Volume-XI, Issue-V, September 2025 |
Bloom’s Dismantling of The Gender
Performativity in Dublin Through the Looking Glass of Calypso
Athulya Jose, Independent Research scholar, Hyderabad, India |
Received: 19.09.2025 | Accepted: 22.09.2025 | Published Online: 30.09.2025 | Page No: 202-209 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.11.issue.05W.148 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
James Joyce’s “Ulysses” is widely regarded as a literary masterpiece that has inspired thousands of people worldwide. This paper observes how Joyce through his characters, deconstructs the various gender stereotypes by questioning prescriptive masculinity by opening up the fallacy of societal notions. Ulysses aims to challenge outdated assumptions regarding gender and sexuality while also critically examining the societal context they arise. “Calypso”, the fourth chapter of Ulysses, introduces us to Leopold Bloom, a 38-year-old Jewish advertising canvasser for a Dublin newspaper. The more feminised and emasculated persona visible in Bloom is in contrast to the masculinity embodied by the epics and Irish men. Thus, Bloom's introduction to readers is through a lens of femininity. Nourishment and Nurturance, the traditional feminine quality is the primary feature we witness in him. Bloom's masculinity departs from the cultural norms, transcending the patriarchal structures and preconceived notions of gender roles and gender relations. His model of masculinity is a contemporary reworking of the knightly notions of chivalry. Through Bloom, Joyce deconstructs the conscious as well as unconscious social attempts to categorise certain physical and mental characteristics as either masculine or feminine. Bloom represents an alternative perspective to masculinity in Ireland in the early 20th century. Thus, through this display and dismantling of the rigid systems, Joyce creates a hero, Leopold Bloom, who departs from the traditional masculine Dublin society and through interaction with Bloom’s sexuality, Joyce raises a greater psychological commentary on gender relations. As Bloom interrogates the gender stereotypes in Dublin, this remains relevant even in our times, thus making Ulysses an immortal work. | ||
Keywords: Ulysses, James Joyce, Gender Performativity, Gender Fluidity, Dublin Society |