1. Publishing Background:

• 1904 - George Russell (AE) asked Joyce to write a 'simple' story for the Irish Homestead; the result was the story "The Sisters" published in August 1904

• 1904 - Joyce submits a collection of stories to the publisher Grant Richards

• 1906 - February - Richards accepts them

• 1906 - April - Richards informs Joyce that a new story "Two Gallants" had produced problems with the printer who objected to certain passages

• Joyce's response: he had written the book "in accordance with what I understand to be the classical tradition of my art. You must therefore allow me to say that your printer's opinion of it does not interest me in the least."

• 1907 - he completed the last of the stories - "The Dead", which has come to be regarded as one of the finest short stories of the 20^th century

• 1907 - Grant Richards backs away from publishing Dubliners

• 1909 - George Roberts of the Dublin firm Maunsel & Co. accept Dubliners and in August sign a publication contract

• Roberts soon has second thoughts about publishing it because of the risk of libel due to various references to actual people in the stories

• Roberts writes to Joyce informing him that his legal advisors recommended that he sue Joyce to recover all costs, charges and expenses so far incurred by handling the volume of stories

• 1914 - June - Grant Richards publishes Dubliners after all

2. General Points to Consider:

• Symbolism:

1. Surface is united with the symbol

2. Referential symbolism - symbolism of allusion, esp. Catholic

3. "Making of objects rich in meaning in context" - everyday objects are made significant by their context

• Ideas:

1. Priests and the Catholic Church come under attack

2. Irish alcoholics/excessive drinkers explored/pilloried

3. Irish Politics/Nationalism brought to the fore

4. Relationships among family members and in marriage highlighted

5. paralysis - individual inability to undertake meaningful actions

6. exile

• Unity in the collection of stories achieved by the following means:

1. themes - repetition of ideas/themes throughout the collection

2. imagery - repetition of images throughout the collection - e.g. Dublin streets

3. symbols - repetition of symbols throughout the collection - e.g. religious artifacts

4. setting - Dublin, itself, provides unity because of its constant presence

5. tone - irony is the predominant tone throughout the collection