This novel excerpt written by James
Joyce focuses on themes such as the naturalness of sexual desire, the differences
between men and women, and the embrace of life.
If you read Ulysses
previously, you might think of Molly Bloom as contradictory and nuanced. “Early
readers called her “earth mother’ and “satanic mistress” while 21st century
readers called her “bitch’, ‘slut’ and ‘thirty shilling whore” (Greer). While
reading this particular passage, Molly’s character comes off as self-centered,
yet charitable and sympathetic towards others. Her monologue holds facts and
emotions that forces readers to alter their previous perspectives of her and
her marriage. Readers have to consider the fact that after her and her husband
married and lost their first born child, there marriage started on a downward
spiral. Molly was unhappy. Their marriage remained sexless for ten years.
Blaze Boylan is the man that Molly
had an affair with while still being married to her husband. Boylan is
described as a well-endowed and wild man. However, Molly seems to think that he
“doesn’t know poetry from a cabbage.” This is quote could suggest that Molly isn’t
romanticized enough when she is with him. She thinks of it all as just a rough
and sexy affair. Molly frequently finds herself reflecting on the times when
her and her husband were dating and how he would sweep her off her feet. Throughout
the passage, Molly fantasizes about the many relationships that she has had in the
past but always seems to come back to the memories with her husband.
Molly’s soliloquy lacks a lot of
punctuation and includes abrupt shifts and uninterrupted flow of thought. I believe
that this was written that way to show how quickly Molly’s mind works. While
reading, it is almost like she didn’t take a breath. She just had to get all of
her thoughts out and has no time to stop. At the end of the section, she says, referring
to her husband, “and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower…
and yes I said yes I will Yes.” She is presented as a character who embraces
life and I think that this passage portrays it perfectly.
Greer, Lindsey.
“The Judgement of ‘Penelope’: A Day In The Life Of Molly Bloom.” Central
College,
www.central.edu/writing-anthology/2019/04/09/the-judgement-of-penelope-a-day-in-the-life-of-molly-bloom/.
