EVELINE 

1.      

The Beginning

In the first paragraph the narrator shows Eveline sitting by a window at home, feeling tired.

The Middle

We then follow Eveline's thoughts as she thinks about her present, past and future. Indirectly, we learn many details about her life, about her family and lover. In particular, we find out she's going to leave home, but that she's not sure this is wise.

The narrator then shows us Eveline at the window again, a little later. Again we follow her thoughts. She hears an organ playing. More thoughts. Then suddenly she stands up in terror.

In scene two the narrator shows Eveline standing with her lover near a boat that is about to leave for Liverpool (in order to get a ship for South America) More of Eveline's thoughts and feelings. Eveline grips a railing.

The End

The story ends dramatically. Eveline doesn't move.

2.

The Beginning

• WHO is the main character? Eveline.
• WHAT is the situation? She is sitting, watching out of a window.
• HOW does she feel? Tired and possibly invaded.
• WHERE is the story set? Inside Eveline's home.
• WHEN does it take place? One evening.

The Middle

Eveline notices people passing, including the man who lives in the last of the new red houses nearby. The sound of his footsteps makes her think of the field that used to be there, of the differences between the new houses and hers.

She then thinks about her childhood, when she and her brothers and sisters were rather happy and when her father was not so bad. The thought that "everything changes" makes her think of her intention to leave.

The word "home" leads her to look carefully at the room she's in, which she has dusted so often; at a photograph of a priest and a print of religious promises.

Next she thinks about the wisdom of her decision to leave, the disadvantages, about how hard her life has been, about hoe the people at the Stores will react to her leaving. 

Next her thoughts turn to the future and how she will escape her father's violence with the help of her lover Frank, who is kind, manly and open-hearted. She recalls their courtship. Memories of her father's dislike of Frank focus on the time when, after a quarrel with lover, he had prohibited her to speak to him.

We then see that Eveline has written two letters, one to her brother Harry, the other to her father. Her thoughts turn again to her father and she begins to think he would miss her.

Happier memories of him follow when, for instance, he had read her a ghost story, and when he put on her mother's bonnet to make the children laugh.

When she hears a street organ playing outside, she remembers her promise to her mother to keep the home together.

In a moment of terror, she stands up and repeats the word Escape and Frank would save her.

• - WHO are the main characters? Eveline and Frank.
• - WHAT is the situation? She is at the station hand in hand with Frank. Although he is speaking to her, she is inattentive.
• - HOW does she feel? Pale, cold and distressed. Then nauseous.
• - WHERE is the scene set? In the crowded station at the North Wall near a boat for Liverpool that will enable them to go towards Buenos Aires the following morning.
• - WHEN does it take place? The same evening.

Eveline prayed to God to direct her and to show her her duty.

When Frank tries to pull her towards him, she feels he will drown her and so she gripped the iron railing.

The End

At the end we see Frank shouting "come" again and Eveline crying out in anguish. Then as Frank rushed to get on board the boat, still calling, we see Eveline with her white face and her eyes giving him no sign of love or farewell or even recognition.

Are there any other details you would want to include in a summary of the story?

No, I think that the summary is comprehensive.

How would you summarise the story in just a few words?

It is a story of love, family and disillusion.

3.

- My first impression focused on the fact that Eveline, after struggling so much for her love and life, was not able to find the courage to leave with Frank and leave her family.

- I like Eveline's mother because she was a marvellous mother.

- I didn't like Eveline's father because he was violent and exploited her.

- I like the story because it can resembled some events in anybodies lifes.

- Yes, I like the style.

- Women's life in Dublin was very very hard at that time.

4.

Paragraph 1: sight and smell.

Paragraph 2: sight and hearing.

Paragraph 3: sight.

Paragraph 10: hearing and smell.

Paragraph 11: hearing.

Paragraph 13: touch, sight and hearing.  

5.

Paragraph 1: sight: the evening "invading" the avenue; smell: the odour of dusty cretonne.

Paragraph 2: sight: people passing; hearing: footsteps clacking.

Paragraph 3: sight: familiar objects that she has dusted - a photograph of a priest, a broken harmonium, a print of promises.

Paragraph 10: hearing: street organ playing; smell: the odour of dusty cretonne.

Paragraph 11:hearing: mother's voice.

Paragraph 13: touch: Frank holding her hand; her cheek going cold; nausea in her body; her moving lips; Frank seizing her hand and pulling her, gripping (and clutching) the iron railing; hearing: he was speaking to her, boat's whistle, he called her; sight: a glimpse of the boat, eyes with no sign of love.

6.

• a) Bits of narrative and description of a setting.
• b) There are three sentences.
• c) The first and the second sentences are pretty long, but the third is really short.
• d) Sadness and tiredness.

7.

• a) Evening.
• b) Evening, invade, avenue.
• c) Unhappy.
• d) Window, watching.
• e) These words have the stress on the first part.
• f) Head and nostrils.
• g) Dusty, odour and cretonne
• h) It is less evocative.

8.

The narrator tells us the following items: personality, family, work, opinions and feelings about other characters, some experiences, dreams and Eveline's behaviours, words and thoughts on specific occasions (for example, in the last paragraphs of the text when she seems to be frightened to leave her family and usual life to go overseas with Frank).

According to my opinion, the significant omissions are mainly two: the first is the lack of information about Eveline's physical appearance (the narrator does not tell us if she is tall, thin, blonde, etc.), the latter is the same lack about Eveline's experiences, habits, likes and dislikes. The absence of such important details gives the reader the feeling of being deprived of the main character.

9.

I imagine that Eveline is the lady portrayed in the first page of the book, pretty tall, thin, dark-haired, brown- eyed, and very pale. From the psychological point of view I think that she is not an independent girl with a low level of self-esteem, she unfortunately is subject to her father.

10.

• a) A few people were passing, including a man going home.
• b) The man's footsteps were clacking along the concrete pavement and then they were crunching on the cinder path.

11.

• - The repeated word is "passed".
• - The other word with a long [a:] is "last".

12.

When giving Eveline's thoughts and feelings, the narrator does not have a very clear stand because in some parts of the text he is direct in his explanations, but is other parts he is more obscure and lets the reader imagine the end of the scene, the story, or the following thought or feeling.

One time there used to be a field there in which we (they) used to play every evening with other people's children.

Then a man from Belfast bought the field and built houses in it -not like our (their) little brown houses, but bright brick houses with shining roofs.

We (The children of the avenue) used to play in that field with the other children of the avenue (together) - the Devines, the Waters, the Dunns, little Keogh the cripple, me (she) and my (her) brothers and sisters.

Ernest, however, never played: he was too grown up.

My (Her) father used often to hunt us (them) in out of the field with his blackthorn stick; buy usually little Keogh used to keep nix and call out when he saw my (her) father coming.

Still we (they) seemed to have been rather happy then. My (Her) father wasn't (was not) so bad then; and besides, my (her) mother was alive.

That was a long time ago; me (she) and my (her) brothers and sisters are (were) all grown up; my (her) mother is (was) dead.

Tizzie Dunn is (was) dead, too, and the Waters have (had) gone back to England.

Everything changes.

Now I'm (she was) going to go away like the others, to leave my (her) home.

13.

• - I think that the direct speech version is more immediate.
• - I think that Joyce used the indirect speech to remain himself and have the reader remain detached from the character, namely avoiding a deep and specific identification with Eveline.