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A Mother
One of Ireland’s most famous writers was James Joyce, a novelist and poet who’s best known for his avant garde classic Ulysses, which was inspired by The Odyssey but written in a completely modern, stream of conscience way. Joyce was also acclaimed for his poetry, journalism, and novels like A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
This edition of Joyce’s A Mother includes a Table of Contents.
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First published January 1, 1914
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About the author
James Joyce
1,753 books9,584 followersJames Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, and a pivotal figure in 20th-century modernist literature, renowned for his highly experimental approach to language and narrative structure, particularly his pioneering mastery and popularization of the stream-of-consciousness technique. Born into a middle-class Catholic family in the Rathgar suburb of Dublin in 1882, Joyce spent the majority of his adult life in self-imposed exile across continental Europe—living in Trieste, Zurich, and Paris—yet his entire, meticulous body of work remained obsessively and comprehensively focused on the minutiae of his native city, making Dublin both the meticulously detailed setting and a central, inescapable character in his literary universe. His work is consistently characterized by its technical complexity, rich literary allusion, intricate symbolism, and an unflinching examination of the spectrum of human consciousness. Joyce began his published career with Dubliners (1914), a collection of fifteen short stories offering a naturalistic, often stark, depiction of middle-class Irish life and the moral and spiritual paralysis he observed in its inhabitants, concluding each story with a moment of crucial, sudden self-understanding he termed an "epiphany." This collection was followed by the highly autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), a Bildungsroman that meticulously chronicled the intellectual and artistic awakening of its protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, who would become Joyce's recurring alter ego and intellectual stand-in throughout his major works.
His magnum opus, Ulysses (1922), is universally regarded as a landmark work of fiction that fundamentally revolutionized the novel form. It compressed the events of a single, ordinary day—June 16, 1904, a date now globally celebrated by literary enthusiasts as "Bloomsday"—into a sprawling, epic narrative that structurally and symbolically paralleled Homer's Odyssey, using a dazzling array of distinct styles and linguistic invention across its eighteen episodes to explore the lives of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom, and Stephen Dedalus in hyper-minute detail. The novel's explicit content and innovative, challenging structure led to its initial banning for obscenity in the United States and the United Kingdom, turning Joyce into a cause célèbre for artistic freedom and the boundaries of literary expression. His final, most challenging work, Finnegans Wake (1939), pushed the boundaries of language and conventional narrative even further, employing a dense, dream-like prose filled with multilingual puns, invented portmanteau words, and layered allusions that continues to divide and challenge readers and scholars to this day. A dedicated polyglot who reportedly learned several languages, including Norwegian simply to read Ibsen in the original, Joyce approached the English language not as a fixed entity with rigid rules, but as a malleable medium capable of infinite reinvention and expression. His personal life was marked by an unwavering dedication to his literary craft, a complex, devoted relationship with his wife Nora Barnacle, and chronic, debilitating eye problems that necessitated numerous painful surgeries throughout his life, sometimes forcing him to write with crayons on large white paper. Despite these severe physical ailments and financial struggles, his singular literary vision remained sharp, focused, and profoundly revolutionary. Joyce passed away in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1941, shortly after undergoing one of his many eye operations. Today, he is widely regarded as perhaps the most significant and challenging writer of the 20th century. His immense, complex legacy is robustly maintained by global academic study and institutions such as the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, which ensures his complex, demanding, and utterly brilliant work endures, inviting new generations of readers to explore the very essence of what it means to be hum
