The Erotic in Joyces A Painful Case Essay -- Painful

The Erotic in Joyces A Painful Case The characters whom inhabit Joyces world in Dubliners, a good deal have, as Harvard Literature Professor Fischer stated in lecture, a limited way of thinking about and understanding themselves and the world around them. Such determinism, however, operates not on a broad cultural scale, exclusively works in smaller, more local, more interior and more idiosyncratic ways. That is, the forces which mold Joyces characters are not necessarily cultural or socioeconomic in nature, but rather, as Prof. Fischer stated, are tiny, and work on a more intimate level. In any case, as a result of such forces, these stories often tend to be about something, as Prof. Fischer said, that doesnt happen, about the romance of yearning and self-disappointment. Joyces story A Painful Case is a perfect example of a story about something that doesnt happen, and more specifically, about the romance of yearning. It is through such yearning, however, and the v arious erotic forms that such yearning takes, that Joyces characters are able to transcend the forces which govern their lives. In A Painful Case the erotic takes on three separate forms cordial, physical, and what I call, auditory. Although all three play a role in the story, it is only through auditory eroticism that Joyces protagonist, Mr. Duffy, comes to experience a moment of self-transcendence. While auditory eroticism may serve, in the end, as the conduit for Duffys self-transformation, initially it is mental eroticism that brings together Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico. Joyce writes, Little by little he (Duffy) entangled his thoughts with hers. He lent her books, provided her with ideas, shared... ...llowed to shine in full poetic fervor and reality, although Joyce attempts to secede it, seeps back in through his words and metaphors. Works Cited and Consulted Bidwell, Bruce and Linda Heffer. The Joycean Way A Topographic Guide to Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a immature Man. Johns Hopkins Baltimore, 1981. Gifford, Don. Joyce Annotated Notes for Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. University of California Berkeley, 1982. Joyce, James. Dubliners. Penguin Books rude(a) York, 1975. Peake, C.H. James Joyce The Citizen and the Artist. Stanford University Stanford, 1977. Tindall, William York. A Readers Guide to James Joyce. Noonday Press New York, 1959. Walzl, Florence L. Dubliners. A Companion Study to James Joyce. Ed. Zack Bowen and James F. Carens. Greenwood Press London, 1984