Sh~m is
threatening
to .
Hart-Clive-1962-Structure-and-Motif-in-Finnegans-Wake
.
Satan is nover at a k $ for an appropriate 4l;/1j and profe.
.
ion, and on thio ocC<Ui<>n as " mad and tyrannical lx>oltmaker he U$C, his traditional a,sociaticm with games of chan(e.
The oignificance of the pseudonym 'Little Boots' may owe something to the .
ymbolic gift of lx>ots mad<: by Mulligan (Shaun) to Strphen,' while Sh~m = m s to be identified here, as ehcwhcre, with that
unfortunate Devil whom SirJoho Shome conjured into a lx>ol. ' The name 'Cobbler' include. < the popular Au>lralian slang word 'robber', for the Devil alwaY' pr<:tend" of rout'IC, to be his victim'. Jl105t devoted friend. ' (Tt may be that th. . t other ,ham prophet and astrologer, Paruidgc (who waJ a cobbler) is ,kull<.
ing . "mewhen: in the background. ) The t~xt of the T elegram i$ indeed antipodal, . mc~ it rontra$" the attitude< of dcsperate . "ul. in the Auotralian Hell (. triving [0 die) with tlUJlC in the Irish PllTgatory (boping to mellow). Further, Shem U alway$ procrastinating ; his dforts, lilte Joy""', madcap schemes ? 0.
malting money,' are alw,,-Y' On the point of bearing fruit; he i, alway, hoping \() open hu shop tomorrow.
No further td~graphing g". . . on until a v~ry Cllplirit state- ment of the message hreal<s into 'Shem the l'enman':
'With the fo. . . ,ign devil', leave the fraid born fraud diddled even death. An~;, cabled (but shal<ing tbe worth out of hi! maultb: Guardarosta lepoTello ~ SZa! . ll Kraic. ! ) from his NearapohIican asylum to hisjonathan fur a brother: Hen: tokay, gon~ IOmory, w e ' . . . , . p l u c b e d , d o " )Jn~th ing, F i . . . , I . . . . . A n d h a d a n s w e r : inronvenient, David'. (t7~'W)
Then: is a hint that Sbem may nol . . . ,ally be the Devil hi! rule1f, but only hi, envoy- that ""en bi. Satanic nalUre may be partly a sham. T o a {me Kabbamt tbe genuine oo. etemal Satan is as ioeffabJ~ as the \lnmanife<1 godhead. " that any app""hen';bl~ Satan? figu,"" must be S<lmething Jess than . . . ,ality.
? Spatial Cycles: I - T h Circle
0" thiI third occasion the ""mb of'today' and 'tomorrow' have been rever=\, Today the", i. life, wine, and the key to the univene ('here tokay'); 'tomorrow we die'. Shem', <llilress
seem. to . tem from the fact that he h. . . committed hirmdf to a woman (,we're ,plicerl'), for a woman is held to Ix the only mateh for the Devil. He is playing the part of David whom, b<<. ausc of his voyeurism, pcrfidin"","IS, and ani. cry, Joyce alway> awxiate, with Satltn. Shern'. appeal 10 Stanislaw-Shaun In COme to him f=hadows Ih~ visit which is to take pia"" in Bool IV. For the momenl, Shem, down but not out, ",fuses, much to Shaun', annoyance, to accept the saffron? cak. . , symbol! of death: 'he ",fllSCd to . affrocake hj,,,,dfwith a sod'
(I7~'~0). ' The Telegram h. . . grown longer and more pathetic but Shaun'. ",action;" no more encouraging; in hi; usual self. righteousandIxlligcrentmoodh~d~ theapp"alwitha ,neer. At the biographical k",,[ Joya i. oong unfair to hi> brother who, both b<:fo,"" and after joining Joyce in Tri. . to, was extraon:\inarily foreb. . . . ring and I\"nrrow.
