Joyces Clay an Explication Essay -- essays papers

Joyces Clay an Explication Maria is a humble woman leading a life tinged with longing. She recognizes and values her independence, yet at the same time moves in a tide of inevitability towards the place molded out for her within the relatively staunch social caste system of Dublin. The substance of her individuality is put in jeopardy by is plasticity to external forces; she is a woman made of clay. It seems her calling within society is that of a nun, however it is evident that still flickering insider her is the dream to escape this imposed destiny, to live a life like the one depicted in the song she sings, I Dreamt that I Dwelt. The fundamental conflict between Maria's individuality and the pigeon holing forces of society is the underlying tension of the story. Joyce makes us feel that her chances are slim in standing against the currents leading her towards life in a convent. However, Maria's destiny is far from written, both literally and metaphorically, and so we are left with the esperance, however sm all, that she may break of the manacles of her born position and dare to lead a truly independent life. Maria is all things of a woman predestined to enter a convent. Even her name, meaning Mary, points to this ecclesiastical inertia. Early in the story it is Joe who says of her, "Mamma is mama but Maria is my proper mother." (Joyce, 96) Joyce knows in writing this the probability that all our minds will immediately spring to the a likely connection: that of the Mother Mary. Adding to this composite portraiture are Maria's tendencies of phrase, "Yes, my dear and No, my dear" (Joyce, 95) which, in our minds, easily adapt to the cliches of the convent Yes, my child and No, my child. Further, Maria is regarded as a "ver... ...use of selfless and humble nature of Maria, to wish for her the life she sings of in I Dreamt that I Dwelt. We fear however, that the likelihood of her ever leading a life so full of freedoms is made slim by her tragic inability to assert herself. Joyce forces the attentive reader to consider her place in society, and to examine how the balance plays out between the inner forces of self and the outer forces of society. In the end, after Maria has omitted the second verse of her song, the narrator tells us that "no one tried to show her her mistake." We are left to wonder if this instance is to be understood as representative of what the future holds for her. Will Maria ever be shown her mistake? Will she come upon it herself in a moment of introspection? Joyce is only mute to these queries, leaving us gently where he picked each of us up, to our own imaginations.