The stories “Clay” and “Dancing at Lughnasa”
Q1. Discuss the theme of paralysis in any TWO stories (DO NOT discuss ‘Clay’ in this question) from James Joyce’s collection of short stories, Dubliners. How is paralysis manifested in the portrayal of the city of Dublin, and how does it affect the lives of many of the characters in the stories? Make sure you illustrate your answer with specific examples from the stories.
Paralysis is the physical movement’s inability, but it is also spiritual social, cultural, political, and history malaise. It does refer to the inability to function correctly, and in Dublin’s context, it suggests that Dubliners who are naturally paralyzed and live in a paralyzed city. In the Sisters, one can see that through father Flynn, he fails in his duties, and he represents the real state of the Irish church and its drawbacks on the individuals, especially children. Yet the old priest teaches the boy a lot of things. The sickness of spiritual matters affects social norms and provides an incurable disease in society. Religion paralysis occurs on the first page. ‘’There was no hope for him this time. It was the third stroke. Night after night, I had passed the house (it was vacation time) night after night I had found it lighted in the same way, faintly and evenly. If he were dead, I thought, I would see the reflection of candles on the darkened blind, for I knew that two candles must be set at the head of a corpse. He had often said to me: I am not long for this world, and I had thought his words idle. Now I knew they were true. Every night as I gazed up at the window, I said softly to myself the word paralysis. It had always sounded strangely in my ears, like the word gnomon in the Euclid and the word simony in the Catechism. But now it sounded to me like the name of some maleficent and sinful being. It filled me with fear, yet I longed to be nearer to it and look upon its deadly work. “Joyce said. The situation in the story is like the life of people who have no change, and the Catholic Church is responsible for Irish paralysis.
In an Encounter,” is the story of a young seeking boy whose romantic dreams and initial attempts for adventure lead him to nowhere but embitterment and disappointment. Priesthood still casts an inevitably unpleasant shadow over the youth’s lives, inflicting them with frustration, disillusionment, and menace. Paralysis comes in the first sentence when Joe Dillon is introduced who, despite his frequently church-going parents, is said to be the main source of the Wild West – utterly despised by Father Butler and the Indian conductor battles for the kids. Physically threatening, Joe Dillon also “played too fiercely for the young boy and other kids who were younger and timider,” and every game was to end with his “war dance of victory.” Therefore, it is incredible for everyone to learn that Joe finally “had a vocation for the priesthood,” but it is nothing but the truth. The young savage is now a priest, But Father Butler is not the only recognizable counterpart for the old pervert. The old man’s age, physical appearance, and his mysterious behavior restore the image of Father Flynn in “The Sisters.” They both wanted to teach young boys.
In conclusion, “The Sisters,” Father Flynn is dead and missing, and the church and his house echo his physical and spiritual absence. Father Butler, in “An Encounter,” is exactly absent where he has to be present. As Leo Dillon is afraid they might encounter Father Butler on their way to the Pigeon House, Mahony asks, “very sensibly, what would Father Butler be doing out at the Pigeon House” And if the Pigeon House is going to be empty of the priest, what other blessing presence can be there? Pigeon House, being the Dublin electricity and power station, represents symbolically the light and power the metonymy for God. Therefore, the pigeon symbolizes the Holy Ghost also. The gnomonic integrity of Trinity is to be shattered with the present Son (the boy) and Holy Ghost and the absent third member: God (Father). The missing, absent father/priest and his suffocating hopeless absence that prevails afterward are familiar images in Dubliners.
Q2. Brian Friel’s play Dancing at Lughnasa and James Joyce’s short story ‘Clay’ confirms the limited opportunities available to Irish women during the first half of the 20th century. Discuss the depiction of women and their lives in both works. Support your discussion by providing specific examples from the texts.
The stories “Clay” and “Dancing at Lughnasa” highlight female characters that are considered traditional according to their workplaces and social status, but they try to break the Victorian feminine stereotypes of being considered the prisoners of the house. For instance, Maria in “Clay,” “had to laugh and say she didn’t want any ring or man either.” She still seems to be a strong feminine character. In the case of Maria, there is a challenge of traditional roles by force of circumstance. She is important, though, not only for how she creates an independent life for herself but also for how she manages to transcend religious boundaries. Even though Maria is trapped in her traditional role, defined by her workplace, being a maid, she still represents anti-traditionalism challenges according to her way of thinking. These characters lead to the idea of breaking the “gender stereotypes” related to marriage and family. In Dancing at Lughnasa, four women stay home and do house chores while Kate works as a school teacher and has a strong catholic foundation, which restricts them on how to dress and to be a good catholic woman. None of the five sisters are married as they are isolated, and men are few, making their situation more badly. In this play, women are considered less than men; they were forced to work on less paying professions. Poverty and financial insecurity are constant among the sisters.
In conclusion, they represent society’s images at the beginning of the 20th century in which the subversion of gender roles of male and female is beginning to be visible. The traditional Victorian stereotypes related to men and women are beginning to be challenged by some characters. In conclusion, the sense of anti-traditionalism is established, and it challenges several characters, such as Maria, Kate, rose, Agnes, and Maggie. In some cases, there is a slight sense of anti-traditionalism. In some cases, there is a complete modification of the gender roles, which leads to the fact that “gender reality is performative which means, quite simply, that it is real only to the extent that it is performed.