James Joyce's darkly colored portraits of "mother" in Dubliners

Studies in Short Fiction, Summer, 1995 by Linda Rohrer Paige

Many of the early, reviewers based their reaction to Joyce on this

aspect of his work, though they did not by any means approve of

it and then, rarely. had a clear distinction in their minds between

Joyce's treatment of sexuality and what they considered to be his

exaggerated interest in all the workings of the body. (I)

Probably the most outrageously subtle portrait of mother intimated in "A Mother" is that of a possible procuress for her daughter. joyce carefully colors the concert scene with hues of sexual ambiguity: on the surface, an angry mother emerges, demanding payment for her daughter's musical performance. Below the surface, however, lies a different story: Mrs Kearney an outraged Madame -- and no `lady' (149), we are reminded -- attempts to force customers to pay up for her "girl," to provide money for services rendered. Male characters in "A Mother" (and in other Dubliners stories) appear crippled, lame or "limping" (144) (notably, Mr Holohan(2)), a sign of their sexual ineptness or impotence. Prodded by a cheering, paying audience, whose behavior seems better suited to a brothel than to a theater -- "the clapping and stamping in the hall [are] punctuated by whistling" (146) -- the ineffectual Fitzpatrick and the "panting" Mr Holohan, who "hobbl[es] out in haste" (146), noticeably are roused to a climactic crescendo (suggestive of sexual climax) when they "burst into the room" with a payment. Mr Fitzpatrick counts out the money for Kathleen's services into Mrs Kearnev's hand (146-47).(3) When the first part of the concert ends, with Kathleen's performance "generously," and "deseryedly applauded," the men go "out for the interval, content" (147). Joyce's playful progression of word choices here, "clapping," (146) "stamping," (146) "whistling," (146) "panting" (146), and "burst[ing]" (146), coupled with the men's "content[ment]" (147) following the "scandalous exhibition" (147), all point to Kathleen's success as a consummate entertainer (suggesting that she has satisfied the men). Even Mr Bell, the tenor, anxiously anticipates Kathleen's performance -- for he "shak[es] like an aspen",(4) a seeming response to Kathleen's "gathering in her skirt" (147).(5) Thus, Joyce amusingly insinuates that Mrs Kearney, who commands everyone's attention (146), also commands, or demands, her daughter's sexual performance. By servicing Dubliners males and curing their sexual ails (impotence), Kathleen seems a marketable commodity, indeed. Ironically this daughter's "performance" may yet be another exercise in sublimation on her mother's part: after all, Kathleen's satisfying of the male audience assures Mrs Kearney of not having to engage in similar activity herself. Given this figurative reading, the reader finds as no surprise the fact that socially, this mother has crippled her daughter: secure in his station, the umbrella toting (phallic image and symbol of patriarchal power) Mr O'Madden Burke astutely hypothesizes that "Miss Kathleen's Kearney's musical career" has now ended in Dublin" (147). Ironically, Mr O'Madden Burke responds to Mrs Kearney's "scandalous exhibition" (147), her conduct -- not her daughter's at all (Joyce clues us that Kathleen is without "fault") (146). The gentleman's outrage connotes implicit patriarchal approval for Kathleen's actions (symbolically, sexual in nature).