Joyce makes it clear that she's a practicing Catholic throughout the story. She has "grey-green eyes," but Maria does not seem like a typical Irish name, compared to McCloud and Donnelly. The preponderance of names--most of the sentences in the paragraph beginning with "So Maria let him have his way" begin with a name--seem to emphasize the comparison. Maria's job as a maid, her distinctive name, and her lack of a last name all seem to suggest her lower class. She nursed Joe, which seems to imply that he has some higher stature.
I ask because I cannot figure out where exactly Joyce wants to point us in this story. Previously, the general complaints against Ireland have been coupled with an identification of highly specific issues, like the suggestions of pedophilia or prostitution. I cannot see anything like that in this story, and even the general complaint escapes me to some extent. I think, however, some possibilities emerge with Maria's song. She sings the first verse twice without realizing, establishing both the importance of the verse as an expression of her inner feelings and the paralytic quality of her desire.
The first six lines describe an intense longing for wealth. Her arrogance makes itself evident earlier in the story when she thinks that Mooney "had the notions of a common woman." It seems that Maria has some delusions of grandeur, despite the lowliness of her life. Yet, the song ends with a mention of lost love, which leaves Joe "very much moved." The song comes from opera about, according to James-Joyce-Music.com, "Arline, who is in love with Thaddeus, a Polish nobleman and political exile." It seems that Joe has some strong feelings for Maria that possibly go beyond the maternal ones he indicates early in the story.
So, what is Joyce trying to demonstrate by implying these romantic feelings? Is it as simple as class preventing a full expression of feeling, a extension of the paralysis of poverty? Or am I missing some other major allusion?
I also found that this story was tough to relate to some of the other stories in the book. I think, though, that Joyce might be furthering his idea of paralysis by showing that the characters' obsession with detail prevents them from confronting their real problems.
ReplyDeleteMaria meticulously plans out the timing of her trip and all the money she has. She also seems to lie to herself about her happiness. She thinks of the virtues of being single, but after joking to her friends that she doesn't need a man, her eyes "sparkled with disappointed shyness" (81).
Similarly, Joe cries at Maria's repetition of the song, showing some deeper emotion. But we have no idea what it is as he avoids it by "ask[ing] his wife to tell him where the corkscrew was" (86).
Maybe Joyce is trying to say that this unwillingness to confront real problems is one of the problems in Ireland. Because how can you fix something that you won't admit is broken.