Consuming "The Dead"

James Joyce's Short story collection Dubliners is the quintessential Irish collection. The collection, originally published in 1914, uses the modernist method of portraying many different angles to get to the core truth of the city in decline, Dublin. One of these stories, "The Dead", is one of the most extensively remarked upon short stories in the English language. "The Dead" focuses in on a party thrown by two musically-talented sisters, and more specifically on Gabriel, their favorite nephew. The central scene of the story is set around a dinner table. Joyce uses the dinner scene at large, and more specifically the food itself, to show the reader gender dynamics of the time.



Not just the actions around the food are gendered, but the food itself. The table is set in opposing sides: the goose, carved by a man, is at the head, while the ham, all dressed up with a “neat paper frill round it’s shin” (196) is on the other. The side dishes range between, presented in pairs. Of these, the most notable are the dishes described as “companion[s]” (196): the almond/raisin mix and the figs. There are few more explicit anatomical allusions to gendered food as a bowl of nuts and the vaginally-symbolic fig. Joyce describes the table in gendered terms in order to set the reader up to recognize the gendered roles occurring around the table




These gender roles play themselves out in various ways around the table. The dinner cannot start while Gabriel is in the hall arguing with Miss Ivors because “ There’s everyone waiting in there, stage to let and nobody to carve the goose!”(196) In fact, there are many people who could feasibly carve the goose, including the hostesses, but only the dominant male is actually allowed the honor of carving the main dish. The lesser dishes, ham and beef and side dishes, can be delegated to the women, however. All of the food, save the goose, is served by women during the scene. Later, after everyone is served, Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia are still waiting on people and the men take it into their own hands to set the women down at once. Not only were the men in the room begging the feeble women to seat themselves and begin eating, but Freddy Malins physically sat down Aunt Kate. Meanwhile, Gabriel is still serving to no one’s chagrin, because he is a man and therefore does not need watching after. The way that dinner is served seems to reinforce the male role of provider and protector and shows the women as simultaneously the responsible parties for the meal and the ones that need protecting.




It is difficult to set a dinner scene, especially in the early 20th century, without subtly commenting on gender dynamics. Joyce deals with this inevitability by highlighting these dynamics to a higher degree. I appreciate the attention to detail that Joyce shows, and can use this highlighting technique in different ways to draw out themes other tan gender dynamics in the future.