ULYSSES

(novel)
By: James Joyce

TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN Trieste, Italy; Zurich, Switzerland; Paris; 19141921

DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION Individual episodes were published serially
starting in 1918; as a novel, it was first published in 1922

PUBLISHER First serially in The Little Review; as a novel by Shakespeare & Company.

SETTING (TIME) 8:00 A. M. , June 16, 1904approximately 3 A. M. , June 17, 1904

SETTING (PLACE) Dublin, Ireland, and its surrounding suburbs

PROTAGONIST Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, Molly Bloom.

SHORT HISTORY OF ULYSSES

Ulysses is best known for its stream-of-consciousness style, where Joyce forces readers to
become intimately familiar with his characters' thoughts no matter how fragmentary and
disoriented they may be. But style is also extremely flexible in the novel, giving Joyce the
power to alter his form to fit his content. Hence, a chapter set in a newspaper office is
broken up with newspaper headlines; a chapter set in a maternity ward is written in styles
ranging from Old English verse to contemporary Dublin vernacular, as if language itself
were going through a gestation period and being prepared for delivery; a chapter set
almost entirely in Leopold's Blooms fantasies and nightmares is written out as a play script.

Famously, Ulysses is structured on Homer's Odyssey, with each of the eighteen episodes in
Joyce's book corresponding to a given episode in Homer's work. Joyce makes his hero,
Leopold Bloom, a sort of modern-day Ulysses (called Odysseus by Homer). He casts
Bloom's wife, Molly, as Penelope, and casts the aspiring artist Stephen Dedalus (first
encountered in Portrait) as Telemachus. What is Joyce doing? Here, he might be trying
to modernize the ancient epic, to strive to (in the words of Ezra Pound) "Make it New."

Ulysses moves the epic journey from the realm of external adventures to the realm of the
mind, and in doing so Joyce dares to make a heroic figure of an ordinary urban man of no
apparent distinction. For all its difficulty and obscurity, what Ulysses can do is to reveal the
ordinary as extraordinary.

Characters:

