Myth, Modernism and Mentorship: Examining François Fénelon's Influence on James Joyce's Ulysses by Robert Curran a Thesis

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Myth, Modernism and Mentorship: Examining François Fénelon’s Influence on James

Joyce’s Ulysses

Robert Curran

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of

The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL

May 2016

ii Myth, Modernism and Mentorship: Examining Francois Fenelon’s Influence on James Joyce’s Ulysses

Robert Curran

This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s thesis advisor, Dr. Julieann V. Ulin, Department of English, and has been approved by the members of his supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.

SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: 1/ u~ Jujjeann V. Ulin, Ph D. Thesis Advisor

Mary FarftciFar/ci, Ph D.

John C. Leeds, Ph D.

Eric L. Berlatsky, Ph D. Chair, Department of English

Heather Coltman, D.M.A. Dean, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters crt is/a.ou,» Jpfborah L. Floyd, Ed.D. Date / Dean, Graduate College

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express sincere gratitude to his committee members for all of their guidance and support. I am deeply indebted to my committee chair, Professor

Ulin, whose mentorship made this thesis a reality. Professor Leeds provided me with an important understanding of literary criticism. I am indebted to Professor Faraci for igniting my passion for literature. The author is grateful for the help and assistance he received from the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, as well as from

Florida Atlantic University’s Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection. A special thanks is given to Nicholas Manzino, who spent many hours discussing my topic with me and served as an excellent sounding board.

iv ABSTRACT

Author: Robert Curran

Title: Myth, Modernism and Mentorship: Examining François Fénelon’s Influence on James Joyce’s Ulysses

Institution: Florida Atlantic University

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Julieann V. Ulin

Degree: Master of Arts

Year: 2016

The purpose of this thesis will be to examine closely James Joyce’s Ulysses with respect to François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus. Joyce considered The

Adventures of Telemachus to be a source of inspiration for Ulysses, but little scholarship considers this. Joyce’s fixation on the role of teachers and mentor figures in Stephen’s growth and development, serving alternately as cautionary figures, models or adversaries, owes much to Fénelon’s framework for the growth of Telemachus. Close reading of both

Joyce’s and Fénelon’s work will illuminate the significance of education and mentorship in Joyce’s construction of Stephen Dedalus. Leopold Bloom and Stephen’s relationship in

Joyce’s Ulysses closely mirrors that of Mentor and Telemachus as seen in Fénelon’s The

Adventures of Telemachus. Through these numerous parallels, we will see that mentorship serves as a better model for Bloom and Stephen’s relationship in Ulysses than the more critically prevalent father-son model.

v DEDICATION

This manuscript is dedicated to my parents and sister. Without their constant understanding, support and most of all love, this work would have never been completed.

Myth, Modernism and Mentorship: Examining François Fénelon’s Influence on

James Joyce’s Ulysses

List of Figures ...... viii

I: Introduction ...... 1

II: “To Learn His Own Wisdom Apart” ...... 18

III: Examining The Role of Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus to Show the

Role of Mentorship in Joyce’s Ulysses ...... 27

IV: Conclusion ...... 61

vii

FIGURES

Figure 1. James Joyce’s Copy of The Adventures of Telemachus ...... 6

Figure 2. Side View of James Joyce’s Copy of The Adventures of Telemachus ...... 7

Figure 3. Image of Father Dolan ...... 22

Figure 4. Frontispiece Engraving of The Adventures of Telemachus ...... 28

Figure 5. Engraving: The Furies and Death Let in by Sensual Pleasure ...... 40

Figure 6. Engraving: Youth Hurried on Between Pride and Rage ...... 51

viii I: INTRODUCTION

James Joyce famously once said of his novel Ulysses, “I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what

I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality” (Ellmann, James Joyce

521). Based on the constant output of writing on his famed work, Joyce was quite right.

Even many decades after his death, Joyce is still very much alive in the minds and writings of those who focus on his writings. One would think that after nearly a century of people writing on Ulysses, the well would have run dry, but this simply is not the case.

If anything, Joyce scholarship is continually finding new ground to break regarding

Ulysses and Joyce himself. This paper will examine François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses and its influence on Joyce’s Ulysses. The Adventures of

Telemachus offers an alternative framework to how the Stephen-Bloom relationship has been considered by critics who emphasize a paternal relationship. When The Adventures of Telemachus is placed alongside Ulysses, we see Stephen and Bloom’s relationship as mirroring that of Telemachus and Mentor rather than emulating that of Telemachus and

Ulysses.

Ulysses did not spring forth from Joyce’s head fully formed as Athena had from

Zeus’s.1 Much study has been done on James Joyce’s sources of inspiration for writing

1 James Joyce first thought of Ulysses as a short story to be included in Dubliners. Gabler writes, “The short story was never written. Yet the idea implied in the title was not abandoned” (Joyce, Ulysses xv). 1 Ulysses, but seldom more than a passing mention is given to François Fénelon’s The

Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses. So much attention has been given to Homer’s

Odyssey and other such major works which served as inspiration to Ulysses that lesser known sources have been seemingly ignored. We know that Joyce read The Adventures of Telemachus. William Bedell Stanford in his notes to chapter XV in The Ulysses

Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero writes, “Professor Stanislaus

Joyce has kindly informed me that his brother had studied the following writers on

Ulysses: Virgil, Ovid, Dante, Shakespeare, Racine, Fénelon” (Stanford 276). Hugh

Kenner also notes that Stanislaus Joyce mentions this incident (Kenner, “Homer’s Sticks and Stones” 60). Also, Joyce’s biographer Richard Ellmann writes, “Joyce had Fénelon’s book in his library, and found in it an imitation by Telemachus of Ulysses’ adventures which could not fail to be useful” (“Joyce and Homer” 575). We see that Joyce not only read Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses but considered it a source of inspiration while writing Ulysses. Despite it being clear that Joyce used The

Adventures of Telemachus as a source, little more than passing notice has been given to the work and its influence on Joyce’s Ulysses. Only by considering the seemingly forgotten The Adventures of Telemachus in depth, do we see that Stephen and Bloom’s father-son relationship becomes supplanted by a more fitting mentor-mentee relationship as seen in Fénelon’s work.

François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses is a work little known to the general public today, but after its appearance in 1699 it became an instant success. In fact, it was the most frequently published modern work in the 18th and 19th centuries (Kantzios). It is surprising that the source has had such a rapid decline in

readership. Its writer Fénelon was the Archbishop of Cambrai and directly responsible for tutoring Duc de Bourgogne, second in line to the French crown. Fénelon wrote The

Adventures of Telemachus as a way to help guide his pupil, Duc de Bourgogne, in developing moral character. After publication it became a sensation not only in France, but also in England. It is interesting to note like Joyce’s first introduction to the Odyssey, a children’s version translated by Charles Lamb titled The Adventures of Ulysses that The

Adventures of Telemachus was also written for a younger audience.

Joyce personally owned a copy of Fénelon’s work in the original French and it was part of his Trieste library which he left in Italy after moving to Paris in 1920. The

Harry Ransom Center located at the University of Texas at Austin was able to acquire

James Joyce’s Trieste library in full and keeps its volumes on reserve in its special collections section. My interest in Joyce’s inspiration for Ulysses was first kindled when visiting Florida Atlantic University’s library’s special collection section. After viewing a copy of Homer’s Odyssey, a librarian kindly introduced me to The Adventures of

Telemachus. It was while viewing their copy of The Adventures of Telemachus, I first noticed the parallels between Telemachus and Mentor’s relationship to that of Stephen and Blooms. The special collections of both Florida Atlantic University and the Harry

Ransom Center have been the keystones of my research and provided me with many critical sources of information.

I was able to visit the Harry Ransom Center and inspect Joyce’s copy of The

Adventures of Telemachus firsthand. Joyce’s copy was a French 1910 edition of the work published by Ernest Flammarion. Joyce’s Telemachus is a softcover edition with its cover now detached. The binding is in quite poor condition. It is stamped with Joyce’s

initials, (done by Joyce himself) and includes a small card noting it was part of Joyce’s

Trieste library. I inspected the text for any marginalia by Joyce, but unfortunately found none. At a length of 360 pages, this took some time and care was given due to the text’s fragile nature. I did my best to not further damage the condition of the Joyce’s coy of

The Adventures of Telemachus.

This was the first text owned by Joyce I examined, and I would be remiss to say that I was somewhat overcome to be handling something owned and read by Joyce.

Being that the work was in French, I was unable to read any of its passages. Joyce was well versed in French and given the condition of the volume, it is quite clear that it was read multiple times, likely by him. I was impressed that despite the text’s compromised condition, the Ransom Center still allowed me to view it, possibly risking further damage to it. All of the employees of the Ransom center were more than accommodating and several librarians went so far as to suggest other Joyce related items in the collection that may be of interest to me.

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James Joyce’s personal copy of The Adventures of Telemachus held by the Harry Ransom Center – Photographed by Robert Curran - Copyright 2016 by Robert Curran. The Ransom Center’s computer noted another copy of the text (possibly published in 1906 rather then 1910) held in its Joyce’s Triste library collection. After requesting to view this other edition, I was notified by a librarian that the volume did not exist and was a “ghost copy” based on a question of the publishing date of the copy they did have. It is quite interesting given The Adventures of Telemachus’ forgotten nature that a “ghost copy” of the work would be listed in the Ransom Center’s collection. Upon searching listings of Joyce’s Trieste library, I was able to confirm that Joyce owned only the single copy of the work. My trip to the Harry Ransom Center gave me the opportunity to personally interact with numerous books that Joyce personally owned and

served to better connect me with the sources I was writing about. The visit was quite inspiring.

\\ %

A side view of James Joyce’s copy of The Adventures of Telemachus (note the degraded binding) held by the Harry Ransom Center – Photograph by Robert Curran – Copyright 2016 by Robert Curran. Whereas Homer’s Odyssey follows Ulysses and largely ignores Telemachus,

Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus does the opposite and focuses on Telemachus,

Ulysses’ son and features Ulysses much less than Homer’s Odyssey does. Throughout

Telemachus’ travels in Fénelon’s work, he is wisely counseled by the goddess of wisdom

Minerva (Athena) under the guise of Mentor. This guidance helps Telemachus to develop both virtue and wisdom during his search for his father Ulysses. Without

Mentor’s divine guidance and counsel, it is very unlikely that Telemachus would be able to succeed against his trials and tribulations. In Joyce’s Ulysses, we see that Bloom guides Stephen in a quite similar manner to how Mentor guides Telemachus. For instance, we see in the “Circe” episode of Ulysses that Bloom cautions Stephen against 6

the dangers of night life in Nighttown, Dublin’s red-light district. Like Mentor warns

Telemachus, Bloom cautions Stephen against pleasures which attack virtue.

