The Analysis of“The Dead”on Feminist Approaches

宋昱

Abstract：This paper attempts to explore the female characters in novella “The Dead”. The paper analyzes three female images almost separately and it intends to illustrate feminism in Joyces work which vividly creates many unique women.

Key words：The Dead； Feminism； image

Ⅰ. The female Relationship

The Dead， the last novella of the Dubliners serving as an epilogue recapitulates and synthesizes the theme Joyce mentioned， has three typical female characters. These three women all have different identity and social position in the story. Gabriels confrontation with them all can reflect different view of Joyce towards women.

Lets begin with Lily. It turns out that his conversation with Lily was not very successful. He accidentally offends Lily by inquiring about her marriage prospect. The question he raised was very embarrassed and painful to Lily because Lilys relationship with her ex-boyfriend ended badly. Gabriel should feel sorry to the poor girls unfortunate experience， but his first reaction was disturbed and discomposed about himself. It seemed to remind him of something and Gabriel subconsciously realized whether he did the same thing just like Lilys man. Then Miss Ivors， an Irish nationalist， used to be Gabriels fellow students in college. At the beginning of their conversation， Miss Ivors had a “crow to pluck” with him because she saw a review of his in the Daily Express， a conservative newspaper supporting British rule. Then Miss Ivors invited Gabriel to travel to Aran Isles， while he had planed to go to the other country and used a dull excuse to refuse the invitation. Infuriated by Gabriels answer， Miss Ivors derided his lack of interest in all things in Ireland.

Gabriel and his wife， Gretta Conroy， is the most predominant case in the story and has the most complex relationship. At the beginning of the party， Gabriel and Gretta appeared to be a very happy couple， laughing and joking about goloshes. He looked after her carefully and was more concerned with her health than getting home and back to his children quickly. Thus， Gabriel didnt fail to be a husband. However， that Gabriel failed to be a lover was very obvious. When Gabriel found his wife was standing the top of the first flight and listening something， he had to look up to her. The physical location gave him a very different feeling he understood nothing about it. It was the first time Gabriel had looked up to his wife because in his mind. He was superior over her forever. He never put his wife in a place as equal as him. Obviously his understanding of wife was none the less at the face value. A wife could only play the role of wife and just did the wifes business， keeping the house tidy， or raising kids something like that， but not as an intimate company. He was self-centered his whole life. He treated his wife responsibly， but he didnt offer her the equal position in the marriage.

Ⅱ. Becoming a woman

As I have said， the three characters all can reflect different aspect from the feminist vintage point. In The Dead， James Joyce subverted the male chauvinism which advocated women were only object without subjectivity. Women can change into positive subject. They refuse being enslaved by the social controlled by men， and challenged the image defined by men. Gabriel Conroy was a typical man with the idea of the male chauvinism. He arrogantly believed that man was superior to woman and woman should stay at home and satisfy her husband whatever her own willing was. Lily， the caretakers daughter， seemed to need care and sympathy. Actually， Gabriels behavior just could reflect mens conception in society. Lily， as the servant of the house， didnt have any social status and she was just a common girl. Thus， men always thought that the material thing was enough to amuse or satisfy the women just like Lily. From that， we can know the mode how men and women do with each other and Joyces tone was tingled with irony and satire. Obvious he criticized it implicitly in his story.

Miss Ivors， the woman was quite different from Lily， actually was not the woman Gabriel wished to be. She used to be a college alumnus of Gabriel， intellectual， confident and well-educated. She involved in society and politics much more than the other two female characters. She dared embarrass Gabriel who was respectable and elitist， whereas Miss Ivors could not share the equal honor just as Gabriel had. Gabriel could be the first one making speech at the dinner and he was self-proud about himself that he thought the other people may not catch up what he said. All he cared about was his reputation and popularity. Although Miss Ivors was no worse than Gabriel on intelligence， she concerned more about her own country rather than private profit. In contrast of them， Joyces intention was clear and women should not inferior to men.

As to Gretta， wed better put her in the matrimonial Perspective. As a wife， she was the most traditional woman adhering to her husband standard. She was veiled， considerate， complied with his willing. But its just the surface revealing to her husband， Gretta disdained his authority and laughed at some of his behavior. For instance， using green shades for Toms eyes at night， making him do the dumb-bells， forcing Eva to eat the stirabout， and the ugly galoshes. She never adhered to her husband in spirit and was very independent with her own willing. She frustrated Gabriels wishful assumption. Women are not ignorant， obedient attachments who are willing to be controlled by men.

In Joyces period， men had the absolute right in Ireland and women had to stay at home. Through many Joyces female character， not only in The Dead， Joyce criticized the limited womens social position in his writings showed great sympathy to womens situation and repudiated this kind of unfair social reality.

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