Araby Criticism
James Joyce's short story Araby, part of his 1914 collection Dubliners, is celebrated for its use of epiphany—a sudden realization of truth—as the young male protagonist grapples with disillusionment in his romantic ideals. As noted in Trials of Adolescence, it is the third in a trilogy of stories, following “The Sisters” and “An Encounter,” which explore themes of youth and the trials of maturation. In Araby, the protagonist's journey to a bazaar to buy a gift for a girl he admires ends in disappointment, underscoring his alienation from his family, his religion, and the world, a theme explored in works like Romantic Ireland, Dead and Gone: Joyce's ‘Araby’ as National Myth.
The story is emblematic of Joyce's stylistic innovation. Critics like ‘Sing Three Songs of Araby’: Theme and Allusion in Joyce's ‘Araby’ have identified literary allusions to works like Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Homer's The Odyssey, highlighting the story's rich symbolic layer as supported by 'Araby' and the Writings of James Joyce. Conversely, ‘Araby’ and the Palimpsest of Criticism argues for appreciating the story's surface-level narrative. Scholars continue to examine its narrative strategies and themes of disenchantment and existential uncertainty.
Araby's critical reception has evolved significantly, with early readings as a naturalist depiction of Dublin giving way to deeper explorations of its symbolic and stylistic elements, as seen in works like Araby and Blind Streets and Seeing Horses: Araby's Dim Glass Revisited. The story remains a cornerstone for understanding Joyce's literary genius and his commentary on the human condition.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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Joyce's ‘Araby’: Paradise Lost
(summary)
In the following essay, Stein surveys the religious imagery in “Araby.”
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James Joyce and Chaucer's Prioress
(summary)
In the following essay, Lyons considers the influence of Chaucer's Prioress' Tale on Joyce's “Araby.”
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'Araby' and the Writings of James Joyce
(summary)
In the following essay, Stone explores the literary allusions and symbolism found in 'Araby,' contending that Joyce 'was careful to lacquer his images and actions with layer after layer of translucent, incremental meaning.'
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‘Araby’ and the Palimpsest of Criticism or, Through a Glass Eye Darkly
(summary)
In the following essay, ApRoberts refutes Professor Stone's thesis in the essay reprinted above, asserting that “Araby” is a self-contained story and should be read at face value.
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Arabesques: Third Position of Concord
(summary)
In the following essay, Benstock supports Professor Stone's thesis in the essay reprinted above, and agrees that “Araby” serves “as a vital introduction of many of the motifs of the later works of James Joyce.”
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‘Araby’ and Portrait: Stages of Pagan Conversion
(summary)
In the following essay, Turaj finds a parallel between “Araby” and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, maintaining that the two works represent two different stages in Joyce's personal development.
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The Green Stem of Fortune
(summary)
In the following essay, Brandabur provides a thematic overview of “Araby.” He discusses how Joyce's work blends ironic and romantic modes, with the protagonist of “Araby” attempting to transcend limitations through romantic means, ultimately revealing the delusions of archetypal expectations.
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Araby
(summary)
In the following essay, San Juan offers a stylistic analysis of “Araby.”
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Joyce's ‘Araby’ and Imaginative Freedom
(summary)
In the following essay, Rosowski views the primary conflict in “Araby” not between the child's and the adult's visions, but between psychological and factual realities.
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The Motivation for Anguish in Joyce's ‘Araby’
(summary)
In the following essay, Brugaletta and Hayden question important plot elements of “Araby.”
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‘Sing Three Songs of Araby’: Theme and Allusion in Joyce's ‘Araby’
(summary)
In the following essay, Morse explores the different literary allusions found in “Araby.”
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Romantic Ireland, Dead and Gone: Joyce's ‘Araby’ as National Myth
(summary)
In the following essay, Egan examines Joyce's utilization of Irish culture and history in “Araby.”
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Joyce's Narrative Strategies in ‘Araby’
(summary)
In the following essay, Morrissey analyzes Joyce's narrative techniques.
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Narration of Reading in Joyce
(summary)
In the following essay, Robinson considers the imagery in “Araby” and its relationship to the narrator of the story.
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Trials of Adolescence
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Herring reveals the structural and thematic links between Joyce's “Araby” to “The Sisters” and “An Encounter.” “Araby” is the last in a set of three stories about how a youth is thwarted in his quest for transcendence. Each of the stories begins in the tedious surroundings of home or school, in reaction to which boys set for themselves idealized destinations involving eastward journeys: in one case it is a mystical state of mind associated with the priesthood, exotic dreams, and Persia; in the next story it is the Pigeon House at the most easterly point of Dublin's harbor (and anything that might symbolize). In the third story a bazaar named “Araby” casts an eastern enchantment over an adolescent mind. A further common characteristic is that the boys lack a kind of enlightenment necessary for their graduation to a more advanced stage of maturity; this they may eventually achieve, but the greatest benefit of their shocking rites de passage will be to illustrate the uncertainty principle of life itself.
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The First Trinity
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Wachtel views 'Araby' as the third story in a trilogy—the other two being 'The Sisters' and 'An Encounter'—and deems it an important transition to the other stories included in Dubliners.
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The Question and the Quest: the Story of Mangan's Sister
(summary)
In the following essay, Leonard utilizes the theories of Jacques Lacan to analyze the depiction of Mangan's sister in “Araby.”
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Blind Streets and Seeing Horses: Araby's Dim Glass Revisited
(summary)
In the following essay, Norris explores stylistic elements of “Araby,” particularly the narrative voice in the story.
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The Quest of Joyce and O'Connor in ‘Araby’ and ‘The Man of the House’
(summary)
In the following essay, Fuhrel discusses the motif of the quest in Frank O'Connor's “The Man of the House” and Joyce's “Araby” and contrasts the setting, tone, point of view, and themes of the two stories.
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Joyce's ‘Araby’: Paradise Lost
(summary)
- Further Reading