James Joyce

James Joyce Study questions

The Dead

Facts about James Joyce

➾ Within weeks at age fourteen, Joyce became a Catholic prefect and had his first sexual experience with a Dublin próstitute.

➾ His family’s constantly diminishing wealth was due to his father’s habitual unemployment, drinking, and spending habits.

➾ He was the oldest of fifteen children, though only ten survived infancy.

➾ At nine years old, he wrote a poem called “Et Tu, Healy” denouncing the man responsible for politician Charles Stewart Parnell’s downfall.

➾ He left Ireland against his mother’s wishes to study medicine in Paris, only returning the next year when she was dying.

➾ Joyce briefly worked as a schoolteacher in Dublin following his mother’s burial, a detail that recurs in the story of Stephen Dedalus.

➾ The day he fell in love with Nora Barnacle, June 16, 1904, became the single day chronicled in his novel Ulysses.

➾ He was denied a promised teaching position at the Berlitz School in Zurich because the administrators could not find his application.

➾ In a rage over publishing frustrations, he once threw the manuscript of A Portrait into the fire, but his sister Eileen recovered it.

➾ Midway through writing Ulysses, Joyce began the first of eleven eye operations needed to salvage his ever-worsening eyesight.

➾ Despite writing Ulysses while living in self-imposed exile, the novel is famous for its geographical accuracy of Dublin’s physical features.

James Joyce MCQs

1. When was James Joyce born?

A. February 2, 1882
B. January 13, 1904
C. August 13, 1882
D. February 2, 1882

A. February 2, 1882

2. Where was James Joyce born?

A. Trieste, Italy
B. Dublin, Ireland
C. Paris, France
D. London, England

B. Dublin, Ireland

3. Joyce was the oldest of how many surviving children?

A. Five
B. Eight
C. Ten
D. Twelve

C. Ten

4. Which Jesuit boarding school did Joyce attend starting in September 1888?

A. Belvedere College
B. University College Dublin
C. Clongowes Wood College
D. The Berlitz School

C. Clongowes Wood College

5. What educational institution did Joyce attend after Clongowes Wood and Belvedere College?

A. Paris University
B. Fortnightly Review Institute
C. University College in Dublin
D. The Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary

C. University College in Dublin

6. What prominent political figure’s downfall, due to a scandalous affair, made an impression on the young Joyce?

A. Leopold Bloom
B. Ezra Pound
C. Charles Stewart Parnell
D. Henrik Ibsen

C. Charles Stewart Parnell

7. Joyce wrote a poem denouncing the man partly responsible for Parnell’s undoing; what was the poem titled?

A. Chamber Music
B. “The Day of the Rabblement”
C. “Et Tu, Healy”
D. “Ibsen’s New Drama”

C. “Et Tu, Healy”

8. In what subject did Joyce initially intend to pursue a career after leaving University College in 1902?

A. Literature in Dublin
B. Teaching in Zurich
C. Medicine in Paris
D. Banking in Trieste

C. Medicine in Paris

9. Why did Joyce briefly return to Ireland in 1903?

A. To publish Dubliners
B. Upon the death of his mother
C. To marry Nora Barnacle
D. To attend the Irish Theater Movement

B. Upon the death of his mother

10. What was the name of the woman Joyce met in 1904 and loved for the rest of his life?

A. Kitty O’Shea
B. Harriet Shaw Weaver
C. Nora Barnacle
D. Edith Rockefeller McCormick

C. Nora Barnacle

11. What is June 16, the day Joyce fell in love, known as today by Joyce fans?

A. Joyce Day
B. Bloomsday
C. Dubliners Day
D. Dedalus Day

B. Bloomsday

12. In what country did Joyce live for about ten years starting in 1904, prior to moving to Zurich in 1915?

A. France (Paris)
B. Austria (Vienna)
C. Italy (Trieste)
D. England (London)

C. Italy (Trieste)

13. Which literary figure provided Joyce with encouragement and contacts, helping him write reviews for the Daily Express?

A. Henrik Ibsen
B. Lady Augusta Gregory
C. Stephen Dedalus
D. John Joyce

B. Lady Augusta Gregory

14. What literary figure was instrumental in helping A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man get published in serial form?