Leopold Bloom - A thirty-eight-year-old advertising canvasser in Dublin. Bloom was
raised in Dublin by his Hungarian Jewish father, Rudolph, and his Irish Catholic mother,
Ellen. He enjoys reading and thinking about science and inventions and explaining his
knowledge to others. Bloom is compassionate and curious and loves music. He is
preoccupied by his estrangement from his wife, Molly.
Marion (Molly) Bloom - Leopold Blooms wife. Molly Bloom is thirty-three years old,
plump with dark coloring, good-looking, and flirtatious.
Stephen Dedalus - An aspiring poet in his early twenties. Stephen is intelligent and
extremely well-read, and he likes music. He seems to exist more for himself, in a cerebral
way, than as a member of a community or even the group of medical students that he
associates with.
Malachi (Buck) Mulligan - A medical student and a friend of Stephen. Buck Mulligan is
plump and well-read, and manages to ridicule nearly everything.
Haines - A folklore student at Oxford who is particularly interested in studying Irish people
and culture. Haines is often unwittingly condescending. He has been staying at the Martello
tower where Stephen and Buck live.
Hugh (Blazes) Boylan- The manager for Mollys upcoming concert in Belfast. Blazes
Boylan is well-known and well-liked around town, though he seems somewhat sleazy,
especially toward women
Millicent (Milly) Bloom - Molly and Leopold Blooms fifteen-year-old daughter, who does
not actually appear in [Link] Blooms recently sent Milly to live in Mullingar and learn
photography. Milly is blond and pretty and has become interested in boysshe is dating
Alec Bannon in Mullingar.
Simon Dedalus - Stephen Dedaluss father. Simon Dedalus grew up in Cork, moved to
Dublin, and was a fairly successful man until recently. Other men look up to him, even
though his home life has been in disarray since his wife died. Simon has a good singing
voice and a talent for funny stories, and he might have capitalized on these assets if not for
his drinking habit. Simon is extremely critical of Stephen.
A.E. (George Russell) - A.E. is the pseudonyms of George Russell, a famous poet of the Irish
Literary Revival who is at the center of Irish literary circlescircles that do not include
Stephen Dedalus. He is deeply interested in esoteric mysticism. Other men consult A.E. for
wisdom as if he were an oracle.
Richard Best - A librarian at the National Library. Best is enthusiastic and agreeable,
though most of his own contributions to the Hamlet conversation in Episode Nine are
points of received wisdom.
Edy Boardman - One of Gerty MacDowells friends. Gertys uppity demeanor annoys Edy,
who attempts to deflate Gerty with jibes.
Josie (ne Powell) and Denis Breen - Josie Powell and Bloom were interested in each
other when they were younger. Josie was good-looking and flirtatious. After Bloom married
Molly, Josie married Denis. Denis Breen is slightly insane and seems paranoid. Looking
after her dotty husband has taken its toll on Josie, who now seems haggard.
Cissy, Jacky, and Tommy Caffrey- Cissy Caffrey is one of Gerty MacDowells best friends.
She is something of a tomboy and quite frank. She looks after her younger toddler brothers,
Jacky and Tommy.
The citizen - An older Irish patriot who champions the Nationalist cause. Though the
citizen seems to work for the cause in no official capacity, others look to him for news and
opinions. He was formerly an athlete in Irish sports. He is belligerent and xenophobic.
Martha Clifford - A woman with who Bloom corresponds under the pseudonym Henry
Flower. Marthas letters are strewn with spelling mistakes, and she is sexually daring in
only a pedestrian way.
Bella Cohen - A conniving brothel-mistress. Bella Cohen is large and slightly mannish, with
dark coloring. She is somewhat concerned about respectability, and has a son at Oxford,
whose tuition is paid by one of her customers.
Martin Cunningham - A leader among Blooms circle of friends. Martin Cunningham can
be sympathetic toward others, and he sticks up for Bloom at various points during the day,
yet he still treats Bloom as an outsider. He has a face that resembles Shakespeares.
Garrett Deasy - Headmaster of the boys school where Stephen teaches. Deasy is a
Protestant from the north of Ireland, and he is respectful of the English government. Deasy
is condescending to Stephen and not a good listener. His overwrought letter to the editor
about foot-and-mouth disease among cattle is the object of mockery among Dublin men for
the rest of the day.
Dilly, Katey, Boody, and Maggy Dedalus - Stephens younger sisters. They try to keep the
Dedalus household running after their mothers death. Dilly seems to have aspirations,
such as learning French.
Patrick Dignam, Mrs. Dignam, and Patrick Dignam, Jr. - Patrick Dignam is an
acquaintance of Bloom who passed away very recently, apparently from drinking. His
funeral is today, and Bloom and others get together to raise some money for the widow
Dignam and her children, who were left with almost nothing after Paddy, used his life
insurance to pay off a debt.
Ben Dollard - A man known around Dublin for his superior bass voice. Ben Dollards
business and career went under a while ago. He seems good-natured but is perhaps rattled
by a past drinking habit.
John Eglinton - An essayist who spends time at the National Library. John Eglinton is
affronted by Stephens youthful self-confidence and doubtful of Stephens Hamlet theory.
Richie, Sara (Sally), and Walter Goulding - Richie Goulding is Stephen Dedaluss uncle;
he was Stephens mother, Mays, brother. Richie is a law clerk, who has been less able to
work recently because of a bad backa fact that makes him an object of ridicule for Simon
Dedalus. Richie and Saras son, Walter, is skeweyed and has a stutter.
Zoe Higgins - A prostitute in Bella Cohens brothel. Zoe is outgoing and good at teasing.
Joe Hynes - A reporter for the Dublin newspaper who seems to be without money often
he borrowed three pounds from Bloom and has not paid him back. Hynes does not know
Bloom well, and he appears to be good friends with the citizen in Episode Twelve.
Corny Kelleher - An undertakers assistant who is friendly with the police.
Mina Kennedy and Lydia Douce - The barmaids at the Ormond hotel. Mina and Lydia are
flirtatious and friendly to the men who come into the bar, though they tend to be scornful
of the opposite sex when they talk together. Miss Douce, who is bronze-haired, seems to be
the more outgoing of the two, and she has a crush on Blazes Boylan. Miss Kennedy, who is
golden-haired, is more reserved.
Ned Lambert - A friend of Simon Dedalus and other men in Dublin. Ned Lambert is often
found joking and laughing. He works in a seed and grain warehouse downtown, in what
used to be St. Marys Abbey.
Lenehan - A racing editor at the Dublin newspaper, though his tip, Sceptre, loses the Gold
Cup horserace. Lenehan is a jokester and flirtatious with women. He is mocking of Bloom
but respectful of Simon and Stephen Dedalus.
Lynch - A medical student and old friend of Stephen. Lynch is used to hearing Stephens
pretentious and overwhelming aesthetic theories, and he is familiar with Stephens
stubbornness. He is seeing Kitty Ricketts.
Thomas W. Lyster - A librarian at the National Library in Dublin, and a Quaker. Lyster is
the most solicitous of Stephens listeners in Episode Nine.
Gerty MacDowell - A woman in her early twenties from a lower-middle-class family. Gerty
suffers from a permanent limp, possibly from a bicycle accident. She fastidiously attends to
her clothing and personal beauty regimen, and she hopes to fall in love and marry. She
rarely allows herself to think about her disability.
John Henry Menton - A solicitor in Dublin who employed Paddy Dignam. When Bloom and
Molly were first courting, Menton was a rival for Mollys affections. He is disdainful of
Bloom.
Episode Twelves Nameless Narrator - The unnamed narrator of Episode Twelve is
currently a debt collector, though this is the most recent of many different jobs. He enjoys
feeling like he is in the know and has gotten most of his gossip about the Blooms from his
friend Pisser Burke, who knew them when they lived at the City Arms Hotel.

