Defense

I have a lot of homework this weekend, and so I won't be able to write very much today. I do want to say that I've changed my opinion on Leopold-- I feel that in one of my other postings I berated him for his self-satisfaction. After reading this chapter, I can better understand him. Perhaps his emphasis on sensation and dismissal of the emotionally provoking is a mechanism of comforting himself so that he is able to confront the constant hostility he faces with grace.

On Leopold's Posting

Leopold Bloom is not offended at the subtle remarks about his wife, as Stephen is when he is teased by Buck-- We learn that he knows of her infidelity, but he is not offended at that either; he rather takes it as an indication of her intellectual inferiority, seeking an affair with a more intelligent woman. It's intriguing, because Leopold is not an intellect-- he has a minor academic background, but it may have been acquired without any passion or interest, out of the bourgeois habit of acquiring enough education to find a job that does not entail labor. Yet he considers himself more intelligent than his wife, who does not have an academic background. Did Leopold post the listing in the paper out of a sense of inadequacy-- did he seek an intelligent companion with whom he could develop intellectually? Or was it out of self-satisfaction-- did he hope to find someone who might elevate his social status, someone whom he might consider superior to Molly? Leopold seems to be a self-satisfied character; he doesn't acknowledge the disrespect of the other characters-- perhaps he is not even aware of it. Confidence and pleasure seem to distinguish him, at this point in the novel-- I might argue the latter reason.

Bloom and Milly

Bloom evaluates the attractiveness of his daughter, and is supportive and appreciative of her emerging sexuality. Some fathers stifle the sexuality of their daughters by teasing them or making hostile remarks; this creates nervousness in the daughter, a sort of fear of sexuality. I think that the same is true for sons with dominant mothers. Milly lives with no such restraints, and this allows for her sexual freedom-- I suspect that we will see the manifestation of this later in the novel.

(The novel is rife with subtext in the relationships between the characters, and I notice parallels between them and the people I know... It's really a novel of complex characterizations that provoke a lot of analysis-- It's meditative rather than stylized; I feel like a lot of thought has been given to the reasons for each character's behavior.)

"Abbas father, furious dean, what offence laid fire to their brains?"

In “Proteus,” Stephen wonders why others provoke him. Unable to think of a good reason, he continues his walk down the beach...

There are lots of small things about him, certainly: He would read the first two pages of a lot of books when he was younger, he lusts after a fubsy woman, and a girl in darned yellow stockings. He brings up the past offenses of his friend long after the fact, and makes frequent comparisons between himself and Hamlet.

Buck seems smarter than Stephen-- he’s quicker and more articulate. Throughout the first chapter he dismisses Stephen for an “agenbite of inwit,” a “jejune jesuit,” “dogsbody,” and “the bard’s noserag.” He tells him, “I’m hyperborean as much as you.” All of these belittlements seem to imply that Buck disapproves of Stephen’s amour propre, which is humorous when taken into account with his aforementioned traits-- and could warrant an offhanded jibe once in awhile.

Could the reasons for such provocations run deeper, though? Could Buck and Mr. Deasy perceive some glance of Stephen’s as dismissive, or take his daydreaming as a sign of disinterest in them, and feel demeaned? Is their teasing a form of self-assertion?

Or is the reason less understandable? Are they simply cruel, and merely provoke him because he cannot assert himself?