BBS Second Year English Business Communication
A Summary and Analysis of James Joyce’s ‘Eveline’
Eveline is a short story taken from Dubliners. The story captures the story of Eveline, a young woman of Ireland. She is the central character of this story. She was 19 years old. The woman lives with her father because her mother is dead. She has a secret lover named Frank. He is a sailor.
She is not happy with her life in Ireland. But her father is against her decision. Her father forbids her to meet Frank. She takes the decision to leave her abusive father at the age of 19. She chooses the step because of her poverty-stricken existence in her family. She wants to start her new journey of better life with her lover Frank. They wanted to shift in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Eveline runs her house. She is the responsible key person of her family after her mother’s death. Her father is drunkard. He drinks a lot. He rarely shares his money to run his family. She has two brothers. They are Harry and Ernest. Harry is always busy with his business trips. Her another brother Ernest has died.
Eveline works in a shop in Dublin. She is tired of her father’s irresponsible behaviour of not taking care of his family. So, one day, she books a ship to leave Dublin. She is going to Argentina with her lover Frank. But suddenly, she changes her mind when she is about to board the ship with Frank. She returns back to her home without telling anything to Frank.
Theme/Central Idea of the story Eveline by James Joyce Or
What does the phrase ‘paralysis of Ireland’ mean in the story? Why did the Joyce use the term ‘paralysis’?
James Joyce is a Modernist writer of the Early 20th Century. In this story Eveline James Joyce has depicted the realistic version of Dublin at his time unlike other romantic writers of his time.
He highlights the ‘paralysis’ of Ireland. It means people feel unable to move. They are stick with their lives. They fear to start a fresh new life. It captures the exact reality of his time. He captures Dubliners longing for the past. They fail to move ahead because of their past life in Dublin. The situation is same with Eveline.
She is about to take a crucial step with her lover by shifting to Argentina but suddenly she drops her plan and returns back to her home. She continues her mother’s mistake by returning back to home. It proves that Dubliners are held back by their past memories.
The story is a modern fiction. It doesn’t give us clear cut idea about the central theme. The story wants to suggest us that human life is uncertain and ambiguous just like the story’s theme.
Why did Eveline return back to home instead of leaving with her lover Frank? What are the possible causes behind Eveline staying in Dublin?
Ans: Possible reasons are:
- nostalgia {deep longing} for her homeland
- nostalgia for birthplace.
- responsibilities towards father and brother
- attachment to Dublin
- memory of her dead brother