Whetstone: Stanislaus Joyce and the Fraternal Relationships in ‘Finnegans Wake’ Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Melissa Rose Farrell December 2020 Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements v List of abbreviations vi Introduction 1 1: Mutt and Jute (I.i) 43 2: The Mookse and the Gripes (I.vi) 80 3: Butt and Taff (II.iii) 114 4: The Ondt and the Gracehoper (III.i) 147 5: Muta and Juva (IV) 173 6: Shem and Shaun 196 Conclusion 228 Appendix: Table of Interpolations 237 Bibliography 238 Whetstone: Stanislaus Joyce and the Fraternal Relationships in ‘Finnegans Wake’ Abstract Melissa Farrell Whetstone: Stanislaus Joyce and Fraternal Relationships in ‘Finnegans Wake’ This thesis examines Finnegans Wake (1939) by the Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941). By first tracing the familial, spiritual, and financial relationships Joyce had with his brother Stanislaus (1884-1955) and identifying early references to Stanislaus in Joyce’s writings, this research shows how the fraternal relationship was incorporated into the Wake by examining five passages therein. Over the course of their lives, Joyce and Stanislaus’ relationship was subject to the stressors of abuse, poverty, and death which followed them from Dublin to Trieste. Their differences, eventually, were greater than their similarities, and Joyce explored this dichotomy in his writings. Fundamentally, this thesis argues that Joyce’s relationship with Stanislaus is the primary influence on the interactions between Shem and Shaun in the Wake. One of the key innovations of this thesis is its methodology. Throughout, archival materials are used to show the parallels between Joyce’s relationship with Stanislaus and that of the brothers in the Wake. Analysis of the process of authorial revision shows how, by editing and expanding his previous drafts, Joyce used the book to respond to real-life events. Each chapter of this thesis scrutinises extracts of the Wake to show the influence of history, literature, and popular culture on the composition of his fraternal characters. In so doing, the research expands on Joyce’s reactions to contemporary philosophy and personal criticism, and his interest in subjects diverse as French art, Irish geology, and Viking settlers – and how he uses all of these to provide a thematic backdrop for the story of the brothers. In showing the direct influence Stanislaus had on Joyce’s early writings, this thesis examines from a new perspective the contested topic of authorship in the latter’s work. It brings together the story of how Stanislaus contributed titles, names of characters, ideas about structure, and eventually his own personality to his elder brother’s texts. By demonstrating the iii Introduction imbalance that Joyce perpetrated and perpetuated in his relationship with his brother, and the way he used that imbalance to furnish his own books, this research lays the groundwork for further scholarly examination of the interplay between the various members of Joyce’s family and the role of the family in his works. Finally, by demonstrating the symbols, patterns, and structural models Joyce uses to refer to Stanislaus, and the ways he embeds them in the Wake, this thesis suggests ways in which Stanislaus himself might be reassessed considering Joyce’s writings. iv Whetstone: Stanislaus Joyce and the Fraternal Relationships in ‘Finnegans Wake’ Acknowledgements I would like to thank Prof. Frank Shovlin, whose unwavering patience and wisdom has been invaluable from the beginning of this project. Many thanks also to Dr Niall Carson for his encouragement and advice over the years. I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr Clare Downham and Dr Kelly Fitzgerald for contributing their expertise in Irish mythology, and Dr Edward Molloy for his insightful feedback about Irish parliamentary history. The work undertaken for this thesis was made possible by the Sir Joseph Rotblat Alumni Scholarship from the University of Liverpool. Funding from the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures and the Institute of Irish Studies, both at the University of Liverpool enabled me to spend time in the archives at the McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. Finally, I would like to thank Jude Holt, Seán Hewitt, and Beth Bell for their kindness, compassion, and understanding. Without them, this thesis could not have become reality. v Introduction List of abbreviations Quotations from James Joyce’s major works, and Wyndham Lewis’ Time and Western Man (1927) will be cited parenthetically in-text: SH James Joyce, Stephen Hero (London: Paladin, 1991) D James Joyce, Dubliners (London: Penguin, 2000) P James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (London: Penguin, 2000) U James Joyce, Ulysses (London: Penguin, 2000) FW James Joyce, Finnegans Wake (London: Penguin, 2000). Chapters are referred to by book and chapter number in Roman numerals; passages are identified by