His magnum opus, Ulysses (1922), is universally regarded as a landmark work of fiction that fundamentally revolutionized the novel form. It compressed the events of a single, ordinary day—June 16, 1904, a date now globally celebrated by literary enthusiasts as "Bloomsday"—into a sprawling, epic narrative that structurally and symbolically paralleled Homer's Odyssey, using a dazzling array of distinct styles and linguistic invention across its eighteen episodes to explore the lives of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom, and Stephen Dedalus in hyper-minute detail. The novel's explicit content and innovative, challenging structure led to its initial banning for obscenity in the United States and the United Kingdom, turning Joyce into a cause célèbre for artistic freedom and the boundaries of literary expression. His final, most challenging work, Finnegans Wake (1939), pushed the boundaries of language and conventional narrative even further, employing a dense, dream-like prose filled with multilingual puns, invented portmanteau words, and layered allusions that continues to divide and challenge readers and scholars to this day. A dedicated polyglot who reportedly learned several languages, including Norwegian simply to read Ibsen in the original, Joyce approached the English language not as a fixed entity with rigid rules, but as a malleable medium capable of infinite reinvention and expression. His personal life was marked by an unwavering dedication to his literary craft, a complex, devoted relationship with his wife Nora Barnacle, and chronic, debilitating eye problems that necessitated numerous painful surgeries throughout his life, sometimes forcing him to write with crayons on large white paper. Despite these severe physical ailments and financial struggles, his singular literary vision remained sharp, focused, and profoundly revolutionary. Joyce passed away in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1941, shortly after undergoing one of his many eye operations. Today, he is widely regarded as perhaps the most significant and challenging writer of the 20th century. His immense, complex legacy is robustly maintained by global academic study and institutions such as the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, which ensures his complex, demanding, and utterly brilliant work endures, inviting new generations of readers to explore the very essence of what it means to be hum
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 4, 2025
Meh.
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1914] [15p] [Classics] [1.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1914] [15p] [Clásicos] [1.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1914] [15p] [Classics] [1.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1914] [15p] [Clásicos] [1.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
May 5, 2023
The mother in this short story is Mrs Kearney, "who had become Mrs Kearney out of spite." Mrs K helps organize a series of concerts after her talented daughter is contracted to play the piano. Mrs K goes to battle on behalf of her daughter, when it appears she will not be paid (but other "artistes" have received their money).
As usual with Joyce, there is more going on than I have the capacity to perceive. Is it outside performers that are to be paid, while the local talent is not? Is it men who are respected, but a young woman, a local, who is expected to play without payment?
The stage mother's assertive behaviour shocks observers; she was 'haggard with rage" and her "conduct was condemned on all hands."
The result is an amusing story, a clash of class and gender and generations; the tale of a mother who married out of spite when the promise of romance and a brilliant marriage faded. Mrs. K tackled the organizing these concerts —a showcase for her popular daughter— with fearsome energy; "in the end it was Mrs Kearney who arranged everything."
As usual with Joyce, there is more going on than I have the capacity to perceive. Is it outside performers that are to be paid, while the local talent is not? Is it men who are respected, but a young woman, a local, who is expected to play without payment?
The stage mother's assertive behaviour shocks observers; she was 'haggard with rage" and her "conduct was condemned on all hands."
The result is an amusing story, a clash of class and gender and generations; the tale of a mother who married out of spite when the promise of romance and a brilliant marriage faded. Mrs. K tackled the organizing these concerts —a showcase for her popular daughter— with fearsome energy; "in the end it was Mrs Kearney who arranged everything."
October 30, 2022
"She respected her husband in the same way as she respected the General Post Office, as something large, secure and fixed"
Read
December 5, 2020It is interesting that most reviews and critics interpret "the mother" acts and demands as "greedy" and disruptive..
Who I see her is a mother of a child (a gardien) asking and demanding a fair wage.
Even if her request was contradicting with the contract, dismissing her as a not-lady-like and greedy, is unjust and unfair.
Any thoughts?
Who I see her is a mother of a child (a gardien) asking and demanding a fair wage.
Even if her request was contradicting with the contract, dismissing her as a not-lady-like and greedy, is unjust and unfair.
Any thoughts?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2016
I have arranged my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:
"Castles made of clouds
Dully evaporating,
Building up pressure."
"Castles made of clouds
Dully evaporating,
Building up pressure."