While Joyce is inspired by Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Fénelon is directly inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. In Book II of the Odyssey, we find that the goddess Minerva takes on the form and voice of Mentor, a friend of Ulysses. Ulysses instructed the original Mentor to watch over Telemachus and Minerva assumes this role.

In this form, Minerva tells Telemachus, “your father was such an old friend of mine that I will find you a ship, and will come with you myself” (Homer). Fénelon’s The

Adventures of Telemachus follows the path of Telemachus and Minerva in the guise of

Mentor started in Homer’s Odyssey.

In what follows, I will use close reading as well as a structuralist approach to examine interactions between Telemachus and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom

(disguised as Mentor) in François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of

Ulysses. These interactions will then be compared to those of Stephen and Bloom’s in

Ulysses. We will discover certain parallels between both groups’ relationships exist, thus establishing that Bloom and Stephen’s relationship can be viewed as a mentor- mentee relationship similar to that of Telemachus and Mentor’s. Where Telemachus in

Fénelon’s work had poor moral guidance from his mother, In Joyce’s A Portrait of the

Artist as a Young Man we likewise find that young Stephen with teachers who act as poor mentors. Considering these failed mentors will help us to understand why Bloom is able to reach Stephen and influence him despite Stephen shutting out so many other people who attempted to reach him. We will also consider if Bloom is unique in his ability to reach Stephen, or if it is perhaps only Stephen’s circumstances (the loss of his mother,

being drunk, etc.) that enable Bloom to pierce the veil of Stephen’s aloofness from teachers and mentors.

Clearly in The Adventures of Telemachus, both fatherhood and mentorship play a central role. The character Mentor is mentioned three hundred and ninety-five times in the work by name. Ulysses is only mentioned by name around sixty times. There are about two hundred and twenty-five mentions of the word father, with about forty percent of these references being Telemachus referencing Ulysses, another forty present of them being Mentor referencing Ulysses and the last twenty percent being other mentionings of the word.

After examining Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, we see numerous parallels between it and Joyce’s Ulysses. Namely, we see the relationship between

Telemachus and Mentor is closely mirrored in that of Stephen and Bloom. We see how much of the advice that Mentor gives Telemachus is relevant to Stephen and in many cases Bloom shares similar advice. We will closely examine Stephen and Bloom’s relationship as seen in Joyce’s Ulysses but will first consider the standard viewpoint

Stephen and Bloom’s relationship is that of the father and son variety.

Most readers of Joyce’s Ulysses, who are at all familiar with Homer’s Odyssey view Stephen as representative of Telemachus and Bloom as representing Ulysses.

Joseph O’Leary claims in his essay that, “Bloom looks upon Stephen with a fatherly eye” and “As Stephen flounders about in drunkenness, Bloom steps in and assumes the father’s role” (O’Leary). What O’Leary misses is the Bloom can simply be looking out for Stephen without assuming a fatherly role. O’Leary, like many other readers of

Ulysses is so tied to the concept of Bloom solely representing Ulysses and Stephen,

Telemachus that even the smallest interaction between the two is seen as a father and son exchange. Remember that in Joyce’s Ulysses, Stephen and Bloom first extensively interact with each other in a brothel. This seems like a very strange place for a father and son to meet and converse.

W. B. Stanford also writes on the father-son relationship of Stephen and Bloom.

We read, “As Dedalus and Bloom make their ultimately converging ways through the streets of Dublin, they re-enact the experiences of Telemachus and Odysseus (Ulysses) among modern equivalents of Odyssean places and characters” (Stanford, The Ulysses

Theme 212). Moreover, Stanford mentions that Bloom is not an exact doppelganger of

Ulysses as he does not share his piety (Stanford, The Ulysses Theme 213). Most telling is his comment, “Clearly, then, Joyce’s Leopold Bloom is simply not a Ulysses in modern dress” (Stanford, The Ulysses Theme 214). Stanford sees Bloom as somewhat different from the classic version of Ulysses and helps to show he is not just a carbon copy of

Ulysses. Compared to most other scholars, Stanford does not as completely tie Bloom down as a mirror image of Ulysses. He allows Bloom to be his own man with strong parallels to the Ulysses of myth. Stanford does not provide us with another viewpoint other than the standard father-son relationship of Stephen and Bloom that is so commonly mentioned by scholars and readers of Ulysses.

In a journal article titled “Ulyssean Qualities in Joyce's Leopold Bloom,” the same W. B. Stanford notes that not all readers see Bloom as representative of Ulysses.

We read, “Indeed, many have felt a distinct incongruity between the title Ulysses and the man Bloom” (Stanford, “Ulyssean Qualities” 125). In his article, Stanford notes that

Joyce was familiar with not only the Homeric account of the Odyssey, but its continuous

retellings, among these retellings he mentions Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus

(Stanford, “Ulyssean Qualities” 125). Stanford notes Bloom and Stephen have numerous differences that they discover after talking with each other at length. He writes, “They exchange reminiscences and discuss prejudices frankly. But slowly the primal divisions, racial, ideological, temperamental, drag them asunder” (Stanford, “Ulyssean Qualities

135). In Joyce’s Ulysses, Stephen and Bloom do not live together happily ever after as

Telemachus and Ulysses do in Homer’s Odyssey. Their parting is much more in line with how we see Telemachus and Mentor separate in Fénelon’s The Adventures of

Telemachus.

C. H. Peake, author of James Joyce: The Citizen and the Artist also stresses the supposed father-son relationship of Stephen and Bloom but complicates it somewhat.

Peake writes, “To say, as is often said, that Stephen needs a father as Bloom needs a son is loosely true, but confusing” (Peake 129). Peake goes on saying, “Bloom needs someone to serve, help guide and advise, someone in whose fortunes he can take an interest, someone who will provide an object for his paternal feelings and his altruism”

(Peake 129). We know Bloom is already a father, so Peake is overreaching when he writes that Bloom is in need of an object for his paternal feelings, as he already has his daughter. Each of Bloom’s other needs can be equally sated by acting as a mentor rather than a father figure to Stephen. Peake goes on writing about Stephen’s wishes saying,

“Stephen, on the other hand, needs a relationship which he refers to as ‘a mystical estate, an apostolic succession, from only begetter to only begotten’” (Peake 129). Peake feels that Stephen needs a replacement for his father Simon, but Stephen never says or even thinks this in either A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or Ulysses.

In Strangers, Gods, and Monsters: Interpreting Otherness, Richard Kearney writes, “Ulysses is a story about father and son. Or more precisely, a story about a surrogate father Bloom (mourning his dead son Rudi [sic]), and a surrogate son, Stephen”

(Kearney 148). We see that Kearney is kind enough to include the word surrogate, but similar to many writers on Ulysses, is still focused on Stephen and Bloom’s relationship being a father-son one. Kearney goes on saying, “Both endeavor to obviate the

‘nightmare of history’ in favour of a mystical Trinitarian union between Father and Son through the mediating art of the Holy Ghost” (Kearney 148). This statement assumes that Stephen is actively seeking a replacement father and that Bloom is seeking a replacement child. Clearly, both Stephen and Bloom already have people who serve those roles.

Anthony Burgess, writer of ReJoyce supports the typical viewpoint of Stephen serving as Telemachus and Bloom as Ulysses and even goes so far as to say “The title is key to the structure” (Burgess 108). While the title of Joyce’s novel is helpful to understanding the work, putting too much faith in it cements us to only a single understanding of Bloom. Burgess goes on to say, “Bloom is Ulysses having his little adventures in Dublin; Stephen Dedalus is Telemachus in search of a father” (Burgess

108). This is a somewhat oversimplification of what occurs in Joyce’s novel. We know that Joyce’s writing is anything but simple and such generalizations serve only to delude the reader into a false sense of understanding. In ReJoyce Burgess imagines Homer’s

Odyssey as retold by Joyce. Burgess writes, “Odysseus [Ulysses] sees that Telemachus has drunk too much wine… He appoints himself the young man’s protector and follows him to the isle of Circe” (Burgess 117). While likening the brothel in Ulysses to the isle

of Circe (a place where men are turned into swine) is quite fitting, it is quite a departure to have a Homeric Ulysses take watch over his drunken son. By contrast, we see in

Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus that Mentor cautions Telemachus against intemperance. The role of Mentor fits Bloom better since we know that Ulysses never meets his son in such a state.

While discussing Stephen as seen at the closing of A Portrait of the Artist as a

Young Man Burgess writes, “Stephen is both Daedalus [the renowned artificer of Greek myth] and Icarus [Daedalus’ fabled son], both father and son. How can this mystery be resolved? Only by the mystical terms of Christian theology, in which the Father and Son are, though separate Persons, really aspects of each other” (Burgess 119). If Stephen can be represented by both Daedalus and Icarus, we could also view Bloom as not only being

Ulysses but Mentor as well. While this is a seeming contradiction, we would be remiss to say that Bloom evokes only traits of Mentor. Clearly, in Joyce’s Ulysses Bloom is a complicated character and should be given careful consideration as to how to best consider who is/are his analogue(s).

When critics such as Burgess have seen the presence of Minerva in Joyce’s

Ulysses, they have tended to identify her as the milk woman that comes to Martello

Tower (Burgess 122). It seems that many writers have pigeonholed Minerva into the character of the milkmaid because they did not consider how well she fit as a representative of Bloom. Even if this character is Minerva, she could also easily represent Bloom. In fact, the gender displacement from Minerva to Mentor as seen in

The Adventures of Telemachus better fits Bloom than the milkmaid.

In Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus we see that Telemachus repeatedly calls Mentor his father, but with each mention of this, Mentor rejects Telemachus’ claims. Mentor does not wish to replace Ulysses as Telemachus’ father and continually tells Telemachus this. This is key to understanding Stephen and Bloom’s relationship as well, as we know that Joyce’s text is indebted to Fénelon’s. As we see in The Adventures of Telemachus, aghast at his recent behavior Telemachus proclaims, “O Mentor! My true father deliver me from so many woes” (Fénelon 171). To which Mentor replies, “Son of the sage Ulysses… He who is a stranger to his passions, cannot be said to be wise; as he is unacquainted with himself and knows not what it is to distrust himself” (Fénelon 171).

Here we see Mentor immediately reminds Telemachus that his father is Ulysses. Mentor does not want the role of being Telemachus’ father and only hopes to instruct young

Telemachus and see him complete his quest of reuniting with Ulysses. Shortly after this again Telemachus calls Mentor father addressing him, “O my father” (Fénelon 173).

Again we see Mentor remind Telemachus of Ulysses being his father. Similar to

Mentor’s relationship with Telemachus, Bloom has no desire to be seen as a father to

Stephen.

