Blog 2: The Boarding House
In Dubliners, I felt that "The Boarding House" was a story I could relate to. Polly is about the same age as me and still lives with her mother, and there is a constant push and pull for freedom, independence, and respect in the household. Her mother, Mrs. Mooney, is a very stern and controlling woman, and because of those tendencies, it bleeds into Polly's life by proxy.
I feel as though, Mrs. Mooney was only trying to do what she thought was best for her daughter by asking Mr. Doran to marry her. And though we never find out what officially happens between Mr. Doran and Polly, by using context clues, it is assumed he was going to ask for her hand as repentance to Mrs. Mooney. It was all from a place of love, hard love, of course, to show her daughter that there are consequences for her actions; I can sympathize with Mrs. Mooney's reaction.
The magic that lies in "The Boarding House" is the strong imagery and the focus on difficult decision making/critical thinking between Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney, and Polly. You get to see three different people deal with grief in different ways: Mrs. Mooney by stopping at nothing until she feels she is paid back for what Mr. Doran did; Mr. Doran thinking about how he felt when others approached Polly and how that translates to his feelings for her; and with Polly distracting herself with girlish fantasies until she forgets that she is supposed to be worrying about if she will be marrying or not (Joyce, 26-27).
The prolonged hook up between Polly and Mr. Doran was a cause for alarm to some degree, not only because of the sex out of wedlock but because of the age difference as well; I could understand where Mrs. Mooney's feelings came from, but at the same time, Polly is an adult and should have been treated with respect. Mrs. Mooney was conducting Polly's love affair as if she were a manager, even referring to her deal with Mr. Doran as "business" (Joyce, 26). Polly marrying Mr. Doran seemed to be a power play on Mrs. Mooney's end, as it will obviously benefit her and her business.
It is also important to note that in her mother's eyes, Polly becoming Mr. Dorand's wife, transforms her from a girl into a woman (Joyce, 26). Marriage brings great responsibility for Polly, and in Mrs. Mooney's eyes, it will force Polly to grow up.
"The Boarding House" is such a quick anecdote that shows what living in a boarding house was like, and how traditional relations in Ireland used to be. The expectations set on women to be pure, matronly, domestic, and a great wife, implicated an entire double standard that men didn't have to abide by. Joyce covers so much ground in this two and a half page story, and as this being one of the only stories told from a female point of view, it makes it even more crucial to the dynamic of Dubliners. By pointing out how domestic Mrs. Mooney can be in the context of a boarding house, Joyce points out her strengths in a domestic setting and how she can still be as strong or as harsh as a man even if she's doing housework or policing her daughter.
In Dubliners, I felt that "The Boarding House" was a story I could relate to. Polly is about the same age as me and still lives with her mother, and there is a constant push and pull for freedom, independence, and respect in the household. Her mother, Mrs. Mooney, is a very stern and controlling woman, and because of those tendencies, it bleeds into Polly's life by proxy.
I feel as though, Mrs. Mooney was only trying to do what she thought was best for her daughter by asking Mr. Doran to marry her. And though we never find out what officially happens between Mr. Doran and Polly, by using context clues, it is assumed he was going to ask for her hand as repentance to Mrs. Mooney. It was all from a place of love, hard love, of course, to show her daughter that there are consequences for her actions; I can sympathize with Mrs. Mooney's reaction.
The magic that lies in "The Boarding House" is the strong imagery and the focus on difficult decision making/critical thinking between Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney, and Polly. You get to see three different people deal with grief in different ways: Mrs. Mooney by stopping at nothing until she feels she is paid back for what Mr. Doran did; Mr. Doran thinking about how he felt when others approached Polly and how that translates to his feelings for her; and with Polly distracting herself with girlish fantasies until she forgets that she is supposed to be worrying about if she will be marrying or not (Joyce, 26-27).
The prolonged hook up between Polly and Mr. Doran was a cause for alarm to some degree, not only because of the sex out of wedlock but because of the age difference as well; I could understand where Mrs. Mooney's feelings came from, but at the same time, Polly is an adult and should have been treated with respect. Mrs. Mooney was conducting Polly's love affair as if she were a manager, even referring to her deal with Mr. Doran as "business" (Joyce, 26). Polly marrying Mr. Doran seemed to be a power play on Mrs. Mooney's end, as it will obviously benefit her and her business.
It is also important to note that in her mother's eyes, Polly becoming Mr. Dorand's wife, transforms her from a girl into a woman (Joyce, 26). Marriage brings great responsibility for Polly, and in Mrs. Mooney's eyes, it will force Polly to grow up.
"The Boarding House" is such a quick anecdote that shows what living in a boarding house was like, and how traditional relations in Ireland used to be. The expectations set on women to be pure, matronly, domestic, and a great wife, implicated an entire double standard that men didn't have to abide by. Joyce covers so much ground in this two and a half page story, and as this being one of the only stories told from a female point of view, it makes it even more crucial to the dynamic of Dubliners. By pointing out how domestic Mrs. Mooney can be in the context of a boarding house, Joyce points out her strengths in a domestic setting and how she can still be as strong or as harsh as a man even if she's doing housework or policing her daughter.
Comments
Post a Comment