Wednesday 9 March 2016

Tuesday, 8 March 2016, Pages 621 - 628 Circe, Episode 15

We read as far as "Would you suck a lemon?"  (Penguin 628.12), (Gabler 15.2299)

I had written in the last post that 'Circe becomes more and more bizarre as we turn the pages'. How little I knew then what was in store for us this week! Even Fritz Senn commented at the beginning of the reading session that strange and difficult parts lie ahead.

What happens on these pages is strange indeed. Very strange. For instance, Stephen holds a conversation with Lynch's cap. A hobgoblin - in the image of Punch Costello (episode 14, Oxen of the Sun) -, The End of the World - in the form of a twoheaded octopus -, and Elijah i.e., Alexander Dowie of the flyer, 'Elijah is coming!' (episode 8, Lestrygonians) all appear, hold discourses in various languages and accents, adding their share to the confusion/strangeness.  The various animals mentioned here -boa, caterpillar, snake, octopus, corncrake, dove, dog, bull, lizard, eels, elvers, crayfish and sheep  - connect Joyce's Circe to Homer's Circe.

Bloom has entered Mrs Cohen's brothel. Lynch, Stephan are there along with - in Fritz Senn's words - three extremely non-erotic whores. Stephen has been at the pianola. Talking about the Italian composer, Benedetto Marcello, who put the first 50 psalms to music, Stephen says that it does not matter whether the melody was found in older melodies by Marcello or whether he created them himself. At this moment, he starts addressing Lynch's cap, which apart from saying 'bah!'- comes up with the profound statement, 'Jewgreek is greekjew. Extremes meet.' (Gifford 1.158: By 1900 Greek had become Bohemian slang for those who preached sensual-aesthetic liberation, and Jew for those who were antagonistic to aesthetic values...)

Apart from references to psalms, music, and wondering about which octave, there are quite a few echoes of the bible, particularly of the Book of Revelation: sea serpent, antichrist, Stephen's saying, 'A time, times, and half a time' that is taken right of out of Book of Revelation...

Reuben J, the moneylender, about whom the party going to the funeral had talked about earlier in the morning (episode 6, Hades) appears as antichrist. Meanwhile a gramophone is blaring out the song, The Holy City, Jerusalem, and modifies it to 'Whorusalaminyourhighhohhh' as Alexander Dowie, aka Elijah, is making a typical Southern American sermon. This sermon has reference to Benjamin Disraeli's comment regarding Darwin's theory of evolution ('Be on the side of angels'), to Jesus, Gautama Buddha, and Ingersoll. During the sermon, Dowie's appearance changes. He is black in the face, just like the actor Eugene Stratton (episode 10, Wandering rocks). As he appeals to Mr. President (not clear who this is) to save our sisters dear, the three whores start confessing their sins.

The following paragraphs become parodies of the Bible. Stephen's saying 'blessed be the eight beatitudes', brings forth eight beatitudes, the eight people whom Bloom had followed out of the Mater Misericordiae hospital a short while ago. More familiar people appear: Lyster (Librarian of the National Library Ireland, 1895-1922; Best (director of the National Library 1904 - 23), John Eglinton (assistant librarian at the National Library 1904- 1922) (Episode 9,  Scylla and Charybdis0). They are all fantastically dressed. Eglinton in his high pagoda hat appears like Diogenes, who carried a lighted lantern in broad daylight, ostensibly in search of an honest man (Gifford 15.2256). When 'this Diogenes' flashes a greencapped dark lantern, the bearded figure of Mananaan Maclir appears. It is George Russell disguised as Maclir, the Irish god of sea.

(The emblem of the Theosophical Society including the word Om (or Aum) in Sanskrit on top)
Russell was a theosophist, and what follows is a parody of Theosophy. It starts with Aum (the most sacred symbol of Hinduism), mentions five more symbols of the roots of human speech developed by Russell, white yoghin (should have been spelt yogin!), Punarjanam (punar janmam = rebirth),  Shiva with his consort Shakti, finally ending with 'I am the dreamery creamery butter', which is another parody of verse 16, chapter 9 of Bhagavad-Gita, the most popular philosophical work of India.

Much remains unclear till the end. Some of the characters - Zoe, Kitty, Florry, Lynch and Stephen - are real enough. Some of the characters are the obvious products of hallucination. These are Elijah, Reuben J, Lyster, Best, Eglinton, Mananaan Maclir and the eight beatitudes (the eight students of medicine/doctors). There is not even a whisper here of Bloom who dominated the previous pages. Is it Bloom who still hallucinates?

With such heavy going it is no wonder that the gasjet wails whistling, Pooah! Pfuiiiiiii! These pages are indeed clothed in nebulous obscurity!