James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, a summary of which you will find in this article, is one of the most famous works of the 20th century. This is a modernist novel written by the Irishman Joyce. This is the recognized peak of postmodernism, which, despite its apparent simplicity, includes a huge number of philosophical, historical and cultural allusions.
One day in the life of Leopold Bloom
Surprisingly, the Ulysses novel by James Joyce, a brief summary of this will confirm, despite the large volume, it tells about only one day in the life of a Jew Leopold Bloom, who lives in Dublin. This is June 16, 1904. Another main character becomes 22-year-old Stephen Daedalus.
The book "Ulysses" by James Joyce consists of three parts. Each of them is divided into episodes. As conceived by the author, the novel should correspond to the famous Homer's Odyssey. In this case, Ulysses is a Latin transcription of the name of the hero of the ancient Greek poet. It is worth noting that the connection with the epic is very conditional, especially when you consider that nothing important, in fact, happens throughout the novel.
First part
The scene of the novel "Ulysses" by James Joyce (a brief summary will quickly help you remember the plot) takes place in the Irish capital - Dublin. The author treated the surrounding reality with great attention, even literally checked the time by the chronometer. True, sometimes he stopped him.
The first part of the novel "Ulysses" contains three episodes. It all starts at 8 o’clock in the morning, when Bull Mulligan wakes up his friend Daedalus, with whom he rents a room in the Martella Tower. The latter is extremely dissatisfied with the fact that their third neighbor, named Haines, fired from a gun again last night. He did this in delirium.
By nature, Daedalus is cowardly and touchy, so he categorically does not like it when people around him begin to behave provocatively. Most recently, a tragedy occurred in his life - his mother died of liver cancer. They had a tense and difficult relationship. Now he is very offended by Mulligan, who admitted disrespectful and sometimes obscene expressions to her.
The conversation they lead revolves around the search for the son of his father. Constantly they recall the literary characters and famous personalities who fell into this situation. For example, Hamlet, Telemacus, Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, this same topic appears in a history lesson that Stephen leads in just two hours at school. There he works part-time. In an interview with the director of the educational institution, he asks him to give his acquaintances in the editorial office his note on the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. After the lesson, Stephen goes for a walk along the sea coast.
Bloom's Wanderings
James U. Joyce’s Ulysses book further describes the journeys that the advertising agent Leopold Bloom embarks on. The largest part of the novel is dedicated to just this character. It consists of 12 episodes. It all starts with his breakfast. He eats a pork kidney, which he acquired in a butcher's shop in Dlugach. There he caught the eye of a model farm project in Palestine.
When Bloom arrives at home, two letters await him. One of them was written by his daughter Milli, he also calls her Mereion. The day before, she was exactly 15 years old. Despite such a young age, the girl is already working as an assistant to the photographer.
The second letter is addressed to his wife Molly, who is touring with her own concert program. The author of this message is her impresario, he reports that he will come for her at 16.00.
In the novel "Ulysses" by James Joyce, the plot is a detailed description of how the main character's day goes. After breakfast, he goes to the toilet with a magazine.
By 11 o’clock he needs to be at the funeral of his school friend. He leaves the house in exactly one hour to complete various minor tasks. Such an excerpt from Ulysses by James Joyce gives an idea of how the author describes in detail and scrupulously every event that occurs.
On the way to the funeral, the hero picks up a letter in the mail from Martha Clifford, who responded to his newspaper ad looking for a secretary. In fact, Bloom does not need a worker; he made an announcement for romantic reasons. Marta writes in a letter that she dreams of this meeting. Bloom begins to fantasize about the upcoming date, but in time recalls that it is time to go to the cemetery.
He goes to the cemetery along with other condolences, among whom is Stephen's father named Simon Daedalus. On the way, they talk about everything in a row, for example, about the upcoming tour of the wife of Bloom, as well as about a father who committed suicide.
After the farewell ceremony, Bloom goes to the newspaper, where he works as an advertising agent. In the novel "Ulysses" it is described that there he meets old acquaintances whom he recently met at the cemetery. They are joined by a lawyer, professor and editor. Stephen Daedalus also comes there, who brings a note on foot and mouth disease of the headmaster. Crawford's annoyance falls on Bloom, so he leaves the editorial office at a loss.
Wandering around the city
Upset Bloom wanders around the city with the urge to eat. He goes to the tavern, where one of the regulars begins to claim that the hero is a freemason.
At the same time, Stephen Daedal was giving a lecture in the library about his own version of the biography of William Shakespeare. One of the facts is that he himself not only played the shadow of Hamlet's father, but also considered himself to be her. Stephen’s thoughts are too original, so many did not understand him. He was little printed and rarely invited to poetry meetings, unlike Mulligan, who also came to the library. Offended by Stephen gets new reasons for resentment. Bloom comes there too.
By mid-afternoon, the heroes of Ulysses by James Joyce begin to discuss the delights of Bloom's wife. At this time, Leopold himself was studying with interest masochistic books, deciding to take one of them home. Something happens in the lives of other characters. True, insignificant. Stephen meets his sister, and Boylan sends the wine and fruit by courier to a certain address.
