Araby quot and the Writings of James Joyce.pdf

"Araby" and the Writings of James Joyce
Author(s): Harry Stone
Source: The Antioch Review, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Autumn, 1965), pp. 375-410
Published by: Antioch Review, Inc.
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'Ara by" and the Writings
of James Joyce
By HARRY STONE
Lovecameto us in timegone by
When one at twilightshylyplayed
And one in fearwasstandingnigh-
ForLoveat firstis allafraid.
We weregravelovers.Loveis past
That had his sweethoursmanya one;
Welcometo us now at the last
The waysthatwe shallgo upon.
-Chamber Music, XXX (written in 1904
or earlier).
And stillyou holdourlonginggaze
With languorouslook andlavishlimb!
Are you not wearyof ardentways?
Tell no moreof enchanteddays.
-A Portraitof the Artistas a YoungMan
(1904-14).
Lust,thoushaltnot commixidolatry.
-Finnegans Wake(1922-39).
* "Wewalk throughourselves,"
saysStephenDedalusin Ulysses.
Stephenis tryingto showhow Shakespeare,
or forthatmatterhow
any artist (creatorof "Daneor Dubliner"),foreverturnsto the
HARRY STONE, AssociateProfessorof English at San FernandoValley State
Collegein California,has publishedwidelyin the leadingliteraryreviewsand
journalsof this countryand of Europe.He has justfinishedan editionof the
UncollectedWritingsof CharlesDickens:HouseholdWordsand is completing
a bookentitledDickensand the FairyTale.
375

376 THE ANTIOCH REVIEW
themeswhich agitatehim, endlesslybodyingforththe few crucial
eventsof his life. "Everylife is many days,day after day,"says
Stephen."We walk through ourselves,meeting robbers,ghosts,
giants,old men, young men, wives,widows,brothers-in-love.
But
alwaysmeetingourselves."
Stephen'stheorymay be an ingenious
jeu d'esprit-thoughJoycehimselfwas heavilycommittedto such
views.ButwhetherornotStephen's
wordsareappropriate
to Shake-
speare,theyareexactlyappropriate
to Joyce.In his writings,Joyce
was alwaysmeetinghimself-in ways which must at times have
beenbeyondhisconscious
ordinance-andthepagesof "Araby"
are
witnesstothatfact.
For"Araby"
preserves
acentral
episodein Joyce's
life,anepisode
hewill endlessly
recapitulate.
Theboyin "Araby,"
liketheyouthful
Joycehimself,mustbegintofreehimselffromthenetsandtrammels
of society.Thatbeginninginvolvespainfulfarewellsanddisturbing
dislocations.
Theboymustdream"nomoreof enchanted
days."He
mustforegotheshimmering
mirageof childhood,
beginto seethings
astheyreallyare.Buttoseethingsastheyreallyareisonlyaprelude.
Farin thedistancelieshis appointed(butasyetunimagined)task:
to encounter
the realityof experience
andforgethe uncreated
con-
scienceof hisrace.The wholeof thatstruggle,of course,is setforth
in A Portrait
of the Artistasa YoungMan."Araby"
is tlheidentical
struggleat an earlierstage;"Araby"
is a portraitof the artistas a
youngboy.
II
The autobiographical
nexusof "Araby"
is not confinedto the
struggleragingin theboy'smind,thoughthatconflict-an epitome
of Joyce's
firstpainfuleffortto see-is centralandcontrolsall else.
Manyof the detailsof the storyarealsorootedin Joyce's
life. The
narrator
of "Araby"-thenarrator
is theboyof thestorynowgrown
up-lived, like Joyce,on NorthRichmondStreet.NorthRichmond
Streetisblind,withadetached
two-story
houseattheblindend,and
downthestreet,astheopeningparagraph
informsus,the Christian
Brothers'
school.LikeJoyce,theboyattendedthisschool,andagain
like Joycehe foundit dull and stultifying.Furthermore,
the boy's
surrogate
parents,
hisauntanduncle,areaversion
of Joyce's
parents:
theaunt,withherforbearance
andherunexamined
piety,is likehis

"ARABY" AND JOYCE 377
mother;the uncle,with his irregular
hours,his irresponsibility,
his
loveof recitation,
andhisdrunkenness,
is likehisfather.
The title and the centralactionof the storyare also autobio-
graphical.
FromMayfourteenth
tonineteenth,
I894, whiletheJoyce
familywaslivingon NorthRichmondStreetandJoycewastwelve,
Arabycameto Dublin.Arabywasa bazaar,
andtheprogram
of the
bazaar,
advertising
thefairasa "Grand
OrientalFete,"featuredthe
name"Araby"
in hugeexoticletters,whilethedesignaswell asthe
detailof theprogram
conveyedan ill-assorted
blendof pseudo-East-
ernromanticism
andblatantcommercialism.
Foroneshilling,asthe
programputit, one couldvisit"Araby
in Dublin"andat the same
timeaidtheJervis
StreetHospital.
Buttheartof "Araby"
goesbeyonditsautobiographical
matrix.
The autobiographical
strandssoonentwinethemselvesaboutmore
literary
patterns
andenterthefictionin dozensof unsuspected
ways.
For instance,embeddedin "Araby"
is a story,"OurLady of the
Hills,"from a book that Joyceknew well, The Celtic Twilight
(1893)byWilliamButlerYeats."OurLadyof theHills"tellshowa
prettyyoungProtestant
girl walkingthroughthe mountainsnear
Lough Gill was takenfor the Virgin Maryby a group of Irish
Catholicchildren.The childrenrefusedto accepther denialsof
divinity;to themshewas"thegreatQueenof Heavencometo walk
uponthemountain
andbekindtothem."Aftertheyhadpartedand
shehadwalkedonforhalfamile,oneof thechildren,
aboy,jumped
downintoherpathandsaidthathe wouldbelievesheweremortal
if she had a petticoatunderher dresslike otherladies.The girl
showedthe boy her two skirts,and the boy'sdreamof a saintly
epiphanyvanishedinto the mountainair.In his anguish,he cried
out angrily,"Dad'sa divil,mum'sa divil,andI'ma divil,andyou
areonlyanordinary
lady."Thenhe "ranawaysobbing."
Probably
reverberating
in "Araby"
alsoarechordsfromone of
ThomasDe Quincey's
mostfamousworks,"Levana
andOurLadies
of Sorrow."
In "Levana,"
OurLadyof Tears(she bearsthe addi-
tionaltitle,"Madonna")
speaksaboutthe childwho is destinedto
sufferandtosee,atypeof theinchoate
artist:
"Lo!hereis he whomin childhoodI dedicatedto my altars.This is he
thatonceI mademy darling.Him I led astray,him I beguiled,and from
heavenI stoleawayhis youngheartto mine.Throughme did he become

idolatrous;
andthrough
me it was,by languishing
desires,
thathe wor-
shipped
theworm,andprayed
tothewormy
grave.
Holywasthegraveto
him; lovelywas its darkness;
saintlyits corruption.
Him, this young
idolater,
I haveseasoned
forthee,deargentleSister
of Sighs!"
He whois chosenbytheLadiesof Sorrowwill sufferandbecursed;
he will "seethe thingsthat ought not to be seen,sightsthat are
abominable,
andsecrets
thatareunutterable,"
buthewill alsobeable
toreadthegreattruthsof theuniverse,
andhewill "riseagainbefore
he dies."In this manner,saysOur Ladyof Tears,we accomplish
the commissionwe had from God: "toplague[the chosenone's]
heartuntilwe hadunfoldedthecapacities
of hisspirit."
The ideas and images of "Levana"(witness the parodyin
Ulysses) had sunk deepinto Joyce'simagination.His imagination
had alwayssoughtout, alwaysvibratedto, the Levanaesque
con-
stellation-a constellationthat fuses religion, sexuality,idolatry,
darkness,
ascension,
and art."Araby,"
bothin its centralideaand
its characteristic
imagery-in the imageof Mangan'ssister,in the
boy'sblindidolatry,andin the boy'sultimateinsightanddawning
ascension-iscognatewith"Levana."
Otherliterary
prototypes
alsocontribute
to "Araby."
In"Araby"
asin Joyce's
life,Manganis animportant
name.In life Manganwas
oneof Joyce's
favorite
Romantic
poets,a little-known
Irishpoetwho
pretended
thatmanyof hispoemsweretranslations
fromtheArabic
althoughhewastotallyignorant
of thatlanguage.Joycechampioned
him in a paperdelivered
asa Pateresque
twenty-year-old
beforethe
Literaryand HistoricalSocietyof UniversityCollege,Dublin,and
championed
him againfiveyearslater,in a lectureat theUniversita
Popolarein Trieste,as "themost significantpoet of the modern
Celticworld,andoneof themostinspiredsingersthateverusedthe
lyricformin anycountry."
In "Araby"
Manganis theboy'sfriend,
but,what is moreimportant,
Mangan's
sisteris the adoredgirl. In
eachlectureJoycediscussed
Mangan's
poetryin wordswhichcould
serveasanepigraphfor theboy'smute,chivalric
lovefor Mangan's
sisterandforhis subsequent
disillusionment
andself-disdain.
In the
latterlecture,Joycedescribedthe femalepersonathat Manganis
constantly
adoring:
Thisfigurewhichhe adoresrecalls
the spiritual
yearnings
andthe
imaginarylovesof the MiddleAges, and Manganhasplacedhis lady in a

worldfull of melody,of lightsandperfumes,a worldthatgrowsfatallyto
frameeveryface that the eyes of a poet have gazed on with love. There
is only one chivalrousidea, only one male devotion,that lights up the
facesof VittoriaColonna,Laura,and Beatrice,justas the bitterdisillusion
and the self-disdain
thatend the chapterareone and the same.
Andoneof Joyce's
favoritepoemsbyMangan-a poemwhoseinflu-
encerecursin A Portrait
of theArtistasa YoungMan,Ulysses,and
FinnegansWake-is "DarkRosaleen,"
a love paeanto a girl who
represents
Ireland(Dark Rosaleenis a poeticname for Ireland),
physical love, and romanticadoration.In "Araby"Joyce took
Mangan's
idealizedgirl as an embodiment
of the artist's,
especially
theIrishartist's,
relationship
tohisbeloved,andthen,combiningthe
imageof the girl with otherresonatingliteraryassociations,
wrote
hisownstoryof dawning,worshipful
love.
III
It is easyto followtheexternaleventsof thestory.A youngboy
becomes
fascinated
withhisboyfriend's
sister,beginsto dwellon her
softpresence,
andeventually
adores
herwithanecstasy
of secretlove.
Onedaythegirlspeaksto him-it is oneof thefew timestheyhave
everexchangeda word-and askshim if he is going to Araby.She
herselfcannotgo, shetellshim,forshemustparticipate
in a retreat.
Theboysaysif hegoeshewillbringheragift.Whenhefinallyvisits
the bazaarhe is disillusioned
by its tawdriness
andby a banalcon-
versation
he overhears,
andhe buysno gift. Insteadhe feels"driven
andderidedbyvanity"
andhiseyesburnwith"anguish
andanger.'?
"Drivenand derided,""anguishand anger"-these reactions
seemfar too strong.Indeedthey seempretentious
when compared
to thetrivialdisillusionment
whichcausedthem.And theyarepre-
tentious,certainlythey are inappropriate,
if relatedonly to their
immediateexternalcauses.But the boy is reactingto much more
thanabanalfairandabrokenpromise.
He isreactingtosuddenand
deeplydisturbing
insights.Theseinsightsaresharedbytheattentive
reader,
forbytheendof "Araby"
thereaderhasbeenpresented
with
allthatheneedsin ordertoresolvethestory's
intricate
harmony
into
itscomponent
motifs.
Mostof thosemotifs,bothpersonalandpublic,aresoundedat
once.The formertenantof the boy'shouse,a housestalewith the

