13/01/2020

 

The Dead 

 

Characters:

• Gabriel Conroy → he comes to life during the story (in medias res), initially it is difficult to understand who he is because he comes to life trough the other people’s judgement but he is not present in the scene in addition he is considered like a God since he is an intellectual;
• Gretta;

 

Narrative techniques: 

• telling and showing → to allow to the reader to understand Gabriel’s feelings, emotions, his way of thinking and his personality;
• the narration creates suspense of who Gabriel is and this creates curiosity in the reader;
• third person narrator: shift of the point of view to allow the reader to have more point of view and to enter in character’s head (stream of consciousness);

 

Purpose of the story:

• Gabriel has to like in a way to be coherent with the reputation that people have about him;

 

Topos/ setting:

• a common place = annual ball at Morkan’s house;

→ use of common aspect to say something important;

 

When:

• during a common ball at Gabriel’s aunts house;
• at the end of Christmas days;
• during the epiphany ( RE MAGI → bring presents to Jesus - they are illuminated by the comet) 

 

Name’s analysis:

• Gabriel → archangel Gabriel ( who annunciated that Jesus Christ would be born;
• Gabriel has to do the speech → he has to announce something important like the archangel;
• Connection with the religious code;

 

What happens during the party:

• first scene = Lily, who is the household of Gabriel’s aunt has to receive guests;

                          = when Gabriel meets Lily they have a dialogue and Gabriel asks her 

                              something that he have not to ask and to repair his gaf he gives Lily a

                              monet; → it underlines his superiority, his vain;

 

• second scene: when Gabriel danced with a lady → they had a conversation (the lady supports the Irish culture while Gabriel not ( Gabriel has a cosmopolitan view like Joyce);
• Gabriel speech: he thanks his aunts; - he refers to Irish hospitality → Irishmen are more hospitable than the   rest of the world; - comparison between past and present; - comparison between his aunts and the three Graces (neoclassicism);                            → he uses a formal language which is easy to understand to everyone; - it is not suitable to the scene indeed he uses a rhetorical language;
• After Gabriel speech: intelligent readers understand that Gabriel’s speech develops a reflection,
• at the end Gabriel changes → he understand not to know his life 

 

Escamotage: 

• Gabriel wants to have sex with her wife and he wants to remain alone with her wife in their hotel’s room ( hidden place = intimacy);
• before to arrive in the room Gabriel has to face some problems and finally when he arrives in the room he finds her wife crying (Gretta’s epiphany) → she listens to a song that reminds her her first love Michael Furey (furia) - consequently also Gabriel has an epiphany because he understands that he has never loved as his wife and he comes in contact with hisself for the first time (it falls down the image that people have about him) 
• Gabriel: at the windows he looks out and he sees the snow that fall and covers all Ireland → it means that it is an existential problem that everybody have to face;

 

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15/01/2020

 

The Dead

 

Sequences:

1st) from the start to “ ..letter to love”;

2nd) from “Gabriel couldn’t listens..” to “..a fork on high”; 

3rd) from “the piercing morning..” to the end;

 

1st sequence:

. to introduce characters → Gabriel is vain and makes people feel embraced;

. to introduce the setting = Morkan’s house - annual dance;

. to introduce the different of guests → the most important one is Gabriel;

 

Symbols:

• snow = it covers everybody → everybody have the same problem to face;
• music = constant’s story elements - it all happens under music effects 

 

Messages:

→ Is better a life as Michale Furey than a life as Gabriel Conroy (he is paralyzed, he lives to make the other people happy, he lives to be coherent with the other people’s prejudices about him, he lives without knowing himself;

→ at the end of the story Gabriel understand that he is not able to love 

 

LOVE = is both a perceptive and action verb 

When the verb moving from to an action to become a perception verb Gabriel has the epiphany.