Prose Passage #1 Chart Text Allusions to Greek mythology and general depictions of Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan

through diction But it has a Hellenic ring, hasnt it?... We must go to Athens (Ulysses, 4) Ah, Dedalus, the Greeks. (Ulysses, 5) growing fear. (Ulysses, 4) Stephen suffered him to pull out (Ulysses, 4) Stephen said gloomily (Ulysses, 5) He shaved evenly and with care, in silence, seriously. (Ulysses, 5) Deeper exploration of the establishment of Dedalus and Mulligans characters. The mockery of it your absurd name Stephen Dedalus stepped up (Ulysses, 3) You could have knelt down, damn it, Kinch, when your dying mother asked you. (Ulysses, 5) Meaning There are multiple references to Greek mythology, partly stemming from the idea that Ulysses is based off of The Odyssey. While Stephen is portrayed as a highly intellectual individual, he is also portrayed as very meek and frightened through the diction Joyce incorporates to show Stephens manner of speech and actions.

Linguistic

Semantic

The reference to Greek mythology brings a new dimension to the character of Stephen. His last name, Dedalus refers to the father of Icarus, who is an incredible intellectual man but is locked in a tower to prevent his knowledge from spreading. This reference establishes the trapped psychological state that Stephen finds himself in and establishes his higher intellectual state of mind. Mulligans comment on Dedalus actions possibly reveal a streak of pride running through Dedalus considering that he refused to follow one of his parents requests to their face. Mulligan deliberately displayed the dirtiness of Dedalus handkerchief to make fun of him; Dedalus is established as someone more aristocratic and therefore Mulligan is desperately trying to put Dedalus down by picking on any little thing he can find. The way Mulligan neatly wiped his razor on the dirty handkerchief is further mockery of Dedalus. The irony of this situation is that all of these attempts to bring down Dedalus actually bring down Mulligan because they reveal his childishness and envy of Dedalus, but bring about no reaction from Dedalus. At the same time, the lack of action of Dedalus indicates that he is actually at the whim of Mulligan. Mulligan is like a father in this case, and Dedalus is willing to put up with anything Mulligan does to him because he

Structural

Exploration of relationship between Dedalus and Mulligan, as influenced by reference to Greek mythology and depiction of actions of both characters. Also, exploration of relationships in Dedalus life. Lend us a loan of your noserag to wipe my razor. Stephen suffered him to pull out and hold up on show by its corner a dirty crumpled handkerchief. Buck Mulligan wiped the razorblade neatly. (Ulysses, 4) followed him wearily watching him still (Ulysses, 4) Ah, Dedalus, the Greeks. I must teach you. You must read them in the original.

(Ulysses, 5) Yes, my love?... God, isnt he dreadful? He said frankly. (Ulysses, 4)

needs someone to fill that father spot. The juxtaposition of love and cruelty indicates the shallow feelings Mulligan has towards those around him. It shows that he is more self-absorbed than anything else. Mulligan is carefree with his relationships, including the one with Dedalus; however, it is not the same in Dedalus eyes, as he seeks the company and support of Mulligan. While Mulligan is mocking Dedalus aristocracy and manners, he himself is putting on airs, trying to make himself seem intellectual by suggesting, as a teacher would, that Dedalus should do something. This indicates the mentor-student relationship them have. Lastly, there is some pride evident in Stephen as Mulligan describes his attitude as Stephens mother was dying and indicates that Stephen did not have good familial relationships. In fact, it indicates that Stephen did not have any good relationships seeing as how he was not loved in any of the ones we have seen so far. Or he at least did not have adequate relationships with anyone yet. Mulligan becomes protective of Dedalus at this point by insulting Haines, who is a wealthy Englishman and by all means should be a gentleman, yet Mulligan decides he is not because he insulted Dedalus. At the same time, Mulligan also insults Dedalus by comparing his heritage to a snotgreen color; indicating that while he feels protective of Dedalus, he also has it in him to insult him pretty harshly. Joyces reference to the conflict between the Irish and the English stems from his own experience of a similar situation.

Cultural

There is influence from the Irish/English conflict in Joyces past present in the text. Conflicting relationship between Mulligan and Dedalus; Mulligan sees himself as a kind of parent to Dedalus, yet at the same time insults him. Love/hate relationship. Similar to TEWWG; Tea Cake did bad and good things to Janie; spend her money, gamble, etc. but also love her and treat her nice in return. He thinks youre not a gentleman. God, those bloody English. Bursting with money and indigestion. Because he comes from Oxford. (Ulysses, 4) The bards noserag. A new art colour for our Irish poets: snotgreen. (Ulysses, 5)