1. English Dubliners (1914)

2. Victorian England
Beloved Queen Victoria reigned over the height of the British Empire in the nineteenth century, when its huge wealth, trade, and industrial power ruled the world. Along with Elizabethan England, it was a sort of second golden age of English wealth, culture, arts, and literature.

3. Victorian England
…Unless you were poor. As people came to cities such as Dublin to find industrial jobs, living standards for the poor involved insecure work at low wages, dirt, and poverty.

4. Victorian Values: Respectability or else!

5. Or not…
The Victorian era has a stereotype of being prudish and sexually repressed, so much so that “Victorian” is now used as an adjective. But religious ideals of family and respectability coexisted with adult themes in art, photography, and literature.

6. History of Ireland - Partial medieval rule; heavy Protestant colonization in 1600s - Famines and uprisings; partition and home rule in 1921

7. James Joyce Dubliners A collection of short stories written by Joyce in 1904 but not published until The ‘poet in exile.’

8. Joyce Themes - Ireland and nationalism: Ireland’s complex history as a subjugated colony of England - Joyce’s mixed feelings about “traditionalism” versus globalization? - Anti-clericalism - Money and poverty

9. Themes - Geographical realism
Themes - Geographical realism. The novel has many named streets and buildings that exist in real Dublin

11. Themes - Modernism in Dubliners: The narrator isn’t always sure; appearances are subjective - The short story frame and “impact” - Brief psychological portraits - Realism; shocking and vulgar depictions

12. Styles - Sad endings: Many stories end with fading or dying light, symbolizing hopes and dreams - Twist endings: A story which seems innocent has a harsh end which causes the reader to re-see the story - Some things are implied but not shown

13. Symbolism - Do characters mean themselves – or do they stand for Dublin / Ireland / life generally? - Does Joyce like his characters, or have contempt for their vulgarity / failure to act / betrayals? - Does Joyce have hope?

14. Issues - Why is it that no characters repeat between stories (but locations do)? - Are some characters smarter than others? Do some learn at the end of the story? - Many of the stories in Dubliners seem to end without a clear resolution. Is there a reason?