Ahhhhh....

'Eumaeus'. After all that excitement it's nice to calm down and have a chapter where we're not too heavily experimental. Nevertheless, this is Joyce so there's no way the path ahead is going to be completely straightforward. In this case it's using the third person narrative form in a way that confuses who we're actually referring to and who's consciousness we're invading (as it were). A 'dissolution of boundaries' according to the notes (p945, OUP 1998). 

The chapter is written in formal narrative style, with colloquialisms and old-fashioned language creeping in. Stephen is referred to as Stephen, but Leopold is called 'Mr. Bloom'.  It also uses devices such as the rhetorical question: 'O tell me where is fancy bread?' (p570, ibid), which I thought was quite Homeric. The narrator almost seems like a character in itself - quite pedantic in the sense that it is trying to be correct and somewhat wry at times.

I liked the depiction of Bloom and Stephen's growing 'companionship', for example, the way that Bloom advises him about his use of prostitutes (even though Stephen is rather resistant to Bloom's advice and suggestions). Also, the way that Bloom defends his Jewishness and views on the promotion of equality amongst classes: 'where you can live well...if you work' (p599, ibid). Despite the influence of Weininger, I don't believe that this is an anti-semitic book. Despite all his flaws, Bloom has a kind of dignity about him when he defends himself.

Despite the supposedly easier narrative style, I found the chapter quite tricky to follow at times. Perhaps this was down to when I read it. Also, I think I may have got a bit confused somewhere. What the hell is an ashplant, and why does Stephen enter and leave the brothel carrying one???

*Apparently it's a type of walking stick. I'm half disappointed here, I had visions of him wandering around with a large house plant. Just decorating the brothel!

Not an actual plant. Image link.