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- Title
Sex, Fashion, Work: James Joyce and the Late-Victorian Actress.
- Authors
Saunders, Helen
- Abstract
This article considers the presence of three late-Victorian actresses (Mrs Patrick Campbell, Eleonora Duse, and Sarah Bernhardt) in the work of James Joyce. The first appears in Joyce’s short story ‘A Mother’ (Dubliners). The strong influence of the other two is also detectable in the characterization ofUlysses’ heroines, Gerty MacDowell and Molly Bloom, and in a seminal text of late modernism,Finnegans Wake.In ‘A Mother’, Joyce’s attention to the importance of fashion on the stage and to poor working conditions for female performers calls to mind the career of Mrs Patrick Campbell. InUlysses, Gerty’s performance in ‘Nausicaa’ recalls the techniques of the Ibsenian actress Eleonora Duse, known especially for her blushing; I argue that, given this famous skill and Joyce’s fascination with her, Duse directly informs Gerty’s characterization. Finally, Molly Bloom’s repertoire of dramatic references, includingTrilby, Lillie Langtry, Sarah Bernhardt, publicity photographs, and Pineroticism, suggests Joyce’s immersion in a late-Victorian dramatic world. After sketching these connections in detail, I show that his interest in these actresses encourages scholars to continue to question the validity of traditional periodization boundaries. I end by arguing that the appearance of these actresses in these examples of early, high, and late modernism indicates the cultural richness of the long nineteenth century for Joyce, which continues throughout modernism’s successive phases.
- Subjects
JOYCE, James, 1882-1941; CAMPBELL, Patrick, Mrs., 1865-1940; DUSE, Eleonora, 1859-1924; BERNHARDT, Sarah, 1844-1923; BRITISH theater history
- Publication
Journal of Victorian Culture, 2017, Vol 22, Issue 2, p166
- ISSN
1355-5502
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1080/13555502.2017.1285810