While Stephen never refers to anyone other than Simon Dedalus as his father, in

Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Telemachus does so on numerous occasions as a sign of respect. Soon after Telemachus greets Nestor, one of King Idomeneus’ enemies saying, “O my father, for I am not afraid to call you so, my misfortune is not being able to find my real parent, and the goodness I have already experienced at your hands, give me the sort of right to call you by that tender name” (Fénelon 268). This is an interesting passage where we see Telemachus call Nestor father. At the same time Telemachus

notes that Nestor is not his real parent. Father here is simply of poetic use. Shortly after

Telemachus rejoices in seeing Nestor, he wishes that he could reunite with his true father,

Ulysses. In Joyce’s Ulysses, we never see Stephen calling Bloom or anyone else father.

He knows that his father is Simon Dedalus. Simply put, Stephen is not seeking the same kind of reunion as Telemachus is in Homer’s Odyssey or Fénelon’s The Adventures of

Telemachus. Bloom is merely a mentor figure to Stephen, since Stephen already has a relationship with his “real father” Simon.

Both Telemachus and Stephen not only learn from their mentors, but their fathers as well. Mentor speaks to Telemachus saying, “The wisest lessons which Ulysses can give you, will not be so instructive as his long absence” (Fénelon 632). Relating this passage to Joyce’s works, we could view that Stephen’s father Simon Dedalus’ best lessons also are taught to Stephen from his absence likewise. Simon’s seeming absence in Stephen’s life causes Stephen to, like Telemachus, find outside guidance yet not replace their fathers. Stephen’s father Simon is seemingly absent like Telemachus’ father

Ulysses is, but neither Telemachus nor Stephen seeks to replace their father. Neither

Mentor nor Bloom seek to replace their mentees’ fathers, they rather offer them supplemental instruction due to the fathers’ absences.

There are numerous reasons that a mentor-mentee relationship fits Bloom and

Stephen’s relationship much better than the father-son model does. For instance, unlike the decade long journey we see in the Odyssey, all of the action in Ulysses takes place in the city of Dublin on June 16, 1904. This is far too short a time to develop any kind of a meaningful father-son relationship between Stephen and Bloom. In Ulysses, both

Stephen and Bloom already had people filling their respective father-child roles. We see

that Stephen still has his father Simon. We also see that Bloom is already a father and has a daughter, Millicent. Bloom already had a son named Rudy, who died soon after being born. In addition, we see in the “Circe” episode of Ulysses that Stephen and Bloom meet each other in a brothel, quite a strange location for people with a father-son relationship to spend time together visiting. Also in the “Circe” episode, Bloom attempts to follow Stephen, but loses track of him. A prostitute named Zoe informs Bloom where

Stephen is and asks him, “You’re not his father, are you?” (15.1290-1). Bloom replies to her saying, “Not I!” (15.1293). This emphatic denial of being Stephen’s father in the same episode in which Bloom acts to guide and direct Stephen shows the reader that

Bloom is more comfortable with the mentor role.

If Stephen and Bloom’s relationship is not a father-son one, why should we consider it a mentor-mentee based relationship? Why not merely consider their relationship simply a friendship? Based on their interactions, it is clear that Bloom is watching out for Stephen and giving him guidance. We see in Ulysses Bloom counsels

Stephen in a similar manner that Mentor advises Telemachus. This is especially evident during the “Circe” episode of Ulysses. There we see Bloom safeguarding Stephen’s money, dealing with prostitutes and soldiers that are angry with Stephen in addition to offering him advice. We see that these concerns are one-sided; Stephen does not act in a similar manner to Bloom concerning Bloom’s wellbeing. Bloom’s actions and Stephen’s responses directly meet the qualifications for Stephen and Bloom’s relationship to be considered a mentor-mentee one. A father directs their son whereas a mentor instructs their mentee. We see that Bloom acts more as a mentor than father to Stephen.

We see similar guidance given by Minerva (disguised as Mentor) to Telemachus throughout Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus. In fact, the meaning of the word mentor developed from the character Mentor’s actions in Fénelon’s work (OED.com).

The Oxford English Dictionary definition of mentor reads, “Originally (in form Mentor): a person who acts as guide and adviser to another person, esp. one who is younger and less experienced. Later, more generally: a person who offers support and guidance to another; an experienced and trusted counsellor or friend; a patron, a sponsor”

(OED.com). Mentors provide an alternate source of instruction outside of the parent- child model. Mentors also offer their mentees advice and instruction in areas that might be outside of the mentee’s parent’s area of knowledge. Close ties to their child may cause a parent to be too emotionally involved to offer proper advice, while a mentor would be less likely to have this issue. We can establish that Stephen and Bloom’s relationship in Ulysses is mentor-mentee based if it closely mirrors Telemachus and

Mentor’s relationship as seen in The Adventures of Telemachus, since Telemachus and

Mentor’s relationship is the basis for the entire mentor-mentee schema.

16 II: “TO LEARN HIS OWN WISDOM APART”

Before addressing the relationship between Telemachus and Mentor as seen in

François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, we will consider Stephen’s formative experiences with his early teachers as seen in Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young

Man. We see that Stephen clearly had many troubling interactions with mentors early in his life in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. These interactions poison Stephen’s later relations with many possible mentors. In Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, we find Telemachus in trouble but aided by Mentor, meanwhile in Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, we find Stephen in trouble, caused by his mentors.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man follows young Stephen from early childhood, through his school years and to the point where he leaves Ireland. After reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, we find that Bloom’s mentorship provides Stephen with an alternative to Simon Dedalus’ parental teachings. Bloom’s method of interacting with Stephen is unique from the methods used by Stephen’s teachers in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It is key to allowing Bloom to build a relationship and influence Stephen in Ulysses. Clearly, Joyce is quite interested in how teachers and mentors can either provide or inhibit their charges development. We see this when we consider how Stephen’s early teachers interacted with him as seen in A

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Throughout James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses

Stephen Dedalus is taught by a number of different people and each shape his interaction

17 with future teachers. In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen’s early experiences of his teachers are key to shaping his identity. We find that Stephen ultimately rejects flesh and blood teachers and relies solely on dusty books for instruction. Stephen’s early experiences with teachers make him a difficult student to teach. The relationships addressed include those with his father, Dante, Fathers Arnall and Dolan. By carefully examining Stephen Dedalus’ relationships with his teachers, a better understanding of his issues with teachers will become apparent and with the aid of

The Adventures of Telemachus, will show us how Bloom is able to break through

Stephen’s defenses and become his mentor2.

Stephen’s first teacher is his father, Simon Dedalus. A Portrait of the Artist as a

Young Man opens with a young Stephen remembering a story his father telling him.

Stephen sees himself as baby tuckoo and that a moocow was coming to meet him. Joyce writes, “His father told him that story: his father looked at him through a glass: he had a hairy face” (Portrait 3). We see precocious Stephen describing his father’s face as hairy rather than saying he has a beard or mustache. While Stephen does not always use the words an older person would to describe things, he is still able to express himself.

Clearly Stephen’s father took interest in his young son and not only taught but entertained

Stephen. Sadly, their relationship deteriorates, and partially because of this Stephen has issues with his later teachers.

During the course of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen’s first teacher descends from a loving father into an angry old man. Resentment of his father

2While searching scholarly articles for this paper it became apparent that almost all articles regarding teachers and Stephen Dedalus as seen in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man deal with the experience of teaching said novel. Because of this, close reading is our main than way of considering A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in regards to Stephen as student. 18

poisons Stephen’s ability to receive instruction from teachers. As the first of Stephen’s failed teachers, Simon sets the stage of Stephen’s teachers failing to live up to their responsibilities. Stephen’s experiences with his father as seen in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man teach Stephen to be wary of teachers. Simon teaches Stephen that trusting in teachers will only bring disappointment. Stephen’s father, Simon becomes just one more net Stephen must escape. In chapter two of A Portrait of the Artist as a

Young Man, Simon sells off the property the family owned. We read, “On the evening of the day on which the property was sold Stephen followed his father meekly about the city from bar to bar” (Portrait 99). Throughout the novel, Simon drinks heavily and reminisces about his younger days. In chapter five of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a

Young Man, we find Stephen’s father a shell of what he once was asking, “Is your lazy bitch of a brother [Stephen] gone out yet?” (Portrait 189). After Stephen leaves his house we read, “His [Stephen’s] heart already bitten by an ache of loathing and bitterness” (Portrait 189-190). Stephen mimics some of his father’s poor habits. We see that both of them spend their money too freely and frequently consume alcohol. Simon

Dedalus and Stephen are rather unconcerned with employment. Even so, Stephen is not a complete mirror of his father. Where Stephen’s father is a strong supporter of the government, Stephen becomes apolitical. After reading through A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, it becomes clear that Stephen’s first teacher, his father, failed him in many ways.

Stephen’s governess Dante is another of his flawed early teachers, she serves as inspiration for Stephen to be wary of both religion and government throughout his lifetime. Looking back on his childhood Stephen recalls, “A little boy [Stephen] had

been taught geography by an old woman [Dante] …” (Portrait 98). While Stephen is very young, Dante threatens punishment if Stephen does not come out from under a table and apologize to guests. Dante says, “O, if not, the eagles will come and pull out his eyes” (Portrait 4). While Stephen seems to take more interest in the rhyming of “pull out his eyes” and “apologise” this is another example of him being exposed to harsh treatment by his teachers. Dante is the first of several teachers that threaten Stephen with violence. During a Christmas dinner Dante says after Parnell’s fall from grace, “He was no longer worthy to lead… He was a public sinner” (Portrait 31). Dante supports the priesthood’s condemnation of Parnell and calls him, “A traitor to his country!” (Portrait

38). Clearly, Dante supports the church more so than the nationalist movement while others at the dinner support the government’s preeminence. Stephen firsthand sees the infighting religion and nationalism bring about during the Christmas dinner. It is no shock later in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that Stephen seeks to avoid both of these pitfalls. Both Stephen’s father Simon and Dante teach Stephen what he needs to avoid and function as reverse teachers in a way.

At a young age Stephen is sent by his parents to Clongowes Wood College and interactions with Father Dolan and Conmee further add to Stephen’s lifelong distrust of teachers. Away from his parents’ house, Stephen is exposed to a rigid Catholic education and subject to harsh discipline. Throughout his time at the school, Stephen is one of the brightest students. He much prefers the study hall to the exercise fields. Out of all his teachers at the school, Mr. Harford, his writing instructor, is the only one that didn’t get angry with the students (Portrait 46). Near the end of chapter one, Stephen breaks his glasses and is unable to write his Latin lessons in class. The prefect of studies, Father

Dolan calls Stephen a: “Lazy idle little loafer!” (Portrait 51). Soon after insulting him,

Father Dolan then smacks Stephen’s hands with a pandybat.

V \

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A sketch of Father Dolan by Brian Keogh from The Heritage Press edition of Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

John Rickard notes, “Father Dolan’s unjust punishment of Stephen in A Portrait is, of course, a turning point in Stephen’s attitudes toward authority and religion” (Rickard

162). This treatment does much to shape Stephen’s view on teachers as a whole.