A. William Butler Yeats
B. Leopold Bloom
C. Vincent Cosgrave
D. Stanislaus Joyce

A. William Butler Yeats

15. Name the two literary patronesses who helped fund the publication of A Portrait as a single volume.

A. Lady Gregory and Sylvia Beach
B. Nora Barnacle and Eileen Joyce
C. Harriet Shaw Weaver and Edith Rockefeller McCormick
D. Kitty O’Shea and Miss Weaver

C. Harriet Shaw Weaver and Edith Rockefeller McCormick

16. What physical ailment required Joyce to undergo a series of operations beginning in August 1917?

A. Stomach ulcers
B. Blindness
C. Worsening eyesight
D. Cirrhosis of the liver

C. Worsening eyesight

17. What caused Joyce’s death in January 1941?

A. Schizophrenia
B. Stomach ulcer/complications from surgery
C. Exhaustion from World War II travel
D. Heart failure

B. Stomach ulcer/complications from surgery

18. What was the title of the lengthy autobiographical, satirical piece that Joyce composed in 1904?

A. Stephen Hero
B. “A Portrait of the Artist”
C. “The Day of the Rabblement”
D. Finnegans Wake

B. “A Portrait of the Artist”

19. What was Joyce’s first major novel (published in serial form 1914–1915 and in book form 1916)?

A. Ulysses
B. Dubliners
C. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
D. Chamber Music

C. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

20. What was Joyce’s collection of thirty-six poems, published in 1907, called?

A. Chamber Music
B. Exiles
C. The Egoist
D. The Little Review

A. Chamber Music

21. Joyce’s short story collection, Dubliners, aimed to reflect what condition of the people of Ireland?

A. Prosperity and hope
B. Intellectual, spiritual, and cultural paralysis
C. British rule and political tension
D. Catholic piety and devout faith

B. Intellectual, spiritual, and cultural paralysis

22. Which novel follows the life of Stephen Dedalus and draws heavily on Joyce’s early life and education?

A. Ulysses
B. Finnegans Wake
C. Dubliners
D. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

D. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

23. What pseudonym had Joyce used before writing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man?

A. Leopold Bloom
B. Stephen Daedalus
C. John Joyce
D. Icarus

B. Stephen Daedalus

24. The protagonist of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is named Stephen Dedalus, linking him to which two symbolic figures?

A. Catholic martyr and Greek maze-maker
B. Irish patriot and English ruler
C. The Prodigal Son and Jesus
D. Homer and Shakespeare

A. Catholic martyr and Greek maze-maker

25. What is the core chronology of the novel Ulysses based upon?

A. The entire span of World War I
B. The years Joyce lived in Trieste
C. The course of a single day (June 16, 1904)
D. The life of James Joyce’s father

C. The course of a single day (June 16, 1904)

26. Who is the central protagonist of Ulysses, playing the role of a modern Ulysses wandering Dublin?

A. Stephen Dedalus
B. Vincent Cosgrave
C. John Joyce
D. Leopold Bloom

D. Leopold Bloom

27. What Homeric epic is Ulysses loosely structured around?

A. The Iliad
B. The Odyssey
C. The Aeneid
D. The Divine Comedy

B. The Odyssey

28. Who undertook the publication of Ulysses in Paris in 1922, despite the book facing charges of obscenity?

A. Harriet Shaw Weaver
B. Random House
C. B. W. Huebsch
D. Sylvia Beach (Shakespeare and Company)

D. Sylvia Beach (Shakespeare and Company)

29. What is considered Joyce’s final, enigmatic novel, published in 1939, which deals with life’s cycles and universal history?

A. Stephen Hero
B. Ulysses
C. Exiles
D. Finnegans Wake

D. Finnegans Wake

30. What did Joyce call the unique language used in Finnegans Wake?

A. Stream of consciousness
B. Night language
C. Paralyzed prose
D. The English language

B. Night language

31. Which of Joyce’s works was published posthumously in 1944, using autobiographical material for his later fiction?

A. Dubliners
B. Finnegans Wake
C. Stephen Hero
D. Exiles

C. Stephen Hero

32. Which of Joyce’s works contains the emotional Christmas dinner argument about Charles Stewart Parnell?

A. Ulysses
B. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
C. Dubliners
D. Finnegans Wake

B. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

33. Which literary movement is Joyce celebrated as one of the great pioneers of?

A. Romanticism
B. Post-Structuralism
C. Modernism
D. Naturalism

C. Modernism

34. What stylistic form represents a character’s jumbled inner thoughts and perceptions in written prose?

A. Epiphany
B. Night language
C. Stream of consciousness
D. Dramatic realism

C. Stream of consciousness

35. In which part of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the stream of consciousness technique mostly used?

