Concetti Chiave
- Eveline reflects on her childhood and current life, feeling torn between staying with her abusive father and leaving with her lover, Frank.
- She remembers the pleasant times with Frank until her father began to disapprove, leading to secret meetings.
- While holding letters to her father and brother, Eveline recalls her promise to her mother to maintain the home, questioning if leaving is the right choice.
- Memories of her mother's sad life push Eveline towards embracing her decision to escape with Frank and avoid a similar fate.
- At the docks, Eveline hesitates and ultimately cannot leave, remaining paralyzed and emotionless as Frank boards the ship without her.
Joyce - Dubliners, Eveline
Eveline's Reflections
Eveline Hill sits at a window in her home and looks out onto the street while fondly recalling her childhood, when she played with other children in a field now developed with new homes. Her thoughts turn to her sometimes abusive father with whom she lives, and to the prospect of freeing herself from her hard life juggling jobs as a shop worker and a nanny to support herself and her father. Eveline faces a difficult dilemma: remain at home like a dutiful daughter, or leave Dublin with her lover, Frank, who is a sailor. He wants her to marry him and live with him in Buenos Aires, and she has already agreed to leave with him in secret. As Eveline recalls, Frank’s courtship of her was pleasant until her father began to voice his disapproval and bicker with Frank. After that, the two lovers met clandestinely.
Eveline's Dilemma
As Eveline reviews her decision to embark on a new life, she holds in her lap two letters, one to her father and one to her brother Harry. She begins to favor the sunnier memories of her old family life, when her mother was alive and her brother was living at home, and notes that she did promise her mother to dedicate herself to maintaining the home. She reasons that her life at home, cleaning and cooking, is hard but perhaps not the worst option—her father is not always mean, after all. The sound of a street organ then reminds her of her mother’s death, and her thoughts change course. She remembers her mother’s uneventful, sad life, and passionately embraces her decision to escape the same fate by leaving with Frank.
Eveline's Final Decision
At the docks in Dublin, Eveline waits in a crowd to board the ship with Frank. She appears detached and worried, overwhelmed by the images around her, and prays to God for direction. Her previous declaration of intent seems to have never happened. When the boat whistle blows and Frank pulls on her hand to lead her with him, Eveline resists. She clutches the barrier as Frank is swept into the throng moving toward the ship. He continually shouts “Come!” but Eveline remains fixed to the land, motionless and emotionless.
Domande da interrogazione
- What internal conflict does Eveline face in Joyce's "Dubliners"?
- How does Eveline's past influence her decision-making process?
- What ultimately prevents Eveline from leaving with Frank?
Eveline struggles with the decision to either stay in Dublin and fulfill her familial duties or escape to Buenos Aires with her lover, Frank, to seek a new life. Her reflections on her past and her promise to her deceased mother add complexity to her dilemma.
Eveline's memories of her childhood and her promise to her mother to maintain the home weigh heavily on her. Despite the hardships she faces, these memories and promises make her question whether leaving with Frank is the right choice.
At the docks, Eveline is overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty. Despite Frank's urging, she is unable to let go of her ties to Dublin and her family, remaining motionless and emotionless as he boards the ship without her.
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