Ulysses

At 8:00am on Thursday, June 16, 1904, Buck Mulligan taunts his housemate Stephen Dedalus on the top of the Martello Tower that overlooks the bay in Dublin, Ireland. Stephen does not respond to respond to Mulligan’s jokes, delivered in a “preacher’s tone” (3). He is too preoccupied with Haines, a “dreadful” (4) young Englishman who has been invited to stay in the house that Stephen and Mulligan share. Haines has already woken Stephen the previous night, and Stephen resents this new arrival. Together, Stephen and Mulligan stare over the bay. Mulligan claims that the sea is his “great sweet mother” (5), which stirs a memory in Stephen’s mind. He remembers his aunt’s annoyance that Stephen refused to pray beside his dying mother. Stephen still wears his mourning clothes. He reflects on his mother’s death, ignoring Mulligan’s “mockery” (6) about Stephen’s cheap clothes and disheveled appearance. Mulligan shows Stephen his reflection in a cracked mirror; Stephen returns the jibe, likening the cracked mirror to the “lookingglass of a servant” (7). He suggests that this could be a symbol for all art in Ireland. Mulligan jokes with Stephen that, together, they could raise the status of Irish art until it is comparable to the classical Greek era. When Mulligan offers to mock Haines instead, Stephen remembers how Mulligan once mercilessly mocked Clive Kempthorpe, a classmate of theirs.

As Mulligan continues to provoke, Stephen finally confesses to the reason for his annoyance. He remembers Mulligan once calling his mother “beastly dead” (8). Mulligan briefly tries to defend himself but stops, criticizing Stephen for being “an impossible person” (9). As he descends the tower, Mulligan sings to himself. He is not aware that Stephen sang this exact same song to his own dying mother. The memory of her “agony” (10) haunts Stephen, who is then called down to breakfast by Mulligan. Mulligan mentions that Haines appreciates Stephen’s Irish humor. He suggests that Stephen ask Haines for money. Stephen refuses to do so. He enters the kitchen and—together with Mulligan—serves the breakfast. When Haines announces that the woman who brings the milk is approaching, Mulligan makes rude jokes and suggests that Haines include these in a book of Irish folk tales. When the woman enters, Stephen immediately imagines her to symbolize all of Ireland. He is annoyed that the woman respects the medical student Mulligan but “slights” (14) Stephen. When Haines tries to speak to her in faltering Gaelic, the woman admits that she does not speak the language but wishes she did.

After, Haines reveals his plan: he wants “to make a collection of [Stephen’s] sayings” (16). Stephen is only concerned with whether such a project might make money. When Haines exits, Mulligan calls Stephen rude. He is annoyed that Stephen may have imperiled their chances to get beer money from Haines. Once Mulligan is dressed, the three men walk to the bay. Stephen talks about his landlord, “the secretary of state for war” (17), and Haines asks about Stephen’s literature theories, especially one about Hamlet. Mulligan insists that they save the conversation for the pub later that day. Mulligan sings and dances. Stephen is convinced that—very soon—Mulligan will request the key to the tower that is nestled in Stephen’s pocket. He distracts himself with a conversation about religion. Stephen explains to Haines that he is beholden to three masters: the Catholic Church and England prevent him from thinking freely, while Ireland seems only to provide him with “odd jobs” (20). Haines struggles to respond to the mention of English colonial control of Ireland. He blames history. When they reach the bay, the sight of the sea reminds Stephen of a recent drowning victim. They approach the water’s edge, where Mulligan is already undressing and preparing to bathe. Two people are already in the water, including one of Mulligan’s friends. Mulligan chats about Bannon, mentioning his “sweet young” (21) girlfriend. She is not named at this time. When Stephen announces his departure, Mulligan immediately asks for the tower key and money for beer. He tells Stephen to meet him later at the Ship Inn. As he walks, Stephen resents that the “usurper” (23) Mulligan has taken over his home. He vows not to return.

