The reading stopped at " . . . exponent of Shakespeare." (17.794)
Summary:
Bloom and Stephen continue to discuss about factors that separate them. Though neither of them openly talk about their racial differences, a question that arises here is whether Bloom is indeed a Jew. Though the Dubliners in this novel regard him as one, he may not be so theoretically at least as his mother was Ellen Higgins, her name suggesting that she was not a Jew. Furthermore, Bloom has been baptised, not once but thrice!
Exploring further their 'differences', they recite fragments of verses to each other: Stephen reciting lines from an Irish ballad, and Bloom from the Song of Solomon 4.3. They write down alphabets, with Stephen writing down Irish characters and Bloom Hebrew ones. Their summing up of each other has biblical overtones. It is also possible that Bloom, the eternal father, is searching for the eternal son, and has reached the end of his search in Stephen.
