• James Joyce's Ulysses and the Philadelphia Inquirer

    Author(s):
    Jack Walker (see profile)
    Date:
    2022
    Group(s):
    Chaucer, English Literature, Irish Literature and Culture
    Subject(s):
    Joyce, James, 1882-1941, Literature, Modern
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Finnegans Wake, Ulysses, James Joyce, Modernist literature
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/sa24-wz45
    Abstract:
    This article shows that James Joyce drew inspiration from the Philadelphia Inquirer for the period 1903-1904, particularly when writing the Aeolus episode of Ulysses. The 11 Jan 1903 Sunday edition of this newspaper is shown to have inspired the "crossed keys" of Leopold Bloom in the Aeolus episode, while leading Joyce to connect Shakespeare’s "The Merry Wives of Windsor" to "some meinherr from Almany" in the Scylla and Charybdis episode. This same edition may also have inspired Lenehan’s "father of scare journalism", his "clamn dever", and editor Myles Crawford’s "Pyatt!", all in the Aeolus episode. Other portions of Ulysses that may owe their existence to this edition (the evidence is less clear) are Lenehan’s "Madam, I’m Adam", his "Able was I ere I saw Elba", and Crawford’s "History!", all in the Aeolus episode; Nosey Flynn’s "Rothschild’s filly" in the Lestrygonians episode; and Stephen’s "Usurper" in the Telemachus episode. Regarding other editions, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s 17 Mar 1904 ‘Saint Patrick’s Day edition’ provides the coffee ad that Crawford mentally superimposes over a map of Dublin in the Aeolus episode. And its 29 Mar 1903 edition helps explain the "man in the macintosh" in the Hades episode; as well as Lenehan’s "Rows of cast steel" riddle and the nine headlines beginning with MEMORABLE BATTLES RECALLED, both in the Aeolus episode. Lastly, its 16 Jun 1904 ‘Bloomsday edition’ helps explain Stephen’s "onehandled adulterer" and the headline HORATIO IS CYNOSURE THIS FAIR JUNE DAY, both in the Aeolus episode.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    1 year ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

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