Theme Of Irish Identity In James Joyce's Telemachus

One of the main themes in Ulysses’ first episode, Telemachus is the issue of Irish identity and what it means to be Irish. The protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, struggles with his Irish identity and often criticises various aspects of living in Ireland. Various situations arise in which we may find different views and perceptions of the concept of “Irishness” and how Stephen reacts to them. The implications seem to be that James Joyce was attempting to criticise the ideal views of living in Ireland, and he draws on different aspects of Irish symbolism to achieve this. Throughout Telemachus, there is a conflict between the Irish and British view of Irish culture, to emphasise Joyce’s view on ‘Irishness’. He draws on Irish folklore and literature that are often contradicted with Stephen’s thoughts, further showing his confusion about identity and culture.

When we first meet Stephen, he is sullen and seems almost bitter in his views of ‘Irishness’. He reacts wearily when Buck Mulligan pokes fun at his name being Greek and not Irish, making the reader take notice at his discomfort about what is thought of as being inherently Irish. He does not take kindly to Buck Mulligan’s jokes, and in one resentful reply, he sums up his unpleasant view of what it means to be Irish, “It is a symbol of Irish art. The cracked looking glass of a servant” (Joyce; 5) Far from idealistic, this implies a rather raw and heavy view of his life. This may explain part of his dislike for Haines, a man from Oxford who could represent British rule over Ireland at the time, and what Stephen might see as a cause for their lack of identity. Stephen’s distasteful beliefs of life in Ireland are cemented in the form of the old milkmaid, whom he imagines in rich terms, as ...

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...ost and what it should be. This, however, seems a false sense of ‘Irishness’ at the time, though Haines claims Stephens resentment towards it has history to blame. Joyce uses various Irish texts to emphasise his point; using them in instances where they can be contradicted, or where they can mimic his own beliefs. He is attempting to shed light on the lack of Irish tradition under British rule and stifled by the Catholic Church. According to Williams, “the Roman Catholic Church and the colonial British state had a profound effect upon Joyce's consciousness.” ( 1991 ;39).‘Irishness’, therefore, is seen as having many different layers; the classic tradition that it once had, referred to in folk tales, and the harder view of what it has become through a lack of identity. This is shown through Stephen’s confusion and cynicism about what that identity actually entails.