John Huston wrote and directed many Hollywood classics, such as The Maltese Falcon and The Man Who Would Be King.

In ‘The Dead’, an evening of food, drink and dancing ends in an epiphany for Gabriel who makes a surprising discovery about his wife’s past. Traditionally, men did the house work while the women of the household visited friends and ate the last of the Christmas cake.īut this date also marks the Christian feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the moment when the Three Wise Men revealed that a baby Jesus was the son of God. After all the hard work women did over Christmas, they finally got a day off. In Ireland, the 6th of January is known as Little Christmas, Women’s Christmas or Nollaig na mBan. It is set around the Feast of the Epiphany It is based on Joyce’s own experience of visiting his hospitable grand-aunts every Christmas. So, instead, he finished off the collection by adding ‘The Dead’, which showed Dublin’s warmer side. Joyce didn’t want to rewrite his existing stories. And yet I know how useless these reflections are.” I have not been just to its beauty: for it is more beautiful naturally in my opinion than what I have seen of England, Switzerland, France, Austria or Italy. “The latter ‘virtue’ so far as I can see does not exist elsewhere in Europe.

I have not reproduced its ingenious insularity and its hospitality. I have reproduced (in Dubliners at least) none of the attraction of the city for I have never felt at my ease in any city since I left it, except in Paris. “Sometimes thinking of it seems to me that I have been unnecessarily harsh. In 1906, he wrote to his brother Stanislaus: While living in Rome, his feelings toward Dublin softened somewhat and he wished there was an Irish club in the city where he could meet other Irish expats. James Joyce wrote ‘The Dead’ in 1907 – three years after finishing the other 14 short stories that make up Dubliners. ‘The Dead’ was a late addition to Dubliners It is the final story in his short story collection Dubliners and unites the themes found throughout the book.Īs readings and film showings can’t go ahead as usual this year, we decided to celebrate ‘The Dead’ by sharing some trivia you might not be aware of. James Joyce’s beloved short story ‘The Dead’ is set on January 6th – and marks the first major event in every Joycean’s calendar.

The dead dubliners summary