The Boarding House 

-James Joyce

Summary of the story:

This is a story about Mrs. Mooney and Polly. Polly is the daughter of Mrs. Mooney. Mrs. Mooney owns a boarding house. Her daughter Polly is having a love affair with Mr. Doran. He is one of the men who live at the boarding house.

      Mrs. Mooney was a butcher's daughter. She was a determined woman who could keep things secret to herself. She married her father's foreman. She opened a butcher's shop after her marriage near Spring Garden. When her father died, her husband felt free and involved himself in drink. He began to steal money and finally became penniless. He fought his wife before the customers. He lost his business. One night he tried to kill his wife with the butcher's knife (cleaver). After this event she got divorced from him with the permission of the priest.

      Mr. Mooney was a bad, dirty drunkard. He had nowhere to go. He waited for a job as a sheriff's man. He had a white face, white moustache and white eyebrows. He used to sit in debt-collector's room in the hope of getting a job there. Mrs. Mooney gave no share to him. She collected the remaining amount from her business and opened a boarding house in Hardwicke Street. Many tourists and visitors used to come to her place for eating and lodging. She was a cunning and determined woman. Young men used to address her as the Madam. She had a vulgar son Jack Mooney who used to speak slang words. On Sunday nights used to gather for singing and dancing. It would be enjoyable for all. Jack used to come home at one or two at midnight. He was fond of boxing and comic songs.

      Mrs. Mooney's daughter Polly was a thin, slim girl of 19. She was beautiful and lively. So the young men used to visit the boarding house more often than usual. She seemed to show her love with the young men and they would be happy to have her with them. But Mrs. Mooney understood that none of the young men intended to marry her.

      Mrs. Mooney knew that some kind of love affair was going on between Polly and Mr. Doran, a young man staying at the boarding house. She wished cunningly to unite them in marriage. So she made a plan. On a bright Sunday morning of early summer, Mrs Mooney sat in her armchair and thought how her plan could be made successful. Then she sent her servant named Mary to Mr. Doran's room to call him to her room.

      Mr. Doran was anxious and afraid. He was unable to shave. He had gone to the priest's the night before for suggestion. He had only two options: to marry Polly or to run away. He also feared that he would be sacked out from his job. He was sitting helplessly on the side of his bed. Miss Polly came and put her arms round his neck. He remembered Polly's good works done for him. She used to warm his food, give drink, during cold nights when he came late.

      Meanwhile, Mary came to take Doran to Mrs. Mooney. When he went down the stairs, he met jack Mooney. Jack's presence reminded him of the night when jack threatened a man who had spoken something freely about Polly.

      Miss Polly was waiting patiently and happily thinking that her mother would settle her marriage with Mr. Doran. She waited her mother's call. At last she heard her mother calling her. She knew that Mr. Doran wanted to speak to her for marriage.     

Questions and answers:

1. How do you think Mrs. Mooney settled with Mr. Doran about Polly? Did Mr. Doran marry Polly or pay out compensation?

►  Mrs. Mooney's inner intention was to marry her daughter to one of the best young men. But all the young people, who used to come to her boarding house, were playful and they had no intention to marry Polly. Mrs. Mooney finally understood that some kind of affair was going on between Polly and Mr. Doran. She was a very impressive woman and she wished to unite the couple in marriage. She invited Mr. Doran and persuaded him to marry Miss Polly. Finally she took advantages of the love affairs and won the heart of Mr. Doran and compelled him to marry Polly. At last, perhaps, Doran was convinced to marry Polly.

2. Sketch the character of Mrs. Mooney.                                                              

►  James Joyce’s “The Boarding House” is one of the short stories in his collection of The Dubliners. Mrs. Mooney, the main character in the James Joyce story “The Boarding House” is described as "a woman who deals with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat". She is a butcher’s daughter who helps her father in butcher's shop. In this story, Mrs. Mooney, after separating from her abusive and alcoholic, husband runs a boarding house for working men. Her daughter Polly entertains the boarders by singing and flirts with them. Mrs. Mooney learns that Polly is dating Mr. Doran; a man in his mid-thirties who has worked in a Catholic wine-merchant’s office for many years. Mrs. Mooney bides her time before she intervenes, which indicates that she is deliberately trying to trap Mr. Doran.

      Mrs. Mooney is a deliberate plan maker. On a warm Sunday morning, she intends to talk to Mr. Doran and demands that he marry Polly or else he will risk open disclosure. The narration then shifts to Doran’s point of view as he nervously contemplates losing his job due to his sexual relationship with Polly and bemoans the girl’s lower class background and vulgarities of speech. After Polly enters in an agitated state, we learn through Doran’s memories that she initiated the relationship. The story closes with Mrs. Mooney calling Polly down so that Mr. Doran can speak to her, indicating that he agrees to the marriage.

Mrs. Mooney is the protagonist, characterized by 'determined' and 'imposing' woman. Her character traits are completely different from social convention, which usually expects women to be gentle, fragile, dependent and submissive (Tyson 83-4). On the contrary, Mrs. Mooney seems to have an air of masculinity rather than femininity. It is she who “married her father’s foreman and opened a butcher’s shop”; it is she who manages to get a separation when her husband threatens her with a meat cleaver. In the exclusively male world of butchering she is able to stand on her own feet. And she successfully supports her family alone by running a boarding house. Feminists could almost set Mrs. Mooney as a perfect example to illustrate that women are not weaker. She is strong, bold, enthusiastic, cunning lady who can persuade, convince and create pleasant environment for the boarders to the extent of their satisfaction. She has not left a single stone unmoved to trap Mr. Doran, one of the lodgers.     

      Mr. Mooney is an opportunist. She seems to be in dire need of a young man who can marry Polly, who is now a mature one. She waits, inspects and observes the love affairs between Polly and Doran. She lets the affair become deeper and deeper and then compels to unite them in marriage. It is a great trick played against Doran to trap him to settle the marital relationship between two young lovers.

 The End