Game
Forms: game, games, gamey, gamehog(s), gamekeeper, gaming
Related Terms:
Beat
Compete
Win
Lose
Gay
Gamble
Explication
Throughout Ulysses, the most common usage of game appears in a competitive sense, where the word represents some back and forth in a jocular manner, connecting with themes of competition and sports in the novel, but also notions of masculinity, femininity, and sexualities. While game is presented in overt images of young boys playing field hockey (U.2.313), the term is also more broadly connected to competition, such as the fierce gambling on the Gold Cup and Bloom’s intensity as he seeks to defeat Boylan for Molly’s love and attention. The lexical item comes up in the bar among men discussing the local decision by police “forbidding Irish games in the park” (U.12.679). Within the e pub, games and sports serve as a major topic of conversation, specifically in relation to the citizen’s Gaelic sports revival, but also in each character’s attempts to prove and assert their masculinity to their male peers.
The other primary use for “game” is as an adjective, usually in reference to someone describing themselves or being described as prepared, ready, or spirited. The term appears in its adjective form in reference to horses as “And a game filly she is” (U. 10. 511) to highlight the high level of attention the Gold Cup race has received. Here, “game” carries a youthfulness and an energy that implies an ability to be competitive (especially in the horse racing world) or a certain level of power or ability that is clear in a person’s character. Later on in “Circe,” in a heated confrontation between Bloom and Bella, after Bloom critiques Bella’s physical features, she responds with “You’re not game in fact,” suggesting a level of physical inadequacy on Bloom’s end as well (U.15.3489). In this more open-ended context, game can refer to Bloom’s sexual and/or physical shortcomings, hinting at him not being up to a certain standard of beauty or sexual performance, therefore being less masculine and inferior.
Ulysses has a few additional variations of game, including gamehog (U.12.1348) and gamekeeper (U.15.648), which align with the animal-related definition of the term that appears in “game of cygnets,” when referring to a group of swans (U.9.160). While gamekeeper is used to manage and protect the animals from being hunted compared to the animal of a gamehog, these three instances highlight a use for game that expands outside of notions of sports and competition.
Across these various definitions and uses for game, a trend that Joyce establishes is the animalistic nature of competition, as well, connecting the word with historically masculine practices such as sports and hunting. However, Joyce employs the term in a range of contexts and forms that masks this underlying theme of masculinity within the realm of competition and sports in Ulysses.
Definitions and Examples:
- Game, n. (OED n. 2) An activity which provides amusement or fun.
“They were playing the Irving Bishop game, finding the pin blindfold and thoughtreading” (U. 15.444)
- Game, n. (OED n. 7.a) An activity, undertaking, scheme, state of affairs, etc., likened to a game in its manner of proceeding.
“I shall call rebutting evidence to prove up to the hilt that the hidden hand is again at its old game” (U.15. 975).
III. Game, adj. (OED adj. 2). Having the necessary spirit or will for a specified challenge, adventure, novel experience, etc.; ready and willing.
“And a game filly she is” (U.10. 511)
“When the bell went came on gamey and brimful of pluck, confident of knocking out the fistic Eblanite in jigtime” (U.12. 975)
- Also applied to actions, attributes, etc. (OED 1)
- Game, n. (OED n. 18). A flock of swans, originally one kept to be hunted for pleasure. Formerly also: any flock or herd of animals or birds maintained for this purpose
“But he does not stay to feed the pen chivying her game of cynets towards the rushes. The swan of Avon has other thought” (U.9.160)
Related Topics
Competition, Sports, Gender, Sexuality
