II explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• History and Memory

  Stephen reflects on history as a 'nightmare from which I am trying to awake,' and the lesson explores the weight of historical events and personal memory.

• Identity and Selfhood

  Stephen sees his own childhood in the struggling student Sargent, and grapples with his role as a teacher and his own sense of self.

• Fatherhood and Filial Relations

  Stephen's thoughts about his own mother and his distant relationship with his past evoke themes of parental care and filial bonds.

Characters to notice

• Stephen Dedalus

  Teaches a history class, reflects on his own childhood and the nature of history, and receives payment from Mr. Deasy.

• Mr Deasy

  The headmaster who pays Stephen, gives him a letter to publish, and makes anti-Semitic remarks.

• Sargent

  A slow student who struggles with his sums, evoking Stephen's pity and memories of his own childhood.

• Armstrong

  A student who gives a foolish answer about Pyrrhus, causing laughter in the class.

• Comyn

  A student who eagerly asks to answer questions and requests a ghost story.

• Talbot

  A student who recites lines from Milton's 'Lycidas' during the lesson.

Key passages

• “History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”

  Stephen declares that history is a oppressive dream he struggles to escape.

  This line captures Stephen's view of history as a burdensome, inescapable force.

• “Because she never let them in, Mr Deasy said solemnly.”

  Mr. Deasy claims Ireland never persecuted Jews because they were never allowed to enter the country.

  This anti-Semitic remark reveals Mr. Deasy's narrow-mindedness and the prejudices of the time.

• “Amor matris: subjective and objective genitive.”

  Mother's love: both the love a mother feels and the love felt for a mother.

  Stephen reflects on the dual meaning of maternal love, linking it to his own childhood and the student Sargent.