JAMES JOYCE
"EVELINE"
James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882. His works
were considered revolutionary in comparison to the canons of traditional novel.
Joyce, like other writers of that time, followed the concept of "duree" of the philosopher Henry Bergson. 333e41d
This concept affirmed that at the chronological time there was beside the time
of human consciousness, which not necessarily coincided with chronological
one. Moreover these writers gave less importance to the action and more
importance to psychology of the characters. But the three major characteristics
of the work of James Joyce are the stream
of consciousness technique, the interior
monologue and epiphanies.
- The stream of consciousness is a free
association of thought, impressions, memories which suddenly breaks into
the mind of the protagonists stimulated by a perfume, a color, music or a
banal gesture.
- The interior monologue is the expression
of thoughts of characters, usually expressed by the character himself.
- The epiphany is a psychological revelation
suddenly manifestating itself in an unexpected
way, like a gesture, an object or a banal situation.
One of the most important
works of James Joyce is "Dubliners",
a collection of fifteen short stories about life in Dublin. In this work the stories are divided
into four groups: childhood, adolescence, maturity and public life. "Eveline" belongs to adolescence
and is one of the most evident examples of paralysis. The paralysis is
the key-theme and it is the impossibility from acting, taking decisions and
living. The cause of paralysis is very often the family, which prevents its
members from acting. The secondary major key-theme is the escape. It is
the opposite of paralysis and originates from an impulse activated by sense of
enclosure that many characters experience. A claustrophobic element is present
whether in the description of Irish rooms and houses or in the description of
Irish family, which tends to imprison its members. In Eveline the key-elements
are: marriage, that is a social necessity both men and women, but it is
not a guarantee of happiness; and music, because it activates a
psychological process ending in an epiphany. in the story there are symbols,
like the sea, that is the way to a future of salvation and the
symbol of danger of unknown; and the names, in fact frank's name alludes
to the nature of sailor and to his attitude to Eveline.