Dubliners by James Joyce (1905)

Name: Dubliners
Author: James Joyce

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. The stories are centered on the everyday lives of the people of Dublin, Ireland, and explore themes of paralysis, epiphany, and the struggles of the Irish middle class. The stories are arranged in a loose chronological order, beginning with a young boy's experience of the death of his father in "The Sisters" and ending with the disillusionment of a young man in "The Dead". In between, the stories explore the lives of a variety of characters, from a young girl's coming of age in "Eveline" to a drunkard's attempt to find redemption in "The Boarding House". The stories are often seen as a unified whole, with each story building on the themes of the previous one. As a result, the collection is often seen as a portrait of Dublin and its inhabitants at the turn of the twentieth century.

By James Joyce · First published 1905 · Genre: Modernist Literature, Realism, Irish Literature · 15 chapters · 68,049 words

First lines

There was no hope for him this time: it was the third stroke. Night after night I had passed the house (it was vacation time) and studied the lighted square of window: and night after night I had found it lighted in the same way, faintly and evenly. If he was dead, I thought, I would see the reflection of candles on the darkened blind for I knew that two candles must be set at the head of a corpse. He had often said to me: "I am not long for this world," and I had thought his words idle. Now I knew they were true. Every night as I gazed up at the window I said softly to myself the word paralysis. It had always sounded strangely in my ears, like the word gnomon in the Euclid and the word simony in the Catechism. But now it sounded to me like the name of some maleficent and sinful being. It filled me with fear, and yet I longed to be nearer to it and to look upon its deadly work.

What this Textopian page supports

Dubliners is listed on Textopian as a short story by James Joyce, dated 1905 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Short story
Author: James Joyce
Date: 1905 CE
Language: English
Genres: Modernist Literature, Realism, Irish Literature, Short Story
Length: 68,049 words
Structure: 15 chapters, 2,262 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

Work identity for Dubliners by James Joyce
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
Readability and classroom-planning context
Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Discussion starters

What should a reader notice first when entering Dubliners?
How does this short story by James Joyce fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Modernist Literature first become important in the reading?

Similar titles

Genres

Modernist Literature — Dubliners is a collection of short stories written by James Joyce, a renowned modernist author. The stories are characterized by their stream-of-consciousness narrative style, symbolism, and exploration of the inner lives of characters.
Realism — Dubliners is a realistic portrayal of life in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century. The stories are often bleak and focus on the mundane aspects of everyday life, but also explore the psychological depths of the characters.
Irish Literature — Dubliners is set in Dublin, Ireland and is heavily influenced by Irish culture and history. The stories explore themes of Irish identity, politics, and religion, as well as the effects of colonialism and poverty on the people of Dublin.
Short Story — Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories, each of which is a self-contained narrative. The stories are linked by their setting and themes, but each one stands alone as a complete work.