Representations of Women in James Joyce's Dubliners and Langston Hughes New York Poems

8/17/2019 Representations of Women in James Joyce's Dubliners and Langston Hughes New York Poems

1/5

In an essay of 2000 words, discuss the ways in which relations between the sexes are

depicted in Dubliners and two New York texts.

In both James Joyce’s Dubliners’ and !an"ston #u"hes$s twentieth% century New York &oems,

each city is ex&lored throu"h "lim&ses into the li'es of its citi(ens. )ith s&ecific reference to

*he +isters’, *he Dead’, ushcart -an’ and #arlem +weeties’, this essay will discuss howrelationshi&s between male and female inhabitants are re&resented throu"h a number of literary

de'ices by hi"hli"htin" differences in style and form. +imilarities in theme, s&ecifically that of

male dominance, will contrast the stylistic differences and show that, des&ite these 'ariations,

the two cities are much the same with re"ard to the way in which relations between the sexes

are de&icted.

In many of Joyce’s stories women are assi"ned matriarchal or domestic roles. *his is e'ident in

both *he +isters’ and *he Dead’. In each text much of the back"round acti'ity is focused on

and carried out by female characters who fulfill traditional functions such as &ro'idin" food or

care.

*he first de&iction women in Dubliners’ is so, and one which continues throu"hout thestory I came down to su&&er/ my aunt was ladlin" out my stirabout’ Joyce, 113, &.45, 6-r.

7otter mi"ht mi"ht take a &ick of that le" of mutton,8 he added to my aunt.’ &.5. *he sense

of their almost auxiliary function is hi"hli"hted by o&inionated male characters who forcefully

&ro&ound their 'iews -y idea is/’ asserts 7otter, *hat’s my &rinci&le, too...’ a"rees the uncle

&.5. )omen, by contrast, seem not to ex&ress o&inions in the &resence of the dominant

males. *heir lan"ua"e is less insistent and focused on others rather than themsel'es.

)hilst the men’s’ s&eech is &e&&ered with self%referential first &erson &ronouns I wouldn’t

say...’, I wouldn’t like/’, I ha'e my...’ 5, the women s&eak only of others, subtly underlinin" their

secondary status. Indeed the only the 'iews offered by female characters are "i'en in the

&resence of each other and the narrator, an adolescent as o&&osed to &art of the &atriarchy.

*his circumstance mi"ht su""est that women are ex&ected to beha'e with ser'ility around men,

de&ictin" the dominant, if not sub9u"atin", role of men.

Domestic &ro'ision becomes a central theme in *he Dead’, with the ma9ority of the &lot

unfoldin" at an annual &arty thrown by two sisters and their niece. )here in the first story of

Dubliners’ the allusions to matriarchy come in the form of subtle and circumstantial first% &erson

narrati'e, in the last the focus is not on a su&&ortin" domestic role, but rather their "enerous

hos&itality, celebrated in :abriel’s s&eech we ha'e been the reci&ients % or &erha&s, I had

better say, the 'ictims % of the hos&itality of certain "ood ladies’ &.2;05. )omen are often

&resented as demure, self % conscious characters :reat a&&lause "reeted -ary Jane as,

blushin" and rollin" u& her music ner'ously, she esca&ed from the room’ &.25. )hilst the two aunts are ti"htly

attuned to the &arty they are "i'in"’ #aslam, 2012, &.?;5 it is :abriel who is tasked with

re&ression and control’ #aslam, 2012, &.?45, a characteristically male em&loyment. #is

&lace at the head of the table and deli'ery of the s&eech affirm this &osition. =lthou"h the

women throw the &arty, male beha'iour still dominates the &roceedin"s. -uch of the story &rior

to the concerns the acti'ities of men :abriel’s insistence that :retta wear "aloshes, the


2/5

concern o'er the state of @reddy -alins, -r. Arowne’s animated con'ersation. =ll of a

sudden, -iss I'ors &unctures the atmos&here by o'ertly challen"in" :abriel’s &atriotism. #e

is taken aback by her blunt attack, a look of &er&lexity a&&eared...’ and scared, too, of the

intellectual threat she &oses he could not risk a "randiose &hrase with her’ &.2315. #er

character in9ects a 9arrin" and anta"onistic foil to the female &ersonae which ha'e for the most

&art been modest, coy or retirin". +he successfully o&&oses both male dominance and the

traditional female role with her fearless assault on :abriel, who a&&ears to be the al&ha male,

o'ertly challen"in" the hierarchy. )here -iss I'ors fla"rant demonstration of feminine

asserti'eness is unmistakable, a far more subtle demonstration of female &otency becomes

e'ident later in the text, a faculty which will be discussed soon shortly.

Joyce’s stories &ro'ide the reader with detailed sna&shots into the li'es of Dublin’s inhabitants

from which a sense of the city’s di'ersity is "i'en. #is cross%sections are as 'aried as those

elucidated in #u"hes$s ushcart man’. )here Joyce de'otes cha&ters of 'aryin" len"th to

the ex&loration of social microcosms and the relations within, allowin" for extended

characterisation and slower de'elo&ment of narrati'e, #u"hes$s &rose is a li"htnin" fast&resentation of #arlem’s Bi"hth ='enue. #is Cuick%fire third &erson narrati'e &resents the

inter&lay between characters without o&inion he makes no moral 9ud"ements’ =sbee, 2012,

&.1135, lea'in" discourse between male and female &ersonae embedded throu"hout to be

inter&reted by the reader alone. Joyce makes freCuent use of ad'erbs which colour the reader’s

understandin" of relationshi&s she said almost testily’, announced blandly’, drew :abriel

aside hurriedly’ &.2


3/5

relationshi&s between Joyce’s characters =sbee, 20125. *he theme of masculine control

nonetheless remains.