The Telegram turns up for the fuurth time in the I\"n- erally wireleSH aturat. ed context of the 'Norwegian Captain' cpi. ooe:
'Cabkn: Clifftop. ShelvHng tobay opp"long tomeadow. Ware cohhles. POIIh'. (3I5. 3~)
It ha, genemlly hc~n aOJ! umrd that the Norwegian Captain is Barwickr, but it often . . ems more likely that he is an incarna? tion of Earwi<:kr'~ anti. . ,eIf, the Manoervant (identified with the Cad) who, lile Shern, is alwaY' . . . """iatrd with the Kor_ wegian language. Ut. t: Shem, too, the Captain i. damnrd and condemned to tail his ship around the world until the Day of Judgment (329). In this ""rsion the Telegram preeN. . one of the Captain's momentary landings. Today be i. in Hell (lul"'/t, in Norwegian); tomorrow be hopeo to reach the Elysian MeadoW$ of annihilation and release. Thai the longed. for Heaven i. in the United States is funher . uggestrd by the allusion to 'Hoppalong CaWdy'.
TI'e complete text> ofboth Telegram and Letter appear only , E. A. lludge,n. . Bool;~tJ. . v-I,3rob. ,Loo>don,,go"p. '''9.
12;'
? Spatial Cytles: I- T k Circle
in th~ir final stat~m~nU. The 13. lt Tel~gram iI very amusing.
'I"lW iI included in a pawoge which deat. . in Wm~ detail with Shem'. Awtralian home (4fl8-9). Shaun, nnw 'peaking in his
natural voice through hi! metamorpho. cd other . . ,If, Yawn, iI curious to ha"" new> of his brother and 'cobber' who i. 'wme- place' in the land ofd~ad bon"" and gapingmouth_ 'ootralian' _and who is now quite dearly identified as the . . ,nder of the Telegram:
'my allaboy brother, N~goi. t Cabl~r, of th,. city . ? . who is . . ,nd~r of the Hollo Eve Cenograph in pl'\'l! C and WOIlIe every Albo'. night'.
Then follows all the preliminary information ~arding time and place of origin, etc. :
'High Btuil Brandan'. lkfer,. . ,d, midden E. . . , cla,. . , language, Noughtnoughtnought nein. AMass. Dubli,. . " per Neuropaw, Punk'.
The meuage, to which Shaun i. now p,. . ,pared to give much more attentinn, W3. 1 ""nt from Shem', horne, 'Nixnixundnix',' at nine minut"" p"-lt midnigbt (00. 09)' on a Saturday ('AMass'. - the Devil', nwn day) for Dublin, ~Q Europe, and, although its import ,. . ,mailU ratn. . r enigmatic, it ;. now . tated in com- paratively plain English:
'Starving today plaY' punk opening tomorrow two plaY' pun\< wire spl",h bnw two plaY' punk Cabler'.
Clearly there ,,'" still . orne lingering overton"" of the book-
maker', . porting "". . ion of the message, while the ""iuest for correct punctuation ('Plea>< point') i, taken over from the
Letter (t24. 04, ~tc. ), where it ""Pr=nU Joyce'. appeals fur accuracy to hiI harassed prinren. Here again is an indi<:ation
of the identity of tn. . two communicatinll1. Embe<lded in the Telegram is a reminder from Sh~m that two Can play at the ,ham game of,. . "uITtttion, that Shem the Manichean o. :vil i.
ultimately on more vulnerable than the divine Shaun: 'how twn plays punk'.
Sh~m is threatening to . . . ,tum from the Valley
, Su Cl<>noord. >n<<.
? In J,>yce>. n terms IIW ,;me ;, Mimt. ,. t ";th the d. . ". . . . ,,6<)--ofone of
tl>< ca. . ,uoph"" 'luot<<i t. y the Foor in II. . (,IIg. '3, 39,"02). ,,6
? Spatial Cycles: /- The Circle
of Death in the guise of a Mosi. ah, an idea wbkh dccply di$rurbs Shun, who bas chosen that role for himsdfalone_ He wants Shem 10 $lay in the Underworld . o. nd nol achieve the
Glory of. Cruc;ifixion:
'Oremw poor fntemibw thai he may yel neal'" the gallows and still remain OIIB faithfidly d~parlcd'. (4119. 06)
The dialinclicm Mick_Nick may neVer be eu<:ntially valid in
FinJugarIJ Wah, but Shaun . 0. 1 leasl would [iu 10 keel' up ap pearances.
