Authors:
- Argues that divorce in Edwardian Ireland was both possible and practiced, drawing from textual evidence and legal cases of the period
- Interweaves themes of love, marriage, and sexuality in Ulysses within a broader discussion of Irish law, religion, and national identity
- Illustrates the impact of religious and imperial power structures in Edwardian Ireland and how Joyce questions these structures in Ulysses
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This engrossing, ground-breaking book challenges the long-held conviction that prior to the second divorce referendum of 1995 Irish people could not obtain a divorce that gave them the right to remarry. Joyce knew otherwise, as Peter Kuch reveals—obtaining a decree absolute in Edwardian Ireland, rather than separation from bed and board, was possible. Bloom’s “Divorce, not now” and Molly’s “suppose I divorced him”—whether whim, wish, fantasy, or conviction—reflects an Irish practice of petitioning the English court, a ruse that, even though it was known to lawyers, judges, and politicians at the time, has long been forgotten. By drawing attention to divorce as one response to adultery, Joyce created a domestic and legal space in which to interrogate the sometimes rival and sometimes collusive Imperial and Ecclesiastical hegemonies that sought to control the Irish mind. This compelling, original book provides a refreshingly new frame for enjoying Ulysses even as it prompts thegeneral reader to think about relationships and about the politics of concealment that operate in forging national identity
Reviews
“It’s central thesis is quite simple: contrary to what had been thought, divorce in Ireland was a ‘realistic option’ for Bloom or Molly should they have chosen to seek it. … It might be thought that Kuch, professor of Irish studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand, is engaging in speculation about mere what-ifs … . Kuch pursues this theme through a labyrinth of legal cases, and throughout Ulysses, in a hugely impressive way.” (Terence Killeen, The Irish Times, irishtimes.com, June, 2017)
“Written by a major expert on the subject, this book combines a fine sensitivity to Joyce's texts with an assured understanding of his contexts--a tour de force.” (Declan Kiberd Donal and Marilyn Keogh, Professor of Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA)
“Original, provocative, compelling ...Kuch has provided a fascinating new frame for considering Joyce’s great novel as a whole.” (Finn Fordham, Professor of English, Literature and Theory Group, Royal Holloway College, London University)
“Joyce’s awareness of the intricacies of divorce law, as Irish Divorce/Joyce’s Ulysses brilliantly shows, illuminates not only hidden corners of the Blooms’ troubled marriage but also darker sides of Victorian respectability and Catholic Ireland. Alive to both text and context, Kuch's exemplary scholarship and eye for detail demonstrates how literature often picks up where law leaves off, allowing valuable new insights into the intimacies and anxieties of domesticlife in late colonial Ireland.” (Luke Gibbons, Professor of Irish Literary and Cultural Studies, Maynooth University, Ireland)
"[This book] is surely the best account of the theme we have by a long way. I learnt a lot from it and thought it was very professionally handled. … `Ithaca’ and above all `Eumaeus’ seemed to me brilliant … .” (Professor Andrew Gibson, Professor of Modern Literature and Theory, English Department, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
“[This] book is a great illustration of the point [Peter Kuch] quote[s] about the pleasure of seeing how the vast network of cultural allusions in Ulysses relate to each other. So interesting to look at the complex text through the divorce prism. Of course [the] diligent research enhances the range and depth of the view through that prism. It's great fun to read, and always insightful and educational.” (Joseph Hassett, author of The Ulysses Trials: Beauty and Truth Meet the Law, 2016)
“Ulysses revisited withdivorce more coherently in mind, as Peter Kuch has done, reveals a much stronger presence in the narrative than has been noted until now … [His] huge commitment to and enthusiasm for the massive research which underpins this book, pervades what is one of the most readable and exciting contemporary works on Ulysses.” (Dr. Mary McAleese, speaking at the launch of Irish Divorce, Joyce’s Ulysses, National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin on 7 June 2017)
“Not many books on Ulysses have permanently changed the way the most important novel of the twentieth century is read. Peter Kuch's Irish Divorce/Joyce’s Ulysses does just that: as a result of Kuch's meticulous research into the legal complexities of divorce in Ireland and England in the early part of the century, we can now see that Leopold and Molly's marriage was not necessarily indissoluble, although this has always been assumed to be the case. The possibility of obtaining a divorce from Molly, by a petition tothe English courts, is not a fantasy on Leopold's part, and to become aware of this is to have one's sense of their relationship—and its potential future after the novel has ended—altered for good. Irish Divorce/Joyce's Ulysses is contextual criticism at its very best.” (Professor Derek Attridge, speaking at the launch of Irish Divorce/Joyce’s Ulysses at the Irish Ambassador’s residence, Singapore on 25 July 2017 during the annual IASIL Conference)
Authors and Affiliations
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University of Otago , Dunedin, New Zealand
Peter Kuch
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Irish Divorce / Joyce's Ulysses
Authors: Peter Kuch
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57186-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature America, Inc. 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-95755-2Published: 27 July 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-57186-1Published: 01 June 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXVIII, 289
Topics: British and Irish Literature, Twentieth-Century Literature, European Literature