Таврический
Национальный университет им. В. И.
Вернадского
Факультет
иностранной филологии
Кафедра
английского
языка и литературы
James
Joyce “Two Gallants”. Text analyses
Дисциплина:
История английской литературы
Выполнила:
студентка
4 курса
группы
453
Шило
Светлана
Симферополь,
2014
Text
analysis of
Two
Gallants
written
by James Joyce
The
short story under consideration is Two
Gallants
written by a famous English-speaking writer. It is one of the
seediest stories in Dubliners.
James Joyce was an Irish, modernist writer who wrote in a
ground-breaking style that was known both for its complexity and
explicit content.
As
for literary artistic system, Two
Gallants
belongs to the modernistic trend. Modernism
tries to break with traditional styles, experiment with literary
forms and express new ideas. In his work James Joyce turned to the
human consciousness away from social problems. Modernism addresses
the following themes: breaking down of social norms, rejection of
social conventions and religion, anger against the world wars.
Two
Gallants
is a short story as it is covered only one event of the main
characters’ lives. The genre chosen by the writer dictates the
adoption of the belles-lettres style. Several characteristic features
pertaining to belles-lettres style texts are observed in Two
Gallants.
In
Two
Gallants James
Joyce uses a lot of symbols.
One of the most important symbolic items is the harp on which a man
played the mournful song: “Not
far from the porch of the club a harpist stood in the roadway,
playing to a little ring of listeners…His harp, too, heedless that
her coverings had fallen about her knees, seemed weary alike of the
eyes of strangers and of her master’s hands. One hand played in the
bass the melody of Silent, O Moyle, while the other hand careered in
the treble after each group of notes. The notes of the air sounded
deep and full.”In
this short story, we arrive at deeper understanding of both
English-speaking cultures and our own. Concerning the harp, it is a
traditional symbol of Ireland. Joyce uses it to suggest the declineof
Ireland and its people. The
harp is typical of Joyce’s national references.
The
other symbol which is notable is the colour of the ginger beer and
the colour of the peas. Lenehanis sitting in the café having
something to eat. He orders beer that was orange and a plate of peas
of green colour. The writer wishes to convey straight facts
concerning the national flag of Ireland. It was made to put emphasis
on the political landscape of Ireland at the time the story was
written and the state of paralysis that existed.
Besides,
the woman that Corley meets is also significant, particularly how she
is dressed. Joyce has her wearing a blue dress and a white sailor
hat. These colours are important because they are the colours that
would usually be associated with the Virgin Mary. Again Joyce may be
suggesting, through symbolism, that the Irish Catholic Church is
responsible for the paralysis that was affecting Ireland at the turn
of the twentieth century. Also Joyce’s use of street names, mostly
named after English people, is also significant as it is also
possible that Joyce is suggesting the paralysis affecting Ireland is
caused by Britain (as well as the Catholic Church), which at the time
Dubliners was written would have been under British rule.
The
route that Lenehan takes while waiting for Corley is also important
as it suggests a circular pattern. Lenehan ends up on the same
streets that he has been previously on with Corley. Which in turn may
suggest the idea of Lenehan going nowhere, or going around in
circles, which again would suggest a type of paralysis. It is also
significant that Ely Place, the street both Corley and Lenehan end up
on at the end of the story is a dead end. Again this suggests that
both men are going nowhere. It is possible that Joyce is suggesting,
through the movement of both Corley and Lenehan that Ireland and the
Irish people too, are going nowhere or are in a state of paralysis.
James
Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 in Dublin, Ireland. He published
Portrait
of the Artist
in 1916 and caught the attention of Ezra Pound. With Ulysses,
Joyce perfected his stream-of-consciousness style and became a
literary celebrity. The explicit content of his prose brought about
landmark legal decisions on obscenity. Joyce battled eye ailments for
most of his life. He died in 1941.
Dubliners
is a collection of 15 short stories and was published in 1914. It
is certainly his most accessible book
— relatively easy to comprehend and follow, whereas the others
mentioned tend to challenge even the most sophisticated reader.
