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How History of Chivalry
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How History of Chivalry and Knights Informs Understanding of Araby by James Joyce
The short story Araby by James Joyce is a first-person narration published in Dubliners, a compilation of 15 other short stories in 1914. The story follows the story of a young boy who is the narrator and his infatuation with his childhood friend’s sister. Araby traces Ireland’s colonization in the 19th century by Great Britain. For many centuries romantic gestures were useful motives in winning women’s hearts. However, society has been changing constantly hence diminishing the effectiveness of such acts of chivalry. This theory comes out vividly in the story as we see how the efforts of the young boy to impress his crush fail. With time, the boy comes to the realization that the entire chivalric view including romantic gestures is counterproductive in modern times. The short story shows how rapidly the world of the characters is changing and that chivalry is growing obsolete by the day. The purpose of this text is to explain how research into the history of chivalry and knights informs our understanding of Araby by James Joyce.
The young boy in the story, also the narrator, spends a lot of time fantasizing about Mangan’s older sister. The narrator spends plenty of time admiring her from a distance. The first time the two met was when Mangan and the boy are playing outside and Mangan’s sister calls them for supper (Joyce, 3). When the narrator finally gets an opportunity to speak to her, she tells him about an event taking place at the bazaar. The fair titled Araby is sponsored by the church. The girl revealed to him that she was not in a position to attend and asks if he would go. The narrator is tongue-tied for a bit before agreeing to go. The narrator saw it as a chance to impress the girl she admires and has a crush on. He even promises to bring her a gift from the fair. It is clear that the boy is overwhelmed by his feelings. He wants to do this chivalrous act for her hoping that it would win her affection.
On the material day of the fair, the boy has to wait for hours for his drunken uncle to come back home as he is the only one who can give him the money he needs to attend the event. The boy gets anxious and is tells his aunt that he foresees himself missing the fair. Thankfully his uncle returns and says that he had forgotten about the bazaar. He gives the boy the coin who hurries to catch the train. Unfortunately, the boy arrives as the fair is closing. He tries to get a gift to take to his crush. He approaches one of the stalls that remained open. The stall was owned by an English woman who according to the boy did not treat him well. In the text, Joyce writes that “she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty”. The boy overhears a conversation between the English lady and two men who happen to be gossiping. The attendant reluctantly asks the boy what he wants to buy but the boy declines. He slowly walks away out of the fall in the middle of darkening lights as he thinks he is a “creature driven and derided by vanity”. He is angry with himself and feels embarrassed with the realization that he would not be getting her crush anything. In the text, the boy’s “eyes burned with anguish and anger.” Judging from the history of chivalry, it is emerging that the reason why the boy did not want to go back home empty handed is that he wanted to impress the girl (Chuto, 115). Further, he had already told her to expect a gift that is why he did that entire he could to go to the bazaar even after his uncle returned home late. He went through lots of trouble just to go event from showing up when the event was ending to encountering inconsiderate shop attendants.
The way the boy behaves points to a similar portrayal of Britain’s domination over Ireland. In a chivalry system, there are various social, moral, and religious codes attached to other noblemen and knights collectively. The author of the story, Joyce, portrays the way Ireland was culturally, socially, economically, and politically dominated. The narrator was just following in the footsteps of how he was been raised and how romance happened at the time. Men were expected to use romantic gestures to win the affection of women and similarly, the boy was prepared to do just about anything to attend the fair and bring back a gift as promised (Gerber, 215). This is despite being interested in the event and his uncle forgetting about it. The narrator feels a blind love for his friend’s sister. The feelings he has for the girl distorts his view of reality. Joyce writes about a lack of vision and blurriness in the text to show the extent to which the boy is blinded. All this life, the boy’s life is surrounded by darkness and after attending the bazaar fair, his eyes are open for the first time in his life. He can see clearly. He finally realizes that the relationship he was yearning to have with Mangan’s sister is simply unattainable. He admits it was built on a fantasy that would never come true and that his search for the perfect gift was a waste of effort, money, and time. Defeated by society and himself, he understands that external and internal forces opposing him are too strong for him to overcome. He goes back home to his aunt and uncle knowing that the relationship he had hoped to have with the girl he was in love with would never materialize. He comes back with new knowledge regarding himself, about life, and his role and place in society. Further, the boy develops increased self-awareness and he knows that moving forward, he must set for himself goals that are realistic.
In closing, Araby by James Joyce brings us to the understanding that in the current world, cats of chivalry such as extreme gestures of romance are begging to slowly become obsolete. With the world constantly changing, chivalry is becoming rather counterproductive. The implication of this argument is that people are becoming more self-aware to set realistic goals. After having a crush on his friend’s sister for a long time, it took the boy a trip to the bazaar to realize that his plan would never materialize. He went to great lengths just to impress this girl but at the end of the day, he ended up not winning the affection of the girl. The history of chivalry and knights as revealed in the short story goes to show that all the effort does not matter to girls because society continues to develop over time and with time such actions of chivalry have only become more and more useless.
Works Cited
Chuto, Jacques. “‘Mangan’s Sister’in’Araby’: What’s in a Name?.” Dublin James Joyce Journal 9.1 (2016): 111-121.
Gerber, Richard J. “Anima in” Araby”.” Joyce Studies Annual (2019): 210-228.
Joyce, James, et al. Araby. HarperPerennial Classics, 2014.
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