line and episode number TWA Wyndham Lewis, Time and Western Man (Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow, 1993) LI James Joyce, Letters of James Joyce, ed. Stuart Gilbert, Vol. I (New York: Viking, 1957) LII James Joyce, Letters of James Joyce, ed. Richard Ellmann, Vol. II (London: Faber and Faber, 1966) LIII James Joyce, Letters of James Joyce, ed. Richard Ellmann, Vol. III (London: Faber and Faber, 1966) SL James Joyce, Selected Letters of James Joyce, ed. Richard Ellmann (London: Faber and Faber, 1975) BoD ‘The Book of Days’; 1907-1909 Diary of Stanislaus Joyce. Richard Ellmann Papers, University of Tulsa vi Whetstone: Stanislaus Joyce and the Fraternal Relationships in ‘Finnegans Wake’ CDD Stanislaus Joyce, The Complete Dublin Diary of Stanislaus Joyce, ed. George H. Healy (New York: Cornell, 1971) MBK Stanislaus Joyce, My Brother’s Keeper: James Joyce’s Early Years (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo, 2003) JJQ James Joyce Quarterly, University of Tulsa JJA # James Joyce Archive1 1 See Michael Groden, ‘Citation of the James Joyce Archive’, JJQ Vol. 51 No. 1 (2013) pp. 247-248. vii Introduction Introduction ‘But it is terrible to have a cleverer elder brother.’1 Stanislaus Joyce, 13 August 1904 Shem and Shaun are twin brothers in Finnegans Wake (1939); they are also each other’s opposites and rivals. This thesis will analyse the brother relationship in the Wake through five discrete dialogues and scenes in the novel which break away from the narrative proper. These interruptions are: 1. Mutt and Jute (I.i: 16.10-18.16) 2. The Mookse and the Gripes (I.vi: 152.13-159.18) 3. Butt and Taff (II.iii: 338.5-355.7) 4. The Ondt and the Gracehoper (III.i: 414.15-419.8) 5. Muta and Juva (IV: 609.24-610.33) 2 As these scenes involve versions of Shem and Shaun in conversation, debate, or conflict, this thesis will also bring to the fore the relationship of their author James Joyce (1882-1941) and his brother Stanislaus (1884-1955) as seen in those and throughout the rest of the Wake. The brothers lived together more often than not from their births through to Joyce’s move to Paris in 1920; as Stanislaus can be identified in Stephen Hero, Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), and Ulysses (1922), so too can he be seen in Finnegans Wake, a fact which has not before been explicated or analysed in any great detail. This introduction will give context of the brothers’ relationship from their early years through to the writing of the Wake and will include an examination of the development of Joyce’s use of his fraternal relationship in his prose writing. An overview of criticism on Stanislaus Joyce with regards to 1 [13 August 1904] CDD, p. 50. 2 A more thorough chart of the passages is given in the Appendix. 1 Introduction the Wake will follow, along with an explanation of the biographical method that this thesis will utilise. James Joyce was the second-born child of John Stanislaus and Mary (May) Joyce (née Murray); the first, also a son, had died soon after birth.3 Joyce himself was born a year later, in 1882. A daughter, Margaret, followed in 1884, and then came John Stanislaus on 17 December of the same year, who went by his second name (or ‘Stannie’) to distinguish him from his father. Altogether John and May Joyce had fourteen pregnancies and eleven children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Contemporaries of Joyce and Stanislaus have sketched their personalities well enough that the modern-day reader has an impression of two contrasting men. They had varying educations, perceptions of their family, experiences with women, and opinions about the many novels they both read; this love of literature they shared. From a young age, their family noted their polarities, with Joyce labelled ‘Sunny Jim’ in contrast to Stanislaus’ ‘Brother John’.4 Biographers have taken a physiognomic approach to describing the pair: Stan Gébler Davies has written of Stanislaus ‘having a squat and phlegmatic appearance.’5 Richard Ellmann writes that ‘[Stanislaus’] sober mien and his firm, broad-shouldered body gave him an air of substance that his taller, angular brother lacked.’6 Gordon Bowker thought Stanislaus ‘solemn, square, and direct.’7 Stanislaus himself described his brother by contrast as ‘handsome and clever.’8 As the brothers grew older, their differences became more evident. Stanislaus felt that 3 Richard Ellmann, James Joyce (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982) p. 21. 4 Ellmann, James Joyce, p. 26. 5 Gébler Davies, James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist (London: Abacus, 1977) p. 81. 6 Ellmann, James Joyce, p. 212. 7 Gordon Bowker, James Joyce: A Biography (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2011) p. 48. 8 MBK, p. 6. 2 Whetstone: Stanislaus Joyce and the Fraternal Relationships in ‘Finnegans Wake’ his brother mismanaged many aspects of his life: his romantic relationships, his money, and his writing among them.