One of the Dubliners stories, “Eveline” is a devastating tale about a woman’s resistance to change. The title character acts as if she is trapped in the past, even though she has a tremendous and promising opportunity to embrace a new life filled with freedom and excitement. Eveline grapples with the question of whether to stay in Dublin or leave with her lover, and her indecision results in the decision being made for her—Eveline remains powerless. A feminist criticism approach to “Eveline” shows how the title character responds ambivalently to patriarchal social structures and gender norms.
Eveline is a young woman, whose mother has died, and whose father has since become violent; “she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father's violence,” (Joyce 2). Although Eveline claims her father “was not so bad” when her mother was still alive (1), she contradicts herself later, saying, “she would not be treated as her mother had been,” (Joyce 2). Eveline is about to perpetuate the cycle of domestic violence by refusing to go on the boat with Frank.
The entire short story is a snapshot of Eveline’s interior world, her vacillations...
Works Cited
Joyce, James. “Eveline.”
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Eveline's Conflict James Joyce, in Dubliners, explores the internal conflict that paralyzes his female protagonist, Eveline, as she stands upon the event horizon of a new life, and a new set of possibilities. At this particular moment in her life, Eveline finds herself at a crossroads, considering whether or not she should leave her home and her abusive, alcoholic father in order to travel to a far away and exotic land
In the case of "Eveline" written by James Joyce, Eveline is the female character who is shown to be bound by the chains of responsibilities that she is supposed to fulfill being the only woman in the house. She needs to give up on her dreams and freedom, as she needs to take care of her household. She plans to travel and runaway with her boyfriend but her responsibilities
Eveline" by James Joyce Leaving for an unfamiliar territory: Reinforcing Eveline's fear through setting in "Eveline" by James Joyce In the short story "Eveline," James Joyce presented a thought-provoking narrative of the life of Eveline, a woman who refused to let go of the world she had long lived in and pursue other opportunities and challenges life has to offer her. Her story had been established in two phases. The first
"She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape!" (Joyce). The sudden of this quotation, and its transient fear, is readily apparent. Evelyn is not acting so much as reacting to this memory, and the "terror" it brings her. This quotation is demonstrative of the fright she feels due to her faint-heartedness. She cannot act but react, and it is this same inability to act
Dubliners stories deal mortality/death . For, "Eveline," a young girl lives a promise made dying mother. There is no denying the fact that morality is one of the principle themes in James Joyce's collection of short stories Dubliners, and in the tale "Eveline" in particular. Joyce is regarded as "one of the brightest stars of European literary modernism" (Spinks 1). In many ways, this short story functions as a precaution about
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