Stephen teaches a history class. In front of an undisciplined room of students, he discusses “the end of Pyrrhus” (24) and the concept of a pyrrhic victory. As he tries to interest his class, he imagines how Haines includes his witticisms in his “chapbook” (25), though they are lost on the students. The subject of the class makes him ponder the inevitability of dramatic historical events. He wonders whether history could ever have unfolded in a different way. Next, the class studies Lycidas by Milton. Stephen continues to think about history. He is reminded of his studies in Paris when he sat in a library and read Aristotle. The imagery in Lycidas makes him think about God’s influence. As the class draws to a close, Stephen challenges his students to “answer a riddle” (26). The students prepare to leave to play field hockey, and they do not understand Stephen’s near-incomprehensible riddle about a “fox burying his grandmother under a hollybush” (27). As the students leave, a boy named Cyril Sargent stays behind. He needs Stephen’s help with a math problem. Stephen thinks about Sargent’s “ugly and futile” (28) appearance. He believes that only Sargent’s mother could ever love him. As he coaches Sargent through the algebra problem, he is reminded of Mulligan’s comment, in which he claimed that Stephen’s Hamlet insights might be proved using algebra. He continues to think about a mother’s love for their child. When he was a child, Stephen was as clumsy as Sargent. When their brief tutoring session is over, Sargent joins the other students.

Stephen goes to the office of the headmaster, Deasy. He must wait outside while Deasy deals with an issue from the hockey game. Once he arrives, Deasy hands Stephen his wages. He delivers a lecture to Stephen on the importance of being frugal. Deasy values saving money; he believes that the greatest pride an English person can possess is to be able to say, “I paid my way” (31). As he listens, Stephen calculates his long list of outstanding debts. Deasy is a Protestant and a loyalist. He welcomes the English control over Ireland, though insists that he also has “rebel blood” (31). He knows that Stephen is a Catholic, however, so he presumes Stephen to be an Irish Nationalist. He defends his family’s strong ties to the English. Deasy also hands a letter to Stephen. He wants Stephen to use his influence with the local newspaper to have the letter published. As Deasy puts the finishing touches to the letter, Stephen studies the portraits of racehorses and remembers visiting the racetrack in his youth with Carnly, his childhood friend.

Shouts come from the hockey field, suggesting that a goal has been scored. When Deasy hands over the letter, Stephen glances briefly at it. The subject of the letter is “about the foot and mouth disease” (32), a dangerous infection that affects farm animals. Deasy is not impressed with the way the government is dealing with the situation. When he discusses the influence of certain groups, he complains that “England is in the hands of the jews” (33). Stephen tries to push back on Deasy’s antisemitism, but Deasy insists that Jewish people have “sinned.” Stephen remembers his encounters with Jewish merchants in Paris. He suggests that everyone has sinned. Since Deasy tries to use history to justify his antisemitism, Stephen claims that “history […] is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” (34). As Deasy discusses the manifestation of God as a goal, another goal is scored on the hockey field. Stephen, an atheist, claims that God is little more than a shout on the street. As well as Jewish people, Deasy blames women for the original sin. He provides Stephen with a list of women he believes to be destructive. Deasy does not see Stephen as a natural teacher and presumes that he will “not remain here very long” (35). Stephen does not disagree. He sees himself as more of a learner than a teacher. Returning to the letter, he assures Deasy that he will talk to the people at the newspapers. He leaves the school, reflecting on his relationship with Deasy. In that moment, Deasy chases after him with one final antisemitic comment: He claims that Ireland never demonstrated broad antisemitism because they “never let [Jewish people] in” (36).

