Plot Points
100:
What city does “Eveline” take place in?
Answer: Dublin, Irland
100:
Who is Frank?
Answer: A sailor who wants to marry Eveline and take her away.
100:
What is Eveline’s central internal conflict?
Answer: Desire for freedom vs. duty to family.
100:
“She was tired.” — What does this simple line reveal?
Answer: Eveline’s emotional exhaustion and hopelessness.
200:
Where does Eveline plan to go with Frank?
Answer: Buenos Aires.
200:
What does the dust in Eveline’s house represent?
Answer: Stagnation and decay of her life.
200:
What theme does her paralysis symbolize?
Answer: The inability to change or escape one’s circumstances.
200:
“She prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.” — What conflict is shown?
Answer: Religious duty vs. personal desire.
300:
What promise did Eveline make to her dying mother?
Answer: To keep the family together.
300:
What does the sea symbolize?
Answer: Uncertainty and fear of the unknown.
300:
How does the story critique Irish society at the time?
Answer: Through showing how family, religion, and tradition trap individuals.
300:
“All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart.” — What literary device is used?
Answer: Metaphor for panic and internal turmoil.
400:
How does the story end?
Answer: Eveline freezes at the dock and cannot leave.
400:
What does Eveline’s mother’s voice represent?
Answer: The past and guilt binding her to home.
400:
What universal theme makes “Eveline” relatable?
Answer: Fear of the unknown and longing for independence.
400:
“She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal.” — What does this show?
Answer: Her complete paralysis and surrender to fear.
500:
What event reminds Eveline of her mother’s suffering?
Answer: Hearing the organ music from the street.
500:
What does the Catholic image of the Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque in her home suggest?
Answer: Religious duty and sacrifice that restrain her.
500:
How is “Eveline” an example of Joyce’s concept of epiphany?
Answer: Her sudden realization of fear at the dock is an epiphany that defines her paralysis.
500:
“She would not be treated as her mother had been.” — How is this ironic?
Answer: She ends up trapped in the same life.