Stephen "Oedipus" Dedalus

             In the last section of Chapter 2, Stephen wins thirty-three pounds in an essay competition.  He proceeds to spend much of his money trying to fulfill his and his family’s desires.  All of this was an attempt to, “build a breakwater of order” within the family unit (86).  But when the money runs out he realizes he has squandered it and not met his aim.  After this, feelings of lust overtake him and culminate in him going to a prostitute.  In this scene, Stephen confronts a return of his Oedipus complex from the first page of the novel.

            Much of the exchange between the prostitute and Stephen seems like that between a mother and a son.  She “embraced him” in a hug, a tender, motherly display of affection from a prostitute (88).  She also calls him “a little rascal” and tells him to “give [her] a kiss” (88).  The odd thing, too, is that the prostitute does this naturally and not because Stephen expresses any desire to be treated this way.  Is the prostitute able to intuit what Stephen wants?  Or are a number of the men of Ireland desiring a similar treatment?

            Even if Stephen doesn't ask to be treated this way, he does enjoy it.  He wanted to, “be held firmly in her arms, to be caressed slowly, slowly, slowly” (88).  Stephen finds solace in this prostitute’s arms as one would find solace in a mother’s.  This might be the case for two reasons.  It could be that Stephen is scared of growing up and losing his childhood or it could be that he uses the prostitute to replace his mother.
            One idea Freud commented on was that the breast is the first sexualized object (in the oral phase) for a child.  Freud writes that, "He who sees a satiated child sink back from the mother's breast, and merge into sleep with reddened cheeks and blissful smile, will have to admit that this picture remains as a guide for the expression of sexual gratification in later life."  We see a sort of return to the breast in the way Stephen rests his head on her bosom and, "feel[s] the...rise and fall of her breast" (88).  This evokes a shocking reaction, as Stephen begins to weep, feeling a combination of relief and joy.  Relief in what? 

            There does seem to be a collision of the innocent and the obscene here.  On the chair near the bed a, “huge doll sat with her legs apart” (88).  The doll, a symbol of childhood, is watching the interaction.  But it also has its legs spread, implying a sexual nature.  But even more, dolls are toys for girls, not boys.  Is the presence of this doll in the room saying something about Stephen’s childhood and sexuality?