smellof mustiness
anddecay,hadbeena priestwho haddiedin the
backdrawingroom.In a litterof oldpapersin a wasteroombehind
the kitchenthe boy hasfound a few damp-stained
volumes:"The
Abbot, by Walter Scott, The Devout Communicant,and The
Memoirs
of Vidocq."
Theonlyadditional
information
Joycegivesus
aboutthesebooksis thatthe boylikedthelastvolumebestbecause
"itsleaveswere yellow."The mustybooksand the boy'sresponse
to themaredoublyandtreblymeaningful.Joycechoseworksthat
wouldobjectify
thethemesof "Araby,"
worksthatwouldexemplify
in the mostblatant(yet unexpressed)
mannerthe veryconfusions,
veilings,andfailureshewasdepictingin thepriestandtheboy.The
booksandtheirlurkingincongruities
helpus arraignthe priestand
understand
theboy.Thatthepriestshouldleavea romance
by Scott
with a religioustitlethatobscures
thefactthatit is the secularcele-
bration
of aworldlyqueen,MaryQueenof Scots,a queenenshrined
in historyassaintandharlot;a bookof rules,meditations,
anthems,
and prayersfor Holy Week by a Protestantclergymannamed
AbednegoSeller,aclergyman
whohadwrittentractsagainst
"Popish
Priests,"
engagedin published
controversy
with a Jesuitdivine,and
waseventually
relievedof hisoffice;andavolumeof luridandoften
sexuallysuggestive
memoirsby a notoriousimposter,masterof dis-
guise,archcriminal,
andpoliceofficial-all thisis a commentary
on
the priestandthe religionhe is supposed
to represent.
At the same
timethisliterarydebrisobjectifies
the boy'sconfusions.
ThatScott's
unblemished
romantic
heroine,anidolizedCatholic
queenbythenameof Mary,shouldalsobe (thoughnotto Scott)a
"harlotqueen,"a passionatethrice-married
woman who was re-
gardedby manyof hercontemporaries
asthe "Whoreof Babylon,"
asa murderess
who murdered
to satisfyherlust-this strangedisso-
nance,mutedandobscured
byScott's
presentation,
isaversionof the
boy'sstrikinglysimilarand equallymuted dissonances.
That the
deadpriest's
bookof devotions
is aProtestant
manualbyamanbear-
ing thesignificant
name,AbednegoSeller-a namewhichcombines
in equalpartsancientreligiousassociations
(in particular
associations
of refusingto worshipa goldenimageandof a faithstrongenough
towithstandafieryfurnace)withanironically
incongruous
modern
surname
thathasto do with sellingandcommercialism-thisjuxta-

"ARABY" AND JOYCE 38I
position,also,is appropriate
to the boy:it typifiesoneof hisfunda-
mentalconfusions.
ThatVidocqshouldescapefroma prisonhospitaldisguisedin
the stolenhabitof a nun, a veil overhis face;thathe shouldthen
assista good-natured
curein celebrating
mass,pretendingto make
thesignsandgenuflections
prescribed
fora nun-this is a versionof
what the boy will do. That The Memoirs shouldalso containthe
historyof a beauty"whoseemedtohavebeencreated
asa modelfor
the divine Madonnaswhich sprang from the imaginationof
Raphael,"
whoseeyes"gaveexpression
to all the gentlenessof her
soul,"and who had a "heavenlyforehead"and an "ethereal
ele-
gance"-but who, fromthe age of fourteen,hadbeena debauched
prostitute
who was ultimatelycaughtby the policebecause,in the
midst of committinga robbery,she and her accomplicebecame
utterlyengrossedin fornicatingwith one another-this, also,is a
version,a grotesque
extension,
of theboy'sconfusions.
The boydoes
not know,cannot face,whathe is. He gazesuponthe thingsthat
attractor repelhim, but they areblurredand veiledby cloudsof
romanticobfuscation:
he likesThe Memoirs of Vidocq bestnot be-
causeof whatit is,a volumeof excitingquasi-blasphemous
criminal
andsexualadventures,
butbecause
he findsits outwardappearance,
itsyellowingleaves,romantically
appealing.
The boy,likethepriest,
orVidocq'scharacters,
ordisguise-mad
Vidocqhimself,is, in effect,
animposter-onlytheboyisunaware
of whyhe feelsandactsashe
does;theboyis animposterthroughself-deception.
Joyce,
inaccordance
withhispractice
throughout
Dubliners (and
for thatmatter,in accordance
withhismethodthroughout
hiswrit-
ings) includedthesebooksso thatwe wouldmakesuchgeneraliza-
tionsaboutthepriestandtheboy.Thisis clear,notmerelyfromhis
habitualusagein suchmattersorfromtheironicsignificance
of the
booksthemselves,
but fromthe highlydirectiveimportof the sen-
tenceswhich immediately
follow thesedetails.Thesesentencestell
us thatbehindthe boy'shousewas a "wildgarden"containinga
"central
apple-tree"-images
which stronglysuggesta ruinedEden
andEden'sforbidden
centralappletree,a treewhichhasto do with
man'sdownfallandhis knowledgeof good and evil: fundamental
themesin "Araby."
The lastof thesentences
is artfullyinconclusive.

"Hehad,"concludes
the narrator,
"beena verycharitable
priest;in
hiswill he hadleftallhismoneyto institutions
andthefurniture
of
his houseto his sister."Joyce'sambiguitysuggeststhat the priest's
charity
mayhavebeenasdouble-edged
asotherdetailsin theopening
paragraphs.
Yet the possibility
of an incongruity
hereneveroccurs
to the boy.As usualhe failsto examinebeneaththe veneerof out-
wardappearances;
hefailstoallowforthepossibility
of a lesspublic,
morecynicalinterpretation
of the priest'scharity.If this worldly
priesthadbeenso "verycharitable"
why, at his death,was he able
to donate"allhis money"to institutions?
His charity,so far as we
knowaboutit,beganathisdeath.
Theseandotherambiguously
wordedironieshad already
been
soundedbythethreeopeningsentences
of "Araby."
Joycebeginsby
tellingus thatNorth RichmondStreetis blind.That North Rich-
mondStreetis a deadendis a simplestatement
of fact;butthatthe
streetis blind,especiallysincethis featureis given significantem-
phasisin the openingphrasesof the story,suggeststhat blindness
playsarolethematically.
Itsuggests,
aswe latercometo understand,
thattheboyalsois blind,thathe hasreacheda deadendin hislife.
Finally,we are told that the housesof North RichmondStreet
"conscious
of decentliveswithinthem,gazedat one anotherwith
brownimperturbable
faces."Thesewords,too, areironic.For the
boywill shortlydiscover
thathis own consciousness
of a decentlife
withinhasbeena mirage;theimperturbable
surface
of NorthRich-
mondStreet(andof theboy'slife) will soonbe perturbed.
Intheseopeningparagraphs
Joycetouchesallthethemeshewill
later develop: self-deludingblindness,self-inflatingromanticism,
decayedreligion,mammonism,
the cominginto man'sinheritance,
andthe gulf betweenappearance
andreality.But theseparagraphs
do more:theylink whatcouldhavebeenthe idiosyncratic
storyof
theboy,hisproblems
anddistortions,
totheproblems
anddistortions
of Catholicism
andof Ireland
asawhole.Inotherwords,theopening
paragraphs
(andoneortwoothersections)prevent
usfrombelieving
thatthefaultis solelyin theboyandnot,to someextentat least,in
theworldthatsurrounds
him,andstillmorefundamentally,
in the
nature
of manhimself.

IV
The boy,of course,contributes
intricately
to his own deception.
His growingfascination
for Mangan'ssisteris madeto conveyhis
blindnessand his warringconsciousness.
Joycesuggeststhesecon-
fusionsbythemostartfulimages,symbolisms,
andparallelisms.
The
pictureof Mangan'ssisterwhich firstsinksunforgettably
into the
boy'sreceptive
mindisof thegirlcallingandwaitingatherdoorstep
in the dusk,"herfiguredefinedby the light from the half-opened
door,"
whileheplaysin thetwilightandthenstands"bytherailings
lookingather.""Herdress,"
he remembered,
"swungasshemoved
herbodyandthesoftropeof herhairtossedfromsideto side."
Thishighlyevocative,
carefully
staged,andcarefully
lit scene-it
will recurthroughoutthe storywith slight but significantvaria-
tions-gathers meaningas its manydetailstakeon definitionand
thematicimportance.
That importancewas centralto Joyce,and
versionsof the sceneoccuroften in his writings.As his Mangan
essay(1902) indicates,
he hadearlychosenthe adoredfemaleas an
emblemof man'svanity,anemblemof falsevisionandself-delusion
followedby insightand self-disdain.
The femalewho appearsin
"Araby"
(sheappears
againandagainin hisotherwritings)is such
an emblem.The prototypical
situationin all theseappearances
is of
a malegazing at a femalein a dim, veiledlight. Thereareother
features:
themaleusuallylooksupat thefemale;he oftenfindsher
standinghalfobscured
nearthe topof somestairsandby a railing;
he frequently
noticesherhair,herskirts,andherunderclothes.
But
thoughthe scenevariesfromappearance
to appearance,
the conse-
quencesarealwaysthesame.The malesuperimposes
his own ideal-
ized visionupon this shadowyfigure,only to have disillusioning
reality(which hasbeenthereunregarded
all the time) assertitself
anddevastate
him. Joycefoundthisscene-with its shiftingaureola
of religiousadoration,sexualbeckoning,and blurredvision-in-
finitelysuggestive,
andhe utilizedit for majoreffects.
Theprototypical
sceneoccursin Joyce's
writingsbefore"Araby"
(1905). AroundI904, in Chamber
Music,XXX,he depicted
first-
loveas a "timegoneby whenoneat twilightshylyplayedand,one
in fear was standingnigh,"and then addedpunninglythat "we
weregravelovers"
and"loveis past."Later(aroundI907), in "The
Dead,"he drewanotherambiguous
lover.GabrielConroystandsin

