Analyzing the story eveline by one of the following elements - Essay Example

This essay seeks to analyze the position of women in the society as developed in the story “Eveline” by James Joyce. As the story unfolds, Eveline notes the happy life that their family shared when her mother was still alive and the father was not too harsh on her. The author points out that “… they seemed to be rather happy then…, her mother was alive” to reflect on the situation of life when an Eveline’s mother was still alive (Joyce 33). The implication of this statement is that the suffering of the main character started little after her mother passed away.

This brings out the position of a woman as a source of merry in the family and that the death of a mother is the death of joy in any family. When Eveline remains on the window, she reflects on her past life and seems to miss that time when her mother was alive and life was better for her. From this point of view, the role of a woman in a family is to bring happiness not only to her children but also to her husband. In this social set up, a woman is inclined to domestic responsibilities that include working hard to provide for the family.

Joyce (33) says that “… she had to work hard, both in the house and in the business” to signify the dual roles that Eveline had to attend to ensure that her family was fed, as part of her domestic responsibilities. This implies that Eveline had to serve in business to obtain money to feed the family and back at home she had to cook and wash as part of her domestic responsibilities. From a critical point of view, it is wise to point out that Eveline had had to take up the responsibilities that her mother had held before she had died.

She has to bring the same happiness that her mother had brought to the family, a role that Eveline can only fulfil if she remains dutiful in the family. No matter how the duties are tiring and unappreciated, she is glued to them and cannot depart from them. In short, every woman in Dublin has to remain royal to her domestic responsibilities as part of satisfying her position in this society. The woman in this society is seen as an object of suffering and a victim of violence in a society that has little regard for this gender.

Joyce (34) keenly notes that Eveline’s father always threatened to beat her and that he would not hesitate to hurl abuse at her. Also, he demands every penny of her hard-earned money and does not recognize the suffering she has to persevere while doing her marketing in the field. Although Eveline has already grown up and is over 19 years of age, her father still maintains his arrogance and threatens to beat a lady who is already feeling defenceless and unprotected. Consequently, Eveline is happy to meet a saviour boyfriend, Frank, who would sail her abroad from an Island that has subjected her to a lot of suffering (34).

The reason why she wants to escape is because she had had enough of suffering and she has a chance to run away from these problems and live with a man who appreciates her. In this view, the Dublin society maintains a high degree of gender biases that brings more suffering to women as they undertake their noble responsibilities in the family. At the climax of this story, it is contradictory that Eveline opts to remain in Dublin, a place that had subjected her to suffer and denies Frank a hand in marriage.

Frank is the only person who had