Joyce', ttipi lO Swiczedand . . . . e blown up, in this ,,~dtr fnl. mc oh d 'ermce, to become thekwd 'oogLionial c:xpancian' (488_31) of the cloacal Britioh' which lakci the convicled Sbem as far afield as the sweltering ~al of AUllnllia: ',willenboo? . Sbaun 11 bcoel wilh douhtl as 10 Shem'. cuel whereabouts. He felU'l
Ihat t. c may in fact havc returned alrudy, boomcnug_like, from his damnation in T asmani a (. ? g. 09) or from the diabolical mine. ofNew South Wale (? 'g. IS). In any ca. . " he ho""" ! hat
he ilIuill '. . . meplace in the antipllthies of awl. . . . . ;. . . . _ : , lafe and damned. The boot rymbol from 60. 26, a. w>ciatffi with Shaun'. conjuring tricl: as Sir J ohn Shome, reappean hen:: ' In bit handJ ? boot' (48g. ~3; Sir J ohn is usually depU:led holding a boot in bit hand), Tbe whole pungo: ecbon the . peculation in Book I . bout the diJappear. once . . . . d ~ble relum of Eatwicl<er. Finally, Shaun, always ambivalent in hi. attitude 10 hit brother, . peaks of him with ! . hal curiou. mi:rlure of half-feigned, hill_longing love wilh which Joyce 50 cleverly captures the Ilate of mind Of lhe impetiect Chrittian trying with only partial luccess to love hislinning neighbour as hinudf;
though Shem is doubly datnDcd in the COInbmed roles ofDavid and Michael J)avilt, Shaun admits thai be is held in deep . fIcclWu in two ports 'down under'-Sydncy and Albany,
MIS. Glasheen', note on Davitt RIma up Shcm'. gyrations: 'He was alwa)'l in and oul of pl'i$on, alwaY' coming and going to
A wtrali. ? . ?
Ne~er dCipairing ofhit ultimate redemption, u Joj'Ce always
I cr. U JO', ?
? ""'. . . . 11. S1.
"7
? Spatial Cycles: I- Tlu Circk
hoped for ultimate recognition in hi, 0'. ''' country, Shem, still at home in Sydney, teu. . . . . . in the final fading allusion to the Telegram that he is awaiting neWi of the Grcat Day:
'Thw faradack> the friarbird. I. . i"tcning, Syd! ' (S95. 3S)
The friarbird (an Awtralian bird) is her<: doing service for the cock who. c crowing mhe", the ",n up from 'down under' to
begin a new Age.
? CHAPTER FI VE SPATIAL CYCLES:
II- THE CROSS
I: SUCH CROSSING IS ANTICHRISTIA"
0. ' COURSF. (U4. 1I)
""t at the minot cyckl of Fi_IaN WaJ;. are typi6ed in and defined by the gn:at cycLe or the whole hook, 10 the many cro lJ . ymbolt are aU variants of a pair of sreat archetyp. ol
0"0Mt:S $trelching ac. . . . . thee tot. all'1rucrure. Thcs<: are the two m<<ting points of the radically oppooW orbit> of Shem and Shun which J have b<<n <fuc"";ng in tho: prcv>ous chapter. AI with the circka, I<) with the CI'OC<O: Joy" is not contcnt . imply 10 ouggesl the abstract idea of nodal poinu . 0. 1 which conU'ario meet, but maJ. c. every effort 10 layout the ",,,,Iving material in a,trucrural pamm which will reproduce lIle ,palla! image '"' clmcly as possible in unns nf tl>e physical dilpocition of tbe paga of the book.
The I<)W'CC on whicl>Joyce calh mosl partiwlarly is Plato'. TiINlnlS but in fact the Yeauian context of the moet obviOUI a1lusiom to it IUggeIU that J oyo;e actually came to II>e T ;. -. u through A Visimo. Whatever hi. ! direcl soure<! may have been, J oyce ,",ated the Platonic theme '"' he did Vico and Blaval$ky and used the theories for aU he wq worth. The descriplion in the TtmIJtI<t of the creation of the Worid-Soul, if ~ the arehe-
type of thit particular m)"tic . yml>ol in walern literature, is at lea. t one ofiu IIlOIt imporunl early appunonca':
'Nut he cleft the ,tructun:. . ? IcngthwiK into tWO halves, and
, Pia"" n. To_, cd. ""b t;OI~ by R, D. . . . ,,"""? Hi/>d, l. . ond<aI. ,888,pp. " ,_. ,.
