In her essay, Margot Norris analyzes The Dead from a feminist point of view. Norris makes the point that Joyce criticizes patriarchy, as well as his own country in general. This can be seen when Aunt Kate shows her disagreement with the Pope that women should be taken out of the choir. She even blatantly states that she would say something right to his face. I believe Joyce's support of feminism also comes through in between the lines of the book. His critique on the treatment of women, of blacks, and of the Irish tradition in general are all indicators that he has a strong support for feminism.
She also describes back answers- the retorts the women make during almost every conversation held by the male lead. He gives the female characters a strong voice in the book, allowing them to express their opinions. However, Norris does say that, during Gabriel's argument with Mrs. Ivors, the narration is on Gabriel's side. I would disagree with that because I think it shows that women aren't afraid to tell it like it is and shows Gabriel's fear of judgment because he is, for all intents and purposes, a West Briton.
Norris says that he silences certain characters, such as Julia and Lily, because he does not have respect for feminism. I disagree with that. I believe those characters are less developed and do not need to have loud voices the way Aunt Kate and Mrs. Ivors do. I believe that they were "filler" characters- ones that take up space in a story.
While I believe Joyce originally had a positive view of feminism and his female characters in the story, I can't help but question it some because of Gabriel's views and actions. First his interaction with Lily, which is a bust due to his crass comment about her impending marriage, and then his views on his aunts. He is the lead male of the family, and continuously shows that strong male perspective on all of the female characters in "The Dead." His wife, of course is the main example, where he feels a huge surge of lust for her, followed by his jealousy. Eventually he realizes he had never loved her before, but only does after seeing more of her history and feelings. Between all of his interactions and the quiet back answers Norris mentions, I have trouble deciding Joyce's viewpoints on women and feminism.
ReplyDeleteI think you have made a really good point of Joyce's support of feminism. Gabriel, the main character, is characterized as being awkward and at some points, foolish, especially about women. I kind of like how there were three main women that he interacted with in a negative way: Gretta, Miss Ivors, and Lily. Gretta showed him how to live, Miss Ivors showed him how to be proud, and Lily showed him a relationship does not have to necessarily define your identity or happiness. I think that Gabriel can be shown how men at the time did not have the capacity to think outside of themselves and their prejudices, and shows how the women break their restrictions.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about Joyce giving his female characters a strong voice showing that women are not afraid to speak their mind. And also that Gabriel is afraid because he immediately shuts downs and becomes weak even within his own mind. He starts questioning what he said and whether it was the right thing to say or not. The other characters were definitely filler characters who didn't need to have developed stories or much to say but I do believe that the few things they had to say were poignant statements that were important to include.
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