EVELINE (KEY THEMES) Flashcards
What themes does Joyce explore in Eveline?
- Physical and spiritual paralysis
- Romanticism and escape
- Abuse and oppression
- Religion
How does Joyce explore the idea of physical paralysis?
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Which quotes highlight Eveline’s physical paralysis?
- “She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue” Window= symbolises desire for freedom. ‘Watching’ inertia indicating paralysis. ‘Invade’ -encoarching doom/fatalism.
- “She gripped with both hands at the iron railing” Iron railing symbolises a prison-like barrier. Her physical gripping represents her psychological turmoil.
How is Eveline’s spiritual paralysis explored?
- Her sentimentality/nostalgia works as a barrier against intiating change.
- Her indecision and self-doubt (fears the judgement of her community)
- Bound by a religious sense of duty to her father and her dead mother.
What quotes highlight Catholic guilt and duty operating as a barrier to freedom?
- “Her promise to keep the home together as long as she could.” - ‘Promise’ keeps her tethered to Dublin. Religion reinforces her guilt and paralysis rather than offering comfort.
- “She prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.” Reliance on divine grace suggests she cannot make choices independently.
What quote highlights Eveline’s indecision and fear of social judgment?
- People would say “she was a fool” - reveals deep-seated fear of social judgement. Consistently devalues her own desire.
- Critique of society- women have been socialisied to view family and community as the only sources of validation/ the fact of their self-determination has been rendered a myth.
How is the theme of romanticism and escape explored?
- Eveline fantasizes about Buenos Aires as an escape from her miserable life.
- However, this dream is built on illusion and fear of the unknown prevents her from acting on it.
Which quote highlights her romanticism?
- “Distant unknown country”-
- Buenos Aires represents an exotic, romanticized escape.
- Fairytale-like/mythic quality, reinforcing the idea that it is a fantasy rather than a real plan.
How is the theme of abuse and oppression explored?
- Eveline’s father represents patriarchal influences that female Dubliners struggle against.
- He victimises her due to her status as a lower class, unmarried woman.
- She internalises her opression and feels obligated herself for the men in her life.
Links to generational female suffering,
How is the theme of religion explored
- Eveline views her duty to her family as a sacred responsibility, shaped by Catholic guilt and moral expectations.
Key quotes highlighting the theme of religion and duty?
“She prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.”
- unable to make her own decisions and relies on divine guidance.
- reflects how religion in Ireland often emphasized sacrifice over personal happiness.
What quotes highlight the theme of abuse and oppression?
- “Even now, though she was over nineteen, she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence.”
- Highlights constant fear, showing how abuse dictates her actions.
- “even now” implies that she expected to be free but remains stuck in the cycle of abuse.
What would be a feminist reading of Eveline?
- Eveline- represents the limited options available to 20th centuary Irish women.
- Only choices are either domestic servitude (staying) or reliance on a man (Frank)
What would be a post-colonial reading of Eveline?
- Eveline’s paralysis= symbolic of Ireland under British rule.Her inability to break free mirrors Ireland’s struggle for indepence.
What would be a psychoanalytic reading of ‘Eveline’?
- Eveline’s fear of escape= suggests an unconcious attachment to suffering (Stockholm Syndrome-like response to abuse).
What would be a marxists critique of the opressive role of religion in Eveline?
“Religion is the opium of the masses”- Marx
