Joyce

While we were discussing the first two chapters of James Joyce's Ulysses I was caught by an analogy in that stream of consciousness from Stephen Dedalus's perspective. The old lady comes in and serves milk to her conqueror, and the gay betrayer. It's meant to be read on at least three different levels simultaneously, but I picked up on one that Joyce definitely never intended. The phrase "gay betrayer" coupled with the image of Buck Mulligan, the large, jocular irishman reminded me instantly of Bruce Campbell's character on the USA show "Burn Notice." The conqueror could Michael's new handler, and just like Stephen Dedalus is feeling trapped in Dublin, Michael is stuck in (was it Miami?). Anyway. It almost made me laugh out loud.

We got to another place where we discussed betrayal. Queen Penelope in the Odyssey was true to her husband, but Stephen Dedalus is often compared to Hamlet. Queen Gertrude was certainly not as pristine. That image of the Queen caving to a usurper was extremely familiar, and I remembered the Alliterative Queen Guinevere. She gave the sword Caliburn to Mordred, and then disappeared into a convent when she heard Arthur was returning.

Sadly, James Joyce is certain never to have heard of Burn Notice in 1904. Nor is he particularly likely to have used such a strongly English story cycle as King Arthur. He did live in Paris for a while. That may indicate that he'd be more likely to use the French Vulgate Arthur, if he were to use the stories at all. Still, these are pretty fun images to play around with.