a darkhallatthefootof a darkstaircase
andgazesup throughthe
gloom at a listeningwoman.His eyeslingeron her shadowyskirt
andshadowyform.Thewoman(who provesto behiswife,Gretta)
is leaningon the stairrailings.He is entrancedby the graceand
mysteryof herattitude,
"asif shewerea symbolof something."
But
what,he asks,is a listeningwoman,standingon the stairsin the
shadow,a symbolof?Then,withablindness
thatwill laterbefilled
with terribleirony,he thinkshow he wouldpaintherif he werea
painter:he wouldcaptureherin thatattitude-leaningon the rail-
ings on the darkstaircase-andhe wouldfeatureher hairand her
skirt.He wouldcall the pictureDistantMusic.Gabriel's
title is as
deceptiveas Gretta'spose.But insightand disillusionment
arenot
faroff.Gabrielwill soonfindout whatdistantmusicreallymeans
to hiswife andto himself,andhislife will neveragainbethe same.
In A Portrait
of theArtistasa YoungMan(I904-I4) theproto-
typicalsceneis conveyed
throughtwo girls.StephenseesEmma,his
beloved,standingundera grey "veiledsky"on the stairsof the
library.He alreadydoubtsher constancy,
and he takes"hisplace
silentlyon the stepbelow . . . turninghis eyestowardsher from
timetotime."Whilehegazesather,sheandherfriendsstandposing
their umbrellasseductivelyand "holdingtheir skirtsdemurely."
SomedayslaterStephenis againstandingon thestepsof thelibrary.
The lighthaswanedandhe canhardlysee.Suddenly
hisbelovedis
beforehim.He watchesasshedescends
the stepsof the libraryand
bowsto his supplanter,
Cranly."Shehadpassedthroughthe dusk.
And therefore
the airwassilentsavefor one softhissthatfell. .
Darkness
wasfalling."ButthoughStephenfeelsEmmabetrays
him,
he useshershadowyimageto createthe "Villanelleof the Tempt-
ress"
-the onlyworkof arthe produces
in A Portrait,
anda poem
which dwells on lures,fallen seraphim,chalices,longing gazes,
lavishlimbs,andtheendof enchanted
days.
Thesemomentsor vignettesfrom a fall, a fall which leadsto
insightandcreation,
arejuxtaposed
to an earlierepisodein A Por-
trait.In theearlierscene,asStephenstrollson the seashore,
he hears
thesymbolic
callto hisdestiny,thesummonstobecomeanartist.At
thismoment,in the"veiledgreysunlight,"
he seesafair-haired
bird-
like girl wading in the sea, her slateblueskirtsraisedabouther
thighs, her softhuedflesh girded by the "white fringes of her

drawers."
Shefeelsthe "worship
of his eyes,"and suffershis gaze,
bendinghereyestowards
thestream.
"Heavenly
God!"criesStephen
to himself.In the "holysilenceof his ecstasy,"
while "herimage"
passes"intohissoulforever,"he commitshimself"tolive,to err,to
fall,totriumph,
torecreate
lifeoutof life!"Buttheecstatic
epiphany
of the wadinggirl is soondeflated-not merelyby the wastedsky
andthegreysandwhichendthescene,butbythecoldrealityof its
cognate,Emma'sbetrayal,to which the epiphanyis juxtaposed.
Paradoxically,
the annunciatory
visitof the birdgirlheraldsonly a
hope; it is deflation,the beginningof betrayal,which stimulates
creation.
Joyce's
rejection
of theromantic
visionof thewadinggirl-and
his continuedinterestin thevoyeuristic
sceneof a malegazingat a
shadowyfemale-is carriedevenfurtherin the "Nausicaa"
episode
of Ulysses (I914-21) where he parodies this recurring scene with
mercilessbrilliance.As the "Nausicaa"episodeopens,dusk is falling.
Bloom is sitting on Sandymount strand while a Benediction service
(celebratedbefore a men's retreat) is going on in a nearbychurch.
Bloom, too, is a celebrant;he is engaged in fervent devotions.He is
gazing at Gerty MacDowell, "literallyworshipping at her shrine."
Gerty is eighteen and a virgin. From the nearbychurch, hymns of
venerationascend for the Host, for the Body, canticlesof praisefor
OurLady,for the Virgin Mary.Bloom concentrateson Gerty,who is
enpedestaledon a rock by the water'sedge. As he watches her settle
her hair, swing her legs, and lift her skirts, his excitement grows.
From the nearbyMirusbazaar(that is, "Wonderful"or "Perfumed"
bazaar) which is raising funds for Mercer'shospital, a display of
fireworks begins. Gerty uses the excuse of the fireworks to tempt
Bloom, leaning back farther and farther, lifting her skirts higher
and higher, and allowing him to see her thighs and her drawers.At
almost the same moment, a hymn of adoration swells from the
church; the priest kneels and looks up at the Blessed Sacrament,
glorified now in the round ray-begirtopening of the monstrance,
and displayedon high for all the veneratingmen to see.At this point
Bloom's privateserviceof veneration (like the one in the church) is
coming to its conclusion. While Gerty lifts her skirts and displays
herself, he masturbatesto a climax. But having induced one defla-
tion, he is about to undergo another. He realizes that Gerty is not

whatshe seemedto be; sheis a cripple,a lame,limpingversionof
his self-inflated
dream.And therearefurtherabasements.
Bloom's
mindconstantly
circlesbackto thehumiliating(yet strangely
excit-
ing) eventof that afternoon:how Molly,his wife, displayedher
lavishbodybeforeBlazesBoylanandbroughtthatardentloverto a
moreintimateclimax."Thinkyou'reescaping,"
musesBloom,"and
run into yourself."
But now the distantmusic,the sacredincense,
and the rapturous
words"holyMaryholy virginof virgins"have
fadedon thedarkeningair.The clockon themantelof the priest's
house concludesthe deflationby uttering Shakespeare's
absurd
"wordof fear."
Cuckoo.
Cuckoo.
Cuckoo.
Afterthepublication
of Ulysses,
Joyceexplained
thathismethod
of writingin the "Nausicaa"
episodewas tumescence
anddetumes-
cence;thatthecolorsassociated
with the scenewereblue (the color
of the VirginMary-Gerty,a virginwho favorsblue,is a parodic
formof the VirginMary)and grey (the colorof dusk); that the
symbolof the chapterwas the Virgin;thatthe organsinvolvedin
theepisode
werethenose(perfumeandincenseaboundin thescene)
and the eye (voyeurism);and thatthe art includedin the section
waspainting.
V
"Araby"
is a version-perhapsthe most primordial
versionin
Joyce-of thisobsessively
repeated
scene.Forin "Araby"
the image
of the worshipped
girl is coterminous
with, is a metaphorof, the
entirestory.The boyin "Araby,"
likeGabriel,
will soonseethatthe
portraithe has created-a romanticportraitthat one might call
YoungAdoration-is a mockery,
andhislifewill neveragainbethe
same.In"Araby"
thatportrait
isof agirlin theduskatherdoorstep
callingandwaitingat her half-opened
door,her figuredefinedby
the light behindher.The pictureis alsoof a boy standingby the
railingslookingup at herworshipfully.
The suggestions
evokedby
thesceneareof twoutterlyopposed
sorts.Ontheonehandtheimage
callsup associations
of religiousworshipand spiritualadoration-

theboyatthealtarrailingvenerating
a softlylit statueof theVirgin
Mary-associations
which will soon be powerfullyunderlinedand
elaborated.
On the otherhand,the imagealsosuggestsa seductive
girl,evena harlot,callingandwaitingatherhalf-opened
door-the
boy staresat her outlinedfigure,her swayingdress,her moving
body,andhersoftlyswinginghair-and thesesuggestions,
too,will
soonbeunderlined
andelaborated.
Lastlytheimagesuggests
Ireland,
a countrytraditionally
personified
in Irishliterature
as a beautiful
girlwho is worshipped
with mysticalfervor.The two mostfamous
literaryembodiments
of this personification
areCathleenni Houli-
hanandDarkRosaleen,
the lattergivenits definitivepopularform
in "DarkRosaleen,"
the poemby ManganthatJoyceknewso well.
In "Araby"Mangan'ssisteris adoredand worshippedas Dark
Rosaleenis in Mangan's
poem,a parallelwhichmanyIrishreaders
wouldnoteatonce,andaparallel
whichhelpssuggestthatMangan's
sisteris an embodimentof Ireland,is a new and moreequivocal
Dark Rosaleen.In "Araby"the girl is known only as Mangan's
sister,an awkwardandunaccountable
substitute
for a name (Man-
gan, the boy, is of no importance
in the story) until one realizes
that the circumlocution
is designedto catchthe reader'sattention
and directhis associations.
Once the Mangan-"Dark
Rosaleen"
as-
sociations
arecalledup,theparallels
becomechargedwith meaning.
For Mangan'spoemcontainsthe sameblendof physicallove and
religiousadorationthat Joycemakesthe boy show for Mangan's
sister.DarkRosaleen
has"holy,delicatewhitehands,"
is "myvirgin
flower,my flowerof flowers,"
and can make the lover"kneelall
night in prayer."
Dark Rosaleen's
name is like "lightningin my
blood";Mangan's
sister's
nameis "likea summonsto allmy foolish
blood."
Thepoemexactlydepictstheboy'sunrest,hisobsessive
focus
on thegirl,hisfusionof queenandsaint,andhisstrangeholyardor:
All daylong, in unrest,
To andfro,do I move.
The verysoulwithinmy breast
Is wastedforyou, love!
The heartin my bosomfaints
To thinkof you,my Queen,
Mylife of life, my saintof saints,
MyDarkRosaleen!
My own Rosaleen!

To hear your sweet and sad complaints,
Mylife, my love,my saintof saints,
MyDarkRosaleen!
Joycebegins,then,with a subtlyevocative
blendof spirituality,
sexuality,andnationality;
he immediately
goeson to developeach
motifinconcert
withtheothers.Theboyremembers
Mangan's
sister
as a "brownfigure,"
andeverymorning,in an unvarying
ritual,he
actuallyprostrates
himselfbeforeherimage,lyingon thefloorin the
front parlorand waitingfor her to emergeso that he can follow
her.This ritualistic
abasement
andprostration
is appropriate
to the
boy'srapidlydeveloping
obsession.
LikeDe Quincey's
youngboy,he
has had his heart stolen away; he, too, has become idolatrous;
throughthisgirl,"bylanguishingdesires,"
he has,all unknownto
himself,"worshipped
the worm,andprayedto the wormygrave."
For the boy hasbegunto worshipMangan'sdarksisteras all
thatis spiritual
andholy andromantic;he hasbegunto utilizeher
idolatrously
asaninterceding
saint,asa charmagainstthecommer-
cialismand materialism
of the marketplace.When on Saturday
eveningstheboyaccompanies
hisauntinhermarketing,
the"image"
of Mangan's
sisteris alwayswith him.The languageof the passage
suggeststhat unconsciously,
from the boy's point of view, two
warringservices
arebeingconducted
in themarketplace:theworld's
materialistic
serviceinworshipof mammon,andtheboy'sholyserv-
icein worshipof his mildmadonna.The "flaring
streets"
arefilled
with theirpropervotaries:drunkenmen, bargainingwomen,and
cursinglaborers;
they arealsofilledwith an appropriate
liturgical
music:the"shrilllitanies"
of shopboys,
the"nasal
chanting"
of street
singers.In this materialistic
world, so hostileto all that the boy
imagineshe believesin, he keepshimselfinviolateby invokinghis
own secretserviceof worship.Thatservicetransmutes
the stubborn
commonplaces
of everydaylife into holy artifacts,holy strivings,
andholy deedsof chivalry.The imageof Mangan'ssisterbecomes
hissacred
chalice;heguardsit ashemakeshiswaythroughthealien
marketplace."Iimagined,"
he says,as he walksone Saturday
eve-
ning throughthemarketplace,hismindfixedon theholy"image"
of Mangan's
sister,"thatI boremy chalicesafelythrougha throng
of foes."This religiousimagerycontinuesto clothe and veil his
impulses.He soon finds himself veneratinghis lady in "strange

