REPORT ON JAMES JOYCE'S ULYSSES

EPISODE 4--CALYPSO (55-70)

Episode four begins at 8:00am on Thursday, June 16, 1904, in the Bloom house. Throughout the episode, the reader follows Leopold Bloom's movements. He is seen moving "about the kitchen," up and down the stairs, off to the butcher and back, up and down stairs again, off to the privy, moving his legs, arms, jaws, and finally his bowels. The whole sensory world is mustered for this episode. Bloom is all eyes and ears, tastebuds, nostrils, fingers, as he starts the day (Ellmann 32).

As the novel opens, the reader sees Bloom busily preparing Molly's breakfast. (She is still in bed.) Bloom decides that he is hungry for a pork kidney from Dlugacz's. Kidneys are Bloom's favorite because they give "to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine" (55). On his return back home from the butcher's, "a cloud" covers the sun and darkens Bloom's mood. This cloud makes Bloom think of his ancestors, the Jews, "the oldest people, who wandered far away over all the earth, captivity to captivity" (61). The "captivity" that Bloom is speaking about is that of his ancestors in Egypt, but also about the waves of anti-Semitism in the late ninetieth century (Gifford 75). His mood darkens more when a "bent hag" crosses his path. The woman represents the "barren land, barren waste" of the world (61). He describes the scene in one word, "desolation" (61). Bloom lets this dark moment pass by thinking, "Got up wrong side of the bed" (61). Bloom returns home to find a letter for his wife from Blazes Boylan. Rather than being addressed "Mrs. Leopold Bloom," the letter is addressed to "Mrs. Marion Bloom" (61). This mode of address was ill-mannered during 1904 (Gifford 76). Bloom is now faced with the idea that his wife is unfaithful. His fears are confirmed about his wife when he sees a strip of the torn envelope showing from under a pillow (63). The episode ends with Bloom reading a story in the outhouse. He begins to daydream about Boylan's financial situations (69) but decides not to dwell on the subject. And with a sense of closure he tears "away half the prize story sharply" (70) and wipes himself with it (Fargnoli 29).

In book five of The Odyssey, Odysseus is discovered after seven years in bondage to the goddess Calypso (whose name means "the Concealer"). Athena intercedes with Zeus and sends Hermes to compel Calypso to allow Odysseus to leave the island and to continue his journey to Ithaca.

Leopold Bloom assumes the role of Odysseus, Molly Bloom assumes the role of Calypso, and together they assume the roles of captive/captor. Leopold constantly dotes upon Molly's every whim and desire and is held captive by this. Assuming the role of Calypso, Molly conceals her secret affair with B1azes Boylan from Bloom. Bloom comments about Molly's resemblance to the nymphs in The Bath of the Nymph, the picture above the bed. He says, "Not unlike her with her hair down: slimmer" (65), perhaps referring to Calypso when she offers Odysseus immortality if he will remain with her. The image of Hermes is seen in the sun: "Quick warm sunlight came running from Berkeley Road, swiftly, in slim sandals, along the brightening footpath. Runs, she runs to meet me, a girl with gold hair on the wind" (61). This message leads Bloom out of despondency and leads him home (Ellmann 38).

The theme of isolation is dominant in this episode. Bloom is in many ways representative of the modern man who spends his day in complete isolation or near complete isolation (Ryf 79). We see Bloom preparing breakfast alone and visiting the butcher alone. From the beginning, Bloom is isolated because he is a Jew and is considered an outsider by the people of Dublin. He is a Jew without a homeland, and this isolation would support Bloom's being a wandering Jew. Bloom's wife also isolates him from her because of the affair she is having with Blazes Boylan and Bloom's inability to speak in plain language to her. Bloom wanders through his day alone and finally ends his day alone in the outhouse.

Blamires, Harry. The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses. New York:

Routledge, 1996.

Ellmann, Richard. Ulysses on the Liffey. New York: Oxford U P, 1972.

Fargnoli. Nicholas. James Joyce A to Z. New York: Oxford U P, 1995.

Gifford, Don. Ulysses Annotated. Berkeley: U of California P, 1989.

Gilbert, Stuart. James Joyce's Ulysses. New York: Vintage, 1958.

Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Vintage International, 1990.

Ryf, Robert. A New Approach to Joyce. U of California P, 1966.