ker and Anna fonn a human
counterpart
to the opf>OS<'d Ye,,!
Hart-Clive-1962-Structure-and-Motif-in-Finnegans-Wake
langeag<:, for when the assiduous reader h"" managed to p<netrate it!
outer crult he findo that in fact it deal, with sexual and ocatological matten to a point bordering on ob.
.
.
.
.
ion, T here can be no denying that Joyce found everything associated with evacuation unusually pleasur- ahle (though ,uch prop<rcitieo were much la .
unusual in J oy<;('.
Irish hormland than they were in Victorian F. ngland). But if Fi""'ga'lS Wd, i. , by everyday , tandardo of delicacy, one of Ihe 'dirtiest' books ever to be sold on the op<n market, it:Wo per_ hap' goes funher than any other Engllih hook toward finding an acceptable way of using scatology in literature. A curious and unaccu. tomed beauty radiates from the imagery contained in dcocription. of {he genita! and anal regiom of the primal
, The kue, . . quoted ;n full ;0 Append;" C. ? SK 3~.
? rW Q Major Motifs
Mot~r and Father figulft-not the f. . . "h buuty ofuninhibiled 5eWUal joy in all parts of Ihe anatomy such as i, found in Tilt T/wUSQlII/ QM OIU JI;"h/s, with its fllnda=ntally he. . lthy sexual lyricism, bm a beauty which;" d;"tilled hy ,,<,rbal alchemy from ob=,,<, ,craWH on 'Ih<, oozing wall "r a urinal' (AP lIS)?
Perhaps Ill<' mOit unpleasant piece of coprophilic imagery in FiRntg= Wakt;" Ihe conclu"on to Kale's monologue on pages Lj,I""', but <'""n Ih;" ;" saved from becoming altogether . . . ,pcUenl
hy a kind of slraightfaced humour coaxed from the oth~rwi$C bald te:<t by mean, of brilliantly rhythmic writing:
'And whoWMit youw",;1 propped the pot in Ihe yard and what_ inthe namwf,en lukea. . . ,yoo nlhbin'he sideofihe fturwfthe l"bbywith, Shile! will you have a plateful? Tak. ' (142'''5)
joyce =h~ws the mod"",y which induced ~-letcher to avert hi. <:yes allhe last minute from . . ,me regions of hi, Porple Island, and prelC. . instead tn find charm in the whole landscape with- out . . . ,,,,,rvation. TI," extended dexription oflll<' Phoenix Park in terms of Earwicker', buttocks (and vice-vena) in rtL4
(. ,64-5) i, not "oaroe in effect, as it mighl have been had it formed, "'y, a part of the 'Cyclops' chapter of Ulysses, where j oyce is at hi, most violent. The imp=sion given;" rather of a
delicate if onrnewhat nnstable charm:
'Around i, a little amiably tufted and man i, . . heered when he bewonden through the boskage h<>w the nature in all fri. ko i< enlivened by gentlemen'. sea" . . ? l. i,\eneth! '1';" a t= ltory. How nlavc, that firiic, was aplantad in her iivffide. How
lannoboom held tonobloom . . . Therewithal shady rid. . lend thenudvcs out to rustic cavalri. . . In yonder valley, too, lIays mountain sprite. Any pretty dean are to be caught iJUide but il i, a bad pit;", of the plain. A scarlet pirnparnell now mul. . the mound where anciently fj. . t murde. . were wanlro to take root. ' No doubt j oycc;" laugbing with One third ofl,i, 1rish face, but the primary intention;" clearly to pl~3. le, not 10 shock Ihe reader', >ensibiliti. . . joyce i. not trying to be agg! 'CS$i""ly frank in Fi,,"'ga. . . . WW; tbe battle to Ita"" Ihi. lcind of thing accepted a, raw material for art had long ,ince been fOught and won, and, in any case, between th~ wriling of UIy! ;j" and Fi"lUg<mJ
>0,
? Two Mqjor Motifs
WW b. U attitude to oexual mattel'f ru/fered . . major cbange, u be indiaoted to Frank Budgen':
? "But", I Aid, " u I remo:mbcr you in otbtl" days you alwaY' fcll b;>ck upon the fact Wat the woman'. body wu d<:Sir:tble and provoking, whattver else: WQ objectionable about htl"? '"
'Thit produe<:d an impatient "M~ ,fur' and We funhe. comment: "Perhaps I did. But now I don't care . . damn about
their bodiet. 1 am only interest. d in their clowes". '
Thit change of heart would "". m to account foc the del3. cilW ea. . , with whichJoyce Wal able to keep the lUual symbolitm ofhit lat. book in adequate penf. I((:Ii\"t:.
