- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
Irish Divorce / Joyce's Ulysses
About This Book
This engrossing, ground-breaking book challenges the long-held conviction that prior to the second divorce referendum of 1995 Irish people could not obtain a divorce that gave them the right to remarry. Joyce knew otherwise, as Peter Kuch revealsâobtaining a decree absolute in Edwardian Ireland, rather than separation from bed and board, was possible. Bloom's "Divorce, not now" and Molly's "suppose I divorced him"âwhether whim, wish, fantasy, or convictionâreflects an Irish practice of petitioning the English court, a ruse that, even though it was known to lawyers, judges, and politicians at the time, has long been forgotten. By drawing attention to divorce as one response to adultery, Joyce created a domestic and legal space in which to interrogate the sometimes rival and sometimes collusive Imperial and Ecclesiastical hegemonies that sought to control the Irish mind. This compelling, original book provides a refreshingly new frame for enjoying Ulysses even as it prompts the general reader to think about relationships and about the politics of concealment that operate in forging national identity
Frequently asked questions
Information
Table of contents
- Irish Divorce/Joyceâs Ulysses
- 1 Reading Sex, Love, and Divorce in Ulysses as Certain Uncertainties
- 2 âNot nowââBreakfast at No. 7
- 3 Bloom in the Sexualized City
- 4 âBloowhoâ and Silence
- 5 Sex, Pleasure, Guilt, and Divorce
- 6 Money and Divorce
- 7 Bloom Enters the Bed
- 8 Will They or Wonât They?
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index