A. The dedication and final chapter
B. The opening sections and Chapter 5
C. The Christmas dinner scene
D. The entire novel uniformly

B. The opening sections and Chapter 5

36. What is the term for a moment in which a character makes a sudden, profound realization?

A. Stream of consciousness
B. Paralysis
C. Humanism
D. Epiphany

D. Epiphany

37. Joyce believed that an epiphany could dramatically alter what aspect of a human in a matter of seconds?

A. Physical health
B. Financial status
C. Spiritual self/human spirit
D. Political allegiance

C. Spiritual self/human spirit

38. The revelation inspired by Parnell’s downfall created what specific fear within young Joyce?

A. That he would also suffer eye trouble
B. That Ireland would always destroy its own prophets
C. That the Church was more powerful than the State
D. That he would never leave Dublin

B. That Ireland would always destroy its own prophets

39. Ulysses examines contemporary Irish questions concerning what three themes?

A. British rule, financial success, and opera
B. Medical science, poetry, and tragedy
C. Political independence, organized religion, and cultural decay
D. Catholic pietism, Jesuit education, and medical ethics

C. Political independence, organized religion, and cultural decay

40. Joyce’s attempts to reconcile the “trinity” of women, sex, and creativity are woven throughout his works, based on which event in his youth?

A. His mother’s death
B. His first sexual experience and admission to a religious Sodality
C. Meeting Nora Barnacle
D. Writing Stephen Hero

B. His first sexual experience and admission to a religious Sodality

41. What did an early critic jokingly remark was surpassed only by the enormous number of debts Joyce’s father incurred?

A. The length of Ulysses
B. The number of eye operations Joyce underwent
C. The number of children in the Joyce household
D. The number of cities Joyce lived in

C. The number of children in the Joyce household

42. Which institution criticized Joyce for denouncing Greek and Shakespearean drama in favor of modern playwrights like Ibsen?

A. The Catholic Church
B. The Little Review
C. The college’s Literary and Historical Society
D. The Irish Theater Movement

C. The college’s Literary and Historical Society

43. What popular artistic trend did Joyce write a scathing article, “The Day of the Rabblement,” encouraging people to reject?

A. Modernism in Paris
B. The Irish Theater Movement’s provincial dramas
C. Wagner’s operas
D. The publishing of The Egoist

B. The Irish Theater Movement’s provincial dramas

44. Ulysses was banned from the United Kingdom and the United States on what charges?

A. Treason
B. Obscenity
C. Blasphemy
D. Political sedition

B. Obscenity

45. What organization lodged an official complaint against the Little Review for publishing obscene material in Ulysses?

A. The Anglo-American Modernist Movement
B. The New York Society for the Prevention of Vice
C. The Jesuit Fathers
D. The Fortnightly Review

B. The New York Society for the Prevention of Vice

46. When did the Woolsey decision legalize the admission of Ulysses into the United States?

A. 1922
B. 1933
C. 1939
D. 1941

B. 1933

47. How did critics generally receive Finnegans Wake upon its publication in 1939?

A. It was hailed as genius.
B. It was welcomed enthusiastically.
C. It was considered a critical failure and baffling.
D. It was ignored entirely.

C. It was considered a critical failure and baffling.

48. Despite fading prestige toward the end of his life, Ulysses now stands as the definitive text of which literary movement?