IfJ~e'. tnatUtt attitude to JeXuollity and scatology it borne in mind, t~ more cloacal symbolitm orthe Let""'" may Ix approooched with po-hapolm diswte. I have pointed OIIt above thaI in the COIlto;t of Book III Sbaun'. r;>ce and buttoclr. s are made 10 correspond. ' The lame it true 0( Anna Livi. . hel'fClf, for, though the estuary of tbe Liffey may be called the rivu'. 'mouw', it a1so represcnll Anna'. perineal region, lying oppoloite to her 'head-waten' in the hiill. This f1ctcheresque detail it established by . . number of allusions, mainly in state-
menllofthe Letter. At thecndof\. be venionon ~ 20. , Anna rpr:ab of 'the raa: of the saywi. U up me ambusbure'. II is
hardly necesaary 10 point OIIt that the wwd 'ambuabUtt', ~ on the Freneh ntI? ? <ho><, a1so contaim the pubic 'b""" image which returna 0<1 the final ~ of the book: 'We paa through gr. . . . bebush the b"", to'. (The fint fal. copy of that line from
the Letter it flat and undUguised: 'the rae<: of the lleawind up my hole'. ') It is apparent thaI Ihe k. ,. . which are 'Given' at 6~8. IS . . . . , among many olher thingo, those to Anna'. chQtity _ readint which;' bomeOllI by numero. . . alhWoIlS d . . :wbere in Fu-l"'" WW. At 110. 0', lOr c:xampk, the salt brine, an obviow and weD ostahlisbed symbol ror sperm, fIm. . ,. up into the cstulry: 'The river rdl she: . . ? anted nIL T hat . . . . . just whtl"e Brien came in'.
, F. Sudstt<, 'Further RcooI\ccti<w. 01 J. . . . . . . Joya:', p",n-. Rmt. . , vol. XXlII, Foil, [9~6, p. ~3~.
, Sot above, p. '40.
, British M. . . . -um, Add, MS 41474, f. "u.
w.
? T W Q Majqr Motifs
The giant Finn and the Liffey beside him Ihm lie in the attitude of Jl! oom and Molly, mutually opJXl'Cd in kd, but Joyce u. l<ea the U! 1J$<$ situation a step further and suggest! that the. physical di'position implies buccal copulation: 'what
oracular cornep~on we have had apply to them I' (1I5. ~4); 'Jurnpol . hootlst throbbst into me mouth like a bogue and arr<)hsl' (6~6. o. 'i). Th;" then, is till: full significance of the $Oft '11=' with which the work end! . rkscribing a dOled cirm, half mak and half female, Earwic.
