Group 7

The boarding house

by James Joyce
Members:
Nguyen Tan Phat - 47.01.751.051 Hoang Truong Giang- 47.01.751.118
Dinh Thi My Linh - 47.01.751.156 Tran Nguyen Mai Linh -
Nguyen Thi Kim Chi - 47.01.751.164
47.01.751.108 Tran Dang Tuong Vi - 47.01.751.274
Tran Thi Ngoc Ngan - 47.01.751.042 Vo Le Thi Thuy Duong -
47.01.751.115
 Table of content
1.Author & notable works
2.Setting​
3.Plot​
4.Point of view​
5.Character​
6.Theme​
7.Symbol​
8.Figurative language​
9.Style & Tone
I. Author and notable works
1. Author James Joyce (1882-1941)
• An Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic.
• Born in Rathgar, a village just outside central
Dublin, Ireland.
• Joyce studied at University College, Dublin. After
graduating, he moved to Paris with the idea of
becoming a doctor, though he soon abandoned this
plan in favor of literary pursuits.
• Though Joyce had denounced the Catholic Church
as a young man, a Catholic spirit infuses much of
his work.
• He contributed to the modernist avant-garde
movement.
I. Author and notable works
2. Notable works
• Joyce’s first book, Dubliners, was published in
1914, though Joyce had been writing the short
stories it contained for a decade.
• Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922)
• The short-story collection Dubliners (1914)
• The novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
(1916)
• "The Boarding House" is a short story by James
Joyce published in his 1914 collection Dubliners.
 II. Setting
Location Time
Mrs Mooney’s boarding house At the beginning of the twentieth
in Dublin century in the summer

“It was a bright Sunday morning of early

summer, promising heat, but with a fresh
breeze blowing”
 III. Plot
Climax Exposition
Mrs. Mooney, who was once married to a drinker, separated
from her husband and set up a boarding house with her two
children, Jack and Polly. Polly flirted with many guys and
ction

Fall

seemed to go further with Mr. Doran

in
ng A

gA

Rising Action
Risi

ctio

Polly’s relationship with Mr. Doran had progressed. She

n

Exposition watched the pair and kept her own counsel with her mother.
 III. Plot
Climax Climax
• The cunning Mrs. Mooney demands to talk to her lodger
Mr. Doran after observing his convert fling with her
daughter Polly.
ction

Fall

• Mr. Doran was anxious and scared of losing his job and
in
ng A

reputation.
gA

• Polly cried on her bed, recalling Mr. Doran’s

Risi

ctio

disapproving employer and past threats.

n

• Mr. Doran didn’t know whether he should get married to

Exposition Polly or not
 III. Plot
Climax Falling Action
Mrs. Mooney calls her downstairs, saying that Mr. Doran
would like to talk to her.
ction

Fall
in
ng A

gA
Risi

ctio
n

Exposition
IV. Point of view
Although the stories are told in the third person,
the focus shifts among different characters.
There are three distinct shifts:
• The perspective of Mrs. Mooney.
• Mr. Doran’s perspective.
• The perspective of Polly.
 V. CHARACTERS
• the protagonist

• a “butcher’s daughter”

• separated from her alcoholic husband

• the owner of the Boarding house

• has 2 children: Jack and Polly

Mrs Mooney
picture shown is for illustration purpose only
 V. CHARACTERS

The appearance
“Mrs.Mooney, who had taken what remained
of her money out of the butcher business and
set up a boarding house in Hardwicke Street,
was a big imposing woman”

Mrs Mooney
picture shown is for illustration purpose only
 V. CHARACTERS
Mrs. Mooney is a proficient social manipulator

In handling of Polly's relationship with In her negotiation with Mr. Doran

Mr. Doran

• play the role of the outraged mother

-> carefully orchestrated the situation to
• tap into the societal pressure for Mr.
her advantage
Doran
 V. CHARACTERS

Mrs. Mooney tends to prioritize material gains

When Mrs. Mooney confronts Mr. emphasizes Mr. Doran's financial

Doran about his affair with Polly stability
 V. CHARACTERS
Protectiveness and Concern for her Daughter

pressures Mr. Doran into marrying Polly

Mrs Mooney
willing to intervene in Polly's affairs and negotiate on her
behalf
 V. CHARACTERS
Mrs. Mooney exhibits strength and resilience
in navigating her circumstances

