When I wrote my blog entry for the Nausicaa episode I anticipated that an interesting contrast between Gerty and Molly's perspectives would emerge in this chapter. The contrasts are definitely there, but I was surprised by how similar the two women are. They are both fiercely competitive with other women. They both make enormous mistakes about the subjects of their sexual fantasies. And they both have sentimental perspectives on sexuality.
On the other hand, Molly is much more honest with herself than Gerty is. Sometimes strikingly so. She hates it when people skip over dirty words and doesn't seem to care if her sexual episodes are revealed to others. Both put down other women. But Molly is more lucid about it. She mocks older women and their futile attempts to remain attractive. But she almost simultaneously acknowledges that she will one day be in the same boat.
Molly's misunderstandings about Stephen are very similar to the mistakes Gerty makes about Bloom. Molly hilariously fantasizes about Stephen swimming in the bay, unaware that he is terrified of water. She presumes that he is clean, but he hasn't bathed in months. She thinks she might impress him if she reads books that he likes or if she teaches him Spanish. She hates atheists without realizing that Stephen is an avid one.
This pattern of misunderstandings about desired objects is really important to the book. Many of the narrative styles that Joyce takes on function on false presumptions and misunderstandings. The "climactic anticlimax" of the novel in the Eumaeus episode is what it is because Bloom fundamentally misunderstands Stephen, defying the empathy that is the source of his heroism.
Molly's candidness about sexuality puts her in stark contrast to Gerty. Gerty doesn't directly mention Blooms masturbation, her approaching menstruation or her limp in her own thoughts. Molly greets this kind of material readily in her consciousness, including her own faults. But Molly's sexual appetite isn't all that different from Gerty's. Both characters focus on long kisses. They don't merely seek pure sexual gratification. They want to be watched and admired. It's significant that Molly wishes her garters were hanging up for Stephen to see. Gerty orgasmic experience took place when she revealed her underwear to Bloom. Molly's thoughts dwell on Gibraltar, Moorish sailors, and other centers of foreignness. Bloom appeals to Gerty because of his foreign features.
I'm not sure what to make of all this except that it's not too admirable for Joyce to attribute these stereotypes to both major female characters. But I like these coincidences anyway. Maybe its because I read them as symbols connectivity throughout Dublin. The fact that Gerty and Molly both menstruate within hours of each other testifies pretty strongly to this. The women in Bloom's life...are...consubstantial?
1 comment:
I also pinned up Gerty's and Molly's sections next to each other. While the thoughts Gerty have are narrated, Molly's are her own. It makes me wonder if Joyce thinks there is some truth to the woman portrayed in Paul de Cock novels. Rather, he could sort of mocking himself. Joyce is a man and cannot have a woman's perspective. So anything he writes will be like a romantic novel. And I think this theme is found in how Bloom has "feminine" thoughts.
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