ker and Anna fonn a human counterpart to the opf>OS<'d Ye,,! Sian gyr<:', A further clue 1. 0 the true natuTe olf that cloacal . . ,aling embracc i:! contained in the worda 'Li>>. The keys to . . . ' (6~6. I5), for 'LI'" may k read 'L. P. S:, i. e. , 'Lord Privy Seal'. ' (Thill C(lnciusion may owe
a little to the celebrated and carefully engineered IIWOi of Sterne's &lIiimmtm JlJllrne. J which, lih Fi_gaM Wak<, enda 011 a sU! pended SUltencc. The debt """IDS to be acknowledged at mI. O':
'It's l"'""nix, dcar. And the flame i'I, hurl Let'. OUT joornce . aimomichael make it. Since the Iausafire hulo. t ;o. nd the ix>ok of the depth is. Qo,ed. ')
It =l1li to ha. vc been a part of Joyce'. design tn include allUliom to every pClMible form ofl! CXual deviation, and to llJe the mo. ' OOmIDOn perveruoIII aa primary material,' The ,in of the Father is alternately voyeurism and inust; the daughter is mbian; ! hi: SOns conWltently homosexual; onanistic and narcissistic imagery abound" and absolutcly everyone ;. , avidly coprophilic. The ceremonial =rd~m ad <VIIIm tIiaboli of the Black Mass plays an even more important p u t in FitwgtulS
Wake than it doa in Utf. ut:r. The Letter;" made to end with a ,cries of four kis. es, symbolised . . . four Xs- four 'crouki. . . . . ' (II ' ''7J-which at ~80. o7 are modulated to the contemp-
tuon' <fumissal 'kissis" my exil'! '. ' The mutual nat". . . , of the
, I. . . . ,gutd"ultoMr. F';. . s. . mforpointingouttometherncaniDi'" 'T. po'. cr. ;'" thi. I oon~erion the p. . . . S. . . ab<>u' the do@" (><>4-", >gII. OI), and . he undoubtedly cloacal ~;"Il" buttoohoIa' '" the Qwnct motif
('l09)'
For pm;1. . oom"","'" ""ou, Ill;",,,,,,, L. Albex,. JoJ<. """ "" N""
p~,AnnArbor,1~~7,Chapter:><von(onmicrofilm). ? cr. 'K. M. A. " (U 1]6).
"5
? TW() Mqjur Motifs
pervenion which . . . :,ulu in thi. . kiss is made dear from the word 'Shlicksheruthr' (280'~7), while the whole anallevd of inler_ pretation groW'S ev. :n mort: explicit in a passage from the Anna Livia. chapter iudr; where head and buttocks a. . . : on"" more united in a '<:1'O:I'COmplimentary' group:
'. . . her lingimari saffron , trumans of hair, parting them and $OOthing her and mingling it, that Wat deepdark and ample like thi. . ltd bog at sundown. ' (203'~4)
While anal_eroticUm is unmistakahly pnacnt in all ofl oyce'. works, it WM the function of micturition whi~h held the mon pleMurahle asso<:iatiom for him. The Letter ,I$ually end. with an act of micturition, a 'pee ~ ' (1",,8). (In one venion it bean the ,uiJs<:ribed add. . . ,. . : 'Dubbleno, WC', 66. 18). The 'p. s. ' to the full statement or the Letter (6'9. 11) was originally writl<:n 'Pst',' fur the post-script . . a flow ofurine: 'amber too'. It flltJTl$ a subsidiary ,t. . . :am proceeding from the 'maiu body' of waler, and hen~~, if the ,i" main paraJiI""pru of the Letter are the verba) embodiment of Anna Livia, the P. S. . . to be identifu:d with her 'mall daughter, h . y. 111. . identification . . ofmajor important(, for it . . bly who tempu her brothe. . with the mund of her micturition to which, Si",n. like, . he bids them
' LiMom I Li,,,,,m! ' (~I. oo, 57 1. ~4) ; hearing the ,arne command - 'P,I'- which lu. . . . him on to =ual perversion, E;uwicker fall. from grat( in the Phoenix Park. This is the primal temp- tationfor10yce;allofhi,{ory,pring>from Man',flntobedient(.
Not content to leave matte. . . there, at the naturalistic levd, lnycc elevates urinc to a v. 'Y much higher plat( on the sym. bolic ocale. It hat already been observed that he saw in micturi?
tion nnt merely a temptation for the fle:sh, but an a ( t ofcreation' ; in Fi. ""gans 1V<1k. he identifi. . urine with another $ymOOI of
fertility----\ltrong huh tea- and even with the communion winc il. $eIf. T his triangular oct ohymbolic identifications had already figured largely in U! ;mu:
'- Wll<:n I make. tea I make:s tell, M old mother Crogan . aid. And when I mak", water I make, water. '
, Brl,iih M . . . . . . . . . . , A M . MS :p? lil, f. ':J,4.
