Boarding House Mrs Mooney Analysis

In the “Boarding House”, Mrs. Mooney runs a boarding house that is primarily kept in business by the young men on their rise to stability. However, her business is slowly gaining a poor reputation as she is now being referred to as “The Madam”, suggesting that she is using her daughter as a sexual object to secure the residence of the men. This is not the case, however, as a result of the rumors Polly, a nineteen-year-old woman, has gained a notorious reputation due to her promiscuity. The issue stems not from Polly’s greed, but rather from the societal belief that a woman has a prime age to marry, and Polly was of age to settle down. Had she not settled down, the other option would be for her to die alone, as it was believed that once a woman has passed her prime age, she was of no worth to marry. To avoid falling victim to this vicious cycle, Polly and Mrs. Mooney become desperate in finding a suitor for Polly. Polly’s entrapment of Mr. Doran follows suit due to her desperation to live, regardless of the fact that neither parties specifically want to marry each other, but rather this forced marriage is a last resort measure. The forceful marriage between Polly and Mr. Doran suggests the conflict the desire to live versus Polly’s own manipulation as shown by the emphasis on her mother's power, the societal norms in favor of Polly , and the emotional abuse directed towards Mr.Doran for their affair. Mrs. …show more content…
Mooney is fully cognisant of the sexual affair that took place between her daughter, Polly, and Mr. Doran, and she uses this to her advantage as she is in close contact to the priest. The priest plays a crucial role in all this as he is the first to hear from Mrs. Mooney about the affair and he is the on who will decide how Mr. Doran will attain penance for his sin. After his confession, the author adds, “The harm was done. What could he do now but marry her or run away? He could not brazen it out.” to suggest that the solution given to Mr. Doran, by the priest, was to either marry or rot in hell. Being a strong catholic, this solution pressed Mr. Doran to marry Polly as it would be the only way to make amends for his own sins. Societal norms played an enormous role in pushing Mr. Doran to ask for Polly’s hand in marriage as not only would the affair be frowned upon due to the disparities in social classes between the two, but Mr. Doran would receive greater backlash in society for his sin had he abandoned Polly. Polly and her mother could counteract the consensual affair into a demoralization of Mr. Doran’s character in the public’s eye, after all, “ She had allowed him to live beneath her roof, assuming that he was a man of honour and he had simply abused her hospitality….youth could not be pleaded as his excuse; nor could ignorance be his excuse since he was a man who had seen something of the world. He had simply taken advantage of Polly's youth and inexperience,” The quote further elucidates the gravity of the Mr.Doran’s situation as Polly and Mrs. Mooney would most likely be sided with by the rest of society even though by today’s standards neither have committed a greater crime than the other. The shrewd manipulation by polly and Mrs. Mooney