A. Irish Nationalist Movement
B. Romantic Revival
C. Anglo-American Modernist movement
D. Victorian Realism

C. Anglo-American Modernist movement

49. Joyce is noted for his abilities as a premier what, in relation to the English language?

A. Actor
B. Catholic Theologian
C. Stylist
D. Physician

C. Stylist

50. What were the core works that form the foundation of Joyce’s remarkable literary career?

A. Chamber Music, Exiles, and Stephen Hero
B. Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake
C. Et Tu, Healy, The Day of the Rabblement, and Ulysses
D. The Odyssey, The Iliad, and A Portrait

B. Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake

Ulysses MCQs

1. What item did Buck Mulligan carry coming from the stairhead?

A. A book and a flask
B. A bowl of lather
C. A tray of tea
D. A sword and shield

B. A bowl of lather.
Buck Mulligan entered carrying a bowl of lather, which held a mirror and a razor crossed.

2. What nickname does Buck Mulligan use to call Stephen Dedalus?

A. Stoney
B. Haines
C. Kinch
D. Jesus

C. Kinch.
Buck Mulligan frequently calls Stephen “Kinch,” sometimes adding playful or coarse insults.

3. What critical personal detail does Buck Mulligan mock Stephen about?

A. His lack of money
B. His poor clothes
C. His refusal to kneel for his dying mother
D. His theory of aesthetics

C. His refusal to kneel for his dying mother.
Mulligan criticizes Stephen for refusing to kneel and pray for his mother, as she had wished.

4. What does Haines suggest is the symbol of Irish art?

A. A worn-out book
B. A shamrock leaf
C. A cracked looking glass of a servant
D. A pint of stout

C. A cracked-looking glass of a servant.
Haines suggested to Stephen that a servant’s cracked-looking glass acts as the symbol of Irish art.

5. What structure do Stephen, Buck Mulligan, and Haines inhabit?

A. A lighthouse
B. A converted church
C. A Martello tower
D. A seaside cottage

C. A Martello tower.
Haines inquires about the structure, which Buck Mulligan confirms is a Martello tower.

6. From whom do Stephen and Buck Mulligan rent the tower?

A. The local council
B. The Secretary of State for War
C. Lord Talbot de Malahide
D. Mr Deasy

B. The Secretary of State for War.
Stephen mentions that they pay twelve quid rent to the Secretary of State for War.

7. What is Stephen’s definition of “History” as stated to Mr Deasy?

A. A forgotten fable
B. A set of facts
C. A glorious tale of heroes
D. A nightmare from which I am trying to awake

D. A nightmare from which I am trying to awake.
Stephen defines History to Mr Deasy as “a nightmare from which I am trying to awake”.

8. What kind of disease is the topic of Mr Deasy’s letter to the press?

A. Tuberculosis
B. General paralysis
C. Foot and mouth disease
D. The consumption

C. Foot and mouth disease.
Mr Deasy asks Stephen to take a letter to the press about foot-and-mouth disease.

9. What does Stephen propose as the definition of a “pier” to his students?

A. A wooden walkway
B. A long boat dock
C. A disappointed bridge
D. A thing out in the water

C. A disappointed bridge.
Stephen suggests that a pier is a “disappointed bridge,” which confuses his students.

10. Why is Bloom going to the funeral?

A. To meet business contacts
B. To bury the late Dignam
C. To collect advertisement money
D. To visit his father’s grave

B. To bury the late Dignam.
Bloom mentions that he will attend the funeral for poor Dignam, scheduled for eleven o’clock.

11. What foreign word does Molly ask Bloom about, confusing him?

A. Introibo
B. Metempsychosis
C. In nomine Patris
D. Omphalos

B. Metempsychosis.
Molly asks Bloom about the meaning of “Metempsychosis,” which Bloom explains is Greek.

12. What book is Molly reading from when she asks about the foreign word?

A. The Holy Bible
B. Sweets of Sin
C. Ruby: the Pride of the Ring
D. The Arabian Nights Entertainment

C. Ruby: the Pride of the Ring.
The book, Ruby: The Pride of the Ring, features an illustration of an Italian man.

13. What is the name of Bloom’s clandestine correspondent?

A. Florry Talbot
B. Milly Bloom
C. Martha Clifford
D. Mina Purefoy

C. Martha Clifford.
Bloom’s pocketbook contains a letter from Martha; he later worries about the address on the envelope.