, a. . . . b<r M";';, <<I. W. Y. T,n. u. Il. ! 'Iew Y. ,. . k, '9~, pp. H If.
,,"
? TU? J Ma. JQf Motifs
'-Byjow:, it is tu, Hal"", u. id.
Irish hormland than they were in Victorian F. ngland). But if Fi""'ga'lS Wd, i. , by everyday , tandardo of delicacy, one of Ihe 'dirtiest' books ever to be sold on the op<n market, it:Wo per_ hap' goes funher than any other Engllih hook toward finding an acceptable way of using scatology in literature. A curious and unaccu. tomed beauty radiates from the imagery contained in dcocription. of {he genita! and anal regiom of the primal
, The kue, . . quoted ;n full ;0 Append;" C. ? SK 3~.
? rW Q Major Motifs
Mot~r and Father figulft-not the f. . . "h buuty ofuninhibiled 5eWUal joy in all parts of Ihe anatomy such as i, found in Tilt T/wUSQlII/ QM OIU JI;"h/s, with its fllnda=ntally he. . lthy sexual lyricism, bm a beauty which;" d;"tilled hy ,,<,rbal alchemy from ob=,,<, ,craWH on 'Ih<, oozing wall "r a urinal' (AP lIS)?
Perhaps Ill<' mOit unpleasant piece of coprophilic imagery in FiRntg= Wakt;" Ihe conclu"on to Kale's monologue on pages Lj,I""', but <'""n Ih;" ;" saved from becoming altogether . . . ,pcUenl
hy a kind of slraightfaced humour coaxed from the oth~rwi$C bald te:<t by mean, of brilliantly rhythmic writing:
'And whoWMit youw",;1 propped the pot in Ihe yard and what_ inthe namwf,en lukea. . . ,yoo nlhbin'he sideofihe fturwfthe l"bbywith, Shile! will you have a plateful? Tak. ' (142'''5)
joyce =h~ws the mod"",y which induced ~-letcher to avert hi. <:yes allhe last minute from . . ,me regions of hi, Porple Island, and prelC. . instead tn find charm in the whole landscape with- out . . . ,,,,,rvation. TI," extended dexription oflll<' Phoenix Park in terms of Earwicker', buttocks (and vice-vena) in rtL4
(. ,64-5) i, not "oaroe in effect, as it mighl have been had it formed, "'y, a part of the 'Cyclops' chapter of Ulysses, where j oyce is at hi, most violent. The imp=sion given;" rather of a
delicate if onrnewhat nnstable charm:
'Around i, a little amiably tufted and man i, . . heered when he bewonden through the boskage h<>w the nature in all fri. ko i< enlivened by gentlemen'. sea" . . ? l. i,\eneth! '1';" a t= ltory. How nlavc, that firiic, was aplantad in her iivffide. How
lannoboom held tonobloom . . . Therewithal shady rid. . lend thenudvcs out to rustic cavalri. . . In yonder valley, too, lIays mountain sprite. Any pretty dean are to be caught iJUide but il i, a bad pit;", of the plain. A scarlet pirnparnell now mul. . the mound where anciently fj. . t murde. . were wanlro to take root. ' No doubt j oycc;" laugbing with One third ofl,i, 1rish face, but the primary intention;" clearly to pl~3. le, not 10 shock Ihe reader', >ensibiliti. . . joyce i. not trying to be agg! 'CS$i""ly frank in Fi,,"'ga. . . . WW; tbe battle to Ita"" Ihi. lcind of thing accepted a, raw material for art had long ,ince been fOught and won, and, in any case, between th~ wriling of UIy! ;j" and Fi"lUg<mJ
>0,
? Two Mqjor Motifs
WW b. U attitude to oexual mattel'f ru/fered . . major cbange, u be indiaoted to Frank Budgen':
? "But", I Aid, " u I remo:mbcr you in otbtl" days you alwaY' fcll b;>ck upon the fact Wat the woman'. body wu d<:Sir:tble and provoking, whattver else: WQ objectionable about htl"? '"
'Thit produe<:d an impatient "M~ ,fur' and We funhe. comment: "Perhaps I did. But now I don't care . . damn about
their bodiet. 1 am only interest. d in their clowes". '
Thit change of heart would "". m to account foc the del3. cilW ea. . , with whichJoyce Wal able to keep the lUual symbolitm ofhit lat. book in adequate penf. I((:Ii\"t:.
