Finnegans Wake (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: James Joyce
- First Published: 1939
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy
- Time of Work: Early twentieth century
- Setting: Chapelizod, Dublin, Ireland
- Principal Characters: Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, Anna Livia Plurabelle, Shem, Shaun, Issy
- Genres: Long fiction, Dream vision
- Subjects: History, Mythology or myths, Twentieth century, Marriage, Restaurants, bars, taverns, or pubs, Guilt, Dreams, Nightmares, Drinking or drunkenness, Consciousness, Ireland or Irish people, Psychoanalysis or psychoanalysts, Subconscious
- Locales: Dublin, Ireland
The Story:
Finnegans Wake is an expression of the dreaming collective psyche as it relives the major conflicts of myth and history. This psyche is divided into the two sexual principles, the major representations of which are Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE) and Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP). As the archetypal husband-father, HCE (Haveth Childers Everywhere/Here Comes Everybody) is burdened with guilt over an indiscretion in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. This obscure event is central to the entire dream. A lone man encountered two girls and performed an obscure offense, an...
[The entire page is 2126 words long]
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