]
?
'",
? Spatial Cycles: l l - T h Cross
bying the two "" a. . to m""t in the C~ntr~ in the . hap<: of the leller X, he bent them into a "irek and joined them, causing them to mut ulOml<:lv,," and uch other at a p<>int <>pposite to that of th~ir original contact: and he comprehend~d them in
the motion ,hat revolve> unifonnly on the same axis, and on~ of the circles he made uterior and one int. . ior. The ext. o::rior motion he namw. th~ motion of the Same, the interior that 01
the Other. And the circle of the Same he mAde revolve to the right by way of the ,ide, that of the Other to the left by way of the diagonal'. (36 D, C)
It is dear tbatFiMt. <<M< W,,*, is woven outoftwO . uch . nand,of
World. Soul, represented by the Shem-Shaun polarity. The", are two extremt:S to the function of th;' polarity, between which the line of development ,wingo to and fro : when their orbit. are in clost: proximity they war with u c h o ther and- at a moment of exact O1uillbrium---. ,vcn manage to amalgamate, while at the olher extreme th. ", is total incompr~heru;ion and a failure to oommunieate, . ymbolised by tM point of farthest "'paration of the orbits. The two ,tructural meeting? point. are at the coincident beginning and end, 1. 1 and IV, and at the <<nlre, Il. 3--that i" diametrically opposed on the . phue of development. The <{rand. 'pread out from the initial point of contact-the OOnVCIUtion of Mutt and Jeff, who have juot = ,- widen throughout nook I and converge until they mIX! once more during the Butt and T aff episode, at the cnd uf which they momentarily fmc , only to ( r o M avec and sepa1"ll. tc again during Book III before the 6nal meeting (identical with the 6rst) when MUla andJ uva COnve=. 'Mutt andJ cff' and 'Muta and J uva' are the "'m~ event looked at from opposite . ide. ; the book begin. and ends at one of the twO nodal points, while, when J oyce has cut the circle! and . tretch~d them out flat, the other nodal point fait. ""acdy in the Centre of th~ fabric.
unfortunate Devil whom SirJoho Shome conjured into a lx>ol. ' The name 'Cobbler' include. < the popular Au>lralian slang word 'robber', for the Devil alwaY' pr<:tend" of rout'IC, to be his victim'. Jl105t devoted friend. ' (Tt may be that th. . t other ,ham prophet and astrologer, Paruidgc (who waJ a cobbler) is ,kull<.
ing . "mewhen: in the background. ) The t~xt of the T elegram i$ indeed antipodal, . mc~ it rontra$" the attitude< of dcsperate . "ul. in the Auotralian Hell (. triving [0 die) with tlUJlC in the Irish PllTgatory (boping to mellow). Further, Shem U alway$ procrastinating ; his dforts, lilte Joy""', madcap schemes ? 0.
malting money,' are alw,,-Y' On the point of bearing fruit; he i, alway, hoping \() open hu shop tomorrow.
No further td~graphing g". . . on until a v~ry Cllplirit state- ment of the message hreal<s into 'Shem the l'enman':
'With the fo. . . ,ign devil', leave the fraid born fraud diddled even death. An~;, cabled (but shal<ing tbe worth out of hi! maultb: Guardarosta lepoTello ~ SZa! . ll Kraic. ! ) from his NearapohIican asylum to hisjonathan fur a brother: Hen: tokay, gon~ IOmory, w e ' . . . , . p l u c b e d , d o " )Jn~th ing, F i . . . , I . . . . . A n d h a d a n s w e r : inronvenient, David'. (t7~'W)
Then: is a hint that Sbem may nol . . . ,ally be the Devil hi! rule1f, but only hi, envoy- that ""en bi. Satanic nalUre may be partly a sham. T o a {me Kabbamt tbe genuine oo. etemal Satan is as ioeffabJ~ as the \lnmanife<1 godhead. " that any app""hen';bl~ Satan? figu,"" must be S<lmething Jess than . . . ,ality.
