ABSTRACT
We’ve spent the last three chapters considering individual sto-ries in Dubliners, but we need also to reflect on the structure and coherence of the collection as a whole. Most of us coming to Joyce for the first time will experience not only difficulty but also recognition. The boy in the first three episodes is unnamed but he seems to be the same boy, and perhaps we read the stories accordingly. Images, too, recur, and I remember on first reading Dubliners connecting the word ‘chalice’ in various stories and thinking there was perhaps a purpose on the author’s part, but at the same time not being sure. This kind of tentativeness I always enjoyed when teaching those new to Joyce, for I felt I was in touch again with the journey that had a beginning for me but at this juncture no end. I also learnt from my students about reading things I hadn’t thought about or noticed. It must have occurred to many readers of the previous chapters, for example, that mental illness in Dubliners is another topic worth exploring. That said, Table 6.1 shows a simple matrix of Dubliners, divided into theme and setting, which I used to give my students.