December 21, 2022
I) Literary elements:
1) Story:
The story is about Mrs. Kearney, a mother who stood up to the corruption of some concert organizers who belong to a cultural association. Mrs. Kearney was an educated woman, and she played an important role in drafting advertisements for the show in which her daughter Kathleen would participate as an accompanist. Nevertheless, Mr Fitzpatrick, who was the secretary of society, planned to lead the concert for his own benefits, giving her half the price agreed upon in the contract. Mrs. Kearney prevented her daughter from getting on the platform to complete the second part of the grand show. Its purpose was to have Mr. Fitzpatrick pay the remaining amount. But things turned out contrastingly, as Kathleen was replaced by another accompanist, Mrs. Kearney and her daughter were left upset.
2) Plot:
• Exposition: The story begins by describing in a cinematic way a man with a game leg named Mr. Holohan walks up and down the streets of Dublin arranging a concert. In addition, some other characters revolve in the story.
• Rising action: after the first meeting, and a contract signed between Mr. Kearney’s daughter and Mr. Holohan. Mr. Kearney gets angry because the committee does not attend and the third concert is cancelled because the committee made a mistake arranging four concerts as Mr Holohan states. She starts asking society to pay.
• Climax: Mrs. Kearney refuses to allow her daughter to get to the platform, and she asked for the money which society is abide by to pay.
• Falling action: Mr. Fitzpatrick gave half of the price that they agreed in the agreement, and he states that she will receive the rest when she finishes the fourth show. In a while, he states that she will receive the rest of the money in three days.
• Resolution: Kathleen was replaced by another musician to perform in the show, then she left with her mother who had an argument with Mr. Holohan.
3) Characters:
• Round character:
Mr Holohan (Protagonist)
• Flat characters:
Mrs Kearney
Mr. Fitz Patrick
Mr Kearney
Kathleen
Mr. Meade
Miss Beirne
Mr Duggan
Mr Bell
Madam Glyr
Miss Healy
Miss milly
Mr. O'Madden Burke
4) Setting:
• General place: Dublin
• General time: the Irish revival
• Specific place: House / Antient Concert Rooms
• Specific time: Wednesday/ Thursday/ Friday/ Saturday
5) Point of view: • Omniscient (The Narrator doesn’t take place in the story, but knows everything about characters, events and objects in the story)
II) Literary devices:
1) Title: the title is linked to the story and named (A Mother), but not any mother, a mother which reflects a type of dubliners women during the Irish revival. By reading the story, we discover that Mr. Kearney is the only female character who is described in the story as a mother of two daughters. One of them is Miss Kathleen, while the other daughter is still hidden and not mentioned. But, it's not the only point which made the title linked to the story. That is to say that Mrs. Kearney was mothering all the characters in the story. She took care of her husband, daughter and drafting and helping to arrange the concerts. Mrs. Kearney, the revolutionary woman, was taking care of everything which made her a mother of all.
2) Names of characters:
• Mrs. Kearney: named after she had married out of spite of an old man called Mr. Kearney, not after a romantic story which she was in need, but just to silence her friends due to their talks about her because she drew the limits and she was in dire for someone giving her a good life. She had refused many ordinary men before. These reflect the situation of women in Ireland.
+ She was an unbending girl when she was young, which made her get just a few friends at school. Her name before marriage was Miss Devlin, an educated girl who learnt French and music, which made her an accomplished and good musician. That said that an unbending character always reaps successes in his/her professional and personal life, but sometimes, things turn out differently.
+ she described as she was a good wife and never weakened in her religion. Despite her unbending personality, and her marriage out of spite, she was described in the story as a good wife to her husband and trait him good as long as the women that time were surrounded by masculine society, and they would do everything to preserve their married life. For Mrs. Kearney, the old man is the one who protects her financially in a patriarchal society at that time.
+ She was showing off her husband because he took her to Skerries, Howth and Greystoneson July for a month every year. Which means Mrs. Kearney was from the middle class of society, not everyone was able to go on holidays at that time.
• Mr Kearney: A serious, sober, thrifty and pious man who was working as a boot maker, he went to the altar every Friday and paid a small sum every week into society. Also, he ensured a dowry for his two daughters.
• Kathleen: she studied French and music like her mother and she attended academic education after that. Described in the story as a good accompanist, but still silent, driven and controlled by her mother.
