyce’s thinking - personal letters testify that he continued to attend Catholic Mass as well as Orthodox services, particularly in the week leading up to Easter
Number of religious figures in 1800
Only 1,850 priests and bishops and 122 nuns
Number of religious figures in 1900
3,700 priests and 8,000 nuns (incredible growth of the number of religious figures in Ireland during the nineteenth century)
Father of the Irish Revival
Standish James O’Grady
Gaelic League formed
1893
Legality of beating in 1900
A parent could legally beat any child over the age of two
Corporal punishment abolished in Ireland
1982 - use of physical punishment by parents and teachers would have been very normal in 1900
Education for middle classes
Boys were educated both at school and by private tutors – emphasis on Maths and Classics
Girls could be educated at school or at home – emphasis on singing, sewing, drawing as well as languages (French or German)
Divorce in 1901 census
Census states that only 1 divorce took place within the five-year period that the census concerns – divorce was incredibly rare, which makes marriage all the more entrapping
Level of marriage in 1901 census
Only 35.1% of women between 15 and 45 were married, giving Ireland the lowest level of marriage in any European country
Average age of marriage
The average age at marriage was very high, and permanent celibacy (like Maria) was actually quite common at this time
Married Women’s Property Act
1882 - allowed married women to own and control property in their own right
Number of women in Magdalene Laundries
30,000
Joyce’s view of fallen women
Believed this was a false idea
% of discourse that is female
Women account for less than 25% of direct discourse in Dubliners
Garry Leonard on the crumbling of imperialism
Imperial Britain was slowing devolving, and with this came the pressure for Ireland to understand itself as Irish (Garry Leonard)
Joyce’s style of…
Joyce’s ‘scrupulous meanness’ is perfected in Dubliners as he explores the catastrophic world of his characters
