Dublinettes

The “promise” Eveline makes to her mother represents the broader promise women make to the society of Dublin. Well, I shouldn’t really say that the women make the promise because Dublin requires that they “keep the home together” lest they face societal persecution and judgment (28). This status quo, which Eveline does not (and cannot) question on principle, restrains her the most. Eveline is aware that her mother’s life was “pitiful,” but it’s not a sense of personal obligation to her mother that holds her back; it’s her role as a woman generally.                 

                                                                                         

Eveline is the first woman we’ve had as a main character, and Joyce expectedly paints a dismal picture. That Eveline needs saving at all and that this saving must come from a man (a “manly” man) points to a disadvantage women have which men, and even boys, do not (27). Notice that in An Encounter the boys manage to run off with little consequence, and, while men too remain paralyzed in Dublin, Eveline’s paralysis comes from a gender specific problem. The very existence of maternal qualities for this 19-year-old girl (i.e. those seen in her taking care of the two children) means that she is making a transition to womanhood very early, and this transition creates the syndrome that leads to her paralysis.