Commentaire composé The Bording House

« 1 THE BOARDING HOUSE JAMES JOYCE INTRODUCTION "The Boarding House is one of 15 stories in James Joyce's collection of short stories, Dubliners, published in 1914.

The collection reflects life in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century and each of the stories offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary Dubliners while portraying a nation. After a difficult marriage to an alcoholic husband, Mrs.

Mooney opened a boarding house to earn her life .

Polly, her daughter, sta ys with her to entertain the tenants and help her.

Surrounded by so many young men, she develops a relationship with one of them, Mr.

Doran.

Ms.

Mooney asks to speak to him to convince him, now that he has become intimate with Polly, to marry her.

Before s he has an answer, she is convinced that he will choose the option that will hurt his career the least.

In this excerpt, Mr.

Doran worries about his impending meeting with Ms.

Mooney.

As he prepares awkwardly for this meeting, he recalls the confession he m ade to the priest the day before, who severely reprimanded him for his love affair.

He knows he has no choice but to marry Polly or run away, the latter option risking ruining his solid reputation.

Convinced that he has been duped, Mr.

Doran denigrates Pol ly's family, his bad manners and his poor verbal skills.

He wonders if he can still remain free and unmarried.

At this point, Polly enters the room and threatens to end her life.

Her presence awakens memories in Mr.

Doran : he remembers being bewitched by Polly's beauty and kindness, yet he still hesitates about his decision.

He comforts her before joining Mrs.

Mooney, leaving her alone in the room.

So, The Boarding House describes the consequences of an affair between a man and a young woman in early 20th century Dublin. We will ask ourselves by what ways does the author manage to create a moving picture of the characters , their integrity and the society ? To do this, we will see that society's viewpoint weighs on the characters and that it serves as a real gateway to manipulation.

Then we will observe that behind the apparently naive and innocent Polly's character there is in fact a woman with power.

Finally, we will see how religion, through its immoral character, manages to create a sense of guilt from si n.

I.

The view of society as a gateway to manipulation The flirting between Mr.

Doran and young Polly takes place in the house where he is a boarder, run by Polly's mother, Mrs.

Mooney.

There is a heavy atmosphere and the boarding house seems to be a microcosm of Dublin, a city in which "everyone knows everyone else's business" - and judges these matters according to strict social and religious morals.

And Mr Doran is fully subject to this social scrutiny.

Faced with the judgment of his employer, the p riest, his family and even his friends, he feels he has only two options: marry Polly or run away.

The narrator expresses this dilemma through a rhetorical question - "What could he do but marry her or run away? ».

Polly's mother seems to have appropriated the rigid social rules that weigh on the city to trap Mr.

Doran into marrying her daughter.

So when he is called to talk to her, he feels "more helpless than ever".

He has no control over his own destiny.. »