Today we reached the end of the "first sentence" in Molly's monologue: "... hang a woman surely are they". Gabler (18.245), Penguin (880.30)
As Bloom sleeps, Molly is apparently awake. Thinking random thoughts, jumping from one memory to another, remembering all kinds of associations. Many of her thoughts are triggered by what Bloom has described to her of his day, and some of them have to do, though, with the time she has spent with Boylan.
Quite a bit of the passage we read today is about having sex. Molly comes across as being quite 'modern', quite 'uninhibited', something remarkable during the early 20th century Catholic Dublin. She is also in a way 'matter of fact', when she thinks '... with all the talk of the world about it people make is only the first time after that its just ordinary do it and think no more about it...". She thinks of the confession she used to go to when Father Corrigan would question her quite probingly about where exactly she was touched, etc. From Father Corrigan, her thoughts wander to Boylan, who was smelling that afternoon of some kind of drink not whisky or stout (in fact Boylan had a sloegin in the bar at Hotel Ormond; see the chapter, Sirens), who had all he could do to keep himself from falling asleep after they took the port and potted meat, crumbs of which Bloom had found on the bed. In fact Molly confesses to herself that she too fell asleep soundly till the sound of the thunder (think of the thunderstorm that struck when Bloom was at the maternity hospital in Holles Street / Chapter, Oxen in the Sun) woke her up, prompting her to say a Hail Mary just as she used to when it used to thunder in Gibraltar, which would make her feel as if the world was coming to an end.
Molly's thoughts then turn to God, church, soul - and Bloom's scoffing at the idea of the existence of the soul and saying, "... you have no soul inside only grey matter." She now thinks he doesn't know what it is to have one, when thinking of the 'one', her thoughts turn to Boylan again. What follows is a detailed description of the 'anatomy' of Boylan, and the time she spent with him in the afternoon, ending with the thought, "... nice invention they made for women for him to get all the pleasure but if someone gave them a touch of it...". This 'it' refers to the pains of child birth, and leads automatically to Mina Purefoy (who had given birth a few hours ago), her useless husband and their many children.
The courtship with Bloom, mutual jealousy felt at that time between Josie Powell (current Mrs. Breen, whom Bloom had met the previous morning, and obviously told Molly about the meeting) and herself, the gifts Bloom gave to her at that time (Byron's poems and three pairs of gloves) are some of the memories that come back to Molly. Thinking of Mrs. Breen, she also thinks of her dotty husband, who used to go to bed with his muddy boots on. Musings on husbands and wives such as the Purefoys, Breens and she and Bloom reminds her of Mrs Maybrick who was convicted (whose death sentence was commuted later) of poisoning her husband with white Arsenic. We left this session of reading with Molly wondering why they call it Arsenic (Arse + nic)!
Molly's monologue must be listened to (or read aloud). It is only then one can greatly appreciate what Joyce has created in this chapter. While reading, it helps to know that every 'yes' Molly says heralds a new stream of thought. The innumerable 'he's in this stream of consciousness can only be understood if one can follow the context of Molly's thoughts.
As Bloom sleeps, Molly is apparently awake. Thinking random thoughts, jumping from one memory to another, remembering all kinds of associations. Many of her thoughts are triggered by what Bloom has described to her of his day, and some of them have to do, though, with the time she has spent with Boylan.
Quite a bit of the passage we read today is about having sex. Molly comes across as being quite 'modern', quite 'uninhibited', something remarkable during the early 20th century Catholic Dublin. She is also in a way 'matter of fact', when she thinks '... with all the talk of the world about it people make is only the first time after that its just ordinary do it and think no more about it...". She thinks of the confession she used to go to when Father Corrigan would question her quite probingly about where exactly she was touched, etc. From Father Corrigan, her thoughts wander to Boylan, who was smelling that afternoon of some kind of drink not whisky or stout (in fact Boylan had a sloegin in the bar at Hotel Ormond; see the chapter, Sirens), who had all he could do to keep himself from falling asleep after they took the port and potted meat, crumbs of which Bloom had found on the bed. In fact Molly confesses to herself that she too fell asleep soundly till the sound of the thunder (think of the thunderstorm that struck when Bloom was at the maternity hospital in Holles Street / Chapter, Oxen in the Sun) woke her up, prompting her to say a Hail Mary just as she used to when it used to thunder in Gibraltar, which would make her feel as if the world was coming to an end.
Molly's thoughts then turn to God, church, soul - and Bloom's scoffing at the idea of the existence of the soul and saying, "... you have no soul inside only grey matter." She now thinks he doesn't know what it is to have one, when thinking of the 'one', her thoughts turn to Boylan again. What follows is a detailed description of the 'anatomy' of Boylan, and the time she spent with him in the afternoon, ending with the thought, "... nice invention they made for women for him to get all the pleasure but if someone gave them a touch of it...". This 'it' refers to the pains of child birth, and leads automatically to Mina Purefoy (who had given birth a few hours ago), her useless husband and their many children.
The courtship with Bloom, mutual jealousy felt at that time between Josie Powell (current Mrs. Breen, whom Bloom had met the previous morning, and obviously told Molly about the meeting) and herself, the gifts Bloom gave to her at that time (Byron's poems and three pairs of gloves) are some of the memories that come back to Molly. Thinking of Mrs. Breen, she also thinks of her dotty husband, who used to go to bed with his muddy boots on. Musings on husbands and wives such as the Purefoys, Breens and she and Bloom reminds her of Mrs Maybrick who was convicted (whose death sentence was commuted later) of poisoning her husband with white Arsenic. We left this session of reading with Molly wondering why they call it Arsenic (Arse + nic)!
Molly's monologue must be listened to (or read aloud). It is only then one can greatly appreciate what Joyce has created in this chapter. While reading, it helps to know that every 'yes' Molly says heralds a new stream of thought. The innumerable 'he's in this stream of consciousness can only be understood if one can follow the context of Molly's thoughts.
