EVELINE
James Joyce's Eveline was originally published in his short storycollection called Dubliners. As the name suggests the story revolves arounda young woman named Eveline who is torn between her past and her potentialfuture life not knowing which to choose. The themes of sexuality and genderdominate the story as Eveline is shown trapped in a patriarchic society andthe only hope for escape is marriage. This sheds light on the generalthinking of men and women in modernist society. Women were usuallymistreated or accorded less respect than they deserved and this is whathappens to Eveline. Every young woman then grew up believing that marriagewould save her from all her troubles. James Joyce explores this issue
" (Joyce 331) shows that womenare conditioned to pout duty before love and a better life. He shows that in most cases,women themselves are to be blamed for their treatment they receive at thehands of male figures of the society. The fact that Eveline "prayed to God todirect her, to show her what was her duty. Even though her decision to marryFrank was grounded in her desire to escape her problems, she could havechanged her life this way and when the Universe accorded her a chance tochange her destiny, she just threw it away with her lack of courage andindecision. Eveline could have tried to changeher life by exploring a world that lied beyond the small 'familiar' worldof hers. They are madeto believe that they must make sacrifices for the sake of others and mustnot think about their owjn wishes and desires as that is consideredselfish. strate the flaws in such thinking and the reasons why mostwomen consider marriage an answer to all their troubles. On the other hand, her decision is also motivated byfear of her father and her lack of courage. The decision of Eveline to not leave her home and familiarobjects can be both praised and condemned because it is based on twothings, rational thinking and fear. The problem withEveline is that on the one hand, she wants to escape her present life thatwas defined by her father's violent temper and her monotonous job at theStores, on the other she also lacks courage to change her life primarilybecause of fear. By refusing to go away with Frank, she submits to what shebelieves to be her fate just like her whose "life of commonplace sacrificesclosing in final craziness" (Joyce 331). James Joyce has approached theissue of gender from two different directions. After carefully weighing the pros and cons of her decision,Eveline realizes that her chief reason for marrying Frank was a desire toescape her present circumstances and thus she decides not to run away atthe very last minute.
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