Paper Summary:

This paper discusses love in James Joyce's "Dubliners," through the analysis of selected stories: "Araby", "Eveline", "A Painful Case" and "The Dead." It looks at how his love stories reflect his attitude towards Dublin (harsh, not softened or sweetened) and for that reason they rarely have "happily ever after" type endings. The paper moves chronologically through the book and shows how the book also proceeds chronologically in terms of the age of characters (Joyce's idea) who steadily grow older story by story, to represent the different facets of a Dubliner's life.

From the Paper:

""Araby" is one of Joyce's stories of childhood, of childhood love. Even the setting is so hopelessly idealistic: "The space of sky above us was the color of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed" (24). This boy, who has fallen in love with his friend Mangan's sister, is completely desperate for her: He follows her in the shadows as though she were a "summons to [his] foolish blood," his "heart leaped" at the very sight of her on the doorstep, his "body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires" (25). When they finally talk to one another, she tells him she would like to go to the bazaar, but can't."

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