Stephen and his friends feel that he was mistreated. One of his classmates says, “The senate and the Roman people declared that Dedalus had been wrongly punished”

(Portrait 54). Taken aback by the punishment, Stephen imagines that Father Arnall felt sorry for not stopping Father Dolan from hitting him. Stephen speaks to the rector about his punishment and later tells his fellows about the exchange and they are quite elated.

While Stephen cannot directly address his grievances he has with his father Simon, he is

able to do so with those of Father Dolan and thinks he was taken seriously by the rector.

Stephen is able to address the rector and not his father because he has not been let down by him as he was by his father. In chapter two he learn that Stephen’s father Simon heard from the rector, “Father Dolan and I, when I told them all at dinner about it, Father Dolan and I had a great laugh over it” (Portrait 76). Stephen feels betrayed by not only the rector, Father Conmee but also his father Simon. This early sense of betrayal encourages

Stephen to actively rebel against his future teachers.

This betrayal marks an important change with respect toward Stephen’s character.

We see that Stephen markedly moves away from the instruction of flesh and blood teachers in favor for those found in books. We read, “All the leisure which his school life left him was passed in the company of subversive writers whose gibes and violence of speech set up a ferment in his brain before they passed out of it into his crude writings”

(Portrait 82-3). Stephen would rather learn from old tomes than living teachers. In fact,

Stephen is beaten by his fellow students for not admitting that the allegedly immoral poet

Byron was no good. Stephen hears the myriad of human voices as all competing for his support. Consider, “And it was the din of all of these hollow sounding[sic] voices that made him halt irresolutely in the pursuit of phantoms. He gave them ear only for a time but was happy only when he was far from them, beyond their call, alone or in the company of phantasmal comrades” (Portrait 88-9). Stephen finds that books are better companions than people. He sees people as always trying to convert him to their cause and have him adopt their agendas. To Stephen, the living are suspect.

In chapter three of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, we find Stephen outwardly being helped by Father Arnall, but Stephen sees that Father Arnall seeks to

influence him to become a priest. Stephen is taught by Father Arnall that even the seemingly innocent people can have ulterior motives. Stephen is attending Belvedere

College remembering his sexual escapades detailed in the previous chapter. Father

Arnall visits Belvedere and the sermon his gives greatly influences Stephen. It is here that religious teachings move him. In a following sermon, Stephen hears Father Arnall speak of Lucifer: “What his sin was we cannot say. Theologians consider what it was the sin of pride, the sinful though conceived in an instant: non serviam: I will not serve”

(Portrait 126). Stephen is to remember this phrase and later claim it as his motto telling his friend Cranly,

I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it itself my home, my

fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or

art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms

allow myself to use – silence, exile and cunning. (Portrait 268-9)

Because of having adopted this motto, Stephen is unable to take instruction from most people, as to do so would put him in a subordinate position. One of the central ways of learning is through serving. As we will see later, Bloom is able to mentor Stephen in

Joyce’s Ulysses because he does not treat Stephen as his inferior.

Stephen is greatly moved by these teachings of Father Arnall. That night he visits a chapel on Church Street to find an unknown priest to hear his confession. The chapter ends with Stephen elated thinking, “The past was the past” and that his sins were now behind him (Portrait 158). At the close of chapter four we find Stephen greatly moved by the religious teachings of Father Arnall. Stephen is still greatly changed by his recent religious experience. He attempts to live his life piously and his actions are noticed by

the director of Belvedere College. The director asks Stephen if he ever wanted to be a priest. Stephen answers, “I have sometimes thought of it” (Portrait 170). Stephen is flattered by the director’s praise of him and imagines the power he would hold if he became a priest. We see that Stephen is motivated by pride when we read, “A strong note of pride reinforcing the gravity of the priest’s voice made Stephen’s heart quicken in response” (Portrait 171). We see that Stephen is also greatly interested in the idea of secret knowledge that comes with priesthood when we read, “He [Stephen] would know obscure things, hidden from others” (Portrait 172). Stephen leaves the director’s office after they both promise to pray tomorrow about the issue. Once outside Stephen thinks,

“His destiny was to be elusive of social or religious orders… He was destined to learn his own wisdom apart from others or to learn the wisdom of others himself wandering among the snares of the world” (Portrait 175). Here we see Stephen eschew the desires of his teachers and decide to forge his own path. Though in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young

Man Stephen rejects the priesthood, which would put him in a teacher position, in

Ulysses we find that he has accepted a position teaching classics – a secular alternative that affords him some control over others. The quote also helps us to understand how unique his later reception to Bloom is given his earlier decision to “learn apart.” With

Bloom, Stephen learns together.

Stephen’s early experiences with his teachers morph all of his later teacher- student relationships’ into adversarial ones. The failures of his father, threats of and actual punishments from his teachers cause Stephen to rebel against them. Even Father

Conmee lets Stephen down by laughing about his paddling with his father Simon. His old teacher, Father Arnall is able to convince Stephen to have a religious conversion, but

it is only temporary. After this, Stephen adopts his motto of non serviam and pledges to serve neither man, state nor religion. Ultimately, the motto serves to protect Stephen from teachers who so often hurt or disappoint him. At the same time the motto limits him as well. Stephen claims to have been born to learn, but cuts himself off from many of his teachers.

25 III: EXAMINING FÉNELON’S THE ADVENTURES OF TELEMACHUS TO SHOW

THE ROLE OF MENTORSHIP IN JOYCE’S ULYSSES

Joyce’s fixation on the role of teachers and mentor figures in Stephen’s growth and development, serving alternately as cautionary figures, models or adversaries, owes much to Fénelon’s framework for the growth of Telemachus. There are numerous

English translations of François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, but we will be considering Tobias Smollett’s translation originally published in 1776. While we will be using Smollett’s translation, the engravings and Advertisement from Percival Proctor’s

1774 edition will also be featured. All quotations of Fénelon’s The Adventures of

Telemachus come from Smollett’s translation. We will be using Smollett’s translation because it is considered by many to be the best English translation of Fénelon’s work.

We will go through Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus sequentially, detailing examples of Mentor’s mentorship of Telemachus, while showing parallels of similar mentorship which we find in Joyce’s Ulysses.

François Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus provides its reader with an account of Telemachus’ journey while seeking to reunite with his father Ulysses3. The

Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva (disguised as Mentor) travels alongside of

Telemachus and provides him with counsel during his search for his father, Ulysses.

3 Most copies of The Adventures of Telemachus feature the long s. Appearing as ʃ, the long s takes the place of the letter s in most cases outside of the word ending with s. As an example the name Ulysses would appear as Ulyʃʃes. For the reader’s convenience, in all quotes the long s will be substituted with our standard s. 26 Mentor’s wise counsel enables Telemachus to avoid many troubles that likely would end his journey as well as develop a strong sense of virtue. This mentorship is key to Telemachus’ building a resilient moral compass that will serve to guide him long after

Minerva leaves his side.

As a translator of Fénelon, Percival Proctor says about The Adventures of

Telemachus, “The dialogues and reflections, however long, are never tedious; but rather make us lament their too speedy termination, as they instruct and delight at the same time” (Proctor Advertisement). We see here that The Adventures of Telemachus both teaches and entertains its reader. Its target audience is a young one and Fénelon writes in a way to make sure the reader regardless of age, does not grow bored with it. Proctor also praises the character of Mentor saying, “Mentor makes us just, humane, patient, sincere, discreet and modest” (Proctor Advertisement). These are similar traits that

Bloom hopes to instill in Stephen throughout their interactions in Joyce’s Ulysses. With

Mentor’s careful instruction, Proctor claims that Telemachus is “more perfect” a character than his father Ulysses and that his, “morals are purer, his sentiments nobler”

(Proctor Advertisement). Clearly, Proctor feels that Telemachus grows into the man he becomes due in large part to the expert guidance of Mentor. Close examination of

Telemachus and Mentor’s interactions will support this claim.

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In keeping with its desire to instruct readers, many early editions of The

Adventures of Telemachus come complete with a series of engravings spread throughout the work. The frontispiece titled, “Youth Seduced by Sensual Pleasure” appears beside the title page and provides us with the hints of the challenges Telemachus (and similarly

Stephen) will face. The engravings frequently appear before key chapters in The

Adventures of Telemachus and help to draw the reader into the story being told and many focus on Telemachus’ instruction under Mentor.

Throughout Fénelon’s, The Adventures of Telemachus, we find Mentor exhibiting certain traits while mentoring Telemachus. These same traits are mirrored by Bloom while he instructs Stephen in Joyce’s Ulysses. As we will see in the following passages, 28

both Mentor and Bloom seeks to quell the passions of Telemachus and Stephen respectively. In addition, both act in a manner of providing advisement to their mentees rather acting with a heavy hand. Neither Mentor nor Bloom seek to replace their mentees’ fathers. Both hope to instill needed virtue in their charges’ hearts as well as their minds.

From the beginning of Fénelon’s work we find Mentor mentoring Telemachus and helping him avoid perilous situations. The Adventures of Telemachus opens with

Telemachus and Mentor being shipwrecked on the island of Calypso. We see the goddess Calypso at once realizes that Telemachus is Ulysses’ son, the same Ulysses that was trapped on her isle, but she is unable to uncover that Minerva is Mentor since

Minerva is a superior goddess compared to her. After Telemachus is offered magnificent clothing by Calypso, Mentor cautions Telemachus saying, “A young man who delights in gaudy ornaments like a weak woman, is unworthy of wisdom and glory. Glory is the portion of that heart alone which can endure affliction, and spurn at pleasure with disdain” (Fénelon 8). Telemachus accepts this chastising but tells Mentor he is happy at their good fortune to have been shipwrecked where they were. Mentor again warns

Telemachus saying, “Shipwreck and death are less fatal than those pleasures that attack virtue” (Fénelon 8). He goes on saying, “Youth is presumptuous and self-sufficient in all things. Tho’ frail, it believes itself all-powerful, and thinks it has nothing to fear”

(Fénelon 8). Here we see Mentor both lament the lack of caution the youthful possess.

Telemachus listens to Mentor’s guidance, and they go to relate their journey to Calypso.

Telemachus at first does not heed Mentor’s advice, and suffers because of this.

We learn that Telemachus was warned by Mentor not to go on his trip in search of his

father, Ulysses, and rather return to Ithaca. Mentor travels with Telemachus and they run into a terrible storm. Telemachus tells Mentor, “O if we ever escape this storm, I shall distrust myself as the most dangerous enemy, and in you Mentor, I shall always confide”

(Fénelon 14). To which Mentor responds, “I have no intention to reproach you with the fault you have committed; it is enough that you perceive it, and that it will serve to make you more temperate another time” (Fénelon 15). We see that unlike Stephen in regards to

Bloom in Joyce’s Ulysses, Telemachus almost immediately decides to take advice from

Mentor. We also see that Mentor is not overly harsh with Telemachus and allows the situation to teach him rather than overly lecture Telemachus. Likewise, Bloom is quite forgiving of Stephen’s many failings and acts throughout Joyce’s Ulysses to mitigate

Stephen’s numerous blunders.

