Romantic Love in Joyce’s “Araby” and “Eveline”

Romantic Love in Joyce’s “Araby” and “Eveline”

The theme of romantic love plays a paramount role in both stories, “Araby” and “Eveline” by James Joyce. “Romantic love” can be viewed differently by each individual and varies in its degree and depth. At times it is attainable but often only in our hearts and minds and not in reality.

In “Araby” by James Joyce, our unnamed protagonist appears to be on the verge of moving from childhood to young adulthood. He is experiencing a sexual awakening as he focuses on the young woman who he thinks he is romantically in love with. He constantly refers to romantic notions regarding his love “When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped.”(Joyce 347) “…Her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.” (Joyce 437) “Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand.” (Joyce 348) “I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: O love! O love! many times.”(Joyce 348). None of these romantic thoughts are verbalized or communicated to the young woman at whom they are directed. He keeps them in his heart, mind and his tongue (but always to himself). As stated by J.S Atherton the boy is “the hero of a romantic tale.” “”...his eyes were often fuel of tears” (qtd. in Artherton 367) verges on the sentimental but succeeds in convincing the reader of the sincerity of the boy’s misery in his “confused adoration”” (qtd in Artherton 367). We question whether the romantic ideas will ever be realized. Jhon Brugaletta and Marry Hayden express “The boy, standing alone in darkned Araby with his shattered hopes, may well have felt anguish and anger over his romantic illusion that thwarted them…” (Coulthard 1).

In “Eveline”, our protagonist views romantic love as a escape from the misery of her home life where she and her mother (before her death) were both mistreated. Eveline’s romantic notions are tied to what she considers an opportunity “to explore another...