IfJ~e'. tnatUtt attitude to JeXuollity and scatology it borne in mind, t~ more cloacal symbolitm orthe Let""'" may Ix approooched with po-hapolm diswte. I have pointed OIIt above thaI in the COIlto;t of Book III Sbaun'. r;>ce and buttoclr. s are made 10 correspond. ' The lame it true 0( Anna Livi. . hel'fClf, for, though the estuary of tbe Liffey may be called the rivu'. 'mouw', it a1so represcnll Anna'. perineal region, lying oppoloite to her 'head-waten' in the hiill. This f1ctcheresque detail it established by . . number of allusions, mainly in state-
menllofthe Letter. At thecndof\. be venionon ~ 20. , Anna rpr:ab of 'the raa: of the saywi. U up me ambusbure'. II is
hardly necesaary 10 point OIIt that the wwd 'ambuabUtt', ~ on the Freneh ntI? ? <ho><, a1so contaim the pubic 'b""" image which returna 0<1 the final ~ of the book: 'We paa through gr. . . . bebush the b"", to'. (The fint fal. copy of that line from
the Letter it flat and undUguised: 'the rae<: of the lleawind up my hole'. ') It is apparent thaI Ihe k. ,. . which are 'Given' at 6~8. IS . . . . , among many olher thingo, those to Anna'. chQtity _ readint which;' bomeOllI by numero. . . alhWoIlS d . . :wbere in Fu-l"'" WW. At 110. 0', lOr c:xampk, the salt brine, an obviow and weD ostahlisbed symbol ror sperm, fIm. . ,. up into the cstulry: 'The river rdl she: . . ? anted nIL T hat . . . . . just whtl"e Brien came in'.
, F. Sudstt<, 'Further RcooI\ccti<w. 01 J. . . . . . . Joya:', p",n-. Rmt. . , vol. XXlII, Foil, [9~6, p. ~3~.
, Sot above, p. '40.
, British M. . . . -um, Add, MS 41474, f. "u.
w.
? T W Q Majqr Motifs
The giant Finn and the Liffey beside him Ihm lie in the attitude of Jl! oom and Molly, mutually opJXl'Cd in kd, but Joyce u. l<ea the U! 1J$<$ situation a step further and suggest! that the. physical di'position implies buccal copulation: 'what
oracular cornep~on we have had apply to them I' (1I5. ~4); 'Jurnpol . hootlst throbbst into me mouth like a bogue and arr<)hsl' (6~6. o. 'i). Th;" then, is till: full significance of the $Oft '11=' with which the work end! . rkscribing a dOled cirm, half mak and half female, Earwic.
