James Joyce’s Dubliners, a collection of short stories, examines Irish life in the late nineteeth century and early twentieth century through the use of complex characters and multifacteted plots. Three of these stories, “Ivy Day in the Committee Room,” “A Mother,” and “Grace,” focuse exclusively on public life. In Joyce’s eyes, public life in Dublin was run by politics, art, and religion. While each of these stories takes on a different subtopic of public life, they share an overarching theme. “Ivy Day in the Committee Room,” “A Mother,” and “Grace” suggest that public life in Dublin is driven by the connection of politics, art and religion, and that that connection is falling apart. Joyce begins his short stories of public life with “Ivy
…show more content…
It may be impossible to create a concrete definition of “good art,” but it is not a stretch to say that the art in “A Mother” is not good. Joyce, as a brilliant artist, is doing this with the purpose of showing how the people of Dublin view art. The concerts put on in the story are not about art, they are about politics. They are sponsored by the Eire Abu Society, a Nationalist group, and are attended by people with no interest in art. The concerts and the performers are a tangible representation of the loss of respect for art that has occurred in Dublin. Mr. Hendrick, the arts reporter for the Freeman, did not intended to stay at the concert because “concerts and artistes bored him considerably.” (Joyce 97) To Dubliners, art is not not admired because it is beautiful or emotional, it is used as another mean of money and status. In fact, the entire plot of “A Mother” revolves around Mrs. Kearney using her daughter to further the family’s social standing and obtaining her pay. The story may be about art, but it shows way that politics has bleed into much of Irish …show more content…
“Grace” dives headfirst into this issue from the standpoint of the average Dublin man. The protagonist, Mr. Kernan, identifies as Catholics, but embodies the conflict of Dublin’s religious climate. As sustaining a injury from a drunken fall, Mr. Kernan’s friends stop by and conspire to pressure him into attending an upcoming retreat for “business men, you know.” (Joyce 111) As their conversation continues, it becomes increasingly evident that the characters have little knowledge of their own church. They see religion as a duty, or in their words, a way to “wash the pot.” (Joyce 110) At the retreat itself, Joyce reuses many of his previous characters, such as Mr. Hendrick, to connect the Dubliners stories of public life. Also at the retreat, Father Purdon’s speech shows the politicization of religion and how the church is using its followers for money. The speech can be both a symbol how closely related church and state are in Dublin, and how far corruption has
It may be impossible to create a concrete definition of “good art,” but it is not a stretch to say that the art in “A Mother” is not good. Joyce, as a brilliant artist, is doing this with the purpose of showing how the people of Dublin view art. The concerts put on in the story are not about art, they are about politics. They are sponsored by the Eire Abu Society, a Nationalist group, and are attended by people with no interest in art. The concerts and the performers are a tangible representation of the loss of respect for art that has occurred in Dublin. Mr. Hendrick, the arts reporter for the Freeman, did not intended to stay at the concert because “concerts and artistes bored him considerably.” (Joyce 97) To Dubliners, art is not not admired because it is beautiful or emotional, it is used as another mean of money and status. In fact, the entire plot of “A Mother” revolves around Mrs. Kearney using her daughter to further the family’s social standing and obtaining her pay. The story may be about art, but it shows way that politics has bleed into much of Irish …show more content…
“Grace” dives headfirst into this issue from the standpoint of the average Dublin man. The protagonist, Mr. Kernan, identifies as Catholics, but embodies the conflict of Dublin’s religious climate. As sustaining a injury from a drunken fall, Mr. Kernan’s friends stop by and conspire to pressure him into attending an upcoming retreat for “business men, you know.” (Joyce 111) As their conversation continues, it becomes increasingly evident that the characters have little knowledge of their own church. They see religion as a duty, or in their words, a way to “wash the pot.” (Joyce 110) At the retreat itself, Joyce reuses many of his previous characters, such as Mr. Hendrick, to connect the Dubliners stories of public life. Also at the retreat, Father Purdon’s speech shows the politicization of religion and how the church is using its followers for money. The speech can be both a symbol how closely related church and state are in Dublin, and how far corruption has