The Dead (Joyce short story)

Last updated

"The Dead"
Short story by James Joyce
CountryIreland
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Short story
Publication
Published in Dubliners
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Publication date1914
Chronology
Arrleft.svg  
Grace
  Arrright.svg

"The Dead" is the final short story in the 1914 collection Dubliners by James Joyce. It is by far the longest story in the collection and, at 15,952 words, is almost long enough to be described as a novella. The story deals with themes of love and loss, as well as raising questions about the nature of the Irish identity.

Contents

The story was well-received by critics and academics and reputedly described by T. S. Eliot as "one of the greatest short stories ever written". [1] It was later adapted into a one-act play by Hugh Leonard and into the 1987 film The Dead written by Tony Huston and directed by John Huston.

Characters

Gabriel Conroy, Gretta Conroy, Kate and Julia Morkan, and Bartell d'Arcy are all alluded to in James Joyce's later work, Ulysses, though no character from "The Dead" makes a direct appearance in the novel.

Plot summary

The story centres on Gabriel Conroy, a teacher and part-time book reviewer, and explores the relationships he has with his family and friends. Gabriel and his wife, Gretta, arrive late to an annual Christmas party, hosted by his aunts, Kate and Julia Morkan, who eagerly receive him. After an awkward encounter with Lily, the caretaker's daughter, Gabriel goes upstairs, and joins the rest of the party attendees. Gabriel worries about the speech he has to give, especially because it contains academic references, which he fears his audience will not understand. When Freddy Malins arrives drunk, as the hosts of the party had feared, Aunt Kate asks Gabriel to make sure he is all right.

As the party moves on, Gabriel is confronted by Miss Ivors, an Irish nationalist, about his publishing a weekly literary column in the Unionist newspaper The Daily Express . She teases him by calling him a "West Briton," that is, a supporter of English political control of Ireland. Gabriel points out that he gets 15 shillings a week, and "the books he received for review were almost more welcome than the paltry cheque". He thinks this charge is highly unfair, but fails to offer a satisfactory rejoinder. The encounter ends awkwardly, which bothers Gabriel the rest of the night. He becomes more disaffected, when he tells his wife of the encounter, and she expresses an interest in returning to visit her childhood home of Galway. The music and party continue; but Gabriel retreats into himself, thinking of the snow outside and his impending speech.

Dinner begins, with Gabriel seated at the head of the table. The guests discuss music and the practices of certain monks. Once the dining has died down, Gabriel thinks once more about the snow - and begins his speech, praising traditional Irish hospitality, observing that "we are living in a sceptical...thought-tormented age," [2] and referring to Aunt Kate, Aunt Julia, and Mary Jane as the Three Graces. The speech ends with a toast, and the guests sing "For they are jolly gay fellows".

As the party winds down, the guests filter out, and Gabriel prepares to leave. He finds his wife standing, apparently lost in thought, at the top of the stairs. In another room Bartell D'Arcy sings "The Lass of Aughrim". The Conroys leave; and Gabriel is excited, for it has been a long time since he and Gretta have had a night in a hotel to themselves. When they arrive at the hotel, Gabriel's aspirations of passionate lovemaking are conclusively dashed by Gretta's lack of interest. He presses her about what is bothering her, and she admits that she is "thinking about that song, The Lass of Aughrim". [3] She admits that it reminds her of someone, a young man named Michael Furey, who had courted her in her youth in Galway. He used to sing "The Lass of Aughrim" for her. Furey died at seventeen, early in their relationship; and she had been very much in love with him. She believes that it was his insistence on coming to meet her in the winter and the rain, while already sick, that killed him. After telling these things to Gabriel, Gretta falls asleep. At first, Gabriel is shocked and dismayed that there was something of such significance in his wife's life that he never knew about. He ponders the role of the countless dead in living people's lives, and observes that everyone he knows, himself included, will one day only be a memory. He finds in this fact a profound affirmation of life. Gabriel stands at the window, watching the snow fall; and the narrative expands past him, edging into the surreal, and encompassing the entirety of Ireland. As the story ends, we are told that "His soul swooned slowly, as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe, and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead". [4]

Critique and analysis

T. S. Eliot called "The Dead" one of the greatest short stories ever written. [5] Joyce biographer and critic Richard Ellmann wrote: "In its lyrical, melancholy acceptance of all that life and death offer, 'The Dead' is a linchpin in Joyce's work". [6] Cornell University Joyce scholar Daniel R. Schwarz described it as "that magnificent short novel of tenderness and passion but also of disappointed love and frustrated personal and career expectations". [7] On the centennial of the release of Dubliners , Dan Barry of The New York Times called "The Dead" "just about the finest short story in the English language". [8]

This story offers a critique of a society that has been gripped by a deadening paralysis of the spirit, while also offering a juxtaposed, memento mori vision of the enlivening effect that may be found when the living contemplate the lives of those who have died. [9]

It has been suggested that the fictional character Gretta Conroy was inspired by Nora Barnacle, and that the fictional Michael Furey may have been partly inspired by Nora's memories of her own romantic relationships with two friends, Michael (Sonny) Bodkin and Michael Feeney, who both died in their teens. [10] [11]

