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whiteangel
whiteangel
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In James Joyce's "Dubliners", what is the significance of these titles: The Sisters, Evaline, Bording House and The Dead?

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Posted by whiteangel on Tuesday August 19, 2008 at 4:01 AM and tagged with boarding house, dubliners, evaline, significance, the dead, the sisters.

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  1. michael336 Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In "The Sisters," the narrator's friend, a priest, has died, no longer associated with the church (a tragedy in such a heavily Catholic country such as Ireland) and alone except for his sisters.  The narrator feels some sense of freedom at the priest's death, but recognizes the deep grief felt by the priest's sisters, who recognize what a "disappointed" man their brother was.

    "Evaline" is the name of the main character in this story, and is eloping with a man against her mother's wishes.  But on the way, she hesitates and returns to do her duty to her mother, leaving her fiance standing at the train station.

    In "The Boarding House," the proprietress has a young daughter who has become a little too close to one of the boarders, Mr. Doran.  Doran holds Polly and her family in something like contempt, and has no qualms about making advances.  When a "shotgun" wedding is insisted upon, Doran is trapped, though the story ends on an ambiguous note.

    "The Dead" refers to to Michael Furey, the long-lost love of Gretta, the main character.  Her husband finally realizes that she hasn't really loved him all these years, but instead pines for Michael, who died when Gretta was a school girl.  He realizes that his marriage has been haunted by "the dead" since the beginning.

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    Posted by michael336 on Thursday August 28, 2008 at 12:16 PM