The short story Eveline, written by James Joyce, was first published in 1914. The story centers around the life of Eveline, the daughter of Irish immigrants living in the poor area of Dublin’s North Strand. Eveline is engaged to Michael Furey. Throughout the story, she struggles with whether or not to leave her family behind and travel to France.
About the writer James Joyce
James Joyce was an Irish writer, most famous for his
modernist novel Ulysses and, more generally, the stream-of-consciousness
technique he employed in virtually all of his works. He also wrote poetry and
short stories and helped found the literary magazine The Dubliners. James Joyce
was born on February 2, 1882 in Rathgar, Dublin, Ireland. His father was John
Stanislaus Joyce and his mother was Mary Jane Murray Joyce; both of them were
Dubliners with strong nationalist feelings who instilled those ideals in their
son.
Eveline by James Joyce [Summary]
In the story ‘Eveline’,
the main character is a young girl called Eveline.
She lives in Dublin, Ireland. She is brought up in a Catholic culture. So, she is not allowed to go outside to play with
her friends. She should follow strictly Catholic
norms and values. Eveline desperately misses her old life and spends most
of her time remembering the happy old days when she lived a happy life playing
with other kids in the street.
When the story opens, Eveline
is found sitting at her sitting-room window and watching the outside scene
continuously. She remembers what the street looked like before builders filled
it with houses. As a young girl, she
loved playing on the field with her friends. Everyone on the street knew each
other closely. It was a wonderful place
to grow up. Everything was lovely except the father of Eveline. Her father was problematic. He was a temperamental
man. Eveline’s father didn't like her playing outside so much. He wanted
Eveline at home where he could keep an eye on her.
Being fed up with her father, Eveline, later, decides
that it's time to leave home and start her fresh and new life. Eveline
knows that she might never return. To keep herself happy, she obsessively dusts
all the furniture of the home. She wants to preserve this moment forever. She
knows that even if she does come home again, everything will look different. If
she's not there to dust and clean the house, it will decay and stagnate
everything.
In the middle of the story, Eveline reveals that she's running away with a young man named Frank.
Fleeing away with Frank, she wants to reinvent
herself. Her father is domineering and thus he has seized her freedom. He
spends money unnecessarily on alcohol.
He would be bad on Saturday. On the
very day, he would spend money on unnecessary going to the inn. Her duties are to provide all her salary to her father and run home or
else she would be tortured. Eveline’s father spends her salary drinking
alcohol. She works in the store to support the family economically. Her father
gives money to her just to buy goods for dinner on Saturday. Eveline
thinks that if she moves far away from home, she can forget her past and would
be happier. She is the last of her siblings to leave the house. She hopes that
if she marries Frank, people will treat her with great respect. She thinks that
Frank is kind, generous, and open-hearted.
So, Eveline is about to run away by night boat to be Frank’s
wife in Buenos Ayres. Eveline, then,
reveals another truth that Frank is a
sailor. According to Eveline, Frank is very handsome, charming, and
friendly.
Once, Eveline's father knew about her relationship with
Frank. He had warned her to stay away from Frank because he thinks that Frank
loves her to sleep with her. But Eveline thinks that he loves her as a true lover. When she is all set to
elope with Frank, she recalls her given promise to her dead mother, thinks about
her old and sick father and the future of her brother. She had promised her
dying mother to unite her family members. All those responsibilities and duties
towards her family prevent Eveline from running away from her home. Although
she is about a step to board the ship with Frank, she didn’t go with her
beloved Frank and returned home.
Eveline by James Joyce [Question Answer]
What is Eveline's home
life like? How does she expect her new life to be different? Do you think this
expectation is realistic?
Ans: At home, she feels a loss of
identity and thinks to make her life worthy by getting married. I think that
her such expectation is not realistic. In Eveline's home, Eveline and her
brother are badly behaved and dominated by their domineering father. On
Saturday night, her father spends money unnecessary that the money is earned by
her working in the store. He would give her the money only to buy Sunday
dinner. However, I think that she is so secure at her father's home.
