J. Joyce

ULYSSES

MOLLY BLOOM'S MONOLOGUE

Analysis

Molly Bloom's monologue is the 18th episode of Joyce's Ulysses.

This extract concerns Homer's Penelop who becomes Joyce's Molly and is set in Molly's mind, while she is almost asleep.

The time is not defined: the text is Molly's dream,written by means of  stream of consciousness, a narrative technique that reports the interior monologue as it is, without puntuaction or paragraphs.

Molly is dreaming: unconsciously, she thinks about the present, the immediat futur, her tomorrow and past. to be precise she remembers her youth in Spain, in Gibraltar, and the moment when she met Leopold.

The exotic atmosphere of Gibraltar is conveyed through the use of  the  figures and colours of those far places (sailors, Spanish girls with shawls and tall combs, the sea crimson like fire, the coloured houses, cactuses, glorious sunsets) but also with the help of sounds (Spanish girl laughing, castanets).

Molly was attracted by  Leopold because "she saw he undestood or felt what a woman is and she knew she could always get around him": he said she’s as a precious flower  and he compared her to something rare and beautiful, he whorships her and she  believes this is exactly what a woman wants from a man.

Looking at Ulysses's scheme,  the reader sees that Flesh and Earth are respectively the organ and the symbol associated to this extract. The association underlines her sensuality: not only flowers but also the perception though senses of the relationship with Leopold.