3) Motif: As we study before, a motif can be a character, an object, event, an idea, a phrase etc. In the story A Mother by James Joyce, we notice that two characters and events worked together and repeated in a contradictory manner. We notice that Mr Holohan, a person, described as a lame man, is not qualified for the tasks he carries out of his irresponsible actions and negligence of his duties as an assistant secretary. These were repeated in a different way every night that Mrs. Kearney went to the room.
• The first concert: took place on Wednesday night, was poorly attended and short finished. Mr Kearney wasn’t satisfied with how the concert was organized by the laziness administration, and how a few young men weren't wearing the evening’s dress “she did not like the look of things” Mrs. Kearney was expected to find the audience from her class as she also bought an expensive blush-pink charmeuse to her daughter for the concert. Moreover, a dozen of two shillings tickets for her friends.
• The second concert: was better attended, but as usual, Mrs. Kearney didn’t like the fact that the concert hall was filled with people from different classes, and how the audience behaved unbecoming. Also, her anger starts to increase when she learns from Mr. Holohan that the concert on Friday will be abandoned.
• The third concert: The Friday concert was cancelled by Mr. Holohan to ensure better attendance for last night's concert. But when he was asked by Mr. Kearney about that, and to avoid suspicion, he stated that the committee who was responsible for that, not him.
• The fourth final concert: Mr. Holohan, the irresponsible character actions at the fourth party were repeated several times. He was rushing to offer a drink to the audience, and exchange conversations with Mr. O’Madden instead of taking care of his duties as assistant secretary. Also, his statement (I'm done with you) in the end of the story is proof that he was a manipulating man.
4) DE-Familiarization:
• The story reflects how Irish society lived from different aspects:
+ Through the character of Mrs Kearney: The rise of feminism in Ireland, and how women moved to deal with some sort of things and interact with masculine society.
+ Through the character of Mr Kearney: who was going to the altar every Friday and paying a small sum every week into society. Also, he ensured a dowry for his two daughters. But, gossiping.... The author here describes it in an ironic way and shows how Dubliners were interacting with religion in contradiction. Also how religion was practiced only by the elderly at that time and how the new generations of young people declined religious practices.
+ Through Mr. Holohan/Mrs. Kearney: The corruption of organizations and pragmatic artists during the Irish revival. The desire of Mrs. Kearney to promote her daughter through the Irish revival movement reflects how artists then used politics to get money and personal gain.
+ Through the character Mr.Holohan/Mr. Fitzpatrick: how unresponsive, unskilled and unresponsive administrations used to arrange ancient concert rooms during the Irish revival.
1) Story:
The story is about Mrs. Kearney, a mother who stood up to the corruption of some concert organizers who belong to a cultural association. Mrs. Kearney was an educated woman, and she played an important role in drafting advertisements for the show in which her daughter Kathleen would participate as an accompanist. Nevertheless, Mr Fitzpatrick, who was the secretary of society, planned to lead the concert for his own benefits, giving her half the price agreed upon in the contract. Mrs. Kearney prevented her daughter from getting on the platform to complete the second part of the grand show. Its purpose was to have Mr. Fitzpatrick pay the remaining amount. But things turned out contrastingly, as Kathleen was replaced by another accompanist, Mrs. Kearney and her daughter were left upset.
2) Plot:
• Exposition: The story begins by describing in a cinematic way a man with a game leg named Mr. Holohan walks up and down the streets of Dublin arranging a concert. In addition, some other characters revolve in the story.
• Rising action: after the first meeting, and a contract signed between Mr. Kearney’s daughter and Mr. Holohan. Mr. Kearney gets angry because the committee does not attend and the third concert is cancelled because the committee made a mistake arranging four concerts as Mr Holohan states. She starts asking society to pay.
• Climax: Mrs. Kearney refuses to allow her daughter to get to the platform, and she asked for the money which society is abide by to pay.