14. What sad event related to Bloom’s family is mentioned at the funeral?

A. His brother’s death
B. His wife’s sickness
C. His father’s suicide
D. His financial ruin

C. His father’s suicide.
Martin Cunningham whispers to Mr Power that Bloom’s father poisoned himself (suicide).

15. How many mourners does Bloom count, making himself the thirteenth?

A. Ten
B. Twelve
C. Fourteen
D. Eight

B. Twelve.
Bloom counts twelve bare heads, noting that the man in the macintosh makes the number thirteen.

16. What is the symbolic name of the man who makes Bloom the thirteenth mourner?

A. John Henry Menton
B. Mr M’Intosh
C. Joe Hynes
D. Corny Kelleher

B. Mr M’Intosh.
While not explicitly named by Bloom then, later in the book Bloom refers to the man as M’Intosh.

17. What item of clothing of the man in the macintosh particularly catches Bloom’s attention?

A. His hat
B. His Macintosh
C. His brown shoes
D. His tweed suit

B. His Macintosh.
Bloom observes the man in the “brown macintosh,” wondering who he is, counting him as the thirteenth mourner.

18. What advertising feature does Bloom want to include in Alexander Keyes’s ad?

A. A large picture of a plum tree
B. A prominent mention of Molly
C. Two crossed keys forming a circle
D. The phrase “Abode of Bliss”

C. Two crossed keys forming a circle.
Bloom suggests changing the ad to include two crossed keys, representing the Manx parliament (House of Keys).

19. Which city is mentioned as the location of the Manx parliament (House of Keys)?

A. Dublin
B. Berlin
C. Kilkenny
D. Isle of Man

D. Isle of Man.
Bloom explains that the House of Keys is the name of the parliament on the Isle of Man.

20. What is the name of the celebrated journalist mentioned by Myles Crawford in the newspaper office?

A. A. E. (George Russell)
B. Ignatius Gallaher
C. John Eglinton
D. Philip Beaufoy

B. Ignatius Gallaher.
Myles Crawford praises Ignatius Gallaher for executing the “smartest piece of journalism ever known”.

21. What opera does Lenehan’s riddle resemble?

A. Don Giovanni
B. The Lily of Killarney
C. The Rose of Castile
D. Stabat Mater

C. The Rose of Castile.
The riddle is: “What opera resembles a railway line?” The answer is “The Rose of Castile” (Rows of cast steel).

22. Professor MacHugh associates the Roman and English civilizations with a similar ‘cloacal obsession.’ What does this mean?

A. Interest in history
B. Focus on spirituality
C. Building waterclosets (sewers)
D. Military dominance

C. Building waterclosets (sewers).
MacHugh argues that both the Romans and English always prioritized building a watercloset (sewers) on new shores.

23. What are the names of the two Dublin “vestals” in Stephen’s parable?

A. Kitty Ricketts and Zoe Higgins
B. Anne Kearns and Florence MacCabe
C. Nelly Bouverist and Martha Clifford
D. Mina and Theodore Purefoy

B. Anne Kearns and Florence MacCabe.
Stephen tells the story of the two élderly, pious women, Anne Kearns and Florence MacCabe.

24. What were the plums in Stephen’s parable purchased for?

A. To make jam
B. To take off the thirst of the brawn
C. For offering to Nelson
D. To bake in a cake

B. To take off the thirst of the brawn.
The vestals buy four and twenty ripe plums “to take off the thirst of the brawn”.

25. What is the central theme of Stephen’s parable, “A Pisgah Sight of Palestine or the Parable of the Plums”?

A. Irish politics
B. Poverty and hunger
C. Moses and the promised land
D. Love’s bitter mystery

C. Moses and the promised land.
Professor MacHugh realizes the theme relates to Moses seeing the promised land (Palestine/plums).

26. What literary figure does Professor MacHugh compare Stephen to, citing his bitterness?

A. Socrates
B. Antisthenes
C. Homer
D. Shakespeare

B. Antisthenes.
MacHugh compares Stephen to Antisthenes, a sophist disciple who was bitter against others and himself.

27. What book does Bloom pick up in the bookstall that is “More in her line” (Molly’s)?

A. Sweets of Sin
B. The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk
C. Aristotle’s Masterpiece
D. Fair Tyrants

A. Sweets of Sin.
Bloom notes that Sweets of Sin seems “More in her line” after reading its erotic content.

28. Who is the “gentleman of fashion” who supposedly wrote Sweets of Sin?

A. William Shakespeare
B. Philip Beaufoy
C. James Lovebirch
D. A man of high morale

B. Philip Beaufoy.
Philip Beaufoy is noted as the author of Matcham’s Masterstroke, and his books are called “Beaufoy books of love and great possessions”.

