women in Ulysses

  • Ep. 130 – THOSE SLIGHTLY RAMBUNCTIOUS FEMALES

    Nelson supposes his toeses are roses, but Nelson supposes erroneously. Topics in this episode include Barcelona, revisiting James Joyce’s Guinness ad, the history of Nelson’s pillar, Horatio Nelson, the final resting place of Nelson’s head, possible replacements for Nelson atop the former pillar, failed attempts to raise the wind, A Pisgah Sight of Palestine or…

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  • Decoding Bloom: John Howard Parnell

    This is a post in a series called Decoding Bloom where I take a paragraph of Ulysses and  break it down line by line.  The passage below comes from “The Lestrygonians”, the eighth episode of Ulysses. It appears on page 164-165 in my copy (1990 Vintage International). It begins “Provost’s house” and ends “house of…

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  • The Women of Ulysses: Lizzie Twigg

    “Everybody who met her liked her – because she was warm and outgoing. Here I am saying good things about Lizzie. Poor Liz – nobody remembers her now.” – Padraic Colum, 1969 As Leopold Bloom passes the offices of the Irish Times in “Lestrygonians”, Ulysses’ eighth episode, he can’t help but think about all the…

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  • A Pisgah Sight of Palestine or the Parable of the Plums

    “But though the Irish are eloquent, a revolution is not made of human breath and compromises.”  – James Joyce, 1907, “Ireland, Island of Saints and Sages” In the final sequence in Ulysses’ seventh episode, “Aeolus”, Stephen Dedalus and the men from the Evening Telegraph office, having exhausted themselves with lofty rhetoric, set out to wet…

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  • Ep. 94 – A Fine Old Custom

    I’ll tickle his catastrophe, believe you me! Topics include Ulysses tarot cards, incubism, the system of correspondences found in Ulysses, Martin Cunningham, Mr Power, Simon Dedalus, armstraps, caring for corpses, women’s role in caring for the dead, hats as identities, economic incubism, Bloom’s outsider status, Irish funeral customs, embalming, why Dignam’s widow doesn’t attend his…

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  • Ep. 89 – Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom (w/ Aedín Moloney)

    Kelly speaks with actress Aedín Moloney about playing Molly Bloom in her one-woman show, Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom. Sweny’s Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe! Aedín Moloney: http://www.aedinmoloney.com/ Instagram | Twitter Blooms & Barnacles Social Media: Facebook | Twitter Subscribe to Blooms & Barnacles: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

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  • Ep. 80 – The Language of Flowers

    “Angry tulips with you darling manflower punish your cactus if you don’t please poor forgetmenot how I long violets to dear roses when we soon anemone meet all naughty nightstalk wife Martha’s perfume.” Kelly and Dermot untangle the mysterious language of flowers. Topics include James Joyce’s affair with Marthe Fleischmann, the pitfalls of method acting,…

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  • Ep. 79 – Martha

    Henry dear, do not deny my request before my patience are exhausted. In this episode, Kelly and Dermot try to figure out who Martha, Leopold Bloom’s saucy penpal, could really be. Topics include Dermot’s interest in Islam, Bloom’s missing hour, Leah the Forsaken, jugginses and guttapercha, castration anxiety, hopscotch and marbles, senior infants, Martha’s letter,…

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  • The Women of Ulysses: Milly Bloom

    Part of an occasional series on the women of Ulysses. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Poor Milly Bloom. She’s the daughter of one of literature’s greatest heroes, but she’s been given short shrift. Joyce critics over the decades have largely ignored her or written her off…

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  • Ep. 72 – Dearest Papli

    Is a picnic really just picnic? In this episode, Dermot and Kelly discuss Milly’s letter from Mullingar, those lovely seaside girls, Milly’s purpose in the narrative of Ulysses, the implication of a picnic, whether or not Milly is a poor substitute for Rudy, the significance of Milly’s fifteenth birthday, how Milly’s maturity has affected her…

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