Why is the word "dust" mentioned so often in the story Eveline?
Ans: In the story, the suggestive meaning of the dust is
meaningless. worthless, sad, status quo life, melancholic and pathetic
condition. The dust is mentioned so often in the story to show the pessimistic
and melancholic status of Eveline. Thinking her life is like dust at home.
tries to elope with Frank.
Who narrates the story Eveline?
What would be gained or lost if the story were told by Frank?
Ans: The narrator is
third person, the writer himself. If the story is narrated by Frank, we will
not know about Eveline's dead mother, written letters by Eveline, and lose to
know Eveline's pathetic condition and her religious upbringing. We will just
know about his sailing life, his family members, his love for Eveline, and so
on.
Is anything about the story ‘Eveline’ ironic?
Ans: Yes, there is irony. Viewing Eveline's activities, we
think as if she hates home, parents, and religions and might elope. At last,
our hopes twist as she rejects to elope with Frank.
Does her religion have any bearing on Eveline's decision?
Ans: By going through the text, the
economic condition of the women are presented as poor in Ireland. Being a
daughter, she has to look after her father, home, and her brothers. In
mid-nineteenth-century of Ireland, women were largely excluded from participation
in productive works.
Instead, the Irish Catholic church expected to fulfill the
traditional role of self-sacrificing wives and mothers, submissive and humble
to their fathers. A young woman should be virginal. In the story too, Eveline
does not allow to go outside and has to care for a family member. Her mother
has even tried to give her best to her domineering husband.
Eveline lacks the
courage to flee from her domineering father and seek her own happiness. Do you
agree? Give a reasoned answer.
Ans: Yes, I agree. She lacks the courage
to flee from her domineering father and seek her own happiness because she has
given promises to her mother to unite the family. Being grown up in a highly
religious Catholic family, she may fear that elopement may not be forgiven by
society and God. So, the religious mind makes her think about her old and sick
father, her duties towards her younger brothers, and the curse of God for her
elopement.
Do you think women in
Nepal are trapped by passivity, fear, and obligations, like Eveline?
Ans: Although the roles and status of women in modern Nepalese
society have undergone a massive transformation and their rights have been
secured by the constitution. Given that Nepalese society is heavily influenced
by the Hindu system of beliefs. In remote places, gender disparity still
exists. Women have limited control, are restricted to household work, are
deprived of education, discriminated based on caste, and have poor healthcare
access. Existing laws are inadequate to deal with sexual offenses and Nepal has
made a law against sexual harassment. However, Nepalese women are more
vulnerable due to rape and domestic abuse, and young women risk being
trafficked to the brothels of India. There exist also many superstitions and taboos
related to caste and menstruation leading to unequal treatment of women. In
these cases, they are not allowed to touch drinking water, have to live away
from the house secluded.
Eveline has failed to manage her social and economic life. Discuss.
Ans: As Eveline becomes bold enough in
her decision, she holds in her lap two letters, one to her father and next to
her younger brother, Harry. She reasons that her life at home cleaning and
cooking is hard.
Personally, I think that it is a worse option to elope. She
has to do the same thing and follow the same routine that she has repeated at
her father's home if she eloped. She thinks her father spends money and is
domineering but he is not always mean. She also might think that he has sons to
take care of. He is now a widower too. Seeing his situation, she should not
leave the home.
It is true that she has failed to manage her social life living at home. Her father would take her salary and her brothers left the home. She sees progress leaving at home. She is not allowed to go outside and is not free to love Frank. However, she is safe at home. She could leave there as a respected Catholic girl. People's hardship is not caused by family but is due to socially constructed norms and values of patriarchy and religion. In brief, she might be a failure while staying at home economically and socially but there is also not guaranteed to lead her life freely with Frank because Frank is also the outcome of a patriarchal society.