Currently, I am in the process of developing a thesis for the short paper. Right now, I have multiple routes of analysis to take, but most regard the conflation of identity and religion in Ulysses.  I am very intrigued, however, by the possibilities of applying critical race and sexuality theory to the Circe episode.

The episode appears to me as the epitome of Bloom’s culture-less characterization. Bloom is apparently not truly Jewish as critically expressed in Circe’s dreamscape, “are you not my son Leopold, the grandson of Leopold? Are you not my dear son Leopold who left the house of his father and left the god of his fathers Abraham and Jacob?” (U 15. 261-262).

Furthermore, despite Bloom marrying Molly, he will never be considered a true Irish-Catholic. Bloom exists in a Dublin purgatory of sorts. This episode’s thorough assailing of Bloom’s character conveys the utmost dejection he feels.

As noted in a previous post, Bloom breaks free from the dreaminess of the Circe episode by finally confronting the nymph, a feminized entity. I believe there is much to be dissected in this interaction. How much is this nymph a reflection of Bloom’s own character? Is his reaction to the nymph a form of submission to projections of gender upon him, or does Bloom assert himself in his response?

There is much to be said regarding nationalism, religious associations intertwined with national identity, and gender in Ulysses, particularly Circe.