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Link to citation page: https://www.worldcat.org/title/that-brother-motive-dont-you-know-stephens-siblings-in-ulysses/oclc/5552856082&referer=brief_results

Link to full text: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3199116

The article begins by considering Joyce's "violations" (26) of his own history through Stephen, Joyce's semi-autobiographical character. Siegchrist points out that in Stephen Hero, Stephen has clearly portrayed, fully formed brothers (as did Joyce). However, by the time Joyce wrote Ulysses, Stephen's brothers had been reduced to a few short words and a couple allusions. According to Siegchrist, the near-erasure of brothers from Stephen's life reflects Joyce's belief that artists must be "alienated" from all "physiological relationships" in order to fully form "spiritual relationships" (26).

Despite, or perhaps because there are no overt mentions of Stephen's brothers, Siegchrist believes that "shades of his brothers" continue to haunt Stephen (29). Mentions of Joyce's biographical brother, Stanislaus (for example, U 12.339 and U 15.586) and the character Stephen Hero's brother, Maurice (for example, U 15.486), can be found dispersed in Ulysses. Furthermore, Stephen's modest attempts to ignore his brothers seem absolutely successful when compared to his failure to ignore his sister, Dilly, especially in "The Wandering Rocks" (U 10).

Through Dilly's presence in the novel, it becomes clear that Stephen cannot totally isolate himself. His "emotional need" (Siegchrist 30), which eventually drives him to Bloom, is brought to the forefront by Dilly, who unsettlingly embodies Stephen's reluctant desire for family connection. Seigchrist also points out that Dilly is in many ways a reflection of Milly, creating another avenue in which Bloom is Stephen's father. Whether Simon's daughter or Bloom's, by being a sister, Dilly can reveal Stephen as a brother, while still leaving him brotherless. In this way, Dilly's character demonstrates and reinforces Stephen's necessary artistic isolation.

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