Ulysses Update: Book 11 - The Sirens

November 25, 2008

This is a late update; I finished the “Sirens” section of Ulysses almost three weeks ago and have finished two more section since. As a result, I have only my marginal notes and poor memory to work from and what sticks in my mind most is the style and structure.

In “Sirens” the internal monologue and stream-of-consciousness remain only as artifacts– stylistic tics. There are strange interjections of various kinds: Stephen Dedalus’ internal thoughts appear out of nowhere, as do other, unknown, semi-objective viewpoints that bring to question any accuracy of portrayal or description.

But it’s the structure of this book that is most fascinating even in my relative ignorance. The section opens with 60+ fragments, all(?) of which recur in context later. Some recur in a slightly modified form, as in the first line:

Bronze by gold heard the hoofirons, steelyringing, steelyringing Imperthnthn thnthnthn.

Which shows up later split into two different pieces:

Bronze by gold, miss Douce’s head by miss Kennedy’s head, over the crossblind of the Ormond bar heard the viceregal hoofs go by, ringing steel.

[...]

—Imperthnthn thnthnthn, bootssnout sniffed rudely, as he retreated as she threatened as he had come.

The annotations indicate that this chapter has as its structural foundation the “Fuga per canone” or “A fugue according to rule,” which:

…has three classes of subject: 1) Andamenti, a complete melody, beautiful in itself; 2) Soggetti, a short passage with a characteristic interval; and 3) Attaco, a short figure, usually staccato. In the opening section of the fugue the subject is presented together with the answer and a repetition of the subject in a different key (if there is to be a countersubject it is introduced in this section). The next section, the exposition, is a complete statement of the subject(s) and/or answer(s) by all the voices. This is followed by the “free” middle section; the climax then presents the subject in its most exciting aspect; and the coda concludes the fugue with the “desire for home.”

I get, then, that the opening lines are presented and then repeated later in a different key. But the rest really eludes me. In fact, I find the explanation quoted to be a bit problematic in itself!

Other aspects of the musical motif, reflecting the music of the sirens, did make themselves known. The section is heavy on musical voices: trilling, giggling, jingling, bells, singing, bells, drumming. Joyce even goes so far as to inject stage directions in the vein of musical direction:

She laughed:

—O wept! Aren’t men frightful idiots?

With sadness.

The symbol of the Sirens has gotten a bad rap in our culture, where they are usually represented as women luring men to their doom with a carnal song. In fact, though, what the Sirens tempt those who pass with is actually knowledge– the ultimate knowledge of all things that have been and will be. The moldering bones beneath them aren’t victims who’ve been used up by the Sirens and cast away, but the remains of those who gave in and were given exactly what they wished for and rotted away, entranced, as people would starve to death in front of the television consuming the Infinite Jest in David Foster Wallace’s book. This allure is much more significant and troublesome than mere physical beauty.

In this section of Ulysses, the Sirens are indeed beautiful barmaids who are watched closely by the patrons who come near, but as their profession warrants they are privy to many secrets and thus possessors of many different kinds of knowledge. Miss Douce practically erntrances Bloom; Miss Kennedy plugs and unplugs her ears in a clear echo of Ulysses’ actions. But Cowley and Dollard and the rest are Sirens as well, who– despite their being old and used up and disenchanted– beguile everyone in the bar with their love songs, making Bloom wish for more whenever they stop. It isn’t the beauty of the songs or the singing, but the promise of knowledge of true love that is enchanting. Ultimately Bloom has to escape from each of these siren songs, watching Miss Douce for a measure too long before escaping form the bar altogether.

Tags Tags: james joyce, Music, reading, sirens, ulysses