ker and Anna fonn a human counterpart to the opf>OS<'d Ye,,! Sian gyr<:', A further clue 1. 0 the true natuTe olf that cloacal . . ,aling embracc i:! contained in the worda 'Li>>. The keys to . . . ' (6~6. I5), for 'LI'" may k read 'L. P. S:, i. e. , 'Lord Privy Seal'. ' (Thill C(lnciusion may owe
a little to the celebrated and carefully engineered IIWOi of Sterne's &lIiimmtm JlJllrne. J which, lih Fi_gaM Wak<, enda 011 a sU! pended SUltencc. The debt """IDS to be acknowledged at mI. O':
'It's l"'""nix, dcar. And the flame i'I, hurl Let'. OUT joornce . aimomichael make it. Since the Iausafire hulo. t ;o. nd the ix>ok of the depth is. Qo,ed. ')
It =l1li to ha. vc been a part of Joyce'. design tn include allUliom to every pClMible form ofl! CXual deviation, and to llJe the mo. ' OOmIDOn perveruoIII aa primary material,' The ,in of the Father is alternately voyeurism and inust; the daughter is mbian; ! hi: SOns conWltently homosexual; onanistic and narcissistic imagery abound" and absolutcly everyone ;. , avidly coprophilic. The ceremonial =rd~m ad <VIIIm tIiaboli of the Black Mass plays an even more important p u t in FitwgtulS
Wake than it doa in Utf. ut:r. The Letter;" made to end with a ,cries of four kis. es, symbolised . . . four Xs- four 'crouki. . . . . ' (II ' ''7J-which at ~80. o7 are modulated to the contemp-
tuon' <fumissal 'kissis" my exil'! '. ' The mutual nat". . . , of the
, I. . . . ,gutd"ultoMr. F';. . s. . mforpointingouttometherncaniDi'" 'T. po'. cr. ;'" thi. I oon~erion the p. . . . S. . . ab<>u' the do@" (><>4-", >gII. OI), and . he undoubtedly cloacal ~;"Il" buttoohoIa' '" the Qwnct motif
('l09)'
For pm;1. . oom"","'" ""ou, Ill;",,,,,,, L. Albex,. JoJ<. """ "" N""
p~,AnnArbor,1~~7,Chapter:><von(onmicrofilm). ? cr. 'K. M. A. " (U 1]6).
"5
? TW() Mqjur Motifs
pervenion which . . . :,ulu in thi. . kiss is made dear from the word 'Shlicksheruthr' (280'~7), while the whole anallevd of inler_ pretation groW'S ev. :n mort: explicit in a passage from the Anna Livia. chapter iudr; where head and buttocks a. . . : on"" more united in a '<:1'O:I'COmplimentary' group:
'. . . her lingimari saffron , trumans of hair, parting them and $OOthing her and mingling it, that Wat deepdark and ample like thi. . ltd bog at sundown. ' (203'~4)
While anal_eroticUm is unmistakahly pnacnt in all ofl oyce'. works, it WM the function of micturition whi~h held the mon pleMurahle asso<:iatiom for him. The Letter ,I$ually end. with an act of micturition, a 'pee ~ ' (1",,8). (In one venion it bean the ,uiJs<:ribed add. . . ,. . : 'Dubbleno, WC', 66. 18). The 'p. s. ' to the full statement or the Letter (6'9. 11) was originally writl<:n 'Pst',' fur the post-script . . a flow ofurine: 'amber too'. It flltJTl$ a subsidiary ,t. . . :am proceeding from the 'maiu body' of waler, and hen~~, if the ,i" main paraJiI""pru of the Letter are the verba) embodiment of Anna Livia, the P. S. . . to be identifu:d with her 'mall daughter, h . y. 111. . identification . . ofmajor important(, for it . . bly who tempu her brothe. . with the mund of her micturition to which, Si",n. like, . he bids them
' LiMom I Li,,,,,m! ' (~I. oo, 57 1. ~4) ; hearing the ,arne command - 'P,I'- which lu. . . . him on to =ual perversion, E;uwicker fall. from grat( in the Phoenix Park. This is the primal temp- tationfor10yce;allofhi,{ory,pring>from Man',flntobedient(.
Not content to leave matte. . . there, at the naturalistic levd, lnycc elevates urinc to a v. 'Y much higher plat( on the sym. bolic ocale. It hat already been observed that he saw in micturi?
tion nnt merely a temptation for the fle:sh, but an a ( t ofcreation' ; in Fi. ""gans 1V<1k. he identifi. . urine with another $ymOOI of
fertility----\ltrong huh tea- and even with the communion winc il. $eIf. T his triangular oct ohymbolic identifications had already figured largely in U! ;mu:
'- Wll<:n I make. tea I make:s tell, M old mother Crogan . aid. And when I mak", water I make, water. '
, Brl,iih M . . . . . . . . . . , A M . MS :p? lil, f. ':J,4.
, a. . . . b<r M";';, <<I. W. Y. T,n. u. Il. ! 'Iew Y. ,. . k, '9~, pp. H If.
,,"
? TU? J Ma. JQf Motifs
'-Byjow:, it is tu, Hal"", u. id.