In Dubliners, he
does not yet employ the techniques of mimetic narrative or
stream-of-consciousness, but
he paves the way here for those technical breakthroughs. Mainly,
Joyce worked and played in Dubliners at
plotting and characterization, description and dialogue, and point of
view. The setting of Dubliners is
in and around the city of Dublin, Ireland. Though the capital city of
Ireland, the Dublin in which Joyce grew up was a provincial place —
far less cosmopolitan than a number of other Western European cities
of similar size.
The
theme
of Two
Gallants is
inequality. The author draws the reader’s attention to such themes
as class difference and poverty. James Joyce evokes the theme of
poverty through details. Especially in this short story, one of the
main characters, Lenehan, sees no future for himself and sits down to
a miserable supper consisting only of peas and ginger beer. The story
addresses a universal problem and it really teaches the reader a
lesson what to do in your life and how to behave not to become such a
“gallant” in society. The
theme grows out of the events in the story.
The
text aims at a psychological influence on the readers to convince
them of the reality and authenticity of the described topic. This is
achieved by reference to events that took place in the author’s
hometown. The extract is aimed at acquainting the reader with some
disputable problems of social aspects of life. The story addresses to
such problems as aimlessness of many young urban men. Unfortunately,
exactly this problem in the short story is not solved.
The
author’s tone
is ironic in this piece of text. First of all, the title of the story
brings the ironic effect as the main characters were just useless
urban men who don’t want to do anything. James Joyce uses irony to
emphasise his point concerning the main charecters’ lifestyle.
Corley and Lenehan are anything but fine, chivalrous men. Instead,
they make an unpleasant practice of duping maids into stealing from
their employers. Of the two men, Lenehan is the more self-reflective,
and he provides a quiet, contemplative balance for the burly actions
of Corley, who has crafted and executed their current plan.
Lenehan
is a Dublin man quite literally on the edge. He has one foot on the
path and one on the road as he walks with Corley, he must bide time
while Corley woos the girl, he lives on the verge of bankruptcy, and
many consider him to be “a leech.” At the age of thirty-one,
Lenehan yearns for a comfortable life, but he is no less guilty of
deceit than Corley is. Both men lead dissolute lives and have few
prospects, and nothing but easy money gives them hope. The
meanderings of the story ultimately lead to the gold coin, suggesting
that for both of these men, the coin is their ultimate reward and
desire.
Even
though Lenehan and Corley use betrayal to make money, both men are
anxious about treachery. Corley orchestrates his encounter with the
maid defensively, allowing Lenehan only distant glimpses of the maid
for fear of competition. Similarly, Lenehan pesters Corley about his
choice of victim, worried that the plan will fall flat and leave him
penniless yet again. When Corley and the maid reappear later than
Lenehan expected, Lenehan momentarily convinces himself that Corley
has cheated him out of the profits, and not until the final sentence
of the story can we be certain that the men’s collaboration is
intact.
This
constant worry about betrayal reappears throughout the
whole story
always recalls Ireland’s political scandal in which the politician
Parnell, according to his loyal followers, was abandoned by the Irish
government and many voters when news of his affair leaked into the
press. Lenehan and Corley are part of a generation disappointed after
Parnell’s downfall who now feel they have no one to trust. This
state of mind leads only to further betrayal.
As
for Two
Gallants,
the short story has neutral
writing:”He
became serious and silent when he had said this. His tongue was tired
for he had been talking all the afternoon in a public-house in Dorset
Street. Most people considered Lenehan a leech but, in spite of this
reputation, his adroitness and eloquence had always prevented his
friends from forming any general policy against him. He had a brave
manner of coming up to a party of them in a bar and of holding
himself nimbly at the borders of the company until he was included in
a round. He was a sporting vagrant armed with a vast stock of
stories, limericks and riddles. He was insensitive to all kinds of
discourtesy. No one knew how he achieved the stern task of living,
but his name was vaguely associated with racing tissues.”
The
author’s attitude is not that of admiring as he shows the main
characters from the ironic point of view. The storytelling is
bizarre, alarming and disturbing, always with a nasty sting in the
tail. The author sounds well-intentioned, disapproving, moody and
even unpredictable. The tone is implied rather than stated
explicitly.