Even after seeming defeat, Mentor seeks to inspire his young charge Telemachus.

The two are captured by Acestes, a Trojan, and are to be made his slaves. Telemachus beside himself brashly states, “Let us rather die, than treat us with such indignity: know that I am Telemachus son of the sage Ulysses king of Ithaca” (Fénelon 17). After hearing

Telemachus speak so rashly, Acestes decides the two shall be executed. Mentor speaks to Acetes and foresees that many enemies will descend on Acestes’ lands in three days’ time. Mentor and Telemachus fight alongside of Acestes and win the day. We read,

“The subjects of Acestes, animated by the voice and example of Mentor, exerted a vigour of which they thought themselves incapable” (Fénelon 21). We see that not only

Mentor’s speech but also his actions inspire those around him.

Telemachus and Mentor soon find themselves once again captured and

Telemachus despairs. Mentor tells Telemachus, “You will even see, in his pristine glory,

him whom you never knew; the invincible Ulysses, whom adverse fortune never could depress, and whose disasters, still greater than yours, ought to teach you never to despair”

(Fénelon 27). While this could be seen by Telemachus as an attempt by Mentor to bolster his spirit, Telemachus still knows of Mentor’s gift of prophecy and could see this as a telling of his future. Soon after this, Mentor and Telemachus are separated.

Telemachus responds saying, “I was thunder-struck” by this separation” (Fénelon 32).

Obviously, Telemachus feels this way because he believes that Mentor still has much to teach him.

This is quite a different response from what occurs in Joyce’s Ulysses, where

Stephen leaves Bloom’s house and separates from him willingly, hinting that perhaps

Stephen is not as reliant on Bloom as Telemachus is on Mentor. In the “Ithaca” episode of Joyce’s Ulysses we read that Bloom offers Stephen, “To pass in repose the hours intervening between Thursday (proper) and Friday (normal) on an extemporized cubicle in the apartment immediately above the kitchen (Joyce, Ulysses 17.931-3). By declining the room Bloom offers, Stephen and Bloom both miss out on the benefits the acceptance of the offer would bring each of them. Stephen would have a safe place to sleep and study, while Bloom would be able to lessen his obsession over Stephen’s wellbeing.

Bloom escorts Stephen outside and feels lonely when he leaves. The chapter ends with

Bloom telling his wife Molly that he spent his time recently with Stephen Dedalus, who he describes as a professor and author. Given that Bloom is an analog of Mentor, this description of Stephen could be viewed as a prophecy of Stephen’s positive future. Both

Bloom and Molly withhold secrets from each other and Bloom also holds back his interest in helping Stephen.

Even when he is away from Mentor, Telemachus is still inspired by his teachings.

While a slave, Telemachus feels that through an oracle, the goddess Minerva provides him with the following message, “Know that thou cans’t only be great in proportion to thy moderation, and the victory thou shall obtain over thy own passions” (Fénelon 35).

This message directly references the frontispiece etching of The Adventures of

Telemachus and stresses the importance of moderation. We see that Telemachus is accepting of the communication and goes on to praise the goddess Minerva for sending him the message. The goddess Calypso is much impressed that Telemachus owns his own errors. This is similar to lessons that Bloom tries to impart in Stephen during the

“Circe” episode of Ulysses. After a drunken Stephen drops his money Bloom tells him,

“You had better hand over that cash to me to take care of. Why pay more?” (Joyce,

Ulysses 15.3601-2). Stephen goes along with this but after Bloom counts the money aloud Stephen tells Bloom, “Doesn’t matter a rambling damn” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.3615).

Throughout Joyce’s Ulysses we see that Stephen has trouble handling his money responsibly, this is especially true when he is drunk4. When Stephen goes to smoke a cigarette Bloom cautions him saying, “Don’t smoke. You ought to eat” (Joyce, Ulysses

15.3644). Once more, Bloom is attempting to have Stephen act with moderation and be responsible. Bloom actively cares for Stephen’s welfare. During this scene the prostitute

Zoe reads Stephen’s palm. We read, “Thursday’s child has far to go. (she trace lines on his hand) Line of fate. Influential friends” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.3687-8). Zoe is right,

Bloom is quite an influential friend of Stephen’s and Blooms influence mainly impacts on Stephen himself, someone who actively resists any and all outside influences.

4 We first see Stephen’s issues with money in Ulysses in the “Nestor” episode 32

Cupid attempts to shoot Telemachus with an arrow to have him fall in love with

Calypso, but Mentor is able to calm Telemachus’ passions of love. We read, “Minerva appeared and covered me with her aegis” (Fénelon 85). After Cupid fails to influence

Telemachus, Minerva tells Cupid, “Get you gone, rash boy; never will you subdue any but effeminate souls, who are more enamored of your infamous pleasures than of wisdom, virtue and glory” (Fénelon 85-6). Mentor claims that love is trumped by wisdom, virtue and glory. Mentor guards Telemachus against the slings and arrows of passionate, all-consuming love. In Joyce’s Ulysses, Stephen seems more interested in

Cupid’s pleasures than the virtue Minerva speaks about as we find him visiting the nighttown district of Dublin in the “Circe” episode. After a failed attempt of leaving

Calypso’s isle, Telemachus becomes depressed about his situation and states, “O the wretchedness of youth! O ye gods, who cruelly sport with men, why do ye make them pass through that period of life, which is a scene of folly, or a raging fever” (Fénelon 92).

Telemachus sees youth can be a detriment and wishes for the wisdom that comes with age. Mentor warns Telemachus to flee the isle and says, “Infamous effeminate pleasure, of all the plagues that issued from Pandora’s box, the most dreadful! Here enfeebles men’s hearts, and suffers no virtue to exist” (Fénelon 94). In Ulysses, Stephen seems drawn to such vice, which according to Mentor destroys virtue.

When Mentor must depart from Telemachus, for he was sold to Hazael as a slave,

Telemachus’ strong negative reaction shows both his love of Mentor, as well as his desire for additional mentorship. Telemachus begs Hazael to be allowed to accompany Mentor as a slave as well. We read, “I have been seeking my father all over the sea, in company with this man, who was to me another father” (Fénelon 97). Despite his love of Mentor,

Telemachus still seeks his true father Ulysses. Hazael, greatly respects Mentor and tells

Telemachus to consider him a father until he reunites with Ulysses. We see that the use of the word ‘father’ in this exchange refers to ‘father’ in the poetic sense and as a term of endearment, nothing more.

Throughout Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus Mentor warns Telemachus of the dangers of earthly glory and falling victim to his passions. In Joyce’s Ulysses we see that Stephen too is tempted, but his temptation comes in the form of seeking glory through his artistic achievement. In The Adventures of Telemachus, an assembly offers to crown Telemachus as their king, they sense the virtues of Telemachus that were cultivated by Mentor’s instruction. Mentor cautions Telemachus against accepting the throne. Telemachus states, “These words stung me to the heart, and fortified me against the vain desire of a crown” (Fénelon 131). We see again that Telemachus stands strong against vanity. He once again speaks against his youth saying, “I am young, and consequently without experience, and exposed to the violence of passion” (Fénelon 133).

In Ulysses, Stephen too is young and even more so than Telemachus at risk of his passions dictating his actions. Whereas Telemachus has Mentor to temper his passions, we see that Stephen has Bloom to do likewise. Telemachus suggests that Mentor be made king. We read, “I told them how careful he had been of me, while a child; from what dangers he had delivered me; what misfortunes had befallen me, when I did not follow his advice” (Fénelon 134). Mentor also denies the throne. Like Telemachus, in

Ulysses Stephen has a number of misfortunes when he fails to follow Bloom’s advice.

We see that while both Mentor and Bloom give their charges important guidance, it is up to Telemachus and Stephen to heed it.

We see that Joyce has Bloom mentor Stephen in a similar way to how Mentor guides Telemachus. Both Mentor and Bloom offer advice to their charges, but not fully intervene in the trials and tribulations. Telemachus is unaware that Mentor is really the goddess of Wisdom, Minerva in disguise. We read, “Besides, she [Minerva] intended to put him to the proof, by exposing him to the greatest dangers; but had he known that

Minerva was his attendant, that would have supported him, and the most alarming accidents would have made no impression on him” (Fénelon 150). Without risk,

Telemachus would learn no lessons and the same is true for Stephen in Ulysses. Had

Bloom simply resolved all of Stephen’s problems (like the incident with the soldiers),

Stephen would likewise learn nothing from the encounter.

After running from the brothel in the “Circe” episode, Stephen finds himself in an argument with two English soldiers, Private Carr and Private Compton. Stephen addresses them saying, “You are my guests. Uninvited. By virtue of the fifth of George and seventh of Edward. History to Blame” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.4370-2). Clearly, Stephen takes issue with their presence in Ireland. Bloom seeks to defuse the situation telling

Stephen, “Come home. You’ll get into trouble” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.4511). To which

Stephen brazenly responds, “I don’t avoid it” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.4513). This harkens back to Telemachus’ rash response that nearly gets both him and Mentor executed. It was within Bloom’s power to simply drag Stephen away, but he does not take away his agency and merely offers him advice at this point in the encounter. Bloom approaches

Lynch, a friend of Stephen and asks, “Can’t you get him away?” (Joyce, Ulysses

15.4724). Lynch tells Bloom, “Get him away, you. He won’t listen to me” (Joyce,

Ulysses 15.44747-8). Lynch notes Stephen will not listen to him, but implores Bloom to

act as he feels that Stephen will follow Bloom’s advice. Despite only seeing them interact once in the brothel, Lynch feels that Bloom is somehow able to reach Stephen while Lynch’s own pleas to Stephen would not be considered. Private Carr, despite

Bloom’s verbal interjections, knocks Stephen down with a vicious blow. Bloom guards

Stephen while he is unconscious. The episode comes to a close with Bloom having a vision of his dead son, further reminding both Bloom and the reader that his true son is

Rudy and not Stephen. While the death of Rudy causes a rift between Bloom and his wife, his spirit serves to bring Bloom and Stephen closer together. In the “Circe” episode of Joyce’s Ulysses, Stephen serves to remind Bloom of his son Rudy, not replace him.

Due to godhood and virtue, when Cupid approaches Mentor and Telemachus he finds Mentor immune to his arrows while Telemachus is not as fortunate. Telemachus, having not the same level of virtue as Mentor has, falls victim to Cupid’s bow. Cupid is successful in exciting Telemachus’ interest in not only Calypso’s nymphs but Calypso as well. Telemachus is impressed with the nymphs’ lack of modesty and is thusly seduced by their charms. Mentor cautions Telemachus that Cupid’s arrow has struck him, but

Telemachus, deep in love’s embrace will here none of it. While under the spell of

Cupid’s love Telemachus tells Mentor, “Why do not we fix our residence in this island?

