Joyce in Court by Adrian Hardiman

Author:Adrian Hardiman [Hardiman, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd.

The demon drink

It is clear that everyone who knew Dignam was aware of his propensity to drink far too much. This was how he came to lose his job in John Henry Menton’s legal practice and how his wife and eldest son were reduced to waiting for him outside public houses, as Mrs Bloom relates. It is clear from her account that Dignam had a bad reputation for failing to maintain his family through drink, a failing which Mrs Bloom attributes to his (and Bloom’s) circle of drinking companions:

and they all with their wives and families at home more especially Jack Power keeping that barmaid he does of course his wife is always sick or going to be sick or just getting better of it and hes a goodlooking man still though hes getting a bit grey over the ears theyre all a nice lot all of them well theyre not going to get my husband again into their clutches if I can help it making fun of him then behind his back I know well when he goes on with his idiotics because he has sense enough not to squander every penny piece he earns down their gullets and looks after his wife and family goodfornothings48

It is plain that, though Molly sees various foolish or furtive aspects of her husband, she credits him with being a better breadwinner than most of his associates. Similarly, a little later on she appears to credit Bloom with being a better prospect in the long term than her lover, Blazes Boylan, with whom, however, she had dallied in the matrimonial bed only a few hours previously, and not without some satisfaction. Bloom’s principal advantage as a breadwinner is vividly expressed: he won’t squander every penny on drink, and will look after his wife and family.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.