| dcterms.abstract | Molly Bloom’s episode “Penelope†at the end of Ulysses is a pronounced narrative of her unique consciousness, yet it is the only first person narrative in the entire work that is interrupted by the gaze of the author. When the final episode of Ulysses begins, Molly’s narrative is one that seeks to give her a voice and narrative and there by constructs a gaze from which we as readers seek to in order to gain a better understanding of her character’s consciousness; yet, Molly’s acknowledgement of “Jamesy†alludes to a veiled characterization inherent to Molly Bloom. Why is she given the privilege of being conscious that she is a character in the novel? Furthermore, her calling out to the author demonstrates that her consciousness, as presented through her soliloquy, may not be that of her character per se, but is rather given a voice by the author that she appears to resist. There is something forced about her narrative, and the intrusion and inclusion of her speaking out of the text to James Joyce positions her character firmly under his gaze. While many have argued that Joyce positions Molly Bloom simultaneously as earth goddess and whore, Molly’s voice becomes a prevailing characteristic of her embodied being. Her associations with her singing voice, as well as the fact that her monologue is spoken, adds a rhetorical dimension to what she is saying. If Molly’s voice is actually a function of prosopopoeia, which is often part of the peroration (the conclusion of an argument, meant to motivate and inspire the audience) then the mask (or clothes) of Molly can be seen as a sort of drag—a male role-playing fantasy of what Joyce desires woman to be. However, it isn’t necessarily that simple. The position of Joyce in relation to Molly Bloom must be considered from angles of sexuality, identity, voice, and narrative. If Joyce’s emergence in Ulysses positions him as not just author, but a character in the text, can the two be separated, or should they both be considered one in the same? The relationship between Molly Bloom, James Joyce, and the world of Ulysses presents a tri-partite relationship that gives Molly a certain depth that other characters lack; however, much of this hinges upon her articulation of “Jamesy.†If Molly is indeed asking to be lifted out of the text, as most critics agree, where would she go? Why would a character seek to leave if in fact that character, knowing she was a character, couldn’t move from the page? There’s more to this articulation than a desire to be lifted from the text. The plea for Joyce to lift her up out of “this†requires further examination, specifically if one is led to believe that Molly’s speaking the narrative is in fact an act of prosopopoeia. There is a further question of who is doing the performance. Is Molly playing a role that Joyce wants her to play, and is thus speaking as this earth mother/ whore, or is this Joyce in drag—a fantasy role-play of an idealized woman transformed into adolescent sexual fantasy? As a result of Joyce’s appearance in Molly’s soliloquy, it becomes necessary to examine the presence of James Joyce as an actual character in his own work as well as the added difficulty of discovering if there is a Molly Bloom that exists behind and beyond the one presented by the narrative in “Penelope.†What if “Penelope†is a simulation of Molly Bloom’s consciousness and the character of Molly Bloom must recite those lines through Joyce’s enforcement? By examining the final episode of Ulysses, there is a gaze within a gaze—a narrative beneath the narrative that overlays one Molly Bloom with another. Through an analysis of structure and syntax in the final episode, the “Penelope†episode begins to emerge as something more complex and rich than a soliloquy or monologue, and not as inert as a stream of consciousness transcription. It resembles something more akin to the digital age where websites house our virtual, social identities. | |
