Episode: Nestor
Day 4
History & Money
Pages: 31-36 (Gabler)
25-35 minutes
Podcast available
Overview
The Nestor episode concludes with Stephen's conversation with Mr. Deasy in his office. Deasy pays Stephen his wages and shares his opinions on history, money, women, and especially Jews. The headmaster asks Stephen to help get a letter about foot-and-mouth disease published. This scene is simultaneously comic and disturbing—Deasy is a pompous windbag, but his prejudices reflect real attitudes of the time.
Key Themes
- Money and its corrupting influence (Deasy's obsession with thrift)
- Anti-Semitism in early 20th-century Ireland and Europe
- The role of women in history (Deasy's misogyny)
- Irish history and English rule
- The parallel to Nestor advising Telemachus in Homer
What's Stirring
How should we read Deasy's anti-Semitic remarks? What is Joyce doing here?
What does Stephen's response to Deasy tell us about his character?
Deasy says 'All history moves towards one great goal.' What does Stephen think of this view?
How does Joyce use humor in this episode?