29. Which political or historical figure is mentioned as Parnell’s brother, seen in the D.B.C.?

A. Charles Stewart Parnell
B. John Howard Parnell
C. Thomas Parnell
D. Pierce O’Mahony

B. John Howard Parnell.
Buck Mulligan points out the long-faced man intent on a chessboard as John Howard Parnell, the city marshal.

30. Who is described as stepping jauntily in tan shoes and socks with skyblue clocks?

A. Leopold Bloom
B. Stephen Dedalus
C. Blazes Boylan
D. Ned Lambert

C. Blazes Boylan.
Blazes Boylan is seen walking jauntily in tan shoes and socks with skyblue clocks near Trinity.

31. What is the name of the horse Bantam Lyons mistakenly believes is a betting tip?

A. Fair Rebel
B. Throwaway
C. Sceptre
D. Sir Hugo

C. Sceptre.
Lenehan mentions Sceptre for the Gold Cup, which Lyons takes as a tip, having “even money”.

32. Where is Mrs Mina Purefoy confined, about to give birth?

A. Holles Street Hospital
B. Mater Hospital
C. Richmond Hospital
D. A nearby convent

A. Holles Street Hospital.
Mrs Breen tells Bloom that Mina Purefoy is in the lying-in hospital in Holles Street.

33. What object does Stephen smash in the brothel (Nighttown) climax?

A. A piano
B. A mirror
C. A chandelier
D. A bottle

C. A chandelier.
In his defiance against his mother’s ghost, Stephen lifts his ashplant and smashes the chandelier.

34. What political figure appears in a white jersey with the Sacred Heart image in Nighttown?

A. King Edward the Seventh
B. King Brian Boru
C. Lord Bobs
D. King Billy

A. King Edward the Seventh.
Edward the Seventh appears in an archway, wearing a white jersey with the Sacred Heart.

35. Who is the “ginger cordial” offered to at the cabman’s shelter?

A. Lynch
B. Stephen Dedalus
C. Bloom
D. Ben Dollard

C. Bloom.
When asked what he wants to drink, Bloom requests “Ginger cordial”.

36. Where does Bloom propose that he and Stephen should go to get coffee and food?

A. Davy Byrne’s pub
B. The National Library
C. The cabman’s shelter near Butt Bridge
D. Holles Street Hospital

C. The cabman’s shelter near Butt Bridge.
Bloom suggests the cabman’s shelter near Butt Bridge as a place to get something to drink and eat.

37. What kind of tea does the cat cry for in the morning at Bloom’s house?

A. Milk
B. Ham
C. Pork kidney
D. Water

A. Milk.
When Bloom says, “Milk for the pussens,” the cat replies with a cry and runs to lap it.

38. What does Stephen believe is the function of gesture as a language?

A. To express anger
B. To avoid music
C. To render visible the structural rhythm (first entelechy)
D. To entertain the crowd

C. To render visible the structural rhythm (first entelechy).
Stephen posits that gesture should be a universal language, showing the “structural rhythm” (first entelechy).

39. What is Bloom’s ultimate vision of the new city he wishes to create?

A. Nova Hibernia
B. New Jerusalem
C. The Golden City
D. New Bloomusalem

D. New Bloomusalem.
Bloom proclaims that his beloved subjects will enter “the new Bloomusalem in the Nova Hibernia of the future”.

40. What foreign language does Bloom suggest Stephen should write his poetry in for singing purposes?

A. Irish
B. French
C. Spanish
D. Italian

D. Italian.
Bloom suggests Italian: “A beautiful language. I mean for singing purposes… Belladonna. Voglio”.

41. How did Bloom’s young son, Rudy, pass away?

A. The sources do not say
B. By drowning
C. Poisoned himself
D. Died 11 days after birth

D. Died 11 days after birth.
Bloom’s only male child, born December 29, 1893, died 11 days later, January 9, 1894.

42. What is the name of Bloom’s daughter?

A. Martha
B. Mina
C. Milly
D. Marion

C. Milly.
Bloom’s daughter, Milly (Millicent), is currently in Mullingar.

43. Who is the “man in possession” that Buck Mulligan refers to when speaking about Shakespeare’s second-best bed?

A. Stephen Dedalus
B. William Shakespeare
C. Ann Hathaway
D. Lord Byron

C. Ann Hathaway.
Ann Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife, inherited his “second-best bed” and held property rights.