Taking charge of her life,

Having experienced the
actively seeking opportunities to
trauma of an abusive and
improve her situation and protect
alcoholic husband
her daughter, Polly.
 V. CHARACTERS

• the antagonist
• 19-year-old daughter of Mrs Mooney
• does housework around the boarding
house
• in a relationship with Mr Doran

picture shown is for illustration purpose only

Polly Mooney
 V. CHARACTERS

The appearance
“Polly was a slim girl of nineteen; she had light
soft hair and a small full mouth. Her eyes,
which were grey with a shade of green through
them, had a habit of glancing upwards when
she spoke with anyone, which made her look
like a little perverse Madonna.”

picture shown is for illustration purpose only

Polly Mooney
 V. CHARACTERS
Polly is under the control of her mother, Mrs. Mooney.

At first, Mrs. Mooney (Polly’s

Then, When Polly had taken her
mother) sent her to work for a
mother’s boarding house
typist in a corn factory's office.
housework, her mother began to
-> she had taken her daughter
think of sending Polly back to
home again and set her to do
typewriting.
housework.
 V. CHARACTERS
Polly was originally a young woman with youthful dreams.

• She has a desire for love, manipulates Mr. Doran, who does not love her, but
anyway, she is still an innocent girl.

• The only way to achieve a decent future for Polly is to impersonate the naivete
expected of women.
 V. CHARACTERS
Polly is a victim of 20th century Dublin’s society.

Polly seems distraught that her mother

has discovered the relationship.

She’s alone she escapes into

cheerful hopes and visions of
the future.
 V. CHARACTERS
Mr Doran

• the antagonist
• a lodger at Mrs. Mooney’s boarding house
• 34 or 35 years old
• “a serious young man, not rakish or loud-voiced”
• had been employed for thirteen years in a great Catholic wine merchant's
office
 V. CHARACTERS
Passivity even when he knew he was being trapped

Mrs. Mooney orchestrates the he feels trapped but does

situation to ensure that Mr. not protest. he passively
Doran will marry Polly accepts his fate
 V. CHARACTERS
He is cautious and conventional when making decisions.

Having already endured the pain of confessing the

affair to the pries

He is concerned about his reputation and the potential

consequences of his actions
 V. CHARACTERS
He is lack of assertiveness

He hesitates when he stuck in a He hesitates to accept or reject his

dilemma: keep his freedom or romantic entanglement with a woman
marry her to compensate from a lower social background.
V. CHARACTERS

He is an empathetic and caring man

Despite his own turmoil

Doran tries to offer comfort to Mary
 V. CHARACTERS

• Jack is one of Mrs. Mooney’s two children

• Jack is a side character

• Jack was a clerk to a commission agent in

Fleet Street

Jack Mooney
picture shown is for illustration purpose only
 V. CHARACTERS
Jack is a brutish who is known for acting violently, betting,
swearing and coming home late

“He was fond of using soldiers' obscenities” He likes to swear

“usually he came home in the small hours” Jack usually comes home late

“he was always sure to be on to a good Jack seems to be keen on making a profit
thing-that is to say, a likely horse or a likely through unreliable and risky means =>
artiste” betting on a horse race or a person/
performer
 V. CHARACTERS
Jack is also a drunkard who can pose a threat to other
people
“On the last flight of stairs he passed Jack Mooney who was
coming up from the pantry nursing two bottles of Bass”

Jack can be seen drinking from two bottle

of beers, this action further intimidates Mr.
Makes Mr. Doran scared and more likely to
Doran as a drunken brutish such as Jack
accept the marriage
can easily cause physical harm to him
 V. CHARACTERS
Jack possess an intimidating physical appearance and he is
a volatile individual
“They saluted coldly; and the lover’s eyes rested for a second or
two on a thick bulldog face and a pair of thick short arms.”