prayersand praises."
His eyesoften fill with tears,emotionfloods
fromhis heart;he wondershow he couldevertell herof his "con-
fusedadoration."
Oneevening,whilein thisexcitedstateof sensualreligiosity,
the
boyentersthebackdrawingroominwhichthepriesthaddied.Thus
beginsthe firstof two vigilsthe boywill keepfor Mangan's
sister.
The boyis aboutto losehimselfin anecstasy
of devotion,andJoyce
wantsus to seethatthe boyis tenantingthe sameroomsandwor-
shippingat thesameshrinesasthedeadpriest;thatis,thattheboy,
likethepriest,hasbegunto mix devotionwith profanation,
spiritu-
alitywith materialism.
The eveningis darkandrainy.Througha
brokenpanetheboyhears"therainimpingeupontheearth,thefine
incessant
needlesof waterplayingin thesoddenbeds."The colloca-
tion of imagesis partof a clusterthat Joyceused throughouthis
writings to suggest earthinessand bodily appetites(just before
Mangan's
sister's
firstappearance
Joyceassociated
theboywith"dark
drippinggardenswhereodoursarosefrom the ashpits,[and] the
darkodorousstables")and now, watchingthe rain and the earth
and the soddenbeds throughhis brokenwindow, the boy again
beginshis confusedadorations.
Below him gleams"somedistant
lamporlightedwindow"-Joycecontinues
to lighthisspecialscenes
in waysequallysuggestive
of a sanctuary
orabrothel-and thenthe
blind boy, living on his blind street,looking throughhis broken
window,sayswithdeepestirony:"IwasthankfulthatI couldseeso
little."
In a momentthe boy will be invokinglove incarnate;senses
veiled,swooningin self-delusion,
palmspressed
togetherin devotion,
he will murmurhis ferventprayers.Joyceconveysthis tremulous
sublimation-howtheboyveilshissensualresponses
in the garment
of religiousritual-by themostartfullydirective
language."Allmy
senses,"
saystheboy,"seemed
todesiretoveilthemselves
and,feeling
thatI wasaboutto slipfromthem,I pressed
thepalmsof my hands
togetheruntil theytrembled,murmuring:'O love! 0 love!'many
times."Everyphraseis loadedwith ironicmeaning.The boy does
not realizehow trulyhis sensesareveilingthemselves(or for that
matter,in whatmannertheyarebeingveiled),nordoeshe under-
stand,in the context,the religiousconnotations
of the word"veil,"
orthephysical
connotations
of theword"desire";
andslippingfrom

his sensesis what he emphatically
is not doing as he tremblingly
invokesLove.
The next sentencein the story,one which beginsa new para-
graph,is shortand disconcerting:
"At lastshe spoketo me."The
abrupttransitionless
juxtaposition
of the boy'sswooninginvocation
of Love,palmspressedprayerfully
together,and the girl'ssudden
apparitionis purposelyambiguous.Without saying so-without,
thatis, introducing
the supernatural
by havingthe girl materialize
beforehim uponhis prayerful
invocation(for theremainder
of the
passage
makesit clearthatthegirldidnotspeakto himthatnight),
Joycesuggests,
atleasthe gainstheeffect,thatavisitation,
anepiph-
any,hasindeedoccurred
asaresultof theboy'sinvocation.
Butwhom
has the boy invoked?Love? The Virgin? His Lady? Ireland?
Levana?
A harlot?Heistooconfused
toknow.Thegirl'sfirstwords
to him-"Are you going to Araby?"-confoundhim. It will be a
"splendidbazaar,"
she tells him; she would "love"to go, but she
mustattenda retreatin her convent.The boy is "soconfused"he
does"notknowwhatto answer."
His confusionis understandable.
Forherein epitomearecorrelatives
of theverythingsthathavecon-
fusedandwill continueto confusehim: materialism
(the splendid
bazaar),sensuality(love), andspirituality
(the conventretreat).
As Mangan'ssisterspeaksto him, she turnsa "silverbracelet
roundandroundherwrist."The boystands"aloneat therailings,"
gazingat thisMadonna
of the SilverBracelet.
"Sheheldoneof the
spikes,bowing her head towardsme. The light from the lamp
opposite
ourdoorcaughtthewhitecurveof herneck,lit upherhair
thatrestedthereand,falling,lit up the hand upon the railing.It
felloveronesideof herdressandcaughtthewhiteborder
of a petti-
coat,justvisibleasshestoodatease."
This wonderfullyevocativescene strikesthe chordsof com-
mingled spirituality,sensuality,and materalismwith increasing
force.Thatcomminglingis centralto "Araby";
it is alsocentralto
Joyce's
life.As thestoryof hislifemakesclear,Joycewasa material-
ist,amanof almostparanoiac
cupidityandselfishness.
He wasalsoa
personstronglyattracted
to the spiritualand the sensual.He told
hisbrother,
Stanislaus,
thathischiefreasonfornotbecominga priest
wasthathe couldnotremainchaste.In A Portrait
of the Artistasa
YoungManwe learn of thedarkwaysanddarkladiesthatso early

summoned
his"foolishblood."
WhenStephenentersNighttownfor
hisfirstvisittoaprostitute,
heis seizedbyatrembling,
hiseyesgrow
dim, the yellowflaresof gas burn"asif beforean altar,"and the
peoplenearthe doorsandin the lightedhallsseem"arrayed
as for
somerite."That Joyceshouldrenderthe lossof virginityas a re-
ligiousrite is consonantwith his outlookand his method.In his
writingswe areconstantlyprivyto the perverse
warfareof sacred
and profanelove, to the clamorousintermixingsof doctrineand
experience.
In Ulysses,
whenStephensetsoffforNighttownandthe
bawdyhouses,
he thinks,"We . . . will seekthe kips whereshady
Maryis."And in FinnegansWakeJoycewas fond of introducing
such meldings as "Merryvirgin,"
"marrimount,"
"Hollymerry,"
"fingringmaries,"
and"hellmuirries."
Oneof thememorable
scenesin A Portrait-it is a scenewhich
dwellson the blasphemous
conjoiningof sacredandprofanelove-
is thatin whichStephen,freshfromthe stewsand with the savor
of a harlot'skisseson his lips,kneelsreverently
at the altarto lead
his sodalityin their Saturdaymorningdevotionsto the Blessed
VirginMary:
Her eyes seemedto regardhim with mild pity; her holiness,a strange
lightglowingfaintlyuponherfrailflesh. . . The impulsethatmovedhim
was the wish to be her knight. If ever his soul, re-enteringher dwelling
shyly after the frenzy of his body'slust had spent itself, was turnedto-
wardsherwhoseemblemis the morningstar,"brightand musical,telling
of heavenand infusing peace,"it was when her nameswere murmured
softly by lips whereonthere still lingeredfoul and shamefulwords, the
savouritselfof a lewd kiss.
This deceptivefusionof knightlychivalry,spiritualdevotion,
anddesecrating
lust (all carefully
lit)-it is Joyce's
recurrent
fusion,
the fusionwhichreachesits culmination
in the "Nausicaa"
episode
of Ulysses-had occurredevenearlierin yet anotherevocation(in
thiscasea strikingpremonition
ratherthana laterextrapolation)
of
Mangan's
shadowysister.Betweeni9oo and1903,thatis,a few years
beforewriting "Araby,"
Joyceadded to his slendercollectionof
Epiphanies
a scenein whichthepose,the lighting,the physicalfea-
tures,the language,the connotations(the madonnaallusion,and
the conjoiningof apeandmartyrs'
legends,for example)-all pre-
figure"Araby."
Hereis theepiphany
in itsentirety:

She stands,herbookheldlightlyat herbreast,readingthe lesson.Against
the dark stuff of her dress her face, mild-featuredwith downcasteyes,
risessoftlyoutlinedin light;andfroma foldedcap,setcarelessly
forward,a
tasselfallsalongher brownringlettedhair . . .
What is the lessonthat she reads-of apes,of strangeinventions,or
the legendsof martyrs?Who knowshow deeplymeditative,how reminis-
centis thiscomelinessof Raffaello?
Theserecurrent
comminglings
helpusestablish
themeaningof
"Araby";
they show us that thesefusionsare intentional,that the
auraof worshipanddesire,romanticism
and corruption
thatJoyce
castsoverMangan's
sisterisattheheartof "Araby."
VI
All women,forJoyce,areEves:theytemptandtheybetray.
He
constantly
fashionshis women,fictionaland real-Mangan'ssister,
Gretta,MarySheehy,Emma,Nora,Molly-into exemplars
of this
idea.Bythesametoken,men,in theiryearningto worship,contrive
(perhapsevendesire)theirown betrayal
andinsuretheirown dis-
illusionment.
This paradox,
whichembodiesJoyce's
personalneeds
and experiences,
is at the centerof Exiles.It also helps shapeA
Portrait,
Ulysses,
andFinnegansWake.In thelatterworkthenotion
is universalized
andmultiplied.Oneof theprimalformsof woman
in FinnegansWakeis womanas temptress.
She is portrayed
most
clearlyas Isabel,the daughterof HCE andAnnaLivia,andas the
Maggiesor Magdalenes(who appearin dozensof permutations:
maudelenian,
Margareena,
MarieMaudlin,etc.), the two girlswhlo
temptedHCEtohisfallin PhoenixPark,andwhoareoftenmerged
with Isabel.This archetypal
temptressand goddess,blendingand
changingin a fluxof proteanmetamorphoses
(sheis alsoIssy,Issis,
Ishtar,Isolde-as Isoldeof Ireland,an embodimentof Ireland)is
frequently
referred
to as"Ysold,"
"Isold,""Issabil,"
"eyesoult,"
and
"eyesalt."
As hergodlikeroleandlegendary
namesimply,shecom-
binesworshipfullove and sexualappeal(Isolde), with inevitable
commercialism
and betrayal(I sold), with bittergrief and disillu-
sionment(eyesalt)-the combination
and progression
we alsofind
in "Araby."
What Joyceis sayingin "Araby"
becomesmorepreciseas the
detailsaccumulate
and fall into patterns.
This secondevocationof

