In the latter half of Circe, the reader witnesses the abject humiliation of Bloom and the full extent of his downtrodden, non-heroic status. Bella Cohen, or the acerbic and austere Bello, becomes a Circe like figure in the episode, ushering Bloom into an anxious series of hallucinations even more distressing and confusing than the imaginations from the previous lines.
Unlike the champion Odysseus who was able to combat Circe’s magical powers and ultimately best her, Bloom lacks fortuity and gumption and is utterly tyrannized by Bello’s chastisements, “Die and be damned to you if you have any sense of decency or grace about you” (15 U. 3202-3203). So far, much of this episode has conveyed Bloom’s hollow identity and various persecutions, however, his interaction with Bello proves to be a culmination of his condemnation.
Bloom’s truly dejected state of being is articulated through an obviously Catholic inspired language of confession and reverence. During Bello’s interrogation of Bloom, he insists, “Don’t ask me! Our mutual faith. Pleasants street. I only thought the half of the…I swear on my sacred oath…” (15 U. 3049-3050). Bloom’s miserable status is epitomized in his weak resistance to Bello’s criticisms. As previously established in our past discussions, Bloom is distanced from both Jewish and Irish identities and the religions inexorably connected to them. When Bloom swears on his sacred oath to withstand Bello’s lambastes, he is difficult to say what sacredness he has an actual relationship with.
Interestingly enough, Bloom is able to find some relief and alleviate Bello’s taunts by reverently confronting the nymph, “I was precocious. Youth. The fauna. I sacrificed to the god of the forest. The flowers that bloom in the spring” (15 U. 3351-3352). Christianity and Judaism have only offered Bloom internal crises of identity. By finally acknowledging the feminized presence of the nymph and its divinity, Bloom is able to pull himself out of the hallucinations. This occurrence could possibly be something ideal to parallel with his relationship with Molly as the plot progresses.