Ulysses must be dead” (Fénelon 156). Mentor pries himself from the role of father-figure by repeatedly reminding Telemachus of his responsibility to his father Ulysses. Mentor tells Telemachus, “Virtue calls you to your native country, to see Ulysses and Penelope, and forbids you to give way to foolish passion” (Fénelon 157). At best, Mentor is willing to serve as a sort of surrogate father, until Telemachus can be reunited with Ulysses properly. Similarly to Mentor, we see that Bloom rejects the role of fatherhood. In the

“Circe” episode of Joyce’s Ulysses, Bloom is asked by a prostitute named Zoe, “You’re not his father, are you?” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.1290-1). Bloom replies to her saying, “Not

I!” (Joyce, Ulysses 15.1293). This emphatic denial of being Stephen’s father shows the reader that Bloom is more comfortable with the mentor role.

Again we see that to Mentor, passions are to be rebuked, whereas in Ulysses, we repeatedly see Stephen chasing after his passions despite the cost he must pay and does so, much to the reader’s sorrow. It is the memory of his parents that helps Telemachus to evade the nymphs. Likewise it is Stephen’s memory of his dead mother that causes him to leave the brothel. Stephen is still deep in his grief for not honoring his mother’s last request for him to attend confession. Her specter tells him to, “Repent, Stephen” (Joyce,

Ulysses 15.4198). Stephen responds saying of his mother, “The ghoul! Hyena!” (Joyce,

Ulysses 15.4200). Clearly, Stephen is still struggling with his guilt. Soon after he says,

“The intellectual imagination! With me all or not at all. Non serviam!” With this we see that Stephen is still clinging to his credo of not serving anyone or anything. After stating this, Stephen’s revenant mother once again returns to haunt his conscience. Beside himself, Stephen destroys a chandelier and runs from the brothel. Here we see passions overwhelm Stephen, leaving him out of control.

While Telemachus is tempered by the recent events on Calypso’s isle, Stephen does not seem to have learned anything from the beating he received near the end of the

“Circe” episode. We read in The Adventures of Telemachus, “For the faultiness of his conduct in the isle of Calypso, had made him much wiser and more cautious than he was before. He was more sensible of his own weakness” (Fénelon 183). It is clear

Telemachus learned from his experiences on the isle. Telemachus is worried about

taking in any kind of pleasure while at sea with the Phoenicians. Mentor counsels

Telemachus saying, “There is not a person living that wishes you more pleasure than I; but it is such as will neither intoxicate, nor enervate you. The pleasures to be indulged, are such that will unbend the mind, yet leave you in possession of yourself” (Fénelon

201). This is almost identical to Bloom’s advice to Stephen as seen in Joyce’s Ulysses.

Clearly, Mentor would not approve of how drunk Stephen becomes in the “Circe” episode of Ulysses as alcohol clearly intoxicates Stephen to the point he is unable to control himself. Mentor continues saying to Telemachus, “The pleasures I wish you, are calm and serene; not such as turn a man into a savage brute” (Fénelon 201).

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Engraving Titled: The Furies and Death let in by Sensual Pleasure to Voluptuous Tyranny Soon after this talk, Mentor plays the lyre to much acclaim. Both Mentor and

Bloom are lovers of music. Telemachus’ shipmate Adoam cautions him about the dangers of alcohol warning him, , “It [wine] is, say they, a kind of poison, that makes men mad; and though it does not kill them, it turns them into beasts… those who indulge it, not only endanger their health but their morals” (Fénelon 211). Judging by Stephen and Bloom’s actions in Ulysses while under the influence, both Mentor and Adoam may be correct on their thoughts on alcohol’s effect upon the unwary.

While Telemachus is ultimately successful in his quest, at the close of Joyce’s

Ulysses, we find Stephen still wandering and Bloom being forced to watch from afar. On his journey home the ship that Telemachus is aboard is tricked by the god Neptune to another port which greatly saddens Telemachus. Mentor advises him saying, “Jupiter aims not at your destruction; and he proves you only in order to lead you to glory”

(Fénelon 227). These setbacks help to strengthen the character of Telemachus.

Likewise, Stephen’s setbacks serve to fortify his spirit as well. Once ashore Telemachus and Mentor meet with Idomeneus, who fought aside Ulysses at Troy. Idomeneus tells

Telemachus, “In you I behold Ulysses himself; his piercing eyes, and steadfast look…

Yes, you are undoubtedly the son of Ulysses, and you shall be mine also” (Fénelon 229).

Here we see Idomeneus figuratively claim Telemachus as his son. It is interesting that while Telemachus is in search of his father, Ulysses is in search of his country. During

Telemachus and Ulysses’ journeys both find surrogate fathers and countries but neither halt their quest until they achieve their goal. This suggests that Stephen is still wandering at the close of Joyce’s Ulysses because his quest is not complete. While the saying, “All that wander are not lost” is true, Stephen continues to wander because he has yet to discover the subject of his searching.

Both Mentor and Bloom share a willingness to help people beyond their respective key charges Telemachus and Stephen. We see that Idomeneus remembers

Mentor from his youth. King Idomeneus asks Mentor, “Do not you remember the visit you made me at Crete; and the good advice you gave me? But I was then hurried away by the impetuosity of youth… There was a necessity for my being taught by misfortune”

(Fénelon 231). It seems that King Idomeneus did not follow Mentor’s advice and had to

learn from his own mistakes. Even the best advice is useless if it is not followed.

Likewise, Bloom has helped people aside from Stephen in Ulysses. We find him aiding a blind person across the street. During the event, Bloom puts himself in the place of the blind fellow to better understand his plight. We read, “Look at all the things they can learn to do. Read with their fingers… Of course the other senses are more” (Joyce,

Ulysses 8.1114-6). Bloom’s ability to place himself in others position enables him to better understand people he is trying to help, such as Stephen. Regarding Telemachus, during a Sacrifice to Jupiter, the priest Theophanes exclaims, “I see a young hero, whom wisdom leads by the hand, to say more is not permitted to mortal mouth” (Fénelon 236).

Theophanes clearly knows that Minerva is Mentor but is forbidden to expose such knowledge. The priest continues saying, “O Telemachus! thy exploits surpass those of thy father” (Fénelon 236). Here we see that all of Telemachus’ trials have helped build his legacy as well as his character. Mentor orders that Telemachus help Idomeneus establish his new kingdom. After this, “Thus and thus only, O son of Ulysses, will you be accounted worthy of your father” (Fénelon 242). Telemachus pledges to do as Mentor states. In The Adventures of Telemachus we see that Ulysses, although largely absent is used as proper measure to help Telemachus realize his full potential as well as to aspire to be worthy of him. We see Telemachus struggle to become worthy of his father Ulysses and Mentor aiding Telemachus in gaining his title of being the son of Ulysses.

Both Mentor and Bloom are familiar with their mentees’ fathers and do not attempt to replace them. We see while Mentor is pleased that Telemachus seeks glory in battle, Mentor still cautions Telemachus saying, “You ought to remember that it was by shewing [sic] himself to be the wisest and the most moderate among them, that your

father acquired so much among the Greeks at the siege of Troy” (Fénelon 245). Here we see Mentor advising Telemachus that while valor in battle is to be lauded, wisdom is a more lofty aspiration. Mentor goes on to say, “As far as Minerva surpasses Mars, so far does cool, deliberate valour surpass the courage of headlong, blind ferocity” (Fénelon

245). As the goddess of wisdom in disguise, Mentor hopes to foster wisdom in all of

Telemachus’ dealings. Minerva takes special interest in Telemachus’ upbringing and carefully mentors him. Like Bloom in respect to Stephen, she does not seek to usurp the role of father, but merely counsel Telemachus. In Joyce’s Ulysses we see Bloom denies that he is Stephen’s father, who he knows personally. We also see Bloom say good things about Simon Dedalus to his son Stephen. We read, “A gifted man, Mr. Bloom said of Mr. Dedalus senior, in more respects than one and a born raconteur if ever there was one. He takes great pride, quite legitimate, out of you” (Joyce, Ulysses 16.260-3).

Bloom openly praises Stephen’s father and seemingly respects him. These are not actions of someone seeking to turn a son from his father and take on a parental role.

Both Minerva and Bloom value the concept of rational thinking above brash action. Seemingly overeager to prove himself in combat Telemachus is warned by

Mentor who states, “Pride and haughtiness give rise to the most dangerous wars”

(Fénelon 252). This is true of Stephen too in Ulysses, however Stephen’s war is fought against himself and his overly proud nature. Bloom in the “Circe” episode attempts to stop Stephen’s altercation with the soldiers and after failing to do so, serves to keep things from going from bad to worse. At the start of the “Eumaeus” episode, Bloom takes Stephen to a cabman’s shelter. During their journey to the cabman’s shelter, Bloom gives Stephen moral advice regarding drinking and visiting prostitutes. This advice is

quite similar to that which Mentor gave Telemachus as noted earlier. On top of this we read of Bloom, “Most of all he commented adversely on the desertion of Stephen by all of his pubhunting confrères but one, a most glaring piece of ratting on the part of his brother medicos under all the circs” (Joyce, Ulysses 16.95-7). Stephen responds that

Lynch, the only friend who stayed, was Judas, a betrayer. While Bloom had Stephen’s curiosity in the “Circe” episode, by the “Eumaeus” episode Bloom has Stephen’s attention. Stephen is indebted to Bloom for standing by him after his fair-weather friends took flight in his time of need. Kenner notes that the “Eumaeus” episode in Ulysses,

“This is his [Bloom’s] finest hour” (Kenner, Ulysses 130). Stephen is willing to carefully listen and consider Bloom’s advice while earlier in the day Bloom was constantly interrupted while speaking his mind. As always, the wheel of fortune turns and with it,

Bloom’s fortune oscillates wildly throughout Ulysses, but in the “Eumaeus” episode it seems to be at its most promising (Kenner, Ulysses 131). While later in Joyce’s Ulysses we encounter a number of things which serve to separate Stephen and Bloom, at the start of the “Eumaeus” episode, there is much promise for the two to establish a lasting relationship.

We see that Mentor and Bloom are uniquely suited to reach others with their advice. It is interesting that like Mentor, Bloom is able to instruct someone even after so many others have failed. Mentor gives advice to King Idomeneus in the presence of

Telemachus, which allows both Idomeneus and Telemachus to benefit from his wisdom.

