James Joyce

Adaptation, Dossiers and Activities by P. Della Valle
 Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories started by a very young James Joyce in 1904 and finished in 1907.
 A feeling of stagnation pervades Dublin and its inhabitants, whose lives are dominated by frustration, inertia, alcoholism, poverty and conformity. The resulting picture is one of afflicted humanity, trying to escape from its destiny but always failing.
 Seven stories have been chosen which represent the four phases of life singled out by Joyce: childhood (An Encounter, Araby), adolescence (Eveline, The Boarding House), maturity (A Little Cloud, A Painful Case), public life (A Mother).
 The book is enriched by an introduction to Dubliners and several inserts on Joyce and the Irish literary situation of the time.
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities. 
 
 Dubliners è una raccolta di racconti iniziati da Joyce poco più che ventenne. I protagonisti sono persone comuni di Dublino viste nelle loro quotidianità. Il filo conduttore dei racconti è costituito da due elementi: la paralisi e la fuga, volta al tentativo – sempre fallimentare – di liberarsi dall’immobilismo della realtà irlandese.
 In questa antologia sono stati scelti sette racconti che rappresentano le quattro fasi della vita individuate da Joyce: l’infanzia, l’adolescenza, la maturità, la vita pubblica.

Introduction to Dubliners

Story 1 – An Encounter

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Joyce and Trieste

Story 2 – Araby

Story 3 – Eveline

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Joyce and Modernism

Story 4 – The Boarding House

Story 5 – A Little Cloud

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Joyce and the Cinema

Story 6 – A Painful Case

Story 7 – A Mother

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: The Irish Revival

Summing-up activities

Glossary

4  The Boarding House Story BEFORE READING 1 Look at the title. What is a  boarding house ? Choose the right definition from the following options. c c c c 2 A A A A building from which you go on board a plane or ship. private house where you pay to sleep and eat. small restaurant. building made of long flat pieces of wood. What kind of people do you think stayed in a boarding house in the early 20th century? c children c old people c students 3 c families c rich people c tourists c middle-class people c single women c unmarried men Here are some expressions and words including the term  board . Match them with their definitions. a. board and lodging c 1. A student who lives in the school s/he attends. b. boarding school c 2. The price of a room in a hotel that includes breakfast and dinner. c. full-board c 3. Meals and a place to stay. d. boarder c 4. Providing all meals. e. half-board c 5. A school where students live as well as study. 4 The three main meanings of the verb  to board  are: a. to get on a plane, ship, train to travel somewhere b. to pay to stay in a room in someone s house c. to stay at school at night as well as in the day Which meaning (a-b-c) do the following sentences have? 1. Mrs Smith had two young Italians who boarded with her. 2. From the age of eight, Tom boarded at his school in Kent. 3. British Airways is now boarding at gate 23. 54 

Dubliners The Boarding House Story 4 M m Mrs Mooney was a butcher s daughter. She was quite a u determined woman. She had married her father s assistant and opened a butcher s shop near Spring Gardens. But, as soon as his father-in-law died, Mr Mooney took to drinking. He plundered the till1 and ran into debt. In a short time he ruined his business by both fighting his wife in the presence of customers and by buying bad meat. One night he went for2 his wife with the cleaver3, and from that day on they lived apart. She went to the priest and got separation from her husband with care of the children. Having no money or a place to stay, Mr Mooney was obliged to enlist himself as a sheriff s man. He was a shabby4 little drunkard, with a white face and little pink-veined eyes. Mrs Mooney, on the other hand, was an imposing woman. She had taken what remained of her money out of the butcher s business and set up a boarding house in Hardwicke Street. Her house had a floating population made of tourists from Liverpool and the Isle of Man and, occasionally, artistes5 from the music halls. Its permanent population was made of clerks from the city. She governed the house cunningly6 and firmly, knew when to give credit, when to be strict and when to let things pass. All the resident young men q spoke of her as The Madam7. Mrs Mooney s young men paid fifteen shillings a week for both board and lodging (beer at dinner excluded). They all shared the same tastes and occupations and for this reason they got along well. They discussed with one another the chances of favourite horses and outsiders. Jack Mooney, the Madam s son, had the reputation of being a hard case8. Though he worked as a clerk m 1. plundered the till: stole money from the cash register. 2. went (go-went-gone) for: attacked. 3. cleaver: a heavy knife. 4. shabby: untidy. 5. artistes: (French) performers (singers, dancers, actors). 6. cunningly: tricking people in a clever way to get what she wanted. 7. The Madam: an allusion to the older woman who runs a house of prostitution. 8. hard case: someone with violent tendencies. 55 

Narrativa inglese, livello B2 intermedio, raccolta di racconti di un Joyce poco più che ventenne. Protagonisti: i dublinesi nel loro quotidiano.

Dubliners - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Dubliners

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