? Spatial Cycles: I - T h Circle
0" thiI third occasion the ""mb of'today' and 'tomorrow' have been rever=\, Today the", i. life, wine, and the key to the univene ('here tokay'); 'tomorrow we die'. Shem', <llilress
seem. to . tem from the fact that he h. . . committed hirmdf to a woman (,we're ,plicerl'), for a woman is held to Ix the only mateh for the Devil. He is playing the part of David whom, b<<. ausc of his voyeurism, pcrfidin"","IS, and ani. cry, Joyce alway> awxiate, with Satltn. Shern'. appeal 10 Stanislaw-Shaun In COme to him f=hadows Ih~ visit which is to take pia"" in Bool IV. For the momenl, Shem, down but not out, ",fuses, much to Shaun', annoyance, to accept the saffron? cak. . , symbol! of death: 'he ",fllSCd to . affrocake hj,,,,dfwith a sod'
(I7~'~0). ' The Telegram h. . . grown longer and more pathetic but Shaun'. ",action;" no more encouraging; in hi; usual self. righteousandIxlligcrentmoodh~d~ theapp"alwitha ,neer. At the biographical k",,[ Joya i. oong unfair to hi> brother who, both b<:fo,"" and after joining Joyce in Tri. . to, was extraon:\inarily foreb. . . . ring and I\"nrrow.
The Telegram turns up for the fuurth time in the I\"n- erally wireleSH aturat. ed context of the 'Norwegian Captain' cpi. ooe:
'Cabkn: Clifftop. ShelvHng tobay opp"long tomeadow. Ware cohhles. POIIh'. (3I5. 3~)
It ha, genemlly hc~n aOJ! umrd that the Norwegian Captain is Barwickr, but it often . . ems more likely that he is an incarna? tion of Earwi<:kr'~ anti. . ,eIf, the Manoervant (identified with the Cad) who, lile Shern, is alwaY' . . . """iatrd with the Kor_ wegian language. Ut. t: Shem, too, the Captain i. damnrd and condemned to tail his ship around the world until the Day of Judgment (329). In this ""rsion the Telegram preeN. . one of the Captain's momentary landings. Today be i. in Hell (lul"'/t, in Norwegian); tomorrow be hopeo to reach the Elysian MeadoW$ of annihilation and release. Thai the longed. for Heaven i. in the United States is funher . uggestrd by the allusion to 'Hoppalong CaWdy'.
TI'e complete text> ofboth Telegram and Letter appear only , E. A. lludge,n. . Bool;~tJ. . v-I,3rob. ,Loo>don,,go"p. '''9.
12;'
? Spatial Cytles: I- T k Circle
in th~ir final stat~m~nU. The 13. lt Tel~gram iI very amusing.
'I"lW iI included in a pawoge which deat. . in Wm~ detail with Shem'. Awtralian home (4fl8-9). Shaun, nnw 'peaking in his
natural voice through hi! metamorpho. cd other . . ,If, Yawn, iI curious to ha"" new> of his brother and 'cobber' who i. 'wme- place' in the land ofd~ad bon"" and gapingmouth_ 'ootralian' _and who is now quite dearly identified as the . . ,nder of the Telegram:
'my allaboy brother, N~goi. t Cabl~r, of th,. city . ? . who is . . ,nd~r of the Hollo Eve Cenograph in pl'\'l! C and WOIlIe every Albo'. night'.
Then follows all the preliminary information ~arding time and place of origin, etc. :
'High Btuil Brandan'. lkfer,. . ,d, midden E. . . , cla,. . , language, Noughtnoughtnought nein. AMass. Dubli,. . " per Neuropaw, Punk'.
The meuage, to which Shaun i. now p,. . ,pared to give much more attentinn, W3. 1 ""nt from Shem', horne, 'Nixnixundnix',' at nine minut"" p"-lt midnigbt (00. 09)' on a Saturday ('AMass'. - the Devil', nwn day) for Dublin, ~Q Europe, and, although its import ,. . ,mailU ratn. . r enigmatic, it ;. now . tated in com- paratively plain English:
'Starving today plaY' punk opening tomorrow two plaY' pun\< wire spl",h bnw two plaY' punk Cabler'.
