26 pages • 52 minutes read
The Boarding House
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Themes
Gender and Social Mobility in Early 20th-Century Ireland
While there are many themes in “The Boarding House,” the most prominent is the issue of social mobility, with Joyce interrogating both women’s and men’s ability to move between social classes in Dublin. Through Mrs. Mooney, especially, readers see the preoccupation with class and status, particularly when it comes to marriage. By having her marriage fail, Joyce sets her character up to contrast with Polly, for whom she wishes to find a “good” marriage. Mrs. Mooney’s upbringing as a butcher’s daughter and her ascension to owning a boarding house demonstrate the social mobility available to her outside of marriage, while her plans for Polly show that marriage remains the primary form of social climbing available to women. She also wants Polly “off [her] hands,” demonstrating the power of parents over young women’s futures (Paragraph 13). Mrs. Mooney’s thoughts indicate she views her daughter as both property and a burden. Polly is something to be gotten rid of, and Mrs. Mooney accomplishes this by passing responsibility for Polly over to a man through marriage.
Class issues are woven into Mrs. Mooney’s interactions and intentions especially regarding Polly. Mr. Doran’s marriage to Polly would ensure her social status and, by effect, Mrs. Mooney’s. Polly’s descriptions and thoughts do not indicate whether she is concerned with social class or the status of Mr. Doran. However, she does seem to have an idea of what her mother has intended for her:
Polly had been made awkward not merely because allusions of that kind always made her awkward but also because she did not wish it to be thought that in her wise innocence she had divined the intention behind her mother’s tolerance (Paragraph 9).
The oxymoron “wise innocence” indicates that Polly is more knowledgeable than she appears. While Polly may not be overtly scheming like her mother, Joyce hints that Polly is aware of her situation when she quickly dries her eyes after Doran goes down to talk with Mrs. Mooney.
Though the story focuses on the Mooney women, Joyce also captures the nuances of men’s mobility within Dublin’s social class structures. Joyce gives readers a window into the volatile nature of male reputations in Dublin society through Mr. Doran’s worries about his Sunday meeting with Mrs. Mooney, showing how quickly a good reputation can be ruined. If he does not commit to Polly after sleeping with her, he loses the respectable reputation he has built up over a lifetime. While of course women have little social agency, Mr. Doran’s experience in the story also demonstrates that men’s agency is very clearly defined and limited based on societal norms.
Marriage as a Double Standard
As Mrs. Mooney thinks, “It is all very well for the man: he can go his ways as if nothing had happened, having had his moment of pleasure, but the girl has to bear the brunt” (Paragraph 11). If the proper reparations are made, then Mr. Doran has an easy out. This is a luxury not afforded to women, creating a double standard.
Mrs. Mooney’s methods of achieving “proper reparations” demonstrate the limited modes of social mobility for women at the time. Meanwhile, Mr. Doran’s thoughts on the matter of his reputation show the way social capital works for men. The volatile nature of reputation at the time is also shown in connection to the church, with Mr. Doran’s confession and reprimand by the priest. His confession demonstrates that the majority of what constitutes a good reputation in Dublin is deeply rooted in religion. While the religious context remains in the background of the story, it directly influences the plot, pressuring Mr. Doran to propose and reinforcing Mrs. Mooney’s argument that the couple must marry. Joyce’s attempt to capture the essence of this element of Dublin’s culture is one of the reasons he is still considered one of the great Irish writers.
Because an out is available to Mr. Doran, he has freedom beyond that of Dublin’s women. However, those outs are riddled with conditions that must be met to satisfy the larger culture. The reparation must be deemed appropriate by Dublin society—otherwise he forfeits his reputation and likely loses his job. Mr. Doran has to maneuver carefully when making reparations for his relationship with Polly, especially as Mrs. Mooney is in the position of power at this point. Polly’s mother decides what reparations will be acceptable, and they must take the form of a proposal. By sleeping with Polly, Mr. Doran has sacrificed his power, leaving him at the mercy of Mrs. Mooney. Gender roles are reversed as Mr. Doran’s agency is limited to two choices, both of which will affect the rest of his life. If he proposes, Polly will be his wife and he will give up some measure of his independence, but if he does not, he will lose everything for which he has worked. Either way, he suffers a loss regarding his social mobility.
Catholicism, Guilt, and Reparations
The religious undertones of the story contribute to the cultural standards for men as well as women. Mr. Doran’s Catholic faith is the primary controlling social convention impelling him to make reparations. The threats of sin and hell looms if he does not, affecting both his life and afterlife. His confession to the priest is a way to assuage his guilt, but that fear still lingers, holding itself over everything he does. Mrs. Mooney uses the fears created by Dublin’s religious culture to her own advantage, and in some ways, her daughter’s.
Even before Mr. Doran’s confession, religious imagery pervades the story, alerting readers to the religious theme. Joyce describes the “constant peals” of the local church’s bells, and how the “worshippers, singly or in groups, traversed the little circus before the church, revealing their purpose by their self-contained demeanor no less than by the little volumes in their gloved hands” (Paragraph 9). The description of the congregation as a “circus” and the self-consciously pious appearance of the congregants suggests a performative element to religious worship in Dublin. Churchgoers want to be seen and perceived as good Catholics.
In Joyce’s story, religion is both limiting and enabling. It limits men and women, but women more so due to the church’s patriarchal view of them. Men are offered more loopholes through confession, and reparation, which women are less likely to receive. Polly has no recourse to save her reputation, while Mr. Doran does. The only way for either of them to save face is to marry. Otherwise, they live and die in sin, a powerful motivator.
Religion in many ways dictates how the people in the story and in Dublin live their lives, creating complicated issues of social mobility for men and women. Joyce’s portrayal of religion in “The Boarding House” shows his ambivalence toward the Catholic faith and its relationship with Irish culture. This theme is repeated in other stories in Dubliners which, as a whole, provide insight into Joyce’s view of religion early on in his writing career.
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