Mr. Doran describes Jack as having a face Comparing a human to an animal suggests
similar to that of a bulldog, a breed of dog that Jack, in his drunken state, can act
that is considered to be very hostile with unexpectedly and violently like a wild
terrifying characteristics animal.
 V. CHARACTERS
Jack possess an intimidating physical appearance and he is
a volatile individual

“Jack kept shouting at him that if any
fellow tried that sort of a game on with
his sister he’d bloody well put his
teeth down his throat, so he would.”
Jack is still Polly’s brother and he
feels entitled to comment on and
respond violently to any romantic or
sexual interactions of hers that he
disapproves of as it had happened
before.
 VI. THEMES

Being stuck under the social

expectation is a source of agony.
 VI. THEMES

Men want lodging,

but women want home.
 VI. THEMES

People are victims of their surrounded

environment.
 VII. Symbols
The boarding house The cleaver
symbolizes the forceful and decisive
represents a micro-society of Dublin
power of social oppression.
 VII. Symbols
“The Madam” The song that
Polly Mooney sang
shows the strength of Mrs Mooney
in the story symbolizes her flirtatious and bad
characteristics
“All the resident young men spoke of her
as The Madam.” “I'm a ... naughty girl.
You needn't sham:
You know I am.”
 VII. Symbols
“Perverse Madonna” George Church/Priest
a representation of highlights the involvement of the
an immoral female catholic church in Ireland at the
time James Joyce
 VII. Symbols
“Mooney” Pier-glass
the symbol of “money” implies self-reflection
and self-examination
 VIII. Figurative language

Metaphor Personification

Simile Alliteration
 1. Metaphor
1. "On the last flight of stairs, he passed Jack Mooney who was coming up from the pantry
nursing two bottles of Bass. They saluted coldly, and the lover’s eyes rested for a second
or two on a thick bulldog face and a pair of thick short arms."
foreshadows a possible confrontation or violence related to Mr. Doran's affair
with Polly.

2. "Jack kept shouting at him that if any fellow tried that sort of a game on with his sister
he’d bloody well put his teeth down his throat, so he would."
Mr. Doran clearly worried that he will be the target of some
vitriolic backlash
 2. Personification

"The Boarding House gossiped too."

This personification adds a sense of intrigue and liveliness to the setting,

contributing to the story's atmosphere.
 3. Simile
1. "Her false hair hung down her back in brown plaits that reached nearly to her knees and
looked like ropes."
Ropes suggest control or manipulation, hinting at a manipulative side to Polly or a use of
her persona for her own ends. However, ropes can also symbolize security, implying
Polly's wig might be a shield for her true self.

2. "She dealt with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat."

her decisive and ruthless nature in dealing with difficult situations, highlighting her
pragmatic and unyielding character.
 4. Alliteration
“[Mr. Mooney] was a shabby stooped little drunkard with a white
face and a white moustache and white eyebrows, penciled above his
little eyes, which were pink-veined and raw.”

Creates a languid rhythm, reflecting the boring repetition in Mr.

Mooney. His daily life has become a slog that he cannot transcend.
 IX. Style and Tone
Style
• More accessible to the casual reading audience than the stream-of-
consciousness techniques John utilizes in his novels.

• Engages its characters with removal, positioning readers as external

observers instead of the stream of a single character's consciousness.

• The structure adheres to that of a traditional narrative, chronicling the

relatively simple lives of a Dublin family.
 IX. Style and Tone
Tone
• The narrator uses an incisive, diagnostic tone -> connecting
characters' feelings, impulses, and actions to broader social patterns.

• Joyce takes care to distinguish between the characters' observations

and the narrator's subsequent interpretations. For instance: “She was
sure she would win. To begin with she had all the weight of social
opinion on her side: she was an outraged mother.”
 Wrap up
Setting
Place: Mrs. Mooney's boarding house in Dublin
Time: At the begining of the twentieth century in the
summer
Characters
Mrs. Mooney: protagonist
Mr. Doran, Polly Mooney: antagonist
Mr. Mooney: Mrs. Mooney's husband (side character)
Jack Mooney: the son of Mrs.Mooney (side character)
 Wrap up
Themes
• As a result of social expectations, people often suffer from a
feeling of paralysis - some feeling of being stuck.
• Marriage serves as a fixture of life that women in Dublin cannot
avoid, therefore, strategy and acceptance are the only means of
survival.
• Sometimes, religion is exploited and turned into a controlling
force that impressions and oppresses individuals.

Symbolism
The boarding house, the cleaver, “The Madam”, The song that Polly
Mooney sang, George Church/Priest, “Mooney”.