Video: The Woman Without Whom Joyce Wouldn't Have Written Ulysses, or How Bloomsday Appeared in Ireland
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
June 16 all over the world fans of the Irish writer James Joyce celebrate Bloomsday - a day dedicated to "Ulysses", because it is on this day that the action of the novel unfolds. Every year, those who wish to take a trip along the route taken by the main character of the book come to Dublin for this holiday. It was not by chance that the choice fell on June 16 - in this way the author wanted to immortalize the day on which his first date with his future wife, Nora Barnacle, took place. Their mutual passion did not fade until the last days and was so frank that both the novel itself and the letters of lovers at one time were not published as "pornographic."
One day, 22-year-old James Joyce was walking down a Dublin street and suddenly saw a girl leaving the Finn's Hotel. He spoke to her and learned that her name was Nora Barnacle, that she came from Galway and worked as a hotel maid. The girl, as it turned out, adhered to rather free views and agreed to come on a date. It was supposed to take place on June 15, but she was not released from work, and the young people met the next day. June 16 was remembered by James not only as the day of their first date, but also the moment of their first intimacy. Passion seized them at first sight and did not subside over the years.
From the young man's modest clothes and his badly worn shoes, the girl immediately determined that things were going badly for him, but this did not bother her. She even agreed to a long-term relationship outside of marriage. On one of the first dates, Joyce said that they would live "in sin," that is, without a wedding, since he would never agree to this procedure, and if they had children, they would not be baptized.
A similar attitude to religion originated in the writer while still in college. The sensuality that awakened in him early made him live in a constant feeling of guilt for his depravity. At the same time, he saw that the priests who call everything carnal sinful themselves do not adhere to religious dogmas. The incipient doubts led to a complete denial of religion and God. But even this did not frighten Nora - she was just as passionate and temperamental, and at the same time she was not ashamed of her sensuality.
The mutual need for utmost frankness in expressing feelings and formulating their desires was manifested in their correspondence. The publication of these letters made a lot of noise - they were called pornographic and shameless. In a fit of passion and tenderness, James wrote to his muse: “My dear, my wild flower, curling along the fence. Yes, my heavenly, rain-drinking flower! But the palms follow, her light - the beast of lust rises to you to every inch of yours, suffers all your secluded corners, prowls, sniffing at shame and mystery. For the same reasons, Ulysses was banned. Its publication in the United States ended with a lawsuit and the banning of the book due to its obscenity.
Nora and James nevertheless got married, 27 years after they met and 10 years before the writer's death. Their relationship has always been stormy, passion was fueled by jealousy. Perhaps the betrayal that became the central conflict in Ulysses is a reflection of a real fact. A family friend told Joyce that he had a close relationship with Nora, and although this happened even before the beginning of their romance, the writer could not forgive his wife for this.
"Ulysses" is the most famous work of Joyce, in which the writer tells about just one day - June 16, 1904 - in the life of Leopold Bloom. According to the author himself, the route of the hero's journey is described in such detail that “Dublin could be rebuilt in case of its destruction along it”. Therefore, fans of Joyce's work could easily repeat this route. Since then, June 16 has been called Bloomsday - "Bloom Day". This holiday is also celebrated in Russia in 2016: the Bloomsday Today festival is taking place in St. Petersburg, with theatrical walks “In the Footsteps of Leopold Bloom”, Irish music and a marathon of novel readings.
Joyce's works are very difficult to comprehend. American Joseph Kossuth tried in his installation to say briefly and clearly about the main thing: visual reading of Joyce's books
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