30 pages • 1 hour read
James JoyceEveline
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1904A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Eveline as Ireland
In this Dubliners narrative, Eveline herself symbolizes Ireland. Indecisive and inhibited by factors outside of her control, Eveline reflects the paralysis that Joyce identified with his native country. This issue is common in Joyce’s works, most of which he wrote while Ireland was a British colony and Irish nationalist movements were growing. This symbol also occurs frequently in Irish literature; Ireland is often represented as a woman, although she is not always represented as bleakly or impotently as Eveline. Eveline is also bound by filial and religious duty, just as pre-independence Ireland is, oppressed by both the British empire and the strictures of the Roman Catholic Church. Eveline’s major conflict, whether to stay in Ireland with her family and an unfulfilling future or leave in pursuit of freedom and possible happiness, echoes the same conflict that many Irish citizens faced: to remain and fight for one’s beloved country or flee and seek a better life in a foreign country.
“Derevaun Seraun!”
The meaning of Eveline’s mother’s deathbed cry, “Derevaun Seraun,” is still debated in Joycean scholarship. Two interpretations were originally proposed by scholars: The first describes the phrase as corrupt Gaelic for “the end of pleasure is pain,” and the other says it’s corrupt Irish for “the end of the song is raving madness” (Tigges, Wim. “‘Derevaun Seraun!’: Resignation or Escape?” James Joyce Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 1. University of Tulsa, 1994). More recently, an Irish-speaking colleague of Wim Tigges claimed the phrase was from the Irish “do raibh ann, siar ann,” meaning “(some)one has gone there, (one must) go (back) there!” (Tigges). This last meaning, Tigges claims, appears more appropriate than the first two, given the theme of coming and going. The phrase also supports the theme of female autonomy, as represented in the question of whether or not Eveline will live the same life as her mother; as soon as Eveline recalls her mother’s exclamation, fear rises in her, and she takes it as a call to escape. This phrase also represents the reach of colonization, as Eveline cannot understand her mother’s native tongue.
The Boat to Buenos Aires
As Eveline stands on the dock, the comings and goings of sailors and passengers blur around her, and she catches “a glimpse of the black mass of the boat, lying in beside the quay wall, with illumined portholes” (23). In this moment, the boat to Buenos Aires takes on a darker tone than Eveline’s previous perceptions of her escape. Although the lights from the portholes reveal the promise of a brighter future, one that many Irish citizens chose in the face of English imperialism’s effects. The “black mass” here represents Eveline’s fear of the unknown, and as the boat looms in front of her, her fear in the face of its darkness reminds her of her duty to her family. The boat symbolizes both Eveline’s fears and the uncertainty of the journey faced by so many Irish emigrants. Its stark presence not only heightens her fear but plays on the values instilled in her by the strict teachings of Ireland’s other master, the Roman Catholic Church. In the face of such reminders, Eveline falters and remains behind as Frank sails for what was meant to be their new home.
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