Bloom's Literary Themes - ymerleksi - home

256
James Joyce
The idea that Irish society could be characterized by temperance or
moral superiority is also brought to task in “Nausicaa.” This is another
instance of Joyce comparing an idealized perception, in this case
dealing with the supposed morality of Irish society in general and
family life in particular.
Such a realistic, if not nightmarish, picture of marriage and Irish
domesticity counters Gerty’s fantasy of a marriage of quaint happiness
and mutual respect, a vision of an Irish utopia where lofty moral codes
are respected and upheld. As all of Joyce’s works convey, Ireland is as
ridden with flaws and moral depravity as any other human society.
Just as the censors and the Church construct an idealized image of
Ireland, so too does Gerty fashion a dream-like vision of marriage.
All rely upon idealizations rather than actual experience. We can
see this dichotomy in the chapter; it appears most poignantly in the
radically different picture of Gerty’s own domestic experience Joyce
paints. Although she knows that marriage can be far from perfect,
she still believes in the myths propagated by women’s magazines and
sentimental literature, believing that marriage “would be like heaven”
(13:214). Gerty’s idealized notions of reality benefit the publishers of
sentimental literature. Their job is to encourage young women like
Gerty to embrace this ideal and to pursue it. Ultimately, they cultivate
desire, most especially the desire to hold the male gaze.
Joyce actually takes a mocking tone regarding Gerty’s romantic
fantasies about Bloom, emphasizing her childishness:
Every morning they would both have brekky, simple but
perfectly served, for their own two selves and before he went
out to business he would give his dear little wifey a good
hearty hug and gaze for a moment deep down into her eyes.
(13:239–42)
“Brekky” and “dear little wifey” are pejorative terms that mock Gerty’s
romantic, childlike imagination. The narrative itself, rendering
Gerty’s perspective, demeans the very object of Bloom’s desire.
Gerty’s fantasy of an idealized marriage, from the perspective of the
overall narrative (which includes objective reporting, Gerty’s streamof-consciousness
thoughts, and Bloom’s stream-of-consciousness
thoughts) is ludicrous. Bloom objectifies her, glad he did not know
she was disabled, which might have ruined his fantasy and interrupted