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Devlin, Kimberly. "The Romance Heroine Exposed: ‘Nausicaa’ and The Lamplighter." James Joyce Quarterly 22, no. 4 (1985): 383–96.

Related topics:

Maternity
Obedience and Rebellion
Sexuality

Link to citation page: https://www.worldcat.org/title/the-romance-heroine-exposed-nausicaa-and-the-lamplighter/oclc/5557075724&referer=brief_results

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Devlin analyzes Ulysses in conversation with one of the books mentioned in "Nausciaa" (U 13): The Lamplighter. She compares the alluded-to novel's ideal female heroine, Gertrude Flint, to Gerty MacDowell. Gertrude Flint is the perfect female: subservient, content, and pure: an "animated cliché" (385). While on the surface, Gerty MacDowell may appear to resemble Gertrude Flint, as we dig deeper into her character, a deeper frustration and discontent comes out. She is unsatisfied, bitter with the prescribed feminine role of mother and caregiver. The romance heroine is supposed to oblivious of her personal appearance, whereas Gerty is hyper-aware of her outward appearance and self-presentation. "Nausicaa" becomes a story of anxious, self-conscious looking, unlike the romance novels to which it has been compared.

Moreover, according to Devlin, Gerty is set apart by her ability to feel sexual desire, unlike the prototypical heroine, whose love should be asexual. Instead, Gerty derives sexual pleasure from her surroundings, namely Leopold Bloom's male gaze. In Gerty and Bloom's exchange, the distinction between watcher and watched disappears, as Gerty takes an active role of provocateur. Rather than setting up the scene to mock Gerty's attitude or behavior, Devlin argues that Joyce intends to mock the unrealistic ideals culturally ascribed to females, criticizing the condition of women rather than the women themselves. In doing so, Joyce creates a multi-layered exposure—"a physical exposure, a sexual exhibition, and a psychological exposure, a revelation of the arch young woman behind the romantic pose" (395).

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