• Falling action: Mr. Fitzpatrick gave half of the price that they agreed in the agreement, and he states that she will receive the rest when she finishes the fourth show. In a while, he states that she will receive the rest of the money in three days.
• Resolution: Kathleen was replaced by another musician to perform in the show, then she left with her mother who had an argument with Mr. Holohan.
3) Characters:
• Round character:
Mr Holohan (Protagonist)
• Flat characters:
Mrs Kearney
Mr. Fitz Patrick
Mr Kearney
Kathleen
Mr. Meade
Miss Beirne
Mr Duggan
Mr Bell
Madam Glyr
Miss Healy
Miss milly
Mr. O'Madden Burke
4) Setting:
• General place: Dublin
• General time: the Irish revival
• Specific place: House / Antient Concert Rooms
• Specific time: Wednesday/ Thursday/ Friday/ Saturday
5) Point of view: • Omniscient (The Narrator doesn’t take place in the story, but knows everything about characters, events and objects in the story)
II) Literary devices:
1) Title: the title is linked to the story and named (A Mother), but not any mother, a mother which reflects a type of dubliners women during the Irish revival. By reading the story, we discover that Mr. Kearney is the only female character who is described in the story as a mother of two daughters. One of them is Miss Kathleen, while the other daughter is still hidden and not mentioned. But, it's not the only point which made the title linked to the story. That is to say that Mrs. Kearney was mothering all the characters in the story. She took care of her husband, daughter and drafting and helping to arrange the concerts. Mrs. Kearney, the revolutionary woman, was taking care of everything which made her a mother of all.
2) Names of characters:
• Mrs. Kearney: named after she had married out of spite of an old man called Mr. Kearney, not after a romantic story which she was in need, but just to silence her friends due to their talks about her because she drew the limits and she was in dire for someone giving her a good life. She had refused many ordinary men before. These reflect the situation of women in Ireland.
+ She was an unbending girl when she was young, which made her get just a few friends at school. Her name before marriage was Miss Devlin, an educated girl who learnt French and music, which made her an accomplished and good musician. That said that an unbending character always reaps successes in his/her professional and personal life, but sometimes, things turn out differently.
+ she described as she was a good wife and never weakened in her religion. Despite her unbending personality, and her marriage out of spite, she was described in the story as a good wife to her husband and trait him good as long as the women that time were surrounded by masculine society, and they would do everything to preserve their married life. For Mrs. Kearney, the old man is the one who protects her financially in a patriarchal society at that time.
+ She was showing off her husband because he took her to Skerries, Howth and Greystoneson July for a month every year. Which means Mrs. Kearney was from the middle class of society, not everyone was able to go on holidays at that time.
• Mr Kearney: A serious, sober, thrifty and pious man who was working as a boot maker, he went to the altar every Friday and paid a small sum every week into society. Also, he ensured a dowry for his two daughters.
• Kathleen: she studied French and music like her mother and she attended academic education after that. Described in the story as a good accompanist, but still silent, driven and controlled by her mother.
3) Motif: As we study before, a motif can be a character, an object, event, an idea, a phrase etc. In the story A Mother by James Joyce, we notice that two characters and events worked together and repeated in a contradictory manner. We notice that Mr Holohan, a person, described as a lame man, is not qualified for the tasks he carries out of his irresponsible actions and negligence of his duties as an assistant secretary. These were repeated in a different way every night that Mrs. Kearney went to the room.
• The first concert: took place on Wednesday night, was poorly attended and short finished. Mr Kearney wasn’t satisfied with how the concert was organized by the laziness administration, and how a few young men weren't wearing the evening’s dress “she did not like the look of things” Mrs. Kearney was expected to find the audience from her class as she also bought an expensive blush-pink charmeuse to her daughter for the concert. Moreover, a dozen of two shillings tickets for her friends.
• The second concert: was better attended, but as usual, Mrs. Kearney didn’t like the fact that the concert hall was filled with people from different classes, and how the audience behaved unbecoming. Also, her anger starts to increase when she learns from Mr. Holohan that the concert on Friday will be abandoned.
