1 Telemachus
The understanding of Ulysses, in the opinion of Joyce himself, demands a kind of framework that gives clues to the reader. We have first to fit within the schemes proposed by James Joyce, which was created synthetically, containing controversies or inconsistencies, which will be discussed. However, I recognize that this method that Joyce foresaw is the best way, but has to cover more reality than he did in his scheme (there is so much more than the binding elements he selected). This has to be connected with a way of thinking that allows its use, in our case, rational, objective, "scientific". This discussion for clarification and justification of the framework I propose can be seen by pressing on each item presiding agglutination used. These binding elements of cohesion, connection, focus and unification, are determined using the Linatti scheme and adding others.
Take a look at Joyce Project and press Telemachus. You will find there 157 notes about Telemachus.
It doesn't hurt to go to Schmoop (Shmoop Editorial Team. "Ulysses Episode 1: Telemachus Summary." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.)
Glueing, cohesive, bonding, focus, unifying elements:
In red: text available only in Portuguese, waiting to be translated
| TIMETABLE | 08:00 AM |
| SCENE |
A "Martello" tower (erected by the British to repel the French invasion during the Napoleonic wars) in Sandycove on the coast of the Dublin Bay, seven miles southeast of Dublin |
| ORGAN | None |
| ART | Theology |
| COLOURS | White, gold |
| SYMBOL | Inheritance, succession |
| TECHNIQUE | Narrative, dialogue between 3, 4, people, soliloquy |
| MEANING | Disinherited son, stripped of everything, fighting and struggling with effort |
| SIMETRY |
As Prof. Don Gifford tells us, the book I of Homer's Odyssey opens with the invocation of the muse followed by an account of how the council of gods on Olympus, led by Zeus, decides it's time for Odysseus to return home. The scene then changes to Ithaca where we find Telemachus, son of Odysseus, "one boy dreaming with the return of his father," in Fitzgerald's words. The boy is angry and unhappy, threatened with treason and loss of position by suitors surrounding his mother, Penelope, during the absence of his father. These arrogant men are led by Antinous and Eurymachos. Telemachus seeks counsel of the gods and Pallas Athens is revealed to him as his protector. She advises him to travel in search of his father. |
| PARALEL WITH HOMER | Telemachus
= Hamlet = Stephen = Ireland Antinous = Mulligan Mentor = Milkwoman Pallas (Atenas) Suitors Penelope = mother Meaning, Interpretation |
| SUMARY |
Stephen Dedalus,
his friend Buck Mulligan (medical student), and his English friend from
Oxford , Haines, are waking up and getting ready for the day. |
| FINAL INTERPRETANT |
It is everything which is there or the effect that is produced in our mind after sufficient development of thought that follows below, under the title "where to find all that in the original text of Ulysses" |
Where to find all that in the original text of Ulysses"
Let's reverse the above sequence, starting from the bottom up, leaving the Final Interpretant to end, that is:
1. Summary
2. Parallel to Homer
3. Symmetry
4. Meaning
5. Final Interpretationl
Timetable, Scene, Organ, Art, Colors, Shape, Technic will be combined in a specific comment, but can be part of items 1-5.
1 - Summary
Summaries will be placed in a repository, which together form the summary of the book. Check there the summary for Telemachus
2 - Parallel to Homer
Parallel to Homero for this chapter should be contextualized at Parallel to Homer<
Homer Signs
Antinous is a name that means "without common sense" which Don Gifford relates to "antimind" and perhaps it might be worth to find out if Homer wanted to relate to the god Antinous, with connotations that I leave to the imagination of readers. There are several Eurymachos, which can also be seen in, but to our interests, is the child Pybus, who went down in history as Penelope suitor. Don Gifford does not say it clearly, but it is interesting to note that Eurymachos, Antinous and the applicants disrespected the gods when they dispensed Telemacus, which was favored by Athena and Halitherses, which are spokespersons of the will of the gods. When they disregarded this will of the gods they put themselves in opposition to the divine law and therefore they will be punished. Don Gifford intorms details about this attitude of applicants (pg 12). Athena helps Telemachus to get the vessel and the crew for their trip to the mainland.
There is a difference between the schema that Joyce gave Gilbert Stuart and the one he gave Linatti, and it is worth mentioning that it relates Stephen with Hamlet, which makes by implication his uncle Claudio Antinous Buck Mulligan and the milkwoman the mentor.
In the scheme given to Linatti, Hamlet is Ireland and Stephen and at the cross reference characters, without indicating correspondence, it appears as Mentor, connected by brackets with Pallas Athena, the suitors and Penelope (Muse). It's interesting because only in Columbia scheme appears the brackets indicated by Gifford, and generally it does not appear in other reproductions, including the one I used. This course of Columbia was selected as an example.
As is discussed in Ulysses on the Liffey, the notes of Professor Seidl enlighten us a bit about it
3 - Symmetry
Symmetry of this chapter should be contextualized at Parallel to Homer< Following coments are valid:
The narrative structure that Homer used to tell his tale can be jarring if you are unprepared. The story of Odysseus would have been well-known by the time Homer crafted his definitive version, so he plunges in, fully expecting that the audience is already familiar with the hero. As with The Illiad, he begins by invoking the muse:
Sing to me of the man,
Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove –
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all,
the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod wiped from sight the day of their return.
Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
start from where you will – sing for our time too.
The adventure with the Cattle of the Sun is near the end of Odysseus’ suffering abroad, yet it is one of the first things Homer tells us. It is a narrative technique called in medias res, which means to begin “in the middle of things.” As a result, the majority of Odysseus’ most famous adventures are told in a flashback sequence that spans four lengthy chapters. We also bounce between what it happening with Odysseus abroad and what is occurring with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus back in Ithaca. Additionally, there are a few abrupt transitions to the gods conversing on Olympus. If you feel lost at any point while you read, SparkNotes has an excellent breakdown of the book that you can view for free on their website.
Prof. Don Gifford informs us that the book I of Homer's Odyssey opens with the invocation of the muse (above, with explanation that Gifford does not provide and which is timely, specially for the symmetry we want) followed by an account of how the council of gods on Olympus, chaired by Zeus, decides it's time for Odysseus to return home. The scene then changes to Ithaca where we find Telemachus, son of Odysseus, "one boy dreaming with the return of his father," in Fitzgerald's words. The boy is angry and unhappy, threatened with treason and loss of position by suitors surrounding his mother, Penelope, during the absence of his father. These arrogant men are led by Antinous and Eurymachos. Telemachus seeks counsel of the gods and Pallas Athens is revealed to him as his protector. She advises him to travel in search of his father.
The interactions occurring in Joyce's Ulysses, in this first chapter, follow the same sequence, which will gradually making sense, before they become clear as you can see below in the Final Interpretation and what goes on in our mind is more or less the following:
The episode opens with Buck mocking the actions of a priest at mass, an affront to the previously devout Dedalus, and an image that highlights Buck’s disrespectful and boisterous nature. Buck calls Stephen a “fearful Jesuit” and pokes fun at the Greek origin of his last name, calling it “absurd.” Buck nicknames Stephen “Kinch,” meaning knife-blade, which opposes Buck’s own “stately, plump and “ungirdled” appearance. Buck’s loud and theatrical gestures as he mimics the priest contrast with Stephen’s slow, weary, and quiet ones. Buck’s “light” appearance—he is wearing a yellow robe, is covered in white shaving cream, has “white teeth glistening here and there with gold points,” and has “light untonsured hair, grained and hued like pale oak” underscores Stephen’s dark, somber appearance. Buck mocks Stephen for wearing second-hand clothing, for continuing to wear only black as he mourns his mother’s death, and for his infrequent bathing patterns. The physical contrasts between the two further highlight the alienation and sobriety that define Stephen.
After Buck concludes his performance of the mass, Stephen asks how much longer the Englishman Haines will be staying with them in the tower. The presence of Haines immediately brings forward the tension between English and Irish identities—wherever Stephen goes he cannot escape the haunting force of the Englishman. Buck backhandedly criticizes Stephen by telling him that Haines thinks that he is not a gentleman. Stephen worries about the violent nature of Haines, who screamed about a black panther in the middle of the previous night. “You saved men from drowning. I’m not a hero, however, if he stays on here I am off,” Stephen tells Buck. Haines poses an even greater threat to Stephen, the artist, than to Buck, the strong and “heroic” doctor.
Buck, Haines, and Dedalus exit the castle and walk along the water. Buck continues his theatrical gestures as he taunts Stephen and chants a song, “the ballad of joking Jesus,” before he walks ahead. Stephen and Haines are left to one another and engage in a calm conversation. Stephen accepts a cigarette from Haines, a friendly, accepting gesture, even though the cigarette case, silver with an emerald is a symbol of the small gem that Ireland is to the dominant England, as pointed out by Blamires (p.7). Stephen realizes that the “the cold gaze which had measured him was not all unkind” and he discusses the servitude he feels to his English and Italian masters and eventually to the “imperial British state and the holy Roman catholic and apostolic church.” Haines is understanding of Stephen and concludes, “it seems history is to blame.” Haines’s statement cements the English dominance Stephen experiences and separates Haines, though he is an Englishman, from the damage that has been done.
Haines and Dedalus catch up to Buck who undresses and gets into the water. Haines says he will wait to go in. Buck demands that Stephen give him the key to the tower. He also demands an extra two-pence from Stephen. Stephen places the key and money on Buck’s clothing and begins to walk away. Buck tells Stephen to meet them at “The Ship” at noon for lunch. Stephen, however, has already decided that he will not sleep in the tower that night. His statement “Home also I cannot go,” underscores the sense of lostness and aloneness that fills him. Stephen has no true home to return to. Buck has taken away Stephen’s final scraps of a home life. Buck has seized Stephen’s physical belongings: his handkerchief, his money, his space in the house through Haines’s presence, and finally his key. His disrespectful nature and the abrasive, intrusive way with which he interacts with Stephen forces Stephen to face himself and the actions that haunt him. Through Buck’s usurpation, Stephen must leave the tower and face the world outside.
These interactions were contextualized with visual images and comments directly on the text in:
4 - Meaning
Joyce tells us through the scheme he gave Linati: "Son disinherited, stripped of everything, fighting and struggling with effort"
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