The Dead

By James Joyce

Presented by Hannah, Natalie, and Francesca

Part of the complete collection

Dublin, Ireland

A holiday (Christmas)

party known as Misses Morkan’s

annual dance

Gabriel Conroy

“Gabriel coloured as if he felt he had made a mistake and, without looking at her, kicked

off his goloshes and flicked actively with his muffler at his patent-leather shoes.”- page

1229

Encounter With Miss Ivors (pgs. 1235-1236)

-“And haven’t you your own land to visit, continued Miss Ivors, that

you know nothing of, your own people, and your own country?”

-”O, to tell you the truth, retorted Gabriel suddenly, I’m sick of my

own country, sick of it!”

“…Then, just as the chain was about to start again, she stood on tiptoe and whispered into his ear:

-West Briton!”

The Wellington Monument

“The snow would be lying on the branches

of the trees and forming a bright cap on

the top of the Wellington Monument.”

–page 1237

Symbolic Snow

“A light fringe of snow lay like a cape on the shoulders of

his overcoat and like toecaps on the toes

of his goloshes” (page 1229)

Symbolism

Gabriel’s grandfather riding his horse around the statue of William III

Monks sleeping in coffins

Gabriel’s Speech

Hospitality – “…gathered together under this

hospitable roof, around this hospitable board.”

“…tradition of genuine…Irish hospitality…which we in turn must hand down to our descendants…”

New – “…new ideas and new principles…” “But we are living in a sceptical

and…thought-tormented age…I fear this new generation, educated or hypereducated…will lack those qualities of humanity, of hospitality…”

Death - “…we are living in a less spacious age…” “…still cherish in our hearts the memory

of those dead and gone great ones whose fame the world will not willingly let die.”

“…we could not find the heart to go on bravely with our work among the living.”

Thanking the hostesses – “...the Three Graces of the Dublin

musical world.” “…I will not attempt to play to-

night the part that Paris played on another occasion. I will not attempt to choose between them.”

The Lass of Aughrim

Presented in the following clip

The Lass of Aughrim

Gabriel thinks of his wife as a painting in this moment, the brightening of hues and depths of the shadows that cloak her.

Why does this song stir such emotions in Gretta?

“The blood went bounding along his veins; and the thoughts went rioting through his brain, proud,joyful,tender, valorous.”

“Moments of their secret life burst like stars upon his memory.”

“A heliotrope envelope was lying beside his breakfast-cup and he was caressing it with his hand. Birds were twittering in the ivy and the sunny web of the curtain was shimmering along the floor: he could not eat for happiness.”

Joyce brings out the beauty and passion mists the cold misery of winter and snow. Completely different images than what the readers are presented with during the party.

“He longed to recall to her those moments, to make her forget the years of their dull existence together and remember only their moments of ecstasy.”

“Why is it that words like these seem to me so dull and cold? Is it because there is no tender enough to be your name?”

As readers we need to ask what evoked this kind of passion in Gabriel?

50 Shades of Grey

• Christian likes to be in control

• Wears many masks

• Lives in a consistent routine

• Emotionally stinted life

• Sees passion in lust

• Unresolved sense of personal identity

Are they ever really dead?

Joyce creates this concept that the dead are just as alive as the living. It is as if

Gabriel is competing against a dead man for his wife's affections.

The Final Scene

Presented in the following clip

Pictionary Time!

Discussion question

What modern or part work would you compare to the concept of Joyce’s

“The Dead” as we discussed in class?

In one sentence come up with a summary of Joyce’s The Dead?