TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF MOLLY'S INTERIOR MONOLOGUE - JAMES JOYCE

Molly Bloom's interior monologue is an extract from Penelope, the last part of Ulysses, called Nostos (return). Ulysses is a novel written by James Joyce and it was first published in 1922.

The extract consists on a stream of consciousness, in which the intelligent reader can known Molly's thoughts, while she attempts to sleep.

From Molly's interior monologue, the intelligent reader can observe the new style of writing, used by James Joyce, that is the free direct style and the language of sense impression.

The free direct style consists of lack of punctuation, lack of paragraphing, lack of conjunction, but it is built through the presence of leitmotivs, the repetition of the word "yes" and the connector "and" and the used of assonances and alliterations and particularly by free associations.

The language of sense impression is built by words, recalling the senses. It appeals to sight (sunset, sea, sky, colours, ...), smell and taste (biscuits, cakes, sugar, milk, ...), touch (kisses and hugs) and hearing (the alarm clock, the wheels, ...).

Another important aspect of Molly's interior monologue is the concept of time: there is a fusion of different times (past, present and future) expressed by memories, projects of future and what Molly sees and thinks in that moment.