Jealousy
From the Ulysses novel by James Joyce (a brief summary will help to better understand this work) we learn that Bloom suspects his wife of infidelity. He thinks she is dating her impresario. A love affair actually exists.
Bloom decides to follow Boylan. He heads to the Ormond restaurant, where he dines with his acquaintances and listens to music. From there, Boylan leaves in a wheelchair.
Here, the author draws a parallel between the wife of Bloom and Penelope. Jealousy overwhelms his soul amid exciting music. He begins to fantasize and imagine what happens at home in his absence. At this moment, he decides to answer Martha, refusing to meet immediately, continuing the game. In this way he delays pleasure.
Kiernan's zucchini
By lunchtime in Kearnan's zucchini, Irish patriots gather to discuss current affairs. They talk about personal problems, as well as about their country, which, in their opinion, is oppressed by the British and Jews. Bloom also comes here, who is looking for Cunningham to solve the issue of insurance.
Meanwhile, the patriots are drinking, they are discussing lively. With their conversations they hurt the Jew Bloom, who does not adhere to extremist views in relation to the British. It all ends with an ugly anti-Semitic trick addressed to him. When Bloom leaves the carriage, banks follow him.
By eight o’clock he arrives at the sea beach, where he masturbates, spying on one of three young girlfriends. Gertie feels his attention on him, as if by chance demonstrating underwear and other charms. Only when she leaves the beach does Bloom pay attention to her limp. Then it turns out that his watch has not been running for a long time. They stopped at half past five, Bloom suspects that at that moment Boylan was just sleeping with his wife.
Shelter for women in childbirth
Bloom does not want to return to his wife. Therefore, at 10 pm, she arrives at the maternity shelter run by Dr. Horn. There, one of the mothers having many children has suffered contractions for the third day, but cannot give birth in any way.
In a shelter for women in labor, he finds a company of young men, drunk and having fun. One of them is Stephen Daedalus. Leopold begins to drink and communicate with them. Describing this episode, it is worth noting that retelling Joyce's novel is not easy. Many episodes are written in the genre of stream of consciousness.
In the same chapter, the writer begins to experiment with literary styles. It starts with the oldest, and ends with the modern of those that are known to him. In the crowd of young men, Mulligan also actively communicates. The seductive conversations that the guys conduct are heated when a nurse comes in, who reports that the lady nevertheless gave birth. Everyone goes for a walk, and Stephen and Lynch decide to go to prostitutes. Bloom begins to feel sympathy for Stephen, so he follows.
In the heart of debauchery
By midnight, the heroes find themselves in the very center of Dublin debauchery. Bloom is drunk, hallucinations begin. He sees his parents, women friends, random people whom he met in a day. Ghosts begin to accuse him of various abominations, Leopold is forced to defend himself.
Subconsciously, he desires honors and power, and his sexual masochism is torn out. In the end, he finds himself with a prostitute, whose name is Zoya. In the brothel he meets Stephen with a friend.
Their drunken-narcotic erotic delirium continues, reality becomes impossible to distinguish from consciousness. Bloom, who turns out to be turned into a woman, is accused of perversion by those around him. Including the pleasure that he receives, spying on the betrayal of his wife. In the midst of the orgy, Stephen is the ghost of his mother, who rose from the grave. He breaks the chandelier, runs out of the brothel, where he begins to fight with the soldiers. Bloom somehow manages to resolve the impending scandal. In a young man lying on the ground, he recognizes his son Rudy, who died in infancy, 11 years ago.
The third part
Ulysses is rightly considered an exemplary work of literature in English. The final, third part of the novel consists of only a few episodes. By one o’clock in the night, Stephen and Bloom find themselves in the cabman’s shelter teahouse. They sit in a corner, try to talk, but each time the conversation comes to a standstill.
Bloom shows Stephen a photograph of his wife, calls to visit. They discuss many topics that are important for drunk people, and at two in the morning they are at Bloom's house. In the kitchen, they drink cocoa, and then go to the garden, where they urinate together. Only after that they disperse.
In bed with his wife, Bloom reflects on the likely infidelity of his wife until he falls asleep.
The finale of the novel
The novel ends with the confession of Molly Bloom, which is set out on 40 pages without punctuation. She talks about her husband, boyfriends, intimate desires, in between notes that she began menstruation, which does not interfere with her erotic fantasies.
According to reviews, Ulysses is one of the key novels of the 20th century. Here, the author touches on many relevant topics.
Reviews
The novel "Ulysses" by James Joyce is devoted to many reviews. They often noted that the book became the most significant expression found by the generation. Moreover, despite the fact that many at first it remained incomprehensible.
Ulysses became a landmark in contemporary modernist literature, an essay that combined stylistic and linguistic virtuosity. Joyce's style has been recognized by all as a model of the stream of consciousness in fiction of the XX century. The author, according to critics, in his internal monologue went deeper and deeper than most novelists. This is one of the most famous works of literature in English.
Adaptations
There were several adaptations of Ulysses by James Joyce. In 1954, the peplum of Mario Camerini and Mario Bava , entitled "The Odyssey's Wanderings," came out in Italy.
In 1967, Joseph Streak transferred the novel to the screen. The last film version was released in 2006. The director was Takayuki Niva.