44. What animal does the sailor D. B. Murphy mention seeing Buffalo Bill shoot in Stockholm?

A. Buffalo
B. Nothing, he was too tired
C. A bird
D. A ball on a boy’s head

D. A ball on a boy’s head.
Murphy saw Buffalo Bill shoot a ball off a boy’s head, like the William Tell incident.

45. What book of Bloom’s, open at the last page, features the words ritirando, close?

A. Thoughts from Spinoza
B. The Beauties of Killarney
C. In Old Madrid (a ballad)
D. Hozier’s History

C. In Old Madrid (a ballad).
The final indication of “In Old Madrid” includes the musical terms ritirando and close.

46. What year did the land troubles, which included the Phoenix Park murders, take place?

A. Eighteen-ninety-four
B. Eighteen-eighty-one
C. Nineteen-oh-three
D. Sixteen-thirty-two

B. Eighteen-eighty-one.
Bloom recalls the Phoenix Park occurrence taking place “early in the eighties, eightyone to be correct”.

47. What does Bloom fear a jury would only award him in alimony, despite his long labor?

A. Five pounds
B. Five shillings
C. Two pence
D. A bag of tripe

B. Five shillings.
In Nighttown, Bloom cries out that after sixteen years of labor, a jury would only give him five shillings alimony.

48. What literary figure did Lynch study who was “bitted, bridled and mounted by a light of love”?

A. Homer
B. Aristotle
C. Socrates
D. Plato

B. Aristotle.
Stephen tells Lynch that even the “allwisest Stagyrite” (Aristotle) was controlled by a mistress.

49. What phrase does Buck Mulligan use to describe Stephen’s Hamlet theory?

A. The ghost of his own father
B. Japhet is seeking a father
C. The cracked-looking glass
D. The son striving to be atoned

B. Japhet is seeking a father.
After summarizing the theory, Buck Mulligan bends to Stephen’s ear, whispering, “Japhet in search of a father”.

50. What is Bloom’s secret plan for Stephen, which includes a concert tour?

A. To get him a job in a bank
B. To adopt him and teach him German
C. To promote his singing career in English resorts
D. To train him as an advertisement canvasser

C. To promote his singing career in English resorts.
Bloom mentally plans concert tours in English watering resorts, capitalizing on Stephen’s talent.

Brief Overview

The modernist novel Ulysses by James Joyce was first published on February 2, 1922, which was Joyce’s 40th birthday. It is famous for its experimental stream-of-consciousness style.

The novel traces the experiences of three characters in Dublin, Ireland, over a single day, June 16, 1904. These characters include: Leopard Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and Molly Bloom.

It follows the “heroic” journey of Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertising agent. He goes about his day running errands, attending a funeral of his friend, Paddy Dignam, and is worried about his wife, Molly Bloom’s affair.

The second character is Stephen Dedalus, a moody intellectual young teacher and a writer, who begins the day in a Martello tower with Buck Mulligan. Mulligan mocks Stephen because he refused to pray for his dying mother, which makes Stephen guilty.

Stephen struggles with his own identity, and he represents the “Telemachus” figure in the novel’s parallels to Homer’s Odyssey, searching for a sense of purpose and a paternal figure in Leopold Bloom, who is the “Ulysses” figure.

Molly Bloom is the wife of Leopold Bloom in James Joyce’s Ulysses, a sensual, unfaithful singer who is compared to Penelope from the Odyssey.

Later that night, a drunk Stephen is struck by Private Carr. Bloom acts as a Samaritan, helping Stephen and feeling a connection to him because Bloom lost his own son, Rudy. The novel concludes with Molly Bloom’s famous, long, unpunctuated stream of consciousness monologue as Bloom prepares for sleep.