Gabriel Conroy's name is borrowed from the novel Gabriel Conroy by Bret Harte, and Joyce's use of rhythm in the story reflects Harte's influence. Conroy's biography overlaps with Joyce's own; for example, he writes for the Daily Express , which Joyce himself also wrote for. Stanislaus Joyce interpreted Conroy as a hybrid of James Joyce and his father, John Stanislaus Joyce. [12]

"The Dead" is "set on 6 January 1904, only five months before the date of Ulysses". [13] The party described in the story is a celebration of the Twelfth Night, or the Epiphany. [14]

Adaptations

"The Dead" was adapted as a one-act play of the same name by Hugh Leonard in 1967. [15]

Joyce Carol Oates's 1973 story, "The Dead", makes many allusions to Joyce's story. [16]

In 1987, it was adapted into the film The Dead directed by John Huston, starring Anjelica Huston as Gretta Conroy and Donal McCann as Gabriel Conroy. [17]

In 1990, the story was used as the core narrative for season 4, episode 10 of Thirtysomething titled "Happy New Year". [18] [19] [20]

It is referenced in the Father Ted episode "Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest", when Ted quotes from the end of the story on the night before Father Jack's funeral, as it begins to snow.

In 1999, it was adapted into a Broadway musical by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey. The original production starred Christopher Walken as Gabriel Conroy and won a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. [21]

In 2012, playwright Frank McGuinness's two-act dramatic adaptation premiered at Dublin's Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, in a production starring Stanley Townsend as Gabriel and Derbhle Crotty as Gretta. [22]

In 2019, the story was adapted into a Bengali film named Basu Poribar starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Aparna Sen. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Joyce</span> Irish novelist and poet (1882–1941)

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922) is a landmark in which the episodes of Homer's Odyssey are paralleled in a variety of literary styles, particularly stream of consciousness. Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). His other writings include three books of poetry, a play, letters, and occasional journalism.

<i>Ulysses</i> (novel) 1922 novel by James Joyce

Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. Parts of it were first serialized in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and the entire work was published in Paris by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, Joyce's fortieth birthday. It is considered one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire movement." According to Declan Kiberd, "Before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leopold Bloom</span> Fictional protagonist of James Joyces novel Ulysses

Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in Homer's epic poem: The Odyssey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloomsday</span> Annual commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce

Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere on 16 June, the day his 1922 novel Ulysses takes place on a Thursday in 1904, the date of his first sexual encounter with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, and named after its protagonist Leopold Bloom.

<i>Dubliners</i> 1914 short story collection by James Joyce

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.

<i>The Dead</i> (1987 film) 1987 film by John Huston

The Dead is a 1987 drama film directed by John Huston, written by his son Tony Huston, and starring his daughter Anjelica Huston. It is an adaptation of the short story of the same name by James Joyce, which was first published in 1914 as the last story in Dubliners. An international co-production between the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany, the film was Huston's last as director, and it was released several months after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Barnacle</span> Muse and wife of Irish author James Joyce

Nora Barnacle was the muse and wife of Irish author James Joyce. Barnacle and Joyce had their first romantic outing in 1904 on a date celebrated worldwide as "Bloomsday" after his modernist novel Ulysses. Barnacle did not, however, enjoy the novel. Their sexually explicit letters have aroused much curiosity, especially as Joyce normally disapproved of coarse language, and they fetch high prices at auction. In 2004, an erotic letter from Joyce to Barnacle sold at Sotheby's for £240,800.

"Araby" is a short story by James Joyce published in his 1914 collection Dubliners. The story traces a young boy's infatuation with his friend's sister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fionnula Flanagan</span> Irish actress (b. 1941)

Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. Flanagan is known for her roles in the films James Joyce's Women (1985), Some Mother's Son (1996), Waking Ned (1998), The Others (2001), Four Brothers (2005), Yes Man (2008), The Guard (2011) and Song of the Sea (2014). She is also known for her recurring role as Eloise Hawking in the series Lost (2007–2010). Notable stage productions she has performed in include Ulysses in Nighttown and The Ferryman, both of which earned her Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

"The Sisters" is a short story by James Joyce, the first of a series of short stories called Dubliners. Originally published in the Irish Homestead on 13 August 1904, "The Sisters" was Joyce's first published work of fiction. Joyce later revised the story and had it, along with the rest of the series, published in book form in 1914. The story details a boy's connection with a local priest, in the context of the priest's death and reputation.

"Clay" is a short story by James Joyce published in his 1914 collection Dubliners. It deals with the reflections of a middle-aged, unmarried woman during the course of her day.

"The Lass of Roch Royal" is Child ballad number 76, existing in several variants.

