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Blog 3: "The Boarding House"


Joyce’s short story “The Boarding House” says a lot about Dublin society during this time period. Not only does it shed like on a typical boarding house of the time but it also emphasizes the acceptable social norms in Dublin. The main female character, Polly, is a young woman who runs the boarding house with her mother, Ms. Mooney. She develops a relationship with a man who lives in the boarding house, Mr. Doran. Obviously, this relationship could possibly be damaging to both Polly and Mr. Dornan’s reputations because they are not married. However, they have some sort of romantic affair anyway, with Mr. Doran most likely not considering marriage as the end result and with Polly hoping that it will be. This shows the strict rules that were present during this time period in Dublin and the different views of marriage between men and women. Flings could damage someone’s reputation, and Mr. Dornan’s reputation was essential to his business. This story also says a lot about Dubliners’ view of marriage. Ms. Mooney virtually tries to trick Mr. Doran into marrying Polly by not interfering in their relationship earlier: “She watched the pair and kept her own counsel” (Joyce 39), even when those in the boarding house began to talk about the relationship between Polly and Mr. Dornan, she still allowed to the relationship to continue: “though people in the house began to talk of the affair, still Mrs. Mooney did not intervene” (39). Clearly, the marriage will benefit Ms. Mooney and is not necessarily about the feelings between Polly and Mr. Doran. Marriage is seen as more of a necessity and convenience rather than something based on love, with Ms. Mooney even describing it as “business” (Joyce 39).
            This story also says a lot about what it was probably like to be a young woman in Dublin society during Joyce’s time. Polly used to work in the city at an office. When her mother opened the boarding house, she made Polly come home and “set her to do housework” (Joyce 39). Not only did Mrs. Mooney want Polly to help with the domestic duties in the house, she also expected her to “entertain” the men of the house: “As Polly was very lively the intention was to give her the run of the young men” (39). Polly’s function was to do housework but also to keep men returning to the boarding house. When she begins to see Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney does not interfere but is well aware of what is going on. She knows that Mr. Doran had money and a good reputation and wants that kind of status for her daughter, therefore she plots marriage between the two. Mr. Doran is not so keen on the idea of having to marry Polly, describing her as “vulgar” (Joyce 41). He begins to think that his family will disapprove of her, and is more and more soured to the idea of marriage with Polly. He has rather haughty attitude towards Polly, considering he is the one carrying on an affair with her. He also faces criticism of his affair from his priest, resigning himself to realize that his only option is to marry Polly to try and save his reputation.
            “The Boarding House” is a prime example of Dublin’s societal expectations during the time Joyce was writing. Young women were expected to be married and men were expected to keep their sound reputation. Ultimately, Mr. Doran is presumably resigned to marrying Polly. The last sentence of the short story reads: “Come down, dear. Mr. Doran wants to speak to you” (Joyce 43). Mrs. Mooney has presumably convinced Mr. Doran to marry Polly, most likely mentioning the damage to his reputation and to her daughter’s reputation if they don’t get married. When Mrs. Mooney tells Polly to come down stairs, she knows she is about to be proposed to and sees it as the moment “she had been waiting for” (Joyce 43). Her marriage to Mr. Doran is what she has been waiting for her whole life, and it will fulfill societal expectations. Polly will marry Mr. Doran and take her place in Dublin society as a “wife.”



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