the carefullylit figureof Mangan'ssister,now in the guiseof the
Madonnaof theSilverBracelet,
is worthexaminingoncemore,this
timein thecontextof whatwe havejustbeentracing:
While she spoke she turneda silver braceletround and round her
wrist.... I was aloneat the railings.She held one of the spikes,bowing
her headtowardsme. The light from the lampoppositeour doorcaught
the white curveof her neck,lit up herhairthatrestedthereand, falling,
lit up the hand upon the railing. It fell over one side of her dressand
caughtthe whiteborderof a petticoat,
justvisibleasshestoodat ease.
This secondevocationof Mangan'ssisteris againfilled with
strangeharmonies.On the one hand the passagecalls up Mary
Magdalene
andthe BlessedVirginMary(bothwerepresentat the
crucifixion)andsoftovertones
of a tenderanddolorouspieta';one
easily extractsand then extrapolates
the appropriate
images-the
patienthandon thecruelspike,thegentleheadbowedsubmissively,
themildneckarchedin grief.Buta coequalandco-ordinate
pattern
in thesceneis theharlotry
associations
of MaryMagdalene,
who,in
Catholicliturgy,is specifically
associated
with exoticNear Eastern
imagery,bracelets,
and crossingthe city in searchof her love-all
strongelementsin "Araby";
while on the morepersonallevel the
name "Mary"
is also the name of the girl Joyceregardedas his
original"temptress"
and"betrayer"-Mary
Sheehy;andperhaps,
at
the same time, this "shadyMary"patternis connectedwith the
harlotry
associations
of stillanotherMary,the"harlot
queen,"Mary
Queenof Scots,the heroineof the deadpriest'sbook,The Abbot,
who wasexecutedin herpetticoat.
In anycase,thenegativepattern
incorporated
in the shadowyimage of Mangan'ssistercombines
hints of commercialismand sensualitywith connotationsof sexuality
and betrayal-the turning and turning of the silverbracelet,the head
bowing toward the boy, the white curve of the bare neck, the soft
hair glowing in the light, the side of the dress accentuatedby the
dim glow, the white borderof the petticoatjust visible beneath the
dress (one recalls the dream-shatteringpetticoat of the false Prot-
estant madonna in "OurLady of the Hills"), and the whole figure
standingat easein the dusk.
The boy now makes his pledge. "If I go," he says,"I will bring
you somnething."
The consequences of his pledge are immediately
apparent."Whatinnumerablefollies,"writesthe narratorin the very

next sentence,"laidwastemy wakingand sleepingthoughtsafter
thatevening!"The shadowy"image"
of Mangan's
sisterconstantly
comesbetweenhim andeverything
he undertakes;
hisschoolmaster,
puzzledand then exasperated,
hopesthat he is "notbeginningto
idle"-a phrasewhich again,now punningly,underlinesthat the
boy,likeDe Quincey's
youngboy,hasindeedbegunto worshipfalse
idols,thatheis wellonhiswaytoAraby.
Araby-the very word connotesthe natureof the boy'scon-
fusion.Itis awordredolentof thelushEast,of distantlands,Levan-
tine riches, romanticentertainments,
mysteriousmagic, "Grand
OrientalFetes."The boy immerseshimself in this incense-filled
dreamworld.He tellsusthat"thesyllables
of thewordArabywere
calledto me throughthe silencein which my soulluxuriatedand
castanEastern
enchantment
overme."Thatenchantment,
orto put
it anotherway,NearEasternimagery(usuallyin conjunction
with
femaleopulenceorromantic
wishfulfillment),alwaysexcitedJoyce.
It reappears
stronglyin Ulyssesin a highly intricatecounterpoint,
whichis sometimes
serious(Molly'sMoorishattributes)andsome-
timesmocking(Bloom'sdreamof a Messianic
NearEasternoasis).
Buttheboyin"Araby"
alwaysinterprets
theseassociations,
nomatter
howdisparate
orhowambiguous
theyare,in oneway:ascorrelatives
of a baroquely
beatificwayof living.Yetthe real,brick-and-mortar
Arabyin the boy'slife is a bazaar,a market,a placewheremoney
and goodsareexchanged.The boy is blind to this realitylurking
beneathhis enchanteddream.To the boy,his lady'ssilverbracelet
is onlypartof herEastern
finery;hisjourneyto a bazaarto buyher
anofferingispartof a romantic
quest.Butfromthispointon in the
storythemasquerading
pretenses
of theboy-and of his church,his
land,his rulers,and his love-are rapidlyunderlinedand brought
intoa conjunction
whichwill piercehisperfervid
dreamworldand
putanendto"enchanted
days."
The boyhasarranged
with his auntandunclethathe will go
to thebazaar
on Saturday
evening,thatis,on theeveningof theday
speciallysetasidefor veneration
of the VirginMary.Saturday
eve-
ningarrives
buttheboy'suncleislatefromworkandtheboywanders
at looseendsthroughthe emptyupperreachesof his house.In the
"highcoldemptygloomyrooms"he beginshis secondvigil.Off by
himself he feels liberated.He goes from room to room singing.

Hidden,he watcheshis companions
playandlistensto theirweak-
ened, indistinctcries.Then he leans his foreheadagainsta cool
windowpaneand looksoverat the "darkhouse"whereMangan's
sisterlives."Imayhavestoodtherefor an hour,seeingnothingbut
thebrown-clad
figurecastbymy imagination,
toucheddiscreetly
by
thelamplightat thecurvedneck,atthehandupontherailingsand
attheborder
belowthedress."
When he goes downstairs
againhe is broughtbackfrom the
isolatedworldof hisimagination
totheordinary
worldof hisevery-
daylife. He findsMrs.Mercersittingat the fire."Shewas an old
garrulous
woman,apawnbroker's
widow,whocollected
usedstamps
for somepiouspurpose."
The sentenceis packedwith ironicmean-
ing. The old lady'sname-Mercer,that is, merchandise,
wares,a
small-ware
dealer-links her to the commercial
focusof the story.
Thatherhusbandwasa pawnbroker
sharpens
thisfocus,introduc-
ing as it doescommercialism
in its mostabhorrent
form from the
church's
pointofview-commercialism
asusury.Butthatthechurch
accepts,evenliveson, this samecommercialism
is alsomadeclear:
forgarrulous
oldMrs.Mercer(anotherembodiment
of Ireland)is a
piouswomanwithpiouspurposes;
ironically,
sheexpresses
herpiety
in goodworksthatdependuponemptymechanical
acquisitiveness:
shecollectsusedstamps.(Onerecalls,in thisconnection,
the "pious
purpose"of
theactualArabybazaar-to collectmoneyfora hospital;
andonealsorecallsthatthe"Wonderful"
or "Perfumed"
bazaarin
Ulysses-the bazaarthatallowedBloomto gazeworshipfully
under
Gerty'sskirtswhile a choircelebrated
the Host and hymnedthe
VirginMary-was an attemptto collectmoneyfor another"pious
purpose,"
fora hospital
named"Mercer's.")
Joyceis saying,in effect,
thateveryday
religionandpietyin Ireland
arebaseduponself-delud-
ing and mindlessmaterialism.
When Mrs. Mercer'sunexamined
commercialreligionis remembered
in conjunctionwith the boy's
andthenthedeadpriest's(onerecallsthatthepriest's
bookof hereti-
cal devotionswasby a man named"Seller")-we get someideaof
howinsidiously
mammonistic
is Ireland's
religious
bankruptcy.
The boywill soonhavesomeinsightinto thisandotherbank-
ruptcies,butat the momenthe is tautwith frustrated
anticipation.
"Iamafraid,"
sayshisaunt,whenhisunclestillfailstoappear,
"you
mayputoffyourbazaar
forthisnightof OurLord"-counterpoint-

ing "bazaar"
and "OurLord,"moneyand religion.Then, at nine
o'clock,the unclefinallyreturns,tipsyand talkingto himself.He
hasforgottenthebazaar,
andhetriesto puttheboyoff,buttheaunt
insiststhat he give the boy moneyfor the bazaar,and he finally
agrees,aftertheboytellshim twicethathe is going to Araby.The
word"Araby"
setstheuncle'smindworking.He askstheboyif he
knowsThe Arab'sFarewellto His Steed,andasthe boyleavesthe
room,theuncleisabouttorecitetheopeninglinesof thepoemtohis
wife.Thoselinesneverappear
in thestory,buttheyarefraughtwith
thematicsignificance:
Mybeautiful,my beautiful!thatstandethmeeklyby,
With thy proudly-arched
and glossyneck, and darkand fieryeye!
Fretnot to roamthe desertnow with all thy wingedspeed;
I maynot mounton theeagain!-thou'rt sold,my Arabsteed!
The notionof betrayal,
of somethinglovedandbeautiful
beingsold
for money,of somethingcherishedand dependeduponbeinglost
forever,
iscentral
towhathasalready
happened
in "Araby"
andwhat
is aboutto take place.But the poem goes on with even greater
cogency:
The strangerhaththy bridle-rein,
thy masterhathhis gold;-
Fleet-limbed
and beautiful,farewell!-thou'rtsold,my steed,thou'rtsold!
Thiscogency-turningthebridlereinsoverto a foreignmaster
for money,sayingfarewellto a beautifulpartof the past-has an-
otherand evenmorestartlingappropriateness.
For the poemis by
CarolineNorton,a greatbeautyand a memberof a famousIrish
family (hergrandfather
was RichardBrinsleySheridan),who was
suedfordivorcebyherhusband,
theHon.GeorgeChappleNorton,
on the groundsthat she had committedadulterywith LordMel-
bourne,
thenHomeSecretary
butatthetimeof thesuitin I836 prime
ministerof GreatBritain.
As HomeSecretary,
LordMelbourne
had
been the ministerresponsible
for Ireland,and in I833, while still
Home Secretary,
he hadsupported
the CoercionBill,a bill of great
severityaimedat Irishnationalists.
The trialwhichensued-one of
themostnotorious
in the nineteenthcentury-was usedby Dickens
in thebreach-of-promise
suitin Pickwick,byThackeray
in theLord
Steyne-Becky
Sharprelationship
in VanityFair,and by Meredith
in someof theclimacticscenesof Dianaof the Crossways.
The jury