As he walks along the beach, Stephen thinks about the difference between the physical world and the world that he sees through his eyes. When he closes his eyes and listens, he hears the natural rhythms of the world. When he opens his eyes, he spots two midwives. He recognizes one of the midwives as Mrs. Florence MacCabe and imagines that she is carrying a miscarried child with her, picturing the fetus’s “trailing navelcord” (38) as a telephone line that connects to the rest of history. He imagines the telephone line connecting all the way back to “Edenville” (38), as the beginning of time. In Edenville, he can imagine the biblical Eve without a navel. The image returns him to Deasy’s discussion of original sin, as well as the circumstances of his own conception. Stephen compares his conception with the conception of Jesus Christ. According to Catholic doctrine, Christ was “made not begotten” (38). This means that Jesus is part of God, rather than being made by God. Stephen imagines himself in the opposite way. He was begotten, not made. He has biological parents, but he cannot imagine where his soul comes from. Certainly not his father, he believes, as they are not alike. Stephen imagines debating the specifics of Christian doctrine with historical figures.

Feeling the wind blow in from the sea, Stephen remembers the letter and his arranged meeting with Buck Mulligan. Remembering that his aunt Sara lives nearby, he thinks about his father’s dislike for Sara’s husband, Richie. If Stephen paid a visit to Sara and Richie, he imagines that he would be ushered into the house by their son, Walter, and that he would find Richie laying in his bed due to his back problems, apologizing that they have “nothing in the house but backache pills” (39). When he was young, Stephen remembers being ashamed of his family. Such a thought reminds him of the author Johnathan Swift, whose writing seemed to contain a notable dislike of the masses. Stephen amuses himself by imagining Swift clambering up a pole to escape a big crowd of such people. When thinking about the priests in the city, Stephen reflects on his own youthful piety and faith, now long abandoned. Stephen passes by Sara’s house without a thought. He crosses the “firmer sand” (41) toward an old hotel named the Pigeonhouse. The name of the hotel reminds him that the Virgin Mary attributed the miraculous nature of her pregnancy to a pigeon. Stephen’s thoughts then turn to Patrice Egan, the son of Kevin Egan, who was an exiled Irish nationalist whom Stephen met in Paris. When they talked together in Paris, Stephen was very poor. On one occasion, Stephen’s mother sent him a money order, but he arrived at the post office too late to cash it. Stephen’s studies in Paris were cut short when his father sent him a telegram, stating “mother dying come home father” (42). He rushed home to be by her side, which makes Mulligan’s mocking comments about his mother even more painful.

Stephen still treasures his memories of Paris. He remembers talking to Kevin about Irish nationalism and the idiosyncrasies of the French. They talked about their upbringings in Ireland. As Stephen walks along the seafront, he searches the distant horizon for the “cold domed room” (44) that is his home, the Martello Tower. Again, he insists to himself that he will not return there. When he sits down on a rock, he spots the body of a dead dog. A living dog bounds along the beach, running to two people in the distance. The sight of the beach makes Stephen think about the historic Viking invasions of Dublin. He is afraid of the barking dog, but he is distracted by intrusive thoughts about history’s various “pretenders” (45) to thrones. Stephen fears that he might be a pretender. When he looks up, the couple with the dog is picking cockles. The living dog smells at the dead dog, only to be chided by the man. The dog urinates then digs a hole on the beach, which makes Stephen think back to the riddle about the fox that he posed to his students. Lost in thought, Stephen remembers last night, when he dreamed about a man carrying a melon. The man led him down a red carpet. In real time, when Stephen watches the female cocklepicker, he is reminded of a sexual encounter that took place in Fumbally’s lane. He composes a poem in his thoughts as the couple passes by. Tearing a scrap from Deasy’s letter, he writes down his poem, wondering about the unnamed female subject to whom the poem refers and her “soft soft soft hand” (48). Longing for romance and affection, Stephen lays back and thinks about his shoes. He has borrowed them from a friend. At one time, his feet fit into women’s shoes. Stephen stands and urinates, remembering the body of a drowned man he once saw. Picking at his nose, scanning over his shoulder, he sees “a silent ship” (50) approaching the harbor.