Leopold Bloom's Sexuality in James Joyce's 'Ulysses'

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,0, University of Osnabrück, course: James Joyce, Ulysses, language: English, abstract: The topic of sexuality is an essential one in James Joyce's Ulysses. This novel is full of sexual hints and passages that contain sexual action. The omnipresence of sexuality leads the reader through the novel as a central theme: most of the actions centre on Marion (Molly) Bloom's four-ò-clock date with Hugh Boylan. This date gives Leopold Bloom's day a certain structure as there are a lot references towards this time: 'Funny my watch stopped at half past four' (U 353) and 'He's coming in the afternoon' (U 89) are only two passages, which refer towards Molly's date with Boylan and therefore her affair with another man. Since its publication Ulysses affected great controversies due to its obscene passages, so the book was rated as scandalous and became an object of censorship. This paper is going to examine the obscenity of Ulysses and by doing so concentrate on the character of Leopold Bloom. It will be analysed in what degree the novel can be classified as 'obscene' and, furthermore, how the topic of sexuality is presented. Afterwards, these results will be brought into a wider context, concerning the topic of sexuality as a mental process in Ulysses.

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