Plot Summary

Stephen Dedalus spends the early morning hours of June 16, 1904, remaining aloof from
his mocking friend, Buck Mulligan, and Bucks English acquaintance, Haines. As Stephen
leaves for work, Buck orders him to leave the house key and meet them at the pub
at 12:30. Stephen resents BucAround 10:00 A.M., Stephen teaches a history lesson to his
class at Garrett Deasys boys school. After class, Stephen meets with Deasy to receive his
wages. The narrow-minded and prejudiced Deasy lectures Stephen on life. Stephen agrees
to take Deasys editorial letter about cattle disease to acquaintances at the newspaper.
Stephen spends the remainder of his morning walking alone on Sandymount Strand,
thinking critically about his younger self and about perception. He composes a poem in his
head and writes it down on a scrap torn from Deasys letter.
At 8:00 A.M. the same morning, Leopold Bloom fixes breakfast and brings his wife her mail
and breakfast in bed. One of her letters is from Mollys concert tour manager, Blazes Boylan
(Bloom suspects he is also Mollys lover)Boylan will visit at 4:00 this afternoon. Bloom
returns downstairs, reads a letter from their daughter, Milly, then goes to the outhouse.
At 10:00 A.M., Bloom picks up an amorous letter from the post officehe is corresponding
with a woman named Martha Clifford under the pseudonym Henry Flower. He reads the
tepid letter, ducks briefly into a church, then orders Mollys lotion from the pharmacist. He
runs into Bantam Lyons, who mistakenly gets the impression that Bloom is giving him a tip
on the horse Throwaway in the afternoons Gold Cup race.
Around 11:00 A.M., Bloom rides with Simon Dedalus (Stephens father), Martin
Cunningham, and Jack Power to the funeral of Paddy Dignam. The men treat Bloom as
somewhat of an outsider. At the funeral, Bloom thinks about the deaths of his son and his
father.
At noon, we find Bloom at the offices of the Freemannewspaper, negotiating an
advertisement for Keyes, a liquor merchant. Several idle men, including editor Myles
Crawford, are hanging around in the office, discussing political speeches. Bloom leaves to
secure the ad. Stephen arrives at the newspaper with Deasys letter. Stephen and the other
men leave for the pub just as Bloom is returning. Blooms ad negotiation is rejected by
Crawford on his way out.
At 1:00 P.M., Bloom runs into Josie Breen, an old flame, and they discuss Mina Purefoy, who
is in labor at the maternity hospital. Bloom stops in Burtons restaurant, but he decides to
move on to Davy Byrnes for a light lunch. Bloom reminisces about an intimate afternoon
with Molly on Howth. Bloom leaves and is walking toward the National Library when he
spots Boylan on the street and ducks into the National Museum.
At 2:00 P.M., Stephen is informally presenting his Hamlet theory in the National Library
to the poet A.E. and the librarians John Eglinton, Best, and Lyster. A.E. is dismissive of
Stephens theory and leaves. Buck enters and jokingly scolds Stephen for failing to meet
him and Haines at the pub. On the way out, Buck and Stephen pass Bloom, who has come to
obtain a copy of Keyes ad.
At 4:00 P.M., Simon Dedalus, Ben Dollard, Lenehan, and Blazes Boylan converge at the
Ormond Hotel bar. Bloom notices Boylans car outside and decides to watch him. Boylan
soon leaves for his appointment with Molly, and Bloom sits morosely in the Ormond
restauranthe is briefly mollified by Dedaluss and Dollards singing. Bloom writes back to
Martha, then leaves to post the letter.
At 5:00 P.M., Bloom arrives at Barney Kiernans pub to meet Martin Cunningham about the
Dignam family finances, but Cunningham has not yet arrived. The citizen, a belligerent Irish
nationalist, becomes increasingly drunk and begins attacking Blooms Jewishness. Bloom
stands up to the citizen, speaking in favor of peace and love over xenophobic violence.
Bloom and the citizen have an altercation on the street before Cunninghams carriage
carries Bloom away.
Bloom relaxes on Sandymount Strand around sunset, after his visit to Mrs. Dignams house
nearby. A young woman, Gerty MacDowell, notices Bloom watching her from across the
beach. Gerty subtly reveals more and more of her legs while Bloom surreptitiously
masturbates. Gerty leaves, and Bloom dozes.
At 10:00 P.M., Bloom wanders to the maternity hospital to check on Mina Purefoy. Also at
the hospital are Stephen and several of his medi-c-al student friends, drinking and talking
boisterously about subjects related to birth. Bloom agrees to join them, though he privately
disapproves of their revelry in light of Mrs. Purefoys struggles upstairs. Buck arrives, and
the men proceed to Burkes pub. At closing time, Stephen convinces his friend Lynch to go
to the brothel section of town and Bloom follows, feeling protective.
Bloom finally locates Stephen and Lynch at Bella Cohens brothel. Stephen is drunk and
imagines that he sees the ghost of his motherfull of rage, he shatters a lamp with his
walking stick. Bloom runs after Stephen and finds him in an argument with a British soldier
who knocks him out.
Bloom revives Stephen and takes him for coffee at a cabmans shelter to sober up. Bloom
invites Stephen back to his house.
Well after midnight, Stephen and Bloom arrive back at Blooms house. They drink cocoa
and talk about their respective backgrounds. Bloom asks Stephen to stay the night. Stephen
politely refuses. Bloom sees him out and comes back in to find evidence of Boylans visit.
Still, Bloom is at peace with the world and he climbs into bed, tells Molly of his day and
requests breakfast in bed.
After Bloom falls asleep, Molly remains awake, surprised by Blooms request for breakfast
in bed. Her mind wanders to her childhood in Gibraltar, her afternoon of sex with Boylan,
her singing career, Stephen Dedalus. Her thoughts of Bloom vary wildly over the course of
the monologue, but it ends with a reminiscence of their intimate moment at Howth and a
positive affirmation.


