User talk:Jlgriffin

Summary

Mrs. Mooney was married to a butcher, however he descended into alcoholism. He became both verbally and physically abusive. After an altercation she got separated from him and started a boarding house for working men. She is strict yet reasonable and referred to as the Madam. Her son Jack is introduced, he is very tough and only comes home at odd hours of the night. Her daughter Polly entertains the boarders by singing and flirting with them.

Mrs. Mooney deems that none of the men would be willing to marry Polly until she learns that her daughter is having an affair with a particular young man. Polly realizes that her mother was aware of the affair but the fact that she did not say or do anything about it, makes both Polly and her suitor, Mr. Doran, uncomfortable. He is a man in his mid-thirties who has worked in a Catholic wine-merchant’s office for many years. Mrs. Mooney bides her time before she intervenes, strongly implying that she is deliberately trying to trap Mr. Doran.

The climax of the story commences on a warm Sunday morning. Mrs. Mooney had confronted her daughter about Mr. Doran the night before and intends to talk to Mr. Doran himself about the matter. She is going to demand that he marry Polly or risk open disclosure. Mrs. Mooney goes over her argument in her head in which she claims that she is the victim since Mr. Doran took advantage of her daughter. Reparations are in order and the only one that is satisfactory to Mrs. Mooney is marriage.

The narration then shifts to Doran’s point-of-view, he is mulling over his sin and his recent visit to confession. He is grateful for the chance of reparation. He nervously contemplates losing his job due to the affair and bemoans the girl’s lower-class background and vulgarities of speech. He suspects that Mrs. Mooney and Polly are taking advantage of him. Mr. Doran blames Polly for his situation, he then backtracks and blames himself as well.

Polly enters in an agitated state and says that she will end herself while Mr. Doran attempts to comfort her. We learn through Doran’s memories that she initiated the relationship. After Doran leaves the room, he passes Jack on the steps and is reminded of a moment when someone made a comment about Polly and Jack threatened them. Polly immediately stops crying after Mr. Doran leaves and seems content, suggesting that she was putting on a show of anguish for his sake. The story closes with Mrs. Mooney calling Polly down so that Mr. Doran can speak to her.

Themes and Analysis

Lack of Choices

A major theme of the story is whether or not any of the characters actually have any control over their choices. As Fargnoli puts it “The weight of social convention immediately overwhelms the opportunity for choice…” (Fargnoli 58). Social norms are what dictate each characters actions. Social disgrace, threats from Jack, and the chance to make reparations for sinful actions all influence Doran’s decision, but it was not really his choice. “Mrs. Mooney insists upon moral distinction where none actually exists between marriage and a cash payment for her daughter’s ‘reparations’; but marriage, in this type of transaction, is already an economic commodity”(Spinks 62). Mrs, Mooney gains more out of Mr. Dorans marriage to Polly than Mr. Doran does. In reality there a many solutions however because of society and the way the events pan out, Mr. Doran only sees the solution that Mrs. Mooney provides.

Equal Responsibility

Each of the characters act outside of cultural norms and are equally to blame for the scandal. “… the narrator has provided ample grounds for seeing Bob Doran as a man as much the seduced as the seducer.” (Fargnoli 59). Mr. Doran is not the only character that takes on both roles, both Polly and Mrs. Mooney were “victims and predators”(Fargnoli). Polly initiated the affair, Mrs. Mooney did not stop the affair when she discovered it, and Mr. Doran goes along with everything. “What is distinctive about Joyce’s cunning exercise in moral dissimulation is the way it plays off Doran’s sense of impending exposure and social ruination against our awareness that he is merely the inevitable victim of a sordid domestic scam” (Spinks63). In the end they need to adjust their actions so that they once again conform to society. The proper reparation for all of them is the marriage of Polly and Mr. Doran. However that was not their decision it was society’s decision.

Realism

Platt claims that many things lead to depth and realism in not only “The Boarding House” but also the other stories within Dubliners. The stories do not have closure and have little plot. The gaps in the stories add depth to the characters. Joyce also pays close attention to detail, stating the street names that the characters are on, where the reader can actually find their location in Dublin itself. Joyce also references and uses outside texts and music, including the song “I’m a Naughty Girl” which Polly sings to the residents. All of these techniques add realism to Joyce’s work.

Characters

Mrs. Mooney

Mother of Jack and Polly
Proprietress of the boardinghouse
Calculating and cynical

Polly Mooney

Daughter of Mrs. Mooney
Sister of Jack
Spoiled and self-absorbed

Jack Mooney

Son of Mrs. Mooney
Brother of Polly
Aggressive and violent

Bob Doran

Stays at Mrs. Mooney’s boardinghouse
Sexually involved with Polly
Various characters in Ulysses mention Doran: “…mixing pity and contempt, comment upon the Doran’s disorderly married life.”(Fargnoli)

Composition

Joyce finished writing the “The Boarding House” on July 1, 1905. However it was not published until 1914 with Dubliners. Along with “A Little Cloud” it was in an issue of the American magazine Smart Set in May 1915. (Fargnoli)

Platt claims that Dubliners was written in order to challenge conservative views and that "The boarding house" “… Engaged in fin de siècle sexual politics and aligned Joyce broadly with the sexual radicals of his day.”(Platt)

Sources

Fargnoli, A. Nicholas, and Michael Patrick Gillespie. "Dubliners." Critical Companion to James Joyce: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. Rev. ed. New York, NY: Facts On File, 2006. 58-59. Print.
Platt, Len. "Early Works." James Joyce Texts and Contexts. London: Continuum, 2011. 25-29. Print.
Spinks, Lee. "Work." James Joyce a Critical Guide. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2009. 57-63. Print.