We read, “You are a wise king, and desire to have the truth told you without disguise”

(Fénelon 253). Likewise, Bloom speaks truthfully to Stephen and does not seek to flatter

him with falsehoods. In fact, Bloom is so candid with Stephen in the “Eumaeus” episode that the two fail to agree on much of anything. Harry Blamires notes,

In short, there is no coming together here; no meeting of the minds; only a

collision between the socialists, materialistic, liberal, twentieth century mind,

pinning its faith to the collective and to the assumed capacity of man to build his

own Bloomusalem – and the rebellious, guilt-ridden, individualist inheritor of

Christian culture who has lost his illusions along with his faith. (Blamiers 206)

Had Bloom simply attempted to sweet-talk Stephen and falsely attempt to find common ground, it is quite likely that Stephen would sense such deception and be much more cautious of Bloom. In this case, Bloom is able to show that while he and Stephen do not agree on everything, Stephen can still learn much from him. We see that Mentor is able to reach Idomeneus where others could not. Consider when Idomeneus says, “I own, I should have been offended with any others who had spoke to me with the same freedom; and that no one else could have persuaded me to make an offer of peace… But it is better to listen to your sage councils, than obey the dictates of my own unruly passions”

(Fénelon 258). Here we see that Mentor alone is able to reach Idomeneus. The parallels

Bloom’s ability to reach Stephen, even after so many of his possible teachers such as

Father Dolan and Mr. Deasy have been unable to influence him. Both Mentor and Bloom seemingly share an ability to instruct people that actively avoid instruction. In this case,

Mentor’s plain-spokenness enables him to influence Idomeneus. Bloom likewise shares this trait with Mentor.

Mentor tells King Idomeneus’ foes something that is equally fitting for

Telemachus and Joyce’s Stephen to consider as well, “It is weakness, it is vanity, and

gross ignorance of one’s own interest, to hope to be able to conceal one’s faults by persisting in them with pride and obstinacy” (Fénelon 275). Similarly in Joyce’s Ulysses, we see firsthand, this very weakness in Stephen. Throughout Ulysses, Stephen repeatedly fails to reconsider his credo of non serviam even though his following of it has caused him much grief for not honoring his mother’s dying wishes. Fénelon’s Mentor would see

Joyce’s Stephen as being both weak and vain for continuing to operate under his credo despite the continued harm it causes him. Mentor is able to convince the enemies of

King Idomeneus to accept the peace proposal. Nestor speaks saying, “You see Mentor, how powerful the words of the wise and virtuous are” (Fénelon 278). Like Mentor,

Bloom’s words prove powerful indeed and are able to influence Stephen, someone who outright rejected advice from so many others. For example, Bloom is able to convince

Stephen to come with him to his house rather than wander the town.

Both Mentor and Bloom consider how brilliant men frequently have character flaws. When discussing King Idomeneus’ character with Telemachus, Mentor states,

“The greatest men have in their constitution, temper and character, certain defects that unavoidably lead them astray; and the most praise-worthy are those who have the greatness of mind to acknowledge and repair their errors” (Fénelon 296-7). Clearly,

Stephen has numerous character defects as according to Mentor all of the greatest men do. Blamires writes, “He [Bloom] reflects that brilliant young men sometimes go off the rails mentally or morally” (Blamires 206). Bloom considers, “However, he [Stephen] brought to mind instances of cultured fellows that promised so brilliantly nipped in the bud of premature decay and nobody to blame but themselves” (Joyce, Ulysses 16.1183-

6). While we do not actively see Stephen either openly admit or repair any of these

errors, Joyce’s Ulysses takes place only in the timespan of one day. One day is a short amount of time to renounce a credo held for years. Mentor’s experience with

Telemachus suggests the necessity of a longer timeframe to allow for Bloom’s advice to take hold in Stephen. Hopefully Bloom’s interactions with Stephen will influence him more once he has rested and fully sobered up after his night of debauchery. Bloom also mentions to Stephen that he belongs to Ireland but Stephen conceitedly says Ireland belongs to him. We see Telemachus following the advice of Mentor where Stephen denies Bloom’s claim that he belongs to Ireland. There are clear differences between

Telemachus and Stephen, but we must remember that Bloom serves as Stephen’s mentor only for a limited period of time. Joyce’s Ulysses ends before we see if Bloom’s advice makes a lasting impression on Stephen.

Both fathers, Fénelon’s Ulysses and Joyce’s Simon Dedalus, have flaws. In

Fénelon’s writing, Mentor comments to Telemachus about Ulysses, “Do not to expect to find him [Ulysses] altogether perfect… for failings you will certainly find in him”

(Fénelon 297). In a slight attack on Stephen’s father, Bloom wonders if Stephen’s personal issues stem from problems at home (Joyce, Ulysses 16.1177). Despite

Stephen’s faults, it is important to remember that Stephen has numerous excellent qualities and he is still quite young. Throughout Joyce’s Ulysses, we see that Bloom himself has many failings and we see him struggle with many of his failings in the

“Circe” episode. This however does not prevent him from mentoring young Stephen.

Despite his flaws, Bloom successfully emulates Fénelon’s Mentor in many ways throughout Joyce’s work.

Both Telemachus and Stephen learn firsthand to know the limitations of other people. Mentor says to Telemachus,

Learn, O Telemachus, not to expect from the greatest men more than is

compatible with human capacity. Unexperienced youth are apt to indulge a

presumptuous vein of censure that gives them dislike for all those whom these

ought to regard as patterns for their imitation. (Fénelon 297)

Mentor once gain warns Telemachus of the disadvantages of youth and hopes that

Telemachus will not judge other’s too harshly. We see in Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses that Stephen rejects many would be teachers, perhaps because of this very reason. Part of what makes Bloom unique is that he does not expect

Stephen to follow in his footsteps, as Father Dolan does. Mentor tells Telemachus, “Thus to rise, is more glorious than never to have fallen” (Fénelon 298). By Mentor’s reasoning

Stephen’s faults, if corrected, will enable him to gain glory unattainable had he never had such faults in the first place. Stephen’s faults can temper his soul and once conquered, make him a stronger person.

Both Telemachus and Stephen have had people that have negatively influenced them. Despite Mentor’s superb tutelage, Telemachus’ mother promoted negative character traits in her son and helped them to develop despite the efforts of Mentor.

Fénelon writes, “His [Telemachus’] mother Penelope, in spite of Mentor, had cherished in him a haughtiness and pride that tarnished all his good qualities. He looked upon himself as of a superior nature to the rest of mankind” (Fénelon 403). While Stephen’s mother did not encourage these traits, Stephen developed them still the same, as a result of adopting his credo of non serviam. We see that both Telemachus and Stephen have a

characteristic sense of superiority. While Telemachus’ was fostered by his mother,

Stephen’s was nurtured by his own way of living and his rejection of past teachers. Both

Telemachus and Stephen have a superiority complex. Telemachus is able to temper this with Mentor’s guidance, whereas Stephen’s issues regarding this are mostly unresolved at the close of Joyce’s Ulysses. Fénelon explains, “But this indifference in regard to others and constant attention to himself, was entirely owing to the ungoverned violence of his passions” (Fénelon 403). According to Fénelon, young Telemachus and by proxy

Stephen, both act as they do because of unregulated desires. While Telemachus with

Mentor’s help is able to quell his passions, throughout Joyce’s Ulysses, we see that

Stephen’s passions are unregulated.

While the next passage is written about Telemachus, it is equally fitting for

Stephen. Consider, “Though he had been stripped of every thing, deserted, and exposed to so many hardships and dangers, yet he still retained his pride” (Fénelon 404). It seems in the cases of Telemachus and Stephen that pride cometh even after the fall. Whereas in

Joyce’s Ulysses, Stephen could be reached by Bloom alone, so too could Telemachus only be reached by Mentor in Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus. We read,

“Telemachus, full of a noble ardor could be curbed and governed by Mentor alone”

(Fénelon 404). Here we see yet another analogue between Telemachus and Mentor’s relationship with that of Stephen and Blooms. Bloom alone was able to counsel Stephen while so many other possible mentors had openly failed in this task.

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Engraving Titled: Youth hurried on between Pride and Rage and Repentance Following Like Stephen in Joyce’s Ulysses, we see that Telemachus gets into fights. The result is more favorable for Telemachus as he is able to rout his opponent with the help of

Minerva’s protection. Wisely, Telemachus does not rejoice in his victory and spares his foe’s life. We read, “Alas! Shall I ever dare to look Mentor in the face again? Am I the son of Ulysses, the wisest and the most patient of men? I have acted rashly” (Fénelon

411). Here we see Telemachus ashamed of his impulsive actions. Unlike Telemachus, the only thing that Stephen seems to be regretful for in Ulysses is his failure to obey his

mother’s dying wish for him to attend Catholic confession. It is this failure that causes him so much grief. Telemachus is able to see his errors and be remorseful even before he speaks to Mentor about the event. We see that Stephen stands in stark contrast to this.

Telemachus was likewise very headstrong and in the beginning of his journey did not always follow Mentor’s advice. Given time, Stephen may likewise learn under Bloom to not be so stubborn. Mentor has so shaped Telemachus’ character over time and through recurring wise counsel that Telemachus is able to anticipate that he displeased Mentor and weeps for his hasty actions. Soon after, Telemachus’ earlier foe falls in battle fighting beside him. Telemachus laments, “O gods! I own that I also was to blame; why did ye snatch him from me before I had time to force him, in spite of himself, to love me”

(Fénelon 441). We see that Telemachus still holds himself accountable for their earlier fight and is upset with the death of his former enemy. Telemachus burns the body of

Hippias, his former foe and speaks kindly of him.

Soldiers witnessing Telemachus’ actions praise him with words also fitting of

Bloom’s character. One says, “she [Minerva] without a doubt has made him the choicest present which Gods can make to men; by giving him a heart susceptible of friendship, as well as wisdom” (Fénelon 447). Throughout Joyce’s Ulysses we see Bloom has a heart that is also susceptible to friendship and wisdom. While one may hesitate to say that

Stephen has an identical heart, Bloom is still able breech Stephen’s defenses and act as a much needed mentor to him. Mentor later goes to say, “It is misfortune alone that can teach them humanity” (Fénelon 618). This statement strongly correlates with Bloom. In

Joyce’s Ulysses we see that Bloom, perhaps due to his own adversity is able to sense

Stephen’s troubles and attempt to mentor him through his difficult situation.

Both Mentor and Bloom counsel their mentees on evaluating the character of other people. On their journey back to Ithaca to reunite with Ulysses, Mentor and

Telemachus discuss the keys to being a wise ruler and how to better know others’ motives. Mentor tells him, “How can any prince hope to govern a nation well, if he is ignorant of human nature? And how can he avoid being ignorant of it, unless he lives with men? The business is to visit them in private, to trace all the secret springs that move their hearts” (Fénelon 608-9). Bloom actively warns Stephen about the drunken company he keeps in the “Eumaeus” episode of Ulysses (Joyce, Ulysses 16.95-7). We see that Bloom also warns Stephen he should sever ties with his earlier housemate, Buck

Mulligan. Joyce writes that Bloom warns Stephen, “Advising him to sever his connection with a certain budding practitioner [Mulligan] who, he noticed, was prone to disparage and even to a slight extent with some hilarious pretext when not present, deprecate him” (Joyce, Ulysses 16.1868-71). Bloom clearly thinks that Stephen could and should keep better company. We see in Joyce’s Ulysses that Bloom privately converses with Stephen and attempts to better understand how he thinks on a wide variety of subjects. Bloom asks Stephen these types of questions not only to better understand him but also to build a sense of rapport between each other. Despite his best efforts,

Bloom is only at best partially successful in this. Stephen is still too guarded a person to let Bloom fully influence him, unlike how Telemachus is taught by Mentor. Mentor goes on to tell Telemachus, “Princes often, by not knowing in what true virtue consists, know not what they ought to look for in the characters of men” (Fénelon 610). In Joyce’s

Ulysses, it seems evident Bloom sees that Stephen is capable of more virtue and hopes to help instill such virtue in Stephen.

In Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, Mentor hopes that Telemachus is capable of learning from his past mistakes and use those errors as a way of improving himself (Fénelon 612) and in Joyce’s Ulysses, Bloom shares this same hope in regards to

Stephen. Mentor relates to Telemachus, “The prince who is so much loved by the gods as to find in his whole kingdom two or three friends of undoubted wisdom” (Fénelon

613). Since Stephen is not a prince like Telemachus, he should count himself blessed to have one such friend, Bloom. In the “Circe” episode of Joyce’s Ulysses, we saw firsthand how quickly Stephen’s friends abandoned him at the first sign of trouble. In fact, Bloom is more than a friend and rises to the level mentor. Bloom actively encourages Stephen to improve his condition and wishes for his best interests, seemingly unlike Stephen’s so-called friend Buck Mulligan.

In Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus and Joyce’s Ulysses, father and son cross paths without both knowing it. Near the end of The Adventures of Telemachus,

Telemachus encounters his father, Ulysses wearing a disguise. After a brief exchange and still unaware that the man was his father, Telemachus tells Mentor that he feels sorry for the man despite the man seeming uninterested in conversing with him. Mentor responds, “Such are the happy effects of adversity; it teaches princes moderation, and makes them feel for others” (Fénelon 618). Mentor goes on and tells Telemachus, “If a stranger seems to merit your compassion, because, like yourself, he hath been a wanderer” (Fénelon 618). We can easily replace wanderer with mourner in the case of

Joyce’s Ulysses and see how Bloom and Stephen relate to each other. In the “Circe” episode of Ulysses, the prostitute Zoe notes that both Stephen and Bloom are dressed in black, this imagery suggests both characters are dealing with burdensome issues. Death

hangs heavy over both Stephen and Bloom. Hugh Kenner notes that like Stephen,

“Leopold Bloom is much pressed upon by his past” (Kenner, Ulysses 76). Bloom had mourned for the loss of his son Rudy, and hopes to aide Stephen who is actively mourning the death of his mother and having difficultly dealing with the guilt of not honoring her last wish of him confessing his sins to a priest. Again, Bloom is not attempting to become Stephen’s father in any literal sense, but according to Fénelon’s

Mentor because of his own hardships Bloom is in a position to aid Stephen in dealing with his problems where many other possible mentors had failed Stephen or had been rejected out of hand by him.

Both Mentor and Bloom attempt to influence their mentees. Mentor encourages

Telemachus to aide his countrymen telling him, “But exert your upmost endeavors to reform their manners” (Fénelon 621). We can we see Bloom attempting in part to do this for Stephen in Joyce’s Ulysses. Mentor continues, “By making them virtuous, you will prevent their being ungrateful, and will procure them the most substantial of all blessings, namely virtue; which, if genuine, will always attach them to him to whom they are indebted to for it” (Fénelon 621-2). We see that according to Mentor, if Stephen truly gains virtue, he will be indebted to Bloom for giving him instruction. While Joyce’s

Ulysses ends before we learn if Stephen takes Bloom’s mentorship to heart, we know that if he does, Stephen will be beholden to Bloom for his lessons. It is interesting that despite the mentorship Bloom give Stephen in the “Circe” episode of Ulysses, neither

Stephen nor Bloom ever make reference to the events which occur in the episode later in

Ulysses. The closest we have to any reference of the events in when Bloom returns

Stephen’s money to him in Ulysses’ penultimate episode. Bloom returns a penny more to

Stephen then he held for him in safekeeping. For both Stephen and Bloom the “Circe” episode seems to be a nightmare to escape and hopefully forget. Without Bloom’s intervention, Stephen would quite likely have spent the night in a jail cell. Without

Stephen’s company, Bloom would have spent time without company and very depressed.

This is an example of not only the mentor helping his mentee, but the mentee also helping the mentor. Both provide a service to each other. Bloom and Stephen’s relationship is a symbiotic one and despite their differences, both gain from their interactions.

Mentor informs Telemachus that the stranger he recently saw was indeed his father, Ulysses, and Telemachus is greatly saddened, Mentor’s following response is fitting for both Telemachus and Stephen’s actions. Mentor reacts to Telemachus saying,

Observe, my dear Telemachus, how oddly men are made. You are now

inconsolable, because you have seen your father without knowing him. What

would you not have given yesterday to have been assured that he was still alive…

Thus do capricious, discontented mortals undervalue what they most eagerly

desired; as soon as they are in possession of it, and are ingenious in finding

something to torment themselves for, which they are not in possession of.

(Fénelon 630)

We see this act out firsthand through Stephen in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as well as in Ulysses. Stephen is never satisfied whenever he accomplishes a goal; he immediately sets his sights on some other objective. In Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen sought to live up to his credo of non serviam. We see that when he finally does so and rejects his mother’s dying wish, he is overcame by grief, mainly

tied to his denial of her final request of him. Having seemingly finally lived up to his credo, rather than feel vindicated, Stephan is left crestfallen as a result.

Both Telemachus and Stephen have issues with their ability to continually endure suffering, mainly caused by their own actions. Mentor addresses this with Telemachus telling him, “He who knows not how to wait, and to suffer, is like him who knows not how to keep a secret … Thus the impatient man is, by his violent ungoverned passions, precipitated into an abyss of misfortunes” (Fénelon 631). It seems clear in Joyce’s

Ulysses that Stephen has issues with both waiting as well as suffering. Stephen’s guilt for not honoring his mother’s dying wish is tearing him apart. He seems unwilling to allow time to ease such pain, Stephen simply wants his suffering to end and because of this, he leads himself into additional misfortunes such as unfold in the “Circe” episode of Joyce’s

Ulysses. Stephen’s guilt proves to be his own worst enemy.

Mentor and Bloom both offer their mentees choices near the end of their interactions with them. Mentor tests Telemachus who is desperate to follow the trail of

Ulysses by proposing a sacrifice to Minerva. Telemachus rightly agrees and preforms the sacrifice and wait to follow his father. This greatly pleases Minerva who drops her disguise of Mentor and reveals herself to Telemachus. After addressing him as the son of

Ulysses, Minerva tells Telemachus, “I never took so much pains to instruct any mortal as you” (Fénelon 634). Whereas Bloom mentors Stephen one night, Minerva mentored

Telemachus for many years. Given this, is it any surprise that Stephen is not as influenced by Bloom’s mentorship as Telemachus is by Minerva’s? We must also consider that while Bloom is a fitting mentor, Telemachus is guided by a goddess.

Minerva goes on to caution Telemachus telling him, “But above all, be upon guard

against our own humor and caprice, which is an enemy that will never quit you until death” (Fénelon 634). These are fitting words for Stephen as well. Minerva departs

Telemachus stating, “I am now going to leave you, son of Ulysses, but my wisdom shall never leave you… It is now time that you should try to walk alone” (Fénelon 635). We see in Joyce’s Ulysses, that Stephen has one evening of mentorship, and do not know if their relationship will continue. Hopefully Stephen will be continued to be mentored by

Bloom despite his leaving Bloom’s house. Luckily for Stephen, unlike Minerva, Bloom remains earthbound and Stephen knows where to find him if he so chooses. After

Telemachus praises the goddess Minerva, The Adventures of Telemachus ends with

Telemachus finding his father, Ulysses. The ending of Joyce’s Ulysses is not nearly as upbeat, but leaves the reader with a sense that there may be further dialogue between

Stephen and Bloom.

The relationship between Stephen and Bloom can be best viewed as a mentor- mentee relationship rather than a father-son one. Throughout the previous examples, we see that Mentor and Bloom share many similar characteristics and goals. It is noted by

Joyce’s brother Stanislaus, that Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus was clearly a source of inspiration for Joyce (Stanford 276). Joyce could not have helped but consider the interactions between Mentor and Telemachus in Fénelon’s work. It is not accidental

Stephen and Bloom’s relationship so closely mirrors that of Telemachus and Mentor. As we have seen, Bloom seeks to quell the passions of Stephen as Mentor does for

Telemachus. In addition to this, both Mentor and Bloom act in a manner of providing advisement to their mentees but allow them to makes their own decisions. When

Telemachus or Stephen blunder, neither Mentor nor Bloom berates their mentee for their

mistake but rather they offer support. Importantly, neither Mentor nor Bloom seek to replace their mentees’ fathers and both actively remind their mentees of their fathers’ greatness. In Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus and Joyce’s Ulysses, Mentor and

Bloom’s goal is to instill needed virtue in their charges hearts as well as their minds.

57 IV: CONCLUSION

Joyce takes the concept of mentorship from Fénelon’s myth, and places it within his modernist novel, Ulysses. Seeing Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus as a key source for understanding Joyce’s Ulysses transforms our understanding of Ulysses, especially our view of Bloom and Stephen’s relationship. Firstly, we see that The

Adventures of Telemachus moves both education and mentorship to the forefront of

Joyce’s Ulysses. We also see in the “Circe” episode in Joyce’s Ulysses that Bloom’s numerous transformations echo Mentor’s various shape-shifting identities seen in

Fénelon’s work. Considering Fénelon’s work as a key text in understanding Joyce’s

Ulysses also helps to show the genesis of Stephen’s rejection of many of his teachers not as surrogate father figures but rather as guides. Finally, we see that Bloom is the last, and most successful of Stephen’s many teachers.

If we are to have hope for Stephen in terms of him learning moderation from

Bloom, it resides in us viewing The Adventures of Telemachus as a key source, since it shows the reader that it takes time for a mentee to adjust to their mentor. It also enables us to consider that Bloom might be granted prophetic abilities similar of Mentor’s. Thus

Bloom telling his wife that Stephen is a Writer and teacher could be viewed as a positive future prophecy. Part of Bloom’s possible gift of prophecy can be seen in his recognizing

Stephen’s talent. Comparing Bloom’s actions in Joyce’s Ulysses with those of Mentor in

Fénelon’s The Adventures of Telemachus, we see that both Fénelon’s Mentor and Joyce’s

58 Bloom act as guides and mentors to Telemachus and Stephen respectively, rather than their fathers.

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