I think that we, as readers, can see an interesting relationship between "The Boarding House" and "Eveline". In both stories a young woman engages in a relationship with an older man, and both have a possibility of marriage and a happy life. For instance, Eveline imagines Frank's ability to save her from the hardships of her daily life, while Polly regains her composure as the end by thinking of her life with Bob. Furthermore, both stories acknowledge the ability of marriage to create mobility within the social classes of Dublin. In the case of Eveline, a life with Frank would mean the ability to throw of the yoke of her father and of the misogynistic society in which she lives. For Polly, marriage would mean the assurance of a good life with a man of a higher social class. This would allow her to have a good home, and to raise a proper Irish family.
Yet, the distinction between the works comes in their thematic elements. While "Eveline" is more a comment on paralysis and fear of change, "The Boarding House" seems to question the morals associated the marriage in Ireland. The way in which Mrs. Mooney negotiates her affairs overall is somewhat suspect, highlighted by her nickname the Madam, leading to questions of prostitution, her regard for Polly's situation is extremely disreputable. She is not at all concerned with her daughter's feelings but entirely with the financial aspect. Nor does she consider the strain this puts on Mr. Doran, whether he deserves it or not. While I do not think that Joyce was commenting on how love needs to prevail, being that he was a seemingly cold rationalist, I do think he took issue with the use of marriage as a means on ensnarement. In this case it was not used as a tool for social mobility, but as a tool for manipulation and financial gain.
A final thought that I'm just having now is that maybe the use of the priest as a motivation towards marriage and away from sin further questions the use of marriage as a tool in society. this would suggest that the marriage was ill begot in the first place, and that the church was a co-conspirator in the manipulation of an innocent man. While Mr. Doran is not entirely inculpable, Polly comes on to him, and it seems in the end that he is cheated and pushed into an unhappy and unfair union.
Some questions I have though are:
one, what do we make of Polly's lack of thought at the end of the story?
and two, why would this be a topic of criticism for joyce? Am i entirely missing the point?
One of the things I noticed while reading the story was that Mr. Mooney is described as having a "white face and a white mustache and white eyebrows" (47). Then she starts thinking at the end of the story after looking at pillows which she later describes as white. My thought is that the white pillows cause Polly to think of the bad relationship of her mother and father and how terribly that ended. The only problem with this is that she is thinking of "hopes and visions" of the future" (53). Could Polly's forced complacency into the potentially bad relationship she might enter into be what Joyce is criticizing?
ReplyDeleteThats actually a really good observation that I totally missed and I agree that It makes a lot of sense. My question though is how would that cause her to entirely forget her situation? Are you suggesting that by the mere fact that the relationship exists she is somehow hypnotized into forgetting and accepting?
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