Joyce succeeds in writing in a style which accurately reflects the way in
which thoughts move in one’s inner consciousness.
The fluid movement of his writing is free of the cumbersome
restrictions which can be limit a reader’s understanding of a character.
Although much of his writing is incomprehensible (in fact, it is
impossible to understand all the references he makes) he convey a greater
understanding to his readers on an intuitive level.
Though one can never expect to fully understand Molly, it is
possible to become familiar with the way she thinks.
Afforded this opportunity to read her thoughts, one might even be
able to anticipate the way she thinks.
Joyce has opened the floodgates to the female mind.
However, what pours out is both peculiar and somewhat distressing.
Though everyone is preoccupied with sex on some level and
influenced by their religion in part, Molly is unnaturally consumed with
thoughts above and beyond what could be considered normal.
Though Joyce seems to write in search of honesty, what emerges is a
woman consumed with manipulating men, who uses sex to claim power where
she has no other means. She
is, at worst cruel, and at best very shallow.
Though Joyce does create scenes from her past which are in part
sentimental and insightful (for instance, Molly’s reflections on Bloom
at his father’s funeral), she is also jealous and contemptuous when
considering other women, she is selfish in her relationships, and she is
unkind in her treatment of her husband.
If Joyce were merely trying to write a single female character, these attributes would be the author’s prerogative. Certainly, these traits do exist in the realm of human possibilities, and there would be no problem in Joyce’s efforts to create them in Molly. Yet if we are to view Chapter Eighteen on a broader scale, these characteristics demonize the female nature. Molly becomes more a collection of mail fears and prejudices than an accurate representation of female consciousness. Joyce must be commended for his efforts to breakdown the traditional and incomplete writing of his predecessors. His representation of how the mind works are both perceptive and realistic. And yet the character he builds undermines the very nature of feminism. If this chapter is to be read simply as the inner mind of a particular woman, it succeeds in its efforts to expose the nature of Molly. Yet if this chapter intends to recreate the preoccupations of “every woman,” this chapter serves only to expose the fear and preoccupations of Joyce’s masculine identity.