foundforthedefendants,
butchieflyongroundsotherthanCaroline
Norton'sconstancy.
The defendants
won afterconclusive
testimony
wasintroduced
showingthatNortonhadbeenthechiefadvocate
of
his wife'sliaisonwith LordMelbourne,
that he had initiatedand
perpetuated
theliaisonasa meansof advancing
himself,andthathe
had brought suit only after he had sufferedreversesin that
advancement.
That an Irishwomanas beautifulas CarolineNortonshould
havebeensold by her husbandfor Englishpreferments;
that she
shouldhavebeensold to the man who, in effect,was the English
rulerof Ireland;thatshe,in turn,shouldhavebeenpartyto sucha
sale;thatthisverywoman,writingdesperately
for money,should
compose
asentimental
poemcelebrating
thetraitorous
saleof a beau-
tifulandsupposedly
lovedcreature;
andthatthispoemshouldlater
be cherishedby the Irish(the uncle'srecitation
is in character,
the
poem was a popularrecitationpiece, it appearsin almostevery
anthologyof Irishpoetry)-all thisis patentlyandironically
appro-
priatetowhatJoyceissaying.
Soalsoisthenextscenein "Araby."
Theboyleaveshishouseon
the way to Arabywith a florin,a pieceof silvermoney,clutched
tightlyin hishand.ThatJoyce,
outof allthecoinsandcombinations
of coinsavailableto him, choseto havethe boy clutcha florinis
doublymeaningful.The originalflorin,the prototype
of all future
coinsbearing
thatname,wasagoldcoin,famedforitspurity,minted
in Florencein I252. It receivedits name,"florin,"
thatis, "flower,"
because,
likemanyof itsprogeny,
itborealily,theflowerof Florence
andof the VirginMary,on one side.On the othersideit borethe
figureof SaintJohn the Baptistin religiousregalia,a man who
gave his life ratherthan betrayhis religion.The florinthe boy
clutches,
however,is a silvercoinmintedbytheEnglishwitha head
of QueenVictoria
on onesideandtheQueen's
coatof arms(includ-
ing theconquered
harpof Ireland)on theother.Owingto thefact
thatthe customary
"DeiGratia,F.D." ("bythe graceof God, de-
fenderof the faith") was omittedfrom the coin when originally
issuedin I847, it becameinfamousas the "Godlessand Graceless
Florin"andaroused
sucha popular
outcrythatit hadto becalledin
beforetheyearwasout.Asaresult,theMaster
of theMint,a Roman
Catholic,was dismissed,and a few yearslatera new but almost

identicalflorinwas issuedwith the usualmotto.The malodorous
genesisof theEnglishcoin,itsassociation
witha Catholicscapegoat,
andtherestitution
of amottowhich,fromanIrishCatholicpointof
view,madethe coinas idolatrous
andoffensiveas the Godlessver-
sion-all thisisideallysuitedto Joyce's
purpose.
For the dupedboy is now actingout his betrayalin the most
emblematic
way.We recallthe intricate
liturgyof his self-delusion.
Despisingthe marketplace,he had summonedand protectedthe
imageof Mangan'ssisteras a holy chaliceantithetical
to all such
worldlycommerce;
mistakinghis impulses,he hadtransformed
his
sexualdesires
intoprayers
andpraises
fortheVirgin,intoworshipful
Catholicdevotions.That the boy who immersedhimself in such
ceremonious
self-deception
shouldbe hasteningto buy at a bazaar
(where,incidentally,
he will meethis Englishmasters)andthathe
shouldbe clutchingan Englishflorin,an alienandnotorious
silver
coin sansVirgin'slily and sansCatholicsaintbut bearinginstead
symbolsof his and Ireland'sservitudeand betrayal,is, of course,
supremely
ironic.
Thatironycontinues
andexpands
inwhatfollows.ItisSaturday
night.Theboytellsusthat"thesightof streets
thronged
withbuyers
andglaringwithgasrecalled
tomethepurpose
of myjourney."
The
flaringstreets"thronged
with buyers"
and the clutchedsilvercoin
callto thereader's
minda purpose
fardifferent
fromthatwhichthe
boythinkshe is pursuing.The sights,the words,the Saturday
eve-
ning,thesilverflorin,alsorecallthatthelasttimetheboywentinto
theflaringstreets
shoppingthroughthrongsof buyerson a Saturday
night,hehadsaid,speaking
particularly
of thosebuyers,
"Iimagined
thatI boremy chalicesafelythrougha throngof foes."Theyrecall
alsothatSaturday
is thedaymostparticularly
devotedto veneration
of theBlessedVirginMary.We now seeclearlywhattheboybears
througha throngof foes,whathischaliceis:it is nottheimageof a
,mildspiritualmadonna,it is money,the alienflorinof betrayal-
betrayal
of his religion,his nation,his dreamof supernallove; he,
likehiscountry,hasbetrayed
himselfforthesymbolicpieceof alien
silverheclutches
inhishandashehurries
ontoAraby.
Wealsobegin
to get a betternotionof who theshadowymadonnais thathe wor-
shipswithsuchfebrilespirituality.
Werecallthathe isrushinghead-
longtoabazaar
tobuyhisladya token(he, too,isoneof thethrong

of buyers),and then we recallhow his madonna-could she be a
false,sensual,
materialistic
madonna,
aprojection
of hisown compli-
catedself-betrayal?-"turned
a silverbraceletroundandroundher
wrist."
Theboyatlastarrives
atthelargebuildingwhichdisplays"the
magicalname"of Araby.In his hasteto get intothe closingbazaar,
hepasses
throughashillingratherthanasixpenny
entrance,
handing
the gatekeeper
his silvercoinas he goesthroughthe turnstile.The
interiorof the buildingis like a church.The great centralhall,
circledathalfitsheightbyagallery,contains
darkstalls,dimlights,
andcurtained,
jar-flanked
sanctuaries.
Joycewantsus to regardthis
templeof commerce
asa placeof worship."Irecognised
a silence,"
saystheboyashe standsin the middleof thehall,"likethatwhich
pervades
a churchaftera service."
The serviceis,of course,thewor-
ship of mammon,and Joyce,by his use of religiousimageryhere
and throughout
the story,letsus seeboththatthe money-changers
arein the temple(if one looksat the bazaaras a correlative
of the
church),andthatthereallydevoutworshipwhichgoeson in Ireland
now,goeson in the marketplace:the streetsthrongedwith buyers,
the shrilllitaniesof shopboys,the silver-braceleted
madonnas,the
churchlikebazaars.
Evenhe who imaginedthathe borehis chalice
safelythrougha throngof foes findshimselfin the templeof the
money-changers
readyto buy.Shocked,and with growingaware-
ness,theboybeginsto realizewherehe is andwhathe is doing.In
thehalf-dark
hall,asthebazaar
closesandtheremaining
lightsbegin
to go out,hewatchesastwomenworkbeforea curtainlit overhead
by a seriesof coloredlampsuponwhicha commercial
inscription
is
emblazoned.The two men "werecountingmoneyon a salver.I
listenedto the fall of the coins."The boyalsohasfallen.We recall
the"wildgarden"
withits"central
apple-tree,"
thatthewords"fall-
ing"and"fell"arecrucialto thedescription
of Mangan's
sisterdur-
ing her epiphanybeforethe boy, and that the word "fall"again
recurs-again in connectionwith money-when the boy, in his
penultimate
action,anactionreminiscent
of how Judaslet the silver
of betrayalfall upon the groundafterhis contrition,allows"two
penniesto fall againstthesixpence"
in his pocketashe finallyturns
to leavethe bazaar.Butrightnow the fallenboyis witnessingthe
countingof the collectionbeforethe sanctuary
of this churchof

mammon(the curtain,thesalver,thelamps,theinscription
all sug-
gestsimultaneously
thesanctuary
of a Catholic
church);he is listen-
ingtothemusicof thisservice
of mammon,theclinkoffallingcoins.
The boyis so stupifiedthathe can remember
only "withdifficulty
why [he] hadcome."
His shockand his disillusionment
arenot yet over.He seesa
youngsaleslady
standingat the doorof one of the darkstalls.The
reader,like the boy, instantlyfeels that he has viewed this scene
before:the girl standingin the doorway,the dim lighting, the
churchlike
atmosphere.
Then,suddenly,the readerrealizesthatthe
sceneenforces
acrucial
juxtaposition;
thewaitingsalesgirl
isaparody
of the boy'sobsessive
imageof femalefelicity,she is a counterpart
(aneveryday,
commercial
counterpart)
of Mangan's
tenebrous
sister.
Theboylookssteadily
atthisvulgaravatar
of hislongings;andthen
his other vision-his vision of a comely waiting presence,of a
heavenlydolorouslady-dissolvesand finallyevaporates.
The boy,
at last,glimpsesrealityunadorned;he no longerdeceiveshimself
withhisusualromanticizing.
Forthemoment,atleast,he trulysees.
Therebeforehimstandsadull,drab,vacuous
salesgirl;
sheisnomild
Irishmadonna,no pensivepieta2,no mutelybeckoningangel. He
listensasshetalksandlaughswith two younggentlemen;the three
of themhaveEnglishaccents:
"0, I never said such a thing!"
"O, but you did!"
"O, but I didn't!"
"Didn't she say that?"
"Yes, I heard her."
"O, there'sa . . . fib!"
Thissnippetof banalconversation
is Joyce's,
theboy's,andnow
the reader'sepiphany-the word "epiphany"
used here in Joyce's
specialliterary
senseof "asuddenspiritual
manifestation,
whetherin
thevulgarity
of speechor of gestureorin a memorable
phaseof the
minditself"-andtheconversation
theboyoverhears
bearsanunmis-
takableresemblance
to a well-defined
typeof epiphanywhichJoyce
recorded(bald exchangesof fatuous,almostincoherentconversa-
tion), severalexamplesof whichhavesurvived.But whatwe have
hereis theepiphanysurrounded
by all thatis neededto give it sig-
nificance;the privatequidditashasbeentransformed
into a public

"ARABY" AND JOYCE 40I
showingforth;the artist,the priestof the eternalimagination,
has
transmuted
(to paraphrase
anotherof Joyce'sreligiousmetaphors)
thedailybreadof experience
intotheradiantbodyof everlivingart.
Forwhattheboynow sees,andwhatwe now knowhe sees,is
thathis worshipped
madonnais only a girl, like the ordinarygirl
who standsbeforehim, thathis interestin his madonnais akinto
thegentlemen's
interest
in theyoungladybeforethem,andthattheir
pedestrianconversation
aboutfibbing-the veryword is a euphe-
mism for "lying"-is only a banal versionof his own intricate
euphemisms,
his own gorgeouslying to himself.Like the Catholic
boyin Yeats'"OurLadyof the Hills,"who sobsin anguishbecause
hisvisionof a palpable
madonnamustgivewayto therealityof an
ordinaryProtestant
girl, the boy in "Araby"
can now alsocry out
angrily,"I'madivil,andyouareonlyanordinary
lady."
Thatthisordinary
ladyis an Englishladyis anothershattering
part of the boy'spainfulepiphany.The English accentsare the
accents
oftherulingrace,theforeignconquerors-Joyce
makesmuch
of thisnotionin A Portraitandmorein Ulysses-and now theboy
beginsto understandthat England,this nationwhich rules over
him, is quintessentially
vulgar,the servantparexcellenceof mam-
mon.EnglandisonewithIrelandandIreland's
church,andtheboy
is one with all of these.He hasfelt the firststirringsof desireand
converted
themintomasquerading
religiosity;
he haswantedto go
shoppingat a bazaarandhastoldhimselfthathe is makingan en-
chantedjourneyto fetcha chivalrictoken;he hasbeenexposedto
thedebased
vulgarities
of The Memoirs of Vidocq andhasadmitted
onlythathe likeditsyellowpages.Yethe is no worsethantherest
of Ireland-its dead priests (part of a dying church), its Mrs.
Mercers,
itsfaithlessdrunkensurrogate
fathers-andforthatmatter,
no worsethan Ireland's
rulers.Irelandand Ireland's
church,once
appropriately
imagedasaromantic
ladyorasorrowful
madonna,
has
nowbecomecuckquean
andharlot-she is soldandsellsforsilver.
Joyce
returned
tothisthemeagainandagain,oftenwithstartling
repetitions
of detailsand symbols.In Ulysses, for example,Ireland
appears
personified
not as a younggirl,but as an old milkwoman.
She entersand leavesUlysses in a page or two, yet within that
cramped
space,anddespitethevastdifference,
on therealisticlevel,
betweentheroleshemustplayin Ulyssesandtherolesof thosewho