#u"hes de&icts another facet of relationshi&s in his &oem #arlem +weeties’ am&ersad, 135

in demonstratin" what mi"ht be deemed an a&&reciation of the female form. *he title,

su""estin" a term of endearment while hintin" at the tantalisin" content to follow, could also be&ercei'ed of an ob9ectification of the women he describes. *his &resum&tion is for the reader

to decide, howe'er, and the tone of the &oem is celebratory rather than critical, &articularly in

contrast to the obser'ations of the old "entleman’ in ushcart -an’. #is lexis is luscious and

mouthwaterin", a&&ealin" to male desire and hun"er throu"h the use of a 'ast array of

sensuous, food% related meta&hors. *he &honetic features of the &iece em&hasise the a&&eal

throu"h the use of assonance, consonance and rhyme each%skinned "irlie, E 7offee and

cream, E 7hocolate darlin" E out of a dream.’ and :low of the Cuince E *o blush of the rose. E

ersimmon bron(e E *o cinnamon toes.’ *he stress &attern seems to fall re"ularly on the

descri&ti'e words, drawin" further attention to the &hysical beauty of the women of +u"ar #ill

and creatin" a rollin" rhythm which com&liments the "radually &ro"ressin" rhyme scheme. =n effect of this combination is to create a sense of bounty, tem&tation and a&&reciation

which is com&ounded by the obser'ations that @eminine sweetness E In #arlem’s no lack’

and =ll throu"h the s&ectrum E #arlem "irls 'ary’. *he &oem ends by in'itin" the reader to

disco'er #arlem’s ainbow%sweet thrill’ by takin" a +troll down luscious, E Delicious, fine +u"ar

#ill.’ =s com&lementary as the &oem may a&&ear, there remains the ex&licit idea that the

women of #arlem are to be selected and en9oyed, an ob9ectification which is intensified by the

absence of any su""estion of their humanity, intelli"ence or role in society. #ere the

relationshi& between men and women is reduced almost to the le'el of &rostitution the

&redatory masculine 'oice in'ites its kin to come and choose women for their &leasure and

nothin" else.

Joyce, too, s&eaks ex&licitly of beauty, desire and lust, but his de&iction is tem&ered with a

sense of dee& emotional anxiety, &assion and lo'e, Cualities which are not hinted at by #u"hes

in either &iece. *he humanity of relationshi&s is ex&lored in the final scene of *he Dead’

as :abriel’s heart is &ulled to%and%fro by the story of his wife’s &ast lo'e. aralysis, another

central theme of Dubliners, is also met within the context of his marria"e to :retta. In the

confines of their hotel room, #e lon"ed to cry out to her from his soul...o'ermaster her’ &.245.

#is desire is almost &al&able, but stunted by the &hysical and emotional s&ace between them

+he went out to the window...lookin" out’ &.245, If she would only turn to him or come to him

of her own accordF’ &.245 and she did not answer nor yield wholly to his arm’ &.2>05.

*herecurrin" motif of the mirror and the window ma"nify both the distance between them and

:abriel’s inability to ex&ress himself. *he window, out of which :retta "a(es, is a window

which looks out from their &resent life to"ether and into the tra"edy of her &ast, &erha&s

showin" that she is not concerned with the immediacy of :abriel’s self%absorbin", 'olatile

emotions. =s #aslam notes, :retta’s emotional life takes &lace in/a rural &ast’ #aslam,

2012, &.;?5. Yet still she has concern for him as she turns from the window with all her thou"hts


4/5

and her &ast, and "oes to him. #e is frustrated, frau"ht, tremblin" now with annoyance’

&.245, almost &owerless in the face of his im&etuous desire’ &.2>05. #e wishes to master

her stran"e mood’ &.245, yet he is made su&&licant by her words. In &raisin" :abriel’s

"enerosity, :retta turns him u&side%down and lea'es him tremblin" with deli"ht...brimmin" o'er

with ha&&iness’, wonderin" why he had been so diffident’ &.2>05. #er femininity and &urity

o'erwhelm him = kinder note than he intended went into his 'oice’ &.2>15 and yet he ishumiliated’ &.2>25, sei(ed by 'a"ue terror’ &.2>45. @or all the res&ect he commands in his &osition as a &illar of the

community, all his &oise, control and al&ha%male status, :abriel ultimately, and shamefully, saw

himself as a ludicrous fi"ure, actin" as a &ennyboy for his aunts’ &.2>


5/5

References:

=sbee, +. in =sbee, +. and #aslam, +. eds.5 20125 The Twentieth Century,

!ondon, Aloomsbury =cademic E -ilton eynes, *he K&en Lni'ersity

#ar&er, =. 1;5 in =sbee, +. and #aslam, +. eds.5 20125 The TwentiethCentury, !ondon, Aloomsbury =cademic E -ilton eynes, *he K&en Lni'ersity

#aslam, +. in =sbee, +. and #aslam, +. eds.5 20125 The Twentieth Century,

!ondon, Aloomsbury =cademic E -ilton eynes, *he K&en Lni'ersity

Joyce, J. 1135 Dubliners 7la&ham, -. and eynard, 7. eds.5 )are,

)ordsworth Bditions this edition 1

Representations of Women in James Joyce's Dubliners and Langston Hughes New York Poems

Documents

Transcript of Representations of Women in James Joyce's Dubliners and Langston Hughes New York Poems