• The third concert: The Friday concert was cancelled by Mr. Holohan to ensure better attendance for last night's concert. But when he was asked by Mr. Kearney about that, and to avoid suspicion, he stated that the committee who was responsible for that, not him.
• The fourth final concert: Mr. Holohan, the irresponsible character actions at the fourth party were repeated several times. He was rushing to offer a drink to the audience, and exchange conversations with Mr. O’Madden instead of taking care of his duties as assistant secretary. Also, his statement (I'm done with you) in the end of the story is proof that he was a manipulating man.
4) DE-Familiarization:
• The story reflects how Irish society lived from different aspects:
+ Through the character of Mrs Kearney: The rise of feminism in Ireland, and how women moved to deal with some sort of things and interact with masculine society.
+ Through the character of Mr Kearney: who was going to the altar every Friday and paying a small sum every week into society. Also, he ensured a dowry for his two daughters. But, gossiping.... The author here describes it in an ironic way and shows how Dubliners were interacting with religion in contradiction. Also how religion was practiced only by the elderly at that time and how the new generations of young people declined religious practices.
+ Through Mr. Holohan/Mrs. Kearney: The corruption of organizations and pragmatic artists during the Irish revival. The desire of Mrs. Kearney to promote her daughter through the Irish revival movement reflects how artists then used politics to get money and personal gain.
+ Through the character Mr.Holohan/Mr. Fitzpatrick: how unresponsive, unskilled and unresponsive administrations used to arrange ancient concert rooms during the Irish revival.
May 19, 2019
Patriarchal system intrigues in a mother's love
January 5, 2025
DNF 1.5
I didn't really enjoy the first few pages and couldn't keep my focus, so I decided to read a summary and analysis online instead.
From what I gathered of the text itself and subsequent researching, the themes are that of dissatisfaction and of working so hard for what she believes she deserves that everything falls apart- not only for her but for her daughter too.
The message is a good one and Joyce's writing is excellent as always, but neither the story or characters were of much interest to me personally.
I didn't really enjoy the first few pages and couldn't keep my focus, so I decided to read a summary and analysis online instead.
From what I gathered of the text itself and subsequent researching, the themes are that of dissatisfaction and of working so hard for what she believes she deserves that everything falls apart- not only for her but for her daughter too.
The message is a good one and Joyce's writing is excellent as always, but neither the story or characters were of much interest to me personally.
March 30, 2018
Read in Dubliners.
A young woman is hired to play piano at a series of four concerts. Attendance at the concerts is poor, and the young woman's mother demands payment for her daughter's performances before the final concert begins.
A young woman is hired to play piano at a series of four concerts. Attendance at the concerts is poor, and the young woman's mother demands payment for her daughter's performances before the final concert begins.
December 4, 2021
Quick and fast last night read, great acting delivered the meaning and there story line very efficiently, the story as a whole reflecting to me the extent a mother can fight through to gain what her kids deserve and are worthy of✨
March 9, 2023
An account of a class-aspirational mother dealing with what she perceives as obstacles and setbacks to her family’s social climb. Reminded me of the Carrie Coon character in the recent HBO series The Gilded Age.
January 31, 2022
Not something I usually read. Thought it interesting enough.
August 14, 2023
Well that was stressful, stressful indeed!
September 2, 2023
I have a lot of gripes with this story. Too many characters… the entire conflict is around someone being annoying. But explored through a fun cast of characters is an interesting theme at heart.
September 9, 2023
Bonita historia, una madre es una madre, entretenida
Read
November 3, 2024Boring.
December 13, 2024
I thought this was an interesting preview into the rise of feminism in Ireland and how difficult it was
July 27, 2025
(13/15 i Dubliners)
Denne var bra! Feministisk debatt oppi her.
Denne var bra! Feministisk debatt oppi her.
November 3, 2025
The story is nonsense. I do not understand the story. It is not worth that spending your time with this book.
October 23, 2024
thirteeth story of the
Dubliners
shoutout to thedance piano moms of today and yesterday...
shoutout to the
March 4, 2015
Ձանձրալի էր :/
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