Clearly there ,,'" still . orne lingering overton"" of the book-
maker', . porting "". . ion of the message, while the ""iuest for correct punctuation ('Plea>< point') i, taken over from the
Letter (t24. 04, ~tc. ), where it ""Pr=nU Joyce'. appeals fur accuracy to hiI harassed prinren. Here again is an indi<:ation
of the identity of tn. . two communicatinll1. Embe<lded in the Telegram is a reminder from Sh~m that two Can play at the ,ham game of,. . "uITtttion, that Shem the Manichean o. :vil i.
ultimately on more vulnerable than the divine Shaun: 'how twn plays punk'.
Sh~m is threatening to . . . ,tum from the Valley
, Su Cl<>noord. >n<<.
? In J,>yce>. n terms IIW ,;me ;, Mimt. ,. t ";th the d. . ". . . . ,,6<)--ofone of
tl>< ca. . ,uoph"" 'luot<<i t. y the Foor in II. . (,IIg. '3, 39,"02). ,,6
? Spatial Cycles: /- The Circle
of Death in the guise of a Mosi. ah, an idea wbkh dccply di$rurbs Shun, who bas chosen that role for himsdfalone_ He wants Shem 10 $lay in the Underworld . o. nd nol achieve the
Glory of. Cruc;ifixion:
'Oremw poor fntemibw thai he may yel neal'" the gallows and still remain OIIB faithfidly d~parlcd'. (4119. 06)
The dialinclicm Mick_Nick may neVer be eu<:ntially valid in
FinJugarIJ Wah, but Shaun . 0. 1 leasl would [iu 10 keel' up ap pearances.
Joyce', ttipi lO Swiczedand . . . . e blown up, in this ,,~dtr fnl. mc oh d 'ermce, to become thekwd 'oogLionial c:xpancian' (488_31) of the cloacal Britioh' which lakci the convicled Sbem as far afield as the sweltering ~al of AUllnllia: ',willenboo? . Sbaun 11 bcoel wilh douhtl as 10 Shem'. cuel whereabouts. He felU'l
Ihat t. c may in fact havc returned alrudy, boomcnug_like, from his damnation in T asmani a (. ? g. 09) or from the diabolical mine. ofNew South Wale (? 'g. IS). In any ca. . " he ho""" ! hat
he ilIuill '. . . meplace in the antipllthies of awl. . . . . ;. . . . _ : , lafe and damned. The boot rymbol from 60. 26, a. w>ciatffi with Shaun'. conjuring tricl: as Sir J ohn Shome, reappean hen:: ' In bit handJ ? boot' (48g. ~3; Sir J ohn is usually depU:led holding a boot in bit hand), Tbe whole pungo: ecbon the . peculation in Book I . bout the diJappear. once . . . . d ~ble relum of Eatwicl<er. Finally, Shaun, always ambivalent in hi. attitude 10 hit brother, . peaks of him with ! . hal curiou. mi:rlure of half-feigned, hill_longing love wilh which Joyce 50 cleverly captures the Ilate of mind Of lhe impetiect Chrittian trying with only partial luccess to love hislinning neighbour as hinudf;
though Shem is doubly datnDcd in the COInbmed roles ofDavid and Michael J)avilt, Shaun admits thai be is held in deep . fIcclWu in two ports 'down under'-Sydncy and Albany,
MIS. Glasheen', note on Davitt RIma up Shcm'. gyrations: 'He was alwa)'l in and oul of pl'i$on, alwaY' coming and going to
A wtrali. ? . ?
Ne~er dCipairing ofhit ultimate redemption, u Joj'Ce always
I cr. U JO', ?
? ""'. . . . 11. S1.
"7
? Spatial Cycles: I- Tlu Circk
hoped for ultimate recognition in hi, 0'. ''' country, Shem, still at home in Sydney, teu. . . . . . in the final fading allusion to the Telegram that he is awaiting neWi of the Grcat Day:
'Thw faradack> the friarbird. I. . i"tcning, Syd! ' (S95. 3S)
The friarbird (an Awtralian bird) is her<: doing service for the cock who. c crowing mhe", the ",n up from 'down under' to
begin a new Age.
