CHARACTERS

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 471.

NARRATOR

1 Identify the type of the narrator.

2. Does the narrator of the story pass judgement on anyone?

3. Do you feel the narrator's attitude to any of the characters (is this unbiased or biased narrator)? What reveals it?

I. Focus on the character of MRS MOONEY

1. Are there any expressions describing Mrs Mooney's physical appearance?

2. Consider her past.

a.What does the opening sentence: what does it suggest of Mr Mooney's social identity and her inherited disposition?

b. Can you say that marriage had been hard on Mrs. Mooney?

c. Pick out from the text sentences proving her character worth her origin. What cruel twists in her affairs are mentioned in the exposition?

d. Was Mrs. Mooney wronged by her husband ( consequently making ‘reparation' the obverse of ‘separation') or had she in a way finished him off ( solving all moral problems with the help of a cleaver)?

3) Mrs Mooney's character is descibed acidly in a series of statements. Pick out the facts and expressions suggesting that she was

brutal

decisive

trenchant in her dealings

frugal

determined

shrewd

quietly calculating

assured

alert

business-minded

meticulous

thrifty

logical

rational

crafty

purposeful

wise

patient

firm

stern

permissive

4) What meanings of the name The Madam are relevant for this story? Does this name characterise her

- as a cunning and firm landlady

- the proprietress of a brothel. (Note the the implication of ‘her mother's boarding house was beginning to get a certain fame.')

- an embodiment of maternal power

- a ‘manager' of a lively attractive daughter?

5)Pick out from the text expressions characterizing her business qualities as the manager of a boarding-house.Was she able to distinguish between types of people?

6)Disclose the implication of the simile ‘She dealt with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat'

7)Do you agree that Mrs Mooney is a complex character? (note the juxtaposition of incompatible things in ‘a butcher's shop' and ‘Spring Gardens') Which of her qualities and actions prove:

- the moral finesse of a ‘Madam'?

- the crassness of a butcher's daughter?

Can you agree that she was that rare remarkable parent who can combine unobtrusive permissiveness with precise concealed purpose

8)What language does Joyce use reporting Mrs. Mooney's thoughts and why? Find the passage in the text and note the expressions she uses.

9)Taking into consideration Mrs Mooney's unhappy life experience we can admit that in her thoughts about Doran's reparation she escapes from moral ambivalence into an impervious and sincere self-justification. Is it human frailty or ultimate hypocrisy?

10)Comment on her abilities to contrive Doran's surrender.

- What powers does she enlist to conquer Doran?

- Is she correct in her assessment of Doran's reactions to the combined weight of Irish opinion (The Church, society and employer) bearing down on him?

- What moment does she choose to summon Doran to her presence? Could she expect Doran's having been to confession the evening before?

- When does she plan her interview with Mr.Doran? What does the view of the churchgoers outside suggest?.

- What does she think of the reaction of Mr.Doran's Catholic employer of thirteen years?

- Recollect how she aligns herself with the public opinion , rehearsing society's reactions in her mind.

11)Are her relations with the Church comfortable or hostile? Is her churchgoing mostly social or religious?( ‘...catch short twelve at Marlborough Street') Don't you think that she stands for orthodox morality in an ambiguous way?

12)What technique of character presentation does the author use to depict Mrs Mooney? Show, in Joyce's presentation of Mrs. Mooney, how he influences the reader's responses.

II. Focus on the character of POLLY

1 What expressions in Joyce's description of Polly's appearance contribute to her image of a flirt of the establishment?

2 Pick out the details and expressions suggesting that Polly was

- physically seductive

- highly manipulative

- composed and confident in the outcome of her mother's interview with Doran.

3 What were Polly's true feelings for Doran? Did she act like a light-minded flirt or a business-like seductress? Consider

- her actions

- the details of her appearance

4 What proves that Polly was her mother's daughter? Does she seem to know the rules of her mother's game ? What attracted her in Mr Doran to have him as a lover? Did she care for him or for her own station in life? What facts or expressions suggest that silent agreement prevails between mother and daughter ? Prove your opinion.

5 What means does the author use to show Polly's emotions when she came to Doran on the Sunday morning?What state do her actions after his leaving betray?

6 Which adjectives would you choose to characterize Polly:

pragmatic

daydreaming

innocent

wise

flirtatious

other_______________?

7 What techniques does Joyce coose to characterise Polly?

- direct characteristics?

- actions?

- insight into her thoughts and feelings?

- opinions of other characters?

III. Focus on the character of Mr DORAN

1) What is Mr Doran's attitude to Polly? Prove by the text.

2) What qualities does Mr Doran possess to make him most likely to succumb to Polly's charms?

- does he realize that he had been deceived?

- what are Doran's notions of sin, success, respectability?

- what paralysing forces of Dublin society is he imbued with?

2) Pick out the details and jestures creating implications of his anxiety and distress. Is his state revealed directly or indirectly, or both?

3) Which of the following adjectives characterize Doran? Prove your choice.

- nervous

- fidgety

- weak

- innocent

- naive

- god-fearing

- socially conscious

- meek

- submissive

- straight

- intelligent

- conventional

- sensual

- timid

- dicreet

- reputable

- serious

4) What environmental influence formed his character?

- What is similar in the roles the following people pay in Doran's affair: - his confessor, - his employer, - Polly, - Polly's mother, - Polly's brother?

5) The denoument suggests Doran's succumbing to his fate.Is he going to sacrifice his reputation like a playboy with guts or does his fear make him unable to shirk the punishment? Prove your answer.

6) In what vein does the author portray Mr Doran (serious, comic, sympathetic, ironic, scornful)? Prove by the text. Does the young man's helplessness evoke your sympathy, pity or contempt?

7) Do you think Doran's unhappy situation is classic?