Celibacy In Dubliners

6 Pages 1538 Words

Celibacy in the Lives of Dubliners

Today’s society is very accepting of premarital and other forms of casual sex. After puberty, age, sex, and social standing have little influence in our ideas of acceptable sexual interaction. Just the opposite was true of Ireland in the early decades of the 1900’s. This time sets the scene for the characters in a collection of short stories by James Joyce, entitled “Dubliners”. Celibacy plays a subtle part in several of the stories included in “Dubliners”. A number of the characters remain celibate because of their age, sex or because the social customs of Ireland in the early 1900’s frowned upon informal sex. Other characters in “Dubliners” decide to remain celibate of their own accord, seemingly unaware of, or unconcerned with sex. Our lax view of sexual interaction is very different than that of 18th century Dublin.
The young, unnamed boy in “Araby” and Michael Furey from “The Dead” are directly influenced, and restricted by their age and sex. The young boy from “Araby” is a common love struck teenager, possibly thirteen or fourteen. Filled with adolescent lust, he is enamored with his playmate’s older sister. He cannot find the courage to confront her with his feelings, but instead, thinks about her constantly and lustfully. “I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.”(22). The phrase “summons to all my foolish blood” could allude to the sexual arousal of the pubescent boy. This would clearly be an indication that his intentions for her would lead to some relationship of intimacy and hopefully a sexual interaction. However, he is young and innocent and she appears mature and womanly in this story. He is intimidated by her and prevents the fulfillment of his dreams by never talking to her.
Michael Furey remains celibate in “The Dead” because he dies a virgin...