? CHAPTER FI VE SPATIAL CYCLES:
II- THE CROSS
I: SUCH CROSSING IS ANTICHRISTIA"
0. ' COURSF. (U4. 1I)
""t at the minot cyckl of Fi_IaN WaJ;. are typi6ed in and defined by the gn:at cycLe or the whole hook, 10 the many cro lJ . ymbolt are aU variants of a pair of sreat archetyp. ol
0"0Mt:S $trelching ac. . . . . thee tot. all'1rucrure. Thcs<: are the two m<<ting points of the radically oppooW orbit> of Shem and Shun which J have b<<n <fuc"";ng in tho: prcv>ous chapter. AI with the circka, I<) with the CI'OC<O: Joy" is not contcnt . imply 10 ouggesl the abstract idea of nodal poinu . 0. 1 which conU'ario meet, but maJ. c. every effort 10 layout the ",,,,Iving material in a,trucrural pamm which will reproduce lIle ,palla! image '"' clmcly as possible in unns nf tl>e physical dilpocition of tbe paga of the book.
The I<)W'CC on whicl>Joyce calh mosl partiwlarly is Plato'. TiINlnlS but in fact the Yeauian context of the moet obviOUI a1lusiom to it IUggeIU that J oyo;e actually came to II>e T ;. -. u through A Visimo. Whatever hi. ! direcl soure<! may have been, J oyce ,",ated the Platonic theme '"' he did Vico and Blaval$ky and used the theories for aU he wq worth. The descriplion in the TtmIJtI<t of the creation of the Worid-Soul, if ~ the arehe-
type of thit particular m)"tic . yml>ol in walern literature, is at lea. t one ofiu IIlOIt imporunl early appunonca':
'Nut he cleft the ,tructun:. . ? IcngthwiK into tWO halves, and
, Pia"" n. To_, cd. ""b t;OI~ by R, D. . . . ,,"""? Hi/>d, l. . ond<aI. ,888,pp. " ,_. ,.
]
?
'",
? Spatial Cycles: l l - T h Cross
bying the two "" a. . to m""t in the C~ntr~ in the . hap<: of the leller X, he bent them into a "irek and joined them, causing them to mut ulOml<:lv,," and uch other at a p<>int <>pposite to that of th~ir original contact: and he comprehend~d them in
the motion ,hat revolve> unifonnly on the same axis, and on~ of the circles he made uterior and one int. . ior. The ext. o::rior motion he namw. th~ motion of the Same, the interior that 01
the Other. And the circle of the Same he mAde revolve to the right by way of the ,ide, that of the Other to the left by way of the diagonal'. (36 D, C)
It is dear tbatFiMt. <<M< W,,*, is woven outoftwO . uch . nand,of
World. Soul, represented by the Shem-Shaun polarity. The", are two extremt:S to the function of th;' polarity, between which the line of development ,wingo to and fro : when their orbit. are in clost: proximity they war with u c h o ther and- at a moment of exact O1uillbrium---. ,vcn manage to amalgamate, while at the olher extreme th. ", is total incompr~heru;ion and a failure to oommunieate, . ymbolised by tM point of farthest "'paration of the orbits. The two ,tructural meeting? point. are at the coincident beginning and end, 1. 1 and IV, and at the <<nlre, Il. 3--that i" diametrically opposed on the . phue of development. The <{rand. 'pread out from the initial point of contact-the OOnVCIUtion of Mutt and Jeff, who have juot = ,- widen throughout nook I and converge until they mIX! once more during the Butt and T aff episode, at the cnd uf which they momentarily fmc , only to ( r o M avec and sepa1"ll. tc again during Book III before the 6nal meeting (identical with the 6rst) when MUla andJ uva COnve=. 'Mutt andJ cff' and 'Muta and J uva' are the "'m~ event looked at from opposite . ide. ; the book begin. and ends at one of the twO nodal points, while, when J oyce has cut the circle! and . tretch~d them out flat, the other nodal point fait. ""acdy in the Centre of th~ fabric.
