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CTullis - Modernist Fiction: V. Woolf and J. Joyce. Eveline's analysis
by - (2012-01-25)
Up to 5 A - Modernist Fiction: V. Woolf and J. Joyce
"Eveline" is an extract from the "Dubliners" by James Joyce.
It is composed of ten sequences. The first sequence has the function to introduce the position of the protagonist Eveline, who was sitting at the window and was watching the avenue outside. She was tired and we immediately understand that she was an inactive person (she sat watching outside in a passive way, with her head leaned against the window). Eveline was nineteen years old so was an adolescent; she was an orphan and she lived in Dublin.
In the second sequence there is a description of the environment Eveline saw outside the window, with a comparison between past and present. Eveline saw the new red houses built on the field in which she and other children used to play. She looks at the avenue in a nostalgic way because it evoked in her mind a glad period of her life. The use of the simple past and of the past construction "used to", conveys the idea that Eveline missed past situations and past habits.
Going on, in the third sequence the setting described is the room around Eveline. She was thinking about the moment she would have left her house, so she began to look around her. Everything was covered by dust, every object was grey or old, another reference to the past and to Eveline's personality. The use of past perfect in this paragraph conveys the idea of the house's oldness and the idea that Eveline didn't live the present but she only lived through past memories.
In the fourth sequence, Eveline anticipated the reactions people will have at the Stores, the place in which she worked. She also thought about all the comforts she had staying at home with her family. The verbs used in this sequence are most of all conditionals, to express an unknown situation and to anticipate Eveline's decision: she won't leave her habits and her family.
The fifth sequence has two functions: first to tell the reader Eveline's feature expectations, secondly to reinforce Eveline's link with her past. In fact first Eveline talked about what her life would be if she left with her lover but immediately she returned with her mind to the past and to her habits, looking for negative situations to convince herself (her father's violence, the difficulty of her life).
The next sequences introduced the reader Frank, Eveline's fiancé. At the beginning Eveline talked about her possible positive feature but then she remembered when he was courting her. She also remembered the relation between Frank and her father who didn't like him. The memory of this brought Eveline back to the present (seventh sequence), she was still sat and she was keeping the letters for her brother and her father. In the present sequence Eveline tried to remembered some positive aspects about her father: an excuse to not leave. Also in the eighth sequence the protagonist went with her mind to the past and remembered the promise to her mother: to keep the home together as long as she could.
In the ninth sequence there is a change, in fact Eveline for the first time seemed determined to live her life with Frank in another country. But maybe it is only a self conviction.
The last sequence is the only one which is about an effective present situation, without memories of the past. Eveline is with Frank at the station, they are going to leave. But as anticipated by Eveline's behaviour and personality, she won't go.
It is composed of ten sequences. The first sequence has the function to introduce the position of the protagonist Eveline, who was sitting at the window and was watching the avenue outside. She was tired and we immediately understand that she was an inactive person (she sat watching outside in a passive way, with her head leaned against the window). Eveline was nineteen years old so was an adolescent; she was an orphan and she lived in Dublin.
In the second sequence there is a description of the environment Eveline saw outside the window, with a comparison between past and present. Eveline saw the new red houses built on the field in which she and other children used to play. She looks at the avenue in a nostalgic way because it evoked in her mind a glad period of her life. The use of the simple past and of the past construction "used to", conveys the idea that Eveline missed past situations and past habits.
Going on, in the third sequence the setting described is the room around Eveline. She was thinking about the moment she would have left her house, so she began to look around her. Everything was covered by dust, every object was grey or old, another reference to the past and to Eveline's personality. The use of past perfect in this paragraph conveys the idea of the house's oldness and the idea that Eveline didn't live the present but she only lived through past memories.
In the fourth sequence, Eveline anticipated the reactions people will have at the Stores, the place in which she worked. She also thought about all the comforts she had staying at home with her family. The verbs used in this sequence are most of all conditionals, to express an unknown situation and to anticipate Eveline's decision: she won't leave her habits and her family.
The fifth sequence has two functions: first to tell the reader Eveline's feature expectations, secondly to reinforce Eveline's link with her past. In fact first Eveline talked about what her life would be if she left with her lover but immediately she returned with her mind to the past and to her habits, looking for negative situations to convince herself (her father's violence, the difficulty of her life).
The next sequences introduced the reader Frank, Eveline's fiancé. At the beginning Eveline talked about her possible positive feature but then she remembered when he was courting her. She also remembered the relation between Frank and her father who didn't like him. The memory of this brought Eveline back to the present (seventh sequence), she was still sat and she was keeping the letters for her brother and her father. In the present sequence Eveline tried to remembered some positive aspects about her father: an excuse to not leave. Also in the eighth sequence the protagonist went with her mind to the past and remembered the promise to her mother: to keep the home together as long as she could.
In the ninth sequence there is a change, in fact Eveline for the first time seemed determined to live her life with Frank in another country. But maybe it is only a self conviction.
The last sequence is the only one which is about an effective present situation, without memories of the past. Eveline is with Frank at the station, they are going to leave. But as anticipated by Eveline's behaviour and personality, she won't go.