Molly Bloom before “Penelope”

Abstract

It is fascinating to reread Kathleen McCormick’s review of the reception of “Penelope” from the vantage of the twenty-first century, and be reminded that there was an age when the figure of Molly Bloom went from being perceived as “earth mother” and “satanic mistress” to being perceived as “bitch,” “slut,” and “thirty shilling whore” before her rescue by feminists in the estimation of readers (17–39). Read through archetypes and stereotypes, Molly Bloom has become one of the most intriguing figures of modern, and perhaps all, literature.1 So what can narratology add to the discussion and understanding of Molly Bloom? More specifically, what can a simulated virgin reading, approaching her character as a first-time reader might encounter her, add to our understanding, perception, and interpretation of her? At the outset, such an approach confronts us with the fact that although we glimpse Molly Bloom briefly in “Calypso,” she then virtually disappears physically from the novel until the very end, when she sweeps in with the force of a discursive gale, and rivets us for a final thirty-six pages of interior monologue. In the interim, her actions or nonactions while offstage are a source of suspense not only for her husband, Leopold Bloom, but also for her readers.