What Does The Harp Symbolize In The Dead

regard for it, as an instrument or as a symbol of art and history. This image of prostitution further emphasized by the fact that the harp would have probably been carved “nearly naked lady” (Bowen 15) as an adornment. The harp is personified as “weary alike of the eyes of strangers and of her master's hands” (Joyce 48). Rather than a damsel in distress, the harp (and by extension, Ireland) is instead a picture of a woman exploited by years of abuse and poverty. While the image of the harp and her master could be interpreted as the ways in which Corley and Lenehan exploit young slaveys, I think the metaphor is much more complicated. The dynamic of the weary instrument and her neglectful master is analogous to the colonial relationship of …show more content…
It’s much longer than the preceding tales and for that reason, themes are more complexly explored. Music is central to the story. It takes place at the Christmas party of two music teachers and throughout novella, music and dance are central in revealing tensions between characters and their ideologies. Gabriel, a young academic, is often at the center of these tensions. Although there are many musical allusions to unpack in “The Dead” I want to focus on the impact of “The Lass of Aughrim” on Gabriel, his wife Gretta, and, in a larger sense, the theme of Irish identity in Dubliners. When the party reaches its end and many guests have gone home, Gabriel is entranced by the image of Gretta mournfully listening to the traditional Irish Ballad. The song itself is tells the “tale of the seduction, betrayal, rejection, and death of a young girl” (Joyce 315) and its title draws upon the “decisive defeat” of Irish troops by William of Orange’s forces (Golden 7). In contrast to Madame Glynn in “A Mother,” when Bartell D'Arcy sings “The Lass of Aughrim,” its vulnerable. The narrator says that the hoarseness in his voice “illuminates the cadence of the air with words expressing grief” (Joyce 211). It elicits a real connection to a rural Irish past in Gretta. She becomes deeply emotional as she imagines the boy who gave his life for her. However when Gabriel first sees Gretta, he feel lust and passion towards her and …show more content…
The last paragraph of the story pans over Ireland and Gabriel decides that it is time for “him to set out on his journey westward” (Joyce 225). The end of this story is more hopeful than others. The “journey westward” symbolizes a possible end to the paralysis that has plagued Gabriel and countless other characters in the collection. The final line says, “His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all of the living and the dead” (Joyce 225). It is significant that he hears the snow fall. While not necessarily music, teh snowfall certainly has similar effects on Gabriel as music did on other characters. In the symphony metaphor, this final scene of reflection is a decrescendo that result in a resolution, a feeling of harmony and unity. Bowen explains this in more detail. He