The
story has the
closed plot structure
but the twists in the plot are surprising, especially in the end of
the story. But still it is necessary to mention that the plot is of
classical cunning and intricacy. The actions are linear as the events
described without any reference to some other facts. Besides it is
difficult to say that the reader can wait for such an ending. The
events are unpredictable in the unfolding story.
The
central conflict
of Two
Gallants is
the uselessness in life. One of the main characters, I mean Lenehan,
in his thirty-one have nothing in his life: no job, no family. To
emphasise the conflict that is decribed in the short story, the
author gives the description of the situation when Lenehan was
sitting in a café. The narration follows the chronological order of
events. The end leaves room for suggestion but the conclusion
reinforces the dominant impression.
The
story is told from the
third-person point of view
as the narrator does not participate in the action and it is
described as happening to some he and she. But the story-teller
perfectly knows what is going on in the minds of the characters,
especially in the mind of Leneham as his thoughts were shown better
than the others. The narrator speaks to us without any ironic
intervention by the author.
The
voice of the narrator is immensely flexible. It ranges from
reflective amusement to exasperation. The voice of the central
character has a distinct role, though it can always be modified by
direct intervention of the narrator’s own voice.
The
author places strong emphasis on setting. Each physical object is
described in dpecific detail, as single location for characters in
action: “THE
grey warm evening of August had descended upon the city and a mild
warm air, a memory of summer, circulated in the streets. The streets,
shuttered for the repose of Sunday, swarmed with a gaily coloured
crowd. Like illumined pearls the lamps shone from the summits of
their tall poles upon the living texture below which, changing shape
and hue unceasingly, sent up into the warm grey evening air an
unchanging unceasing murmur.”
Moreover,
James Joyce gives details of some street in Dublin, naming them: “Two
young men came down the hill of Rutland Square…
“ “He
became serious and silent when he had said this. His tongue was tired
for he had been talking all the afternoon in a public-house in Dorset
Street…”
“So
we went for a walk round by the canal and she told me she was a
slavey in a house in Baggot Street. I put my arm round her and
squeezed her a bit that night…”
“At
the corner of Hume Street a young woman was standing.” “Lenehan
walked as far as the Shelbourne Hotel where he halted and waited.
After waiting for a little time he saw them coming towards him and,
when they turned to the right, he followed them, stepping lightly in
his white shoes, down one side of Merrion Square. As he walked on
slowly, timing his pace to theirs, he watched Corley's head which
turned at every moment towards the young woman's face like a big ball
revolving on a pivot. He kept the pair in view until he had seen them
climbing the stairs of the Donnybrook tram; then he turned about and
went back the way he had come.” “He walked listlessly round
Stephen's Green and then down Grafton Street. Though his eyes took
note of many elements of the crowd through which he passed they did
so morosely.”
So,
it is necessary to mention that the writer gives real names of the
street and real directions that exist in the city described. The
author uses descriptive details to set a scene. As it was written
above in the examples, the reader can see that the author uses vivid
words to describe the city. All elements in the description
contribute to the mood. People and places, real and imagined, are
woven with such skill and confidence into the fabric of the text.
The
story takes place on Saturday evening in August: “THE
grey warm evening of August had descended upon the city and a mild
warm air, a memory of summer, circulated in the streets. The streets,
shuttered for the repose of Sunday, swarmed with a gaily coloured
crowd.”
As
for the main characters,
it is necessary to make emphasis on the way James Joyce presents
them. From the beginning the author describes Corley and Lenehan
through appearance: “Two
young men came down the hill of Rutland Square. One of them was just
bringing a long monologue to a close. The other, who walked on the
verge of the path and was at times obliged to step on to the road,
owing to his companion's rudeness, wore an amused listening face. He
was squat and ruddy. A yachting cap was shoved far back from his
forehead and the narrative to which he listened made constant waves
of expression break forth over his face from the corners of his nose
and eyes and mouth. Little jets of wheezing laughter followed one
another out of his convulsed body. His eyes, twinkling with cunning
enjoyment, glanced at every moment towards his companion's face. Once
or twice he rearranged the light waterproof which he had slung over
one shoulder in toreador fashion. His breeches, his white rubber
shoes and his jauntily slung waterproof expressed youth.
