Molly’s Multiple Metaphors

James Joyce is one of the most innovative writers of the20th century in thewestern literary world. He broke the traditional form of the novel by setting off anunprecedented literary revolution. With peculiar forms, obscure languages, a lot ofimages, multiple meanings and profound metaphors, his novels have confused manycritics. Therefore, metaphor study has become a key point in the study of JamesJoyce’s Ulysses. As Molly is the heroine of Ulysses, the interpretation of her image isimpossible to ignore. Molly is very complex as a metaphor, and her image presentsdifferent meanings with the transformation of perspectives. This paper consists of fourchapters, respectively from three aspects including Modern National Epic, MythPrototype as well as Ireland, which summarize and analyze Molly’s metaphor.The introduction is about the writing style of Joyce, particularly about theimportant role that the metaphor plays in Ulysses. Explaining the importance of Mollyin Ulysses is embodied in its rich metaphorical sense, and Molly’s image can besummarized based on it.The first chapter, Ulysses: A Castle of Metaphor, is divided into two sections.The first section points out that modernism literature is under the influence ofirrational philosophy, which tends to reflect the world with metaphor. In addition, itintroduces Joyce’s view of metaphor and the main forms of metaphor in Ulysses. Thesecond section mainly discusses the relationship between Molly and metaphor, andpoints out that some researchers have misunderstood Molly. In fact this charactercontains rich metaphorical meanings.The second chapter, Modern Penelope, by comparing Molly with Penelope,points out that Molly is the metaphor of “modern hero” in Joyce’s heart. In the firstsection, I point out that Molly’s image is more real and complete than Penelope, andthe characteristic of androgyny make her become the “whole person” in the modern sense. In the second section, I compare the different images of “home” betweenOdysseus and Bloom, pointing out that Molly recognizes and loves Bloom. She is hisreal “spiritual home”.The third chapter, Earth mother Gaia, suggests that Molly is the modernmetaphor of Gaia in Greek mythology. The first section shows that Molly is not only asexy, natural women, but the principle of sexuality which is the symbol of vitality. Shealso replaces the virgin Mary and becomes the new goddess of Ireland. The secondsection proves that Molly is a symbol of fertility by showing “productive” imagewhich appears around Molly. The fertility can not only help Molly to rebuild therelations with Bloom but also make Stephen as a mature artist.The fourth chapter, Dawn of Ireland, mainly discusses Molly’s metaphoricalmeaning as the future of Ireland. The first section compares Molly with the otherwomen who represent Ireland in Ulysses, and points out that Molly’s image is betterthan theirs. In Joyce’s view, she is the best metaphor of the future of Ireland. Inaddition, the combination of Molly and the “legal king” Bloom will bring the boomand renaissance to Ireland. In the second section, I point out that Molly’s relationshipwith men is the metaphor of Ireland’s multicultural future. Ireland should accept alienculture and use their advantages to reform the national culture. Only in this way canIreland achieve the culture renaissance.