appear
in "Araby,"
Joycemanagesto associate
herwithmanyof the
idiosyncratic
features
thatcharacterize
IrelandandIreland's
betrayal
in "Araby."
In Ulyssesthe old milkwomanis depictedas "anim-
mortalservingherconqueror
[Haines,theEnglishman]andhergay
betrayer[Mulligan, the Irishman], their common cuckquean."
Mulligansingsa songabouther"hisingup herpetticoats";shetells
himsheisashamed
shemustspeakin foreignaccents;
sheisdepicted
"slipping
theringof themilkcanonherforearm"
(thesilverbracelet
again);andsheispaidbyMulliganwithasilverflorin.
VII
Otherelementsin "Araby"
arealsoconnectedto patternsthat
transcend
theimmediateaction.The two mostcrucialeventsin the
story,thetwovigils,harmonize
withspecificoccasions
in theRoman
Catholicliturgy.The firstvigil-the one in which Mangan'ssister
appears
afterthe boy'sinvocation,
"Olove! 0 love!"'-suggests
the
Vigil of theEpiphany.
The moststrikingpassagein thatVigil tells
how"inthosechildishdaysof ourswe toiledawayattheschoolroom
taskswhich the world gave us, till the appointedtime came"-a
passagewhichis exactlyappropriate
to how the boy,afterhis first
visitation
orepiphany(thatis, afterMangan's
sisterhasappeared
to
himanddirected
himtoAraby-justasin theoriginalEpiphany
an
angelappeared
to Josephdirectinghim to go fromEgyptto Israel)
feels aboutthe schoolroomtasks ("child'splay,ugly monotonous
child'splay")while he waitsfor the timeof his journeyto Araby.
Butthe "appointed
time"spokenof in the Vigil is the time of the
journeyto Israelandof the comingof the spiritof Jesus,not of a
tripto Araby;it is the timewhen the spiritof Jesuscriesout to a
child,"Abba,Father,"and he becomesno longera child, a slave,
buta sonof God,entitledto "theson'srightof inheritance."
Forthe
boyin "Araby"
thatcryandthatinheritance
turnouttobefardiffer-
entfromwhathebelieved
themtobe-he comesintoa majority,
but
it is thedisillusioning
majority
of theflesh,of all thesonsof Adam,
notof thespirit;he makeshisjourney,butit is a journeyto Egypt,
toAraby,tothemarketplace,notbacktotheHolyLand.
Thesereverberating
liturgicalharmoniesare continuedin the
boy'ssecondvigil-the one he keepsduringhis long eveningwait,
andthenduringhis journeyto and sojournin Araby.The connec-

tions herearewith Holy Week (especiallythe Passion)and with
Holy Saturday(the night beforeEasterSunday).In "Araby"
the
tripto the bazaartakesplaceon a Saturday
night; the boy'saunt
refersto theSaturday
nightin questionas"thisnightof OurLord,"
an expression
which can be appliedto any Saturday(or Sabbath)
night,butwhichcallsupmostparticularly
thepre-eminent
Saturday
"nightof OurLord,"thatis, Holy Saturday.
The serviceappointed
forthisoccasion
is theMassof Holy Saturday.
ThisMass,owingto
itsgreatbeauty,andespecially
totherichsymbolism
of theTenebrae,
hauntedJoyce.(The whole of Book IV of Finnegans Wake,for
example,takes place in the instantbetweenHoly Saturdayand
EasterSunday.)The Massof Holy Saturdaywas the only Mass
Joyceregularly
triedtowitnesslaterin life,alwaysleaving,however,
beforecommunion.
Centralto thisMassis theimageryof light and
darkness,
theextinguishing
of theoldlightsandthentherekindling
of new lightsfromnew fire.On the otherhand,prominentin the
Passionis the notionof betrayal:Peter'slying threefolddenialof
Jesus,andJudas'
sellingof Jesusfor thirtypiecesof silver.The idea
of profound
betrayal,
thentheadumbration
of awakening
andrising,
allcombined
withimageryof lightanddark,andthewholecounter-
pointedwithliturgical
overtones,
informstheconclusion
of "Arabv."
The boy,for instance,comesto Arabywith silverin his hand
(with the idolatroussuccessor
to the GodlessFlorin,it will be re-
membered);andhe watchesas the moneyof betrayal(his andhis
nation's)falls clinkingon the salver.Like Peter'slying threefold
denialof Jesus,
thebanalconversation
aboutlyingthattheboyover-
hearsalsoinvolvesathreefold
denial(thegirldeniesthreetimesthat
shesaidwhatsheis accused
of saying).The foreignEnglishaccents
continuethe parallel,forPeter,likethe English,is a foreigner,and
his denialsinvolvehis accent."Eventhy speechbetraysthee,"he is
told. When Peterrecognizedhis betrayal(at the crowingof the
cock) he "weptbitterly";
when the boyrecognizedhis (at the call
thatthe light was out) his "eyesburnedwith anguishand anger."
In theservice
forHolySaturday
thelightsareextinguished
andthen
relit;in theservicetheboywitnesses
thereis no rekindling,theboy
merelygazes"upintothe darkness."
And yet,of course,heretoo a
newlightislit; forthoughanoldfaithisextinguished,
we witnessa
dawning.

These liturgicaland religiousparallelsand disparities(one
couldlistothermuchmoresubterranean
ones:thestoryof Abednego
is toldin extensoin theHoly Saturday
Mass,andAbednegoSeller's
heretical
DevoutCommunicant
is a manualfor Holy Week), these
parallelslie unobtrusively
in the background.
They arenot meant
to be strictlyor allegorically
interpreted;
theyaremeantto suggest,
to hint,perhapsto condition.Unconsciously
theytinge ourassocia-
tions and responses;they also harmonizewith the more explicit
motifsof thestory.
The boystandingin frontof the younglady'sshadowybooth,
listeningto her banteringinanities,perceivesall thesesignificances
only dimly.He is shocked,hurt,angered;buthe intuitivelyfeels,
and will laterunderstand,
what the readeralreadycomprehends.
Yet even in his dim awareness
he is readyto makeone decision.
Whilestillat the "darkentrance"
of the younglady'sstall,he tells
herhe isnolongerinterested
in "herwares."
He letsthetwopennies
fall againstthe sixpencein his pocket;he hascometo buy,buthe
hasnotbought.Someone
callsthatthelightisout.Thelightisindeed
out. Like De Quincey'syoungboy, the boy in "Araby"
has been
excludedfrom light, has worshippedthe "lovely darkness"of
the grave;he has (in the wordsof Chamber
Music,XXX) beena
"gravelover."ButagainlikeDe Quincey's
youngboy,at lasthe has
seen.He hasrisenagainbeforehe hasdied;he hasbegunto unfold
"thecapacities
of his spirit."As Chamber
Music,XXX, has it, he
welcomesnow "thewaysthat[he] shallgo upon."Forthe boyhas
caughtaglimpseof himselfashereallyis-a huddled,warring,con-
fusedparadoxof romanticdreams,mistakenadorations,
and mute
fleshlycravings-andoneportionof hislife,hisinnocent,self-delud-
ing childhood,is now behindhim.In his prideandarrogance,
and,
yes,in his purityandinnocencetoo,he hadimaginedthathe bore
his chalicesafelythrougha throngof foes; instead,he had rushed
headlongtowardthatwhichhe thoughthe mostdespised.
In a land
of betrayers,
he hadbetrayed
himself.Butnow he understands
some
of this;andnow, raisinghis eyesup into the blackness,
but totally
blindno more-the Christlike
fusionhereof ascent,of sight,andof
agonyis all-important-hecansay,"Gazingup into the darkness
I
sawmyselfasa creature
drivenandderidedbyvanity;andmy eyes
burnedwithanguishandanger."

VIII
Joycehassucceeded,
here,in takingthe raw,ratherhumdrum,
unpromising
factsof his own life andtransforming
theminto abid-
ing patternsof beautyand illumination.He has takena universal
experience-amoreorlessordinary
experience
of insight,disillusion-
ment,and growth-and given it an extraordinary
application
and
import.The experience
becomesa criticism
of a nation,a religion,a
civilization,a way of existing;it becomesa grapplinghook with
whichwe canscaleourown well-guarded
citadelsof self-delusion.
Joycedoesall this in six or sevenpages.He managesthis feat by
endowingthe simplephrases
andactionsof "Araby"
with multiple
meaningsthatdeepenand enlargewhat he is saying.
The imageof Mangan's
sisteris a casein point.Joycetakesthis
shadowyimage,thisdarkscenewhichfascinated
andobsessed
him
andwhichhe returned
to againandagain,andshapesit to hispur-
poses.He projectsthis imageso carefully,touchesit so delicately
and skillfullywith directiveassociations
and connotations,
that it
conveys simultaneously,
in one simple seamlesswhole, all the
warringmeaningshe wishesit to hold-all thewarringmeaningsit
heldfor him.The poseof the harlotis alsothe poseof the Virgin;
the reveredLady of Romance(kin to VittoriaColonna,Laura,
Beatrice,
Levana,DarkRosaleen,and the belovedof any artist)is
alsoIreland
andatthesametimeavulgarEnglishshopgirl.
Oneneed
notbelabor
thepoint.Thesemeanings
areconveyed
notmerelybythe
juxtapositions
andevocations
of thechiefimages-of Mangan's
dark
sisterand the Englishshopgirl,for example-but by the reiterated
patterns,
allusions,
andactions
whichbindthewholeworktogether:
the deadpriest'scharitableness,
Mrs.Mercer's
usedstamps,the fall
of moneyon the salver;Araby,Easternenchantment,
the knightly
questfora chivalric
token;the swayingdress,the veiledsenses,the
prayerful
murmur,"Olove! 0 love!"Scarcely
a line,an evocation,
on object-the centralappletree,theheretical
bookof devotions
by
AbednegoSeller,"The Arab'sFarewellto His Steed,"the blind
street-but addsits harmonyto thewholeandextendsandclarifies
thestory's
meaning.
The testof an explanation
is its utility-how manyfactscanit
orderandmakemeaningful?The conception
of "Araby"
embodied
in thisessayaccounts
forthornydetailsaswell aslargermotifs.The

