30 (U162.476)

He goes back, weary of the creation

30th cast. page 162, line 476.

He goes back, weary of the creation he has piled up to hide him from himself, an old dog licking an old sore. But, because loss is his gain, he passes on towards eternity in undiminished personality, untaught by the wisdom he has written or by the laws he has revealed. His beaver is up.

 

File:File-Hamlet, Prince of Demark Act I Scene IV.png - Wikimedia Commons

Episode 9. Stephen's dialogue or thoughts discussing Hamlet in the library. The subject of Episode 9 is a play, and Stephen is playing himself. So we don't know if this is really what he thinks.

 

I think he “He”, in this passage, means Shakespeare.

 

As I wrote in the 21st post of this blog, Stephen's theory equates Shakespeare with the father-king of Hamlet.

 

Shakespeare was seduced by Anne Hathaway, and had to marry her. His wife Anne had an illicit relationship with Shakespeare's brother Richard. This relationship is thrown into Hamlet.

 The father-king, Hamlet, was assassinated by his brother, Claudius, and the king's wife, Gertrude, married Claudius.

 It is very difficult to figure out what the passage in this blog means. Considering the 21st post of the blog, I've come to the conclusion that it means the followings.

Joyce considers the following two relationships to be parallel

                Creator --- Created Object
            A.  God     ---   The world
            B.  Artist   ---   His/her works
                (e.g. Shakespeare)  ---  (e.g. Hamlet)

And the following father-son relationships are considered in parallel.

                Father          ---   Son

            a. God              ---   His consubstantial son, Christ

            b. Shakespeare  ---   His alter ego, the father-king Hamlet

            c. The father-king Hamlet ---  His son. prince Hamlet

Consubstantiality is a concept that explains the theory of the Trinity, that the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit are essentially one entity, although they have three hypostasis.

This term is used six times in Ulysses. (U17.658) (U32.50) (U32.62) (U162.481) (U321.308) and (U558.538). It is one of the key words in this novel.

 "Old sore" refer to the emotional scars inflicted on Anne.

 Shakespeare, by reflecting the wounds of his heart and all his experiences in his creation, has built behind his works the status of a god-like immortal writer.

 "Loss is his gain", which means that his various traumas and conflicts depicted in his works are his gain as an author.

 

Joyce considered following relationship in parallel with A and B.

                 Creator  ---   Created Object
            C.  Joyce     ---   His works
                                   (e.g. Ulysses)

and. considered following relationship in parallel with in parallel with a b and c.

                Father      ---   Son

            d. Joyce        ---   His alter ego, Stephen

            e. Mr. Bloom  ---   His fictional son, Stephen

            

He was relentlessly obsessed with himself, his family, and his native Dublin, and tried to become a god-like creator by reflecting all of his personal surroundings in his works. This passage may explain why he wrote works like "Ulysses" and "Finnegan's Wake".

 A beaver is a shield that protects the face in Western armor. This is a quotation from Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2. The ghost of the father-king, who appears before Hamlet's confidant Horatio and his colleagues, is clad in armor and his beaver is raised.

HAMLET.

Arm’d, say you?

BOTH.

Arm’d, my lord.

HAMLET.

From top to toe?

BOTH.

My lord, from head to foot.

HAMLET.

Then saw you not his face?

HORATIO.

O yes, my lord, he wore his beaver up.

 

William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 2)

 The method of this blog ⇒ Here