RISING ACTION Bloom leaves his house for the day, sees Blazes Boylan on the
street several times, and becomes anxious about Blazes and Mollys four oclock
rendezvous. Bloom is convinced they are going to have sex. Stephen and Bloom go about
their day. They pass by each other several times and coincidentally meet at Holles St.
Maternity Hospital.

CLIMAX the first climax could be when Bloom looks after Stephen during Stephens
argument with Private Carr (at the end of Episode Fifteen). The second climax is Blooms
return home to his bedroom to discover evidence of Mollys infidelity and to mentally
overcome the threat of Blazes Boylan (Episode Seventeen).

CONFLICT Molly Blooms infidelity with Blazes Boylan; Stephen Dedaluss search for
a symbolic father; Leopold Blooms desire for a son (his only son died eleven years ago
several days after his birth)

FALLING ACTION Bloom and Stephen rest at a cabmans shelter (Episode
Sixteen), then return to the Bloom residence and have cocoa and talk (Episode Seventeen).
Bloom tells Molly about his day and asks her to serve him breakfast in bed (Episode
Seventeen). Molly lies awake considering the events of the day and a happy memory from
her and Blooms past.

Reaction:

In the past, Ulysses has been labeled dirty, blasphemous, and even unreadable. None of
these adjectives, however, do the slightest justice to the novel.
To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic
lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes.
It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in a close-focus sort of way) suspenseful. And despite
the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a
compulsively readable book.








Submitted by: Doris M. Dait
Submitted to: Mrs. Milyner Acibo