<i>James Joyces The Dead</i> Broadway musical based on short story by James Joyce

James Joyce's The Dead is a Broadway musical by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey based upon James Joyce's short story "The Dead".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seán Cannon</span> Musical artist

Seán Cannon is an Irish musician. Since 1982 he has been a guitarist for The Dubliners and their follow-up-band The Dublin Legends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sheehy</span> British politician

David Sheehy was an Irish nationalist politician. He was a member of parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1900 and from 1903 to 1918, taking his seat as a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Immaculate Conception, Dublin</span> Church in Dublin, Ireland

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, also known as Adam and Eve's, is a Roman Catholic church run by the Franciscans and it is located on Merchants Quay, Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Hanff Korelitz</span> American novelist (born 1961)

Jean Hanff Korelitz is an American novelist, playwright, theater producer and essayist.

James Joyce's Women, filmed in 1982 and 1983, is a 1985 released British/Irish period drama film produced by and starring Fionnula Flanagan as writer James Joyce's wife Nora and some of the real women in Joyce's life and fictional women from the writer's novels. The film is based on Fionnula Flanagan's 1977 play James Joyce's Women.

Epiphany in literature refers generally to a visionary moment when a character has a sudden insight or realization that changes their understanding of themselves or their comprehension of the world. The term has a more specialized sense as a literary device distinct to modernist fiction. Author James Joyce first borrowed the religious term "Epiphany" and adopted it into a profane literary context in Stephen Hero (1904-1906), an early version of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In that manuscript, Stephen Daedalus defines epiphany as "a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or in a memorable phase of the mind itself." Stephen's epiphanies are moments of heightened poetic perception in the trivial aspects of everyday Dublin life, non-religious and non-mystical in nature. They become the basis of Stephen's theory of aesthetic perception as well as his writing. In similar terms, Joyce experimented with epiphany throughout his career, from the short stories he wrote between 1898 and 1904 which were central to his early work, to his late novel Finnegans Wake (1939). Scholars used Joyce's term to describe a common feature of the modernist novel, with authors as varied as Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, Ezra Pound, and Katherine Mansfield all featuring these sudden moments of vision as an aspect of the contemporary mind. Joycean or modernist epiphany has its roots in nineteenth-century lyric poetry, especially the Wordsworthian "spots of time," as well as the sudden spiritual insights that formed the basis of traditional spiritual autobiography. Philosopher Charles Taylor explains the rise of epiphany in modernist art as a reaction against the rise of a “commercial-industrial-capitalist society” during the early twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winetavern Street</span>

Winetavern Street is a street in the medieval area of Dublin, Ireland.

References

  1. "An Taisce release concerning proposed change of use of 'The Dead House', No. 15 Usher's Island, Dublin 8, to a hostel". antaisce.org. An Taisce - The National Trust for Ireland. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. Joyce, James (1914). Dubliners. New York: Penguin Books. p. 204. ISBN   0-14-018647-6.
  3. Joyce, James (1914). Dubliners. New York: Penguin Books. p. 219. ISBN   0-14-018647-6.
  4. Joyce, James (1914). Dubliners (Penguin Classics ed.). New York: Penguin Books. p. 225. ISBN   0-14-018647-6.
  5. "An Exploration of 'The Dead'". Joyce's Dublin. UCD Humanities Institute. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  6. Ellmann, Richard (1982). James Joyce (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  252. ISBN   0-19-503103-2.
  7. Schwarz, Daniel (1994). "Introduction: Biographical and Historical Contexts" in "The Dead". Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press. p. 19. ISBN   0-312-08073-5.
  8. Barry, Dan (26 June 2014). "Singular Collection, Multiple Mysteries". The New York Times . Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  9. Billigheimer, Rachel V. "The Living in Joyce's The Dead". CLA Journal, vol 31, No. 4. June 1988. P. 472.
  10. O'Dowd, Peadar (1999). "James Joyce's 'The Dead' and Its Galway Connections". Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. Galway Archaeological & Historical Society. 51: 189–193. JSTOR   25535707.
  11. Henke, Suzette (1990). James Joyce and the Politics of Desire. Routledge. ISBN   9781317291930.
  12. Atherton, James (1966). "The Joyce of Dubliners". In Staley, Thomas (ed.). James Joyce Today: Essays on the Major Works. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  13. Wright, David G. (1992). Ironies of "Ulysses". Gill's studies in Irish literature. Savage, Maryland: Barnes & Noble. p. 83. ISBN   978-0-389-20973-7.
  14. Redmond, Moira (6 January 2015). "Twelfth Night: a day for literary epiphanies". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  15. "Entry for Hugh Leonard". irishplayography.com. Irish Playography. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  16. Taylor, Gordon O. (June 1983). "Joyce 'after' Joyce: Oates's 'The Dead'". Southern Review. 19 (3): 596. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  17. Ebert, Roger. "The Dead movie review & film summary (1987) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  18. "Season Four: "happy new year"". prism64801.tripod.com. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  19. Ryan, Scott (12 April 2017). "Top 10 Fan-picked thirtysomething Episodes". Scott Ryan Productions. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  20. Brown, Stephen; Patterson, Anthony (February 2001). Imagining Marketing: Art, Aesthetics and the Avant-Garde. ISBN   9781134565498.
  21. "Tony Award history". tonyAwards.com.
  22. "The Dead". www.irishplayography.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  23. "Basu Paribar review: A soul-searching journey". The Statesman. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

Further reading