But
his figure fell into rotundity at the waist, his hair was scant and
grey and his face, when the waves of expression had passed over it,
had a ravaged look.”
The
writes gives the detail description of the characters: “Corley
was the son of an inspector of police and he had inherited his
father's frame and gait. He walked with his hands by his sides,
holding himself erect and swaying his head from side to side. His
head was large, globular and oily; it sweated in all weathers; and
his large round hat, set upon it sideways, looked like a bulb which
had grown out of another. He always stared straight before him as if
he were on parade and, when he wished to gaze after someone in the
street, it was necessary for him to move his body from the hips. At
present he was about town. Whenever any job was vacant a friend was
always ready to give him the hard word. He was often to be seen
walking with policemen in plain clothes, talking earnestly. He knew
the inner side of all affairs and was fond of delivering final
judgments. He spoke without listening to the speech of his
companions. His conversation was mainly about himself: what he had
said to such a person and what such a person had said to him and what
he had said to settle the matter. When he reported these dialogues he
aspirated the first letter of his name after the manner of
Florentines.”
Besides,
the author paints a moving portrait of Lenehan through speech: “His
voice seemed winnowed of vigour; and to enforce his words he added
with humour:
"That
takes the solitary, unique, and, if I may so call it, recherche
biscuit!"
He
became serious and silent when he had said this. His tongue was tired
for he had been talking all the afternoon in a public-house in Dorset
Street. Most people considered Lenehan a leech but, in spite of this
reputation, his adroitness and eloquence had always prevented his
friends from forming any general policy against him. He had a brave
manner of coming up to a party of them in a bar and of holding
himself nimbly at the borders of the company until he was included in
a round. He was a sporting vagrant armed with a vast stock of
stories, limericks and riddles. He was insensitive to all kinds of
discourtesy. No one knew how he achieved the stern task of living,
but his name was vaguely associated with racing tissues.”
To
sum it up characters in Two
Gallants are
realistic, ordinary and true-to-life. The dialogues are convincing
and natural. The language chosen is appropriate to the characters. We
find a wide variety of social types, especially in this short story
we can observe young urban men who haven’t achieve success in their
life.
Concerning
the choice of words, James Joyce uses colloquial
English that
is used in casual, everyday circumstances. The writer uses brilliant
and idiosyncratic language: “He
walked listlessly round Stephen's Green and then down Grafton Street.
Though his eyes took note of many elements of the crowd through which
he passed they did so morosely. He found trivial all that was meant
to charm him and did not answer the glances which invited him to be
bold. He knew that he would have to speak a great deal, to invent and
to amuse, and his brain and throat were too dry for such a task. The
problem of how he could pass the hours till he met Corley again
troubled him a little. He could think of no way of passing them but
to keep on walking.”
The
most important technique that should be mentioned is James Joyce’s
epiphany. It is a moment when a character experiences
self-understanding. An epiphany is a “showing forth,” a
revelation of what a character or his or her situation is. This
epiphany can be made by the character or the reader. In “Two
Gallants” the characters are totally unaware of their true
situation. It is the reader who, in a negative epiphany, recognizes
the “coin” in the hands of Corley as a sign of the true nature of
these Dublin gallants.
In
Two
Gallants
epiphany is shown through Lenehan’s predictions about the Corley’s
adventure. Lenehan imagines where his friend and a women can go, what
they do and in what time they come at the place. It is somehow the
twisting reality in the character’s mind. And in the end the reader
can see the result of Lenehan’s imagination. We can observe Corley
to come and bring a coin: “They
had reached the corner of Ely Place. Still without answering, Corley
swerved to the left and went up the side street. His features were
composed in stern calm. Lenehan kept up with his friend, breathing
uneasily. He was baffled and a note of menace pierced through his
voice.
"Can't
you tell us?" he said. "Did you try her?"
Corley
halted at the first lamp and stared grimly before him. Then with a
grave gesture he extended a hand towards the light and, smiling,
opened it slowly to the gaze of his disciple. A small gold coin shone
in the palm.”