conceptionalsoshedslight on recurrent
scenes,ideas,and patterns
in Joyce'swritings;for example,it makesintelligiblea heretofore
impenetrable
passagein FinnegansWake.That passage,in turn,is
partof a longersectionwhichis amenable
to similarexegesis,a sec-
tion which containslines suchas "Neverplaylady'sgamefor the
Lord'sstake";"Lust,thoushaltnotcommixidolatry";
and"Collide
withman,colludewithmoney."Buthereis thepassage
itself:
Rememberthe biter'sbittersI shed the vigil I buriedour HarlotteQuai
frompoorMrsMangain'sof BritainCourton the feastof MarieMaudlin.
Ah, who would wipe her weeperdry and lead her to the halter?Sold in
her heyday,laid in the straw,boughtfor one puny petunia.Moral:if you
can'tpointa lily get to hennaout of here!
In thelightof whatwe knowabout"Araby,"
andpayingatten-
tion only to thosemeaningswhich are pertinentto "Araby,"
the
passagemightbe freelyconstrued
as follows:Remember
the bitter
tearsI shed,I thebiterwhowasbitten,in thatsecretandburiedvigil
I kept-all was latershed and buried-for the HarlotQueen,for
MaryQueenof Scots,for Mangan's
sister,who lived,as all Ireland
does,underthe ruleof Britain's
Court.Theseand others,blended
together,I venerated
in mymaudlin,sentimental
way,asI alsoven-
eratedMaryMagdalene,
saintand prostitute(a weeperwho wiped
her weepingdry). To what end?-sacramental?(altar), nooseor
enslavement?
(halter),or merelya deadend? (halt her)? Ireland
andIreland's
religionwassoldin itsheyday.,
laidlowandprostituted
in the straw,soldforone punypenny,for a petunia.Moral:if you
can'tacceptIreland's
religion(lily), if youcan'tpaintthe lily (that
is,gildthelily,romanticize
Ireland,
coverallwithaveneerof gold-
withapunon "pointillism,"
andwithsexualovvertones),
atleastyou
cangetthefalsedye(henna)outof her,andgetthehell (Gehenna)
outof here!
Obviously
thisis a baldtranscription
of somethingmuchricher
and,much moresubtle.Obviously,too, the passageis wed to the
patternsof FinnegansWake,so that from the point of view of
"Araby,"
the passageisoverlaidby considerations
extraneous
to the
story.(For example,"Harlotte
Quai"-that is, "Charlotte
Quay"-
and "Britain
Court"arealsoactualplacesin Dublin.) But though
"Araby"
is not the raisond'e'tre
of the passage,
it providesa key to
thepassage.
Formostofthemeanings
inthepassage
aresocondensed

andprivate,
theycanbe satisfactorily
readonlyin thelight of their
muchplainerandmoredetailedconjunction
in "Araby."
How then
doesthe passagecometo be in FinnegansWakeat all? It is there
becauseit is tiedto a seriesof eventswhichshapedsomeof Joyce's
fundamental
insightsandconcerns.
Eventually
thatclusterof events
andassociations,
givenearlyliterarycoherence
in "Araby,"
became
bothmatrixandcorrelative
forsuchconcerns.
We seethe clusterin
FinnegansWakeaswe seeit in all hiswritings.Joyce,in truth,was
alwayswalkingthroughandmeetinghimself.
We have alreadynoticedthat someportionsof thoseoriginal
eventsandassociations
canbeidentified;
otherportions
wecandetect
onlyastheyfilteragainandagainthroughJoyce's
successive
fictions.
In Finnegans Wake these fragmentsof events and associations,
truncated
nowandfantastically
jumbled,havesuffered
a strangesea
change,buttheyarestilldiscernible,
sometimes
allthemoreso,and
sometimesall the plainerin import,becauseof theirlaboriousen-
crustations
of meaning.
Forone thing,as in "Araby,"
the name"Mangan"
(this is the
only time it occursin FinnegansWake) againappearsin female
guise,now as"MrsMangain."
The changedspellingof thenameis
significant
because
it underlines
the mercenary
andsexualelements
(Man-gain)whichhadplayedso largebutso implicita rolein the
boy'sconfused
adoration
of Mangan's
darksister.
At thesametimea
whole groupof associations
soundedin "Araby"
are also sounded
here."Harlotte
Quai"
and"Marie
Maudlin"
arearecrudescence
ofthe
virgin-harlot
fusionembodiedby Mangan's
sister,the fusionof the
"harlot
queen"(MaryQueenof Scots)withMaryQueenof Heaven
andMaryMagdalene.
"Britain
Court"
againsuggestscourtingBrit-
ainaswell assubmitting
to Britishrule."VigilI buried"
refersonce
moreto the secretvigilsthe boydevotedto hisfalsemadonna,and
to the ultimatedeflationand burialof that self-deluding
idolatry.
While"biter's
bitters"
is anotherversionof the boy's"anguishand
anger";asJoyceputit in his essayon Mangan,it is "thebitterdis-
illusionandself-disdain"
whichmustend all suchromanticprojec-
tions;or,onceagain,as he put it in Ulysses,it is the "agenbite
of
inwit."(Notethestrikingrepetition
ofwords,meanings,
andsounds,
here-"anger,""anguish,"
"agenbite,"
"biter's,"
"bitters,"
"bitter,"
"inwit"-asthougha constellation
of soundshadbecomeweddedto

thearchetypal
event.)In a similarmanner,thecomminglingof sex,
sellingone'sselfformoney,andbeingbroughtlow whichis so cen-
tralto "Araby"
is epitomizedin, "Soldin her heydey,laid in the
straw,boughtforonepunypetunia."
Thesexualelementis conveyed
by "soldin her heyday"(punningon "hayday"),
and "laidin the
straw"(thatis, madeloveto in the straw-"hayday"
again),while
engrafteduponthe samewordsis the ideaof sellingone'sself for
money:"soldin her heyday,"and "boughtfor one puny [that is,
onepenny"]petunia"
(with a punon pecunia).Andall thisis con-
joinedwith the ultimatedeflation,the ideaof beingbroughtlow:
"laidin the straw"-a remarkwhich,in the context,appliesto Ire-
landandtheCatholic
religionaswell asthenarrator.
The lastsentencein the passageis alsopackedwith additional
meanings
analogous
tothosein "Araby."
Thelilyisthepredominent
flowerof Catholicism,
butmoreparticularly,
in Catholicsymbolism,
it is the flowerof the VirginMary.On the otherhand,the plant,
henna,in additionto producing
a dye,thatis, a maskingsubstance,
alsoproduces
awhiteflowerconnected
withMohammedan
religious
symbolismand used,like the dye, in Mohammedan
religiousand
eroticrites-the word"henna"
itselfis of Arabicorigin.Hence,in a
manneranalogous
to theendof "Araby,"
thelineimpliesthatIrish
Catholicism,
and in particular
the worshipof the VirginMary,is
dyedor adulterated
by money,sex,and"Arabian"
exoticism;or to
put it anotherway,if one can'thavea religiondevoidof henna,if
oneisn'tallowedto paintthelily unlessonegildsit, one mustleave
thereligionandthecountry.Butthisstatement,
thoughits implica-
tions and even its imagesare redolentof "Araby,"
goes beyond
"Araby."
For in FinnegansWake
Joyceis looking back; he can
conveyhismoralfromthedistantpinnacle
of exileandachievement.
In"Araby"
theboyhasjustdiscovered
thathe is confusingliliesand
henna;inhismomentof anguishhecannotyetseethathemustgild
the lily or get out.
Ix
Joyce's
artin "Araby,"
andin manyof his otherwritings,may
be likenedto a palimpsest.
Perhapsmorethanany artistof his era
he waswilling,forthesakeof hisover-all
design,to obscure,
evento
wipe out richnuancesand powerfulironies.Butat the sametime,

andagainperhaps
morethananycontemporary
artist,
hewascareful
tolacquer
hisimagesandactions
withlayerafterlayerof translucent,
incremental
meaning.The finishedpalimpsest
is richwithshimmer-
ing depths,strangeblendings,
andtantalizing
hints:heresomething
hasbeenrubbedout, therea few faint linescoalescemeaningfully
and then dwindleaway,while in the centera figure,distinct,yet
mergingwith myriadsof dim underforms,
swimsslowlyintofocus
andthenturnsanddissolves
andre-forms
beforeourgaze.Abednego
Sellerdropsout of view, only the misleading,enigmaticDevout
Communicant remains;England'ssilverfloringleamsbrightlyin
theboy'stightgrasp,theancientgoldenlily andgoldensaintglim-
merdarklyin the shadeddepths;Saturday
eveningshoppingtrips
and "thisnight of OurLord"standboldlyin the foreground,
the
liturgicalengramsof whichtheyarea partloomfaintlyin the dis-
tance.Mangan'sshadowysister-a versionof the darklingsiren
Joycedrewsooften-is limnedandlimnedagain.Harlotandvirgin,
temptress
andsaint,queenandshopgirl,IrelandandEngland-she
isamiracle
ofblendings,
mergings,
andmontages.
Whileamultitude
of harmonizingdesigns,some clear,some dim, some just faintly
discernible-MaryQueenof Scots,"OurLadyof the Hills,"Dark
Rosaleen,a criminaldressedas a nun, Levana,Easternbazaars,
CarolineNorton, and idolatrousvigils-complete the deceptive
palimpsest.
In Dublinerswe sometimesbecomefascinatedby the more
legiblefiguresin the palimpsest.
But the moreobscurefiguresare
theretoo,and Joyce,by his reticences,
encourages
us to seekthem.
We know at the end of "Araby"
that somethingdevastating
has
occurred,
andwe wouldliketo knowexactlywhatit is. Ultimately,
thefull radiance
of sight,of meaning,is ours,not theboy's.He has
caughta glimpseof reality,of himselfas he reallyis; he canreject
the old encumbering
vision,he can decideto dream"nomoreof
enchanted
days,"buthe cannotyetfashiona newlife.As the story
hasit, the light is out; the boy mustgrapplein the dark.Butlike
blindOedipus,
inthedarktheboyfinallysees:hismomentof illumi-
nationis given to him as he gazes "up into the darkness."
That
momentof blindingsightis alsothe momentof artisticvision,of
theunfoldingof "thecapacities
of [the] spirit";
not merelybecause
themomentis laterseenandreseenwiththeclarity,thepenetration,

therichramification
of theartist's
eye,butbecause
themomentitself
is a sine qua non fortheartist's
eye.The boy'sendis hisbeginning;
he haswalkedthroughandmethimself.
"Araby"
is the renderingof a quintessential
moment(and for
Joyce,the quintessential
moment) in a portraitof the artistas a
youngboy.It is asthoughtheboyof the storyhascometo the end
of a well-lighteddead-end
road.He now confronts
a tangleof dark
paths.Perhapsone of those pathswill eventuallylead him to a
brighterroadand to a wider,steadiervision of the surrounding
countryside.
The boyhasnot yetchosenthepathhe will follow;he
mayverywell choosethewrongpath.Butat leasthe hasseenthat
hisowncomfortable
well-worn
road,well-lighted
andthronged
with
travelersthoughit is, is a dead end. That insightmakesfurther
travelpossible;he can"welcome. . . now at the lastthe waysthat
[he] shallgo upon."North RichmondStreetis blind,but Dublin
perhaps
hasthoroughfares,
andif notDublin,then,astheconclusion
of A Portraittellsus, the beckoningroadsof all the worldbeyond
Ireland:"whitearmsof roads"leading"beyondthe sleepingfields
to whatjourney's
end?"

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Araby quot and the Writings of James Joyce.pdf