While every interpretation in Finnegans Wake is up for interpretation, these are some humble opinions created from many hours of reading, thinking, and researching. As Joyce himself coins, his words and phrases can be a reamalgamerge", which is itself an amalgamation of amalgamate, merge, and re- (prefix meaning "again and again"). But the point is that in each of these excerpts, there are universes to unpack. These can be templates or starting-off points, but delve into the Wake and find some that really sing to you! It can be an interesting exercise in language analysis to either choose, or have the students choose, an excerpt from the Wake and then analyze some of its hidden meanings. Below are some examples.
If students are going to do their own analyses and research to deconstruct and make sense of various excerpts from the Wake, below are the standards assessed.
Time Frame: 1-3 days (this varies considerably based on the excerpt, the students, and the method of activity)
Standards: ELA.10.R.1.1, ELA.10.R.1.4, ELA.10.R.3.1, ELA.10.R.3.2, ELA.10.R.3.4, ELA.10.C.1.4, ELA.10.C.1.5, ELA.10.C.3.1, ELA.10.V.1.1, ELA.10.V.1.2, ELA.10.V.1.3
If students are going to do their own analyses and research to deconstruct and make sense of various excerpts from the Wake, below are the standards assessed.
Time Frame: 1-3 days (this varies considerably based on the excerpt, the students, and the method of activity)
Standards: ELA.10.R.1.1, ELA.10.R.1.4, ELA.10.R.3.1, ELA.10.R.3.2, ELA.10.R.3.4, ELA.10.C.1.4, ELA.10.C.1.5, ELA.10.C.3.1, ELA.10.V.1.1, ELA.10.V.1.2, ELA.10.V.1.3
The Tuggle Is Real
"They will be tuggling foriver."
In Book 1, Chapter 1 of Finnegans Wake, there is a fun line: "They will be tuggling foriver." This is one of the more simple of the complex sentences in the Wake and is an appropriate beginning for tackling such a novel. The sentence, of course, sounds like, "They will be struggling forever" which is fitting for Joyce's most challenging book. However, "struggling" is substituted for "tuggling" which brings to mind a tugboat pulling something along. And where does one sometimes find a tugboat? On a river. Hence, "tuggling foriver". But there's more. "Foriver" sounds also like "for Ivar". This is a reference to Ivar Ragnarsson, the early Viking king who ruled over Dublin and lived between 794-873 A.D. So in a way, the sentence is also a kind of hinting at a struggle for the Irish people under Ivar's rule. And what river runs through Dublin? The very same river that runs through the Wake, personified by Anna Livia Plurabelle: the River Liffey.
In Book 1, Chapter 1 of Finnegans Wake, there is a fun line: "They will be tuggling foriver." This is one of the more simple of the complex sentences in the Wake and is an appropriate beginning for tackling such a novel. The sentence, of course, sounds like, "They will be struggling forever" which is fitting for Joyce's most challenging book. However, "struggling" is substituted for "tuggling" which brings to mind a tugboat pulling something along. And where does one sometimes find a tugboat? On a river. Hence, "tuggling foriver". But there's more. "Foriver" sounds also like "for Ivar". This is a reference to Ivar Ragnarsson, the early Viking king who ruled over Dublin and lived between 794-873 A.D. So in a way, the sentence is also a kind of hinting at a struggle for the Irish people under Ivar's rule. And what river runs through Dublin? The very same river that runs through the Wake, personified by Anna Livia Plurabelle: the River Liffey.
Tell Me All...Or At Least Some
O
tell me all about
Anna Livia! I want to hear all
about Anna Livia. Well, you know Anna Livia? Yes, of course,
we all know Anna Livia. Tell me all. Tell me now. You'll die when
you hear. Well, you know, when the old cheb went futt and did
what you know. Yes, I know, go on. Wash quit and don't be dab-
ling.
In Book 1, Chapter 8 of Finnegans Wake is one of the most famous parts of the novel: the Anna Livia Plurabelle chapter. Two washerwomen on either side of the River Liffey are gossiping about Anna Livia Plurabelle, known also as ALP, while they clean their laundry. ALP is the personification of the River Liffey which runs through the heart of Dublin and the Wake. It begins with the first three lines in a triangular shape. This is intentional. This is the shape known as delta. Dublin is a city founded on the delta of the River Liffey. There is also the delta triangle on the logo. This particular brand of beer is served at the Mullingar House in Chapelizod, the home of protagonist HCE and the Earwicker family. There is the triad of Burrus (Shaun), Casseous (Shem), and Antonius (HCE) which form the delta of Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) in the book. Lastly, there is also the fact that "Hec" (HCE) "represents his title in sigla as the smaller [delta]" and so the delta symbol also represents the protagonist who is married to ALP. And so the shape of the first three lines are very symbolic and full of meaning.
The first letter/word is noticeably "O". This is the same first letter/word of the protagonist, Leopold Bloom, in Joyce's earlier novel, Ulysses. Also, the "O" is an infinite loop, symbolic of the water cycle ALP is a part of and the loop structure of the Wake. And interestingly, the word "Eau", pronounced "O", is French for "water".
Within the first six lines, the alliteration of "LL" appears ten times! This "L" sound reminds the reader of the Liffey, such a powerful presence in this chapter. Likewise, there are rumored to be roughly four hundred subtle mentions of the names of rivers in this single chapter. Above are only the first 7 lines of the chapter; imagine the rich complexity of all the rest!
tell me all about
Anna Livia! I want to hear all
about Anna Livia. Well, you know Anna Livia? Yes, of course,
we all know Anna Livia. Tell me all. Tell me now. You'll die when
you hear. Well, you know, when the old cheb went futt and did
what you know. Yes, I know, go on. Wash quit and don't be dab-
ling.
In Book 1, Chapter 8 of Finnegans Wake is one of the most famous parts of the novel: the Anna Livia Plurabelle chapter. Two washerwomen on either side of the River Liffey are gossiping about Anna Livia Plurabelle, known also as ALP, while they clean their laundry. ALP is the personification of the River Liffey which runs through the heart of Dublin and the Wake. It begins with the first three lines in a triangular shape. This is intentional. This is the shape known as delta. Dublin is a city founded on the delta of the River Liffey. There is also the delta triangle on the logo. This particular brand of beer is served at the Mullingar House in Chapelizod, the home of protagonist HCE and the Earwicker family. There is the triad of Burrus (Shaun), Casseous (Shem), and Antonius (HCE) which form the delta of Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) in the book. Lastly, there is also the fact that "Hec" (HCE) "represents his title in sigla as the smaller [delta]" and so the delta symbol also represents the protagonist who is married to ALP. And so the shape of the first three lines are very symbolic and full of meaning.
The first letter/word is noticeably "O". This is the same first letter/word of the protagonist, Leopold Bloom, in Joyce's earlier novel, Ulysses. Also, the "O" is an infinite loop, symbolic of the water cycle ALP is a part of and the loop structure of the Wake. And interestingly, the word "Eau", pronounced "O", is French for "water".
Within the first six lines, the alliteration of "LL" appears ten times! This "L" sound reminds the reader of the Liffey, such a powerful presence in this chapter. Likewise, there are rumored to be roughly four hundred subtle mentions of the names of rivers in this single chapter. Above are only the first 7 lines of the chapter; imagine the rich complexity of all the rest!
So This Is Do You Belong?
“Behove this sound of Irish sense. Really? Here English might be seen. Royally? One sovereign punned to petery pence. Regally? The silence speaks the scene. Fake!
So This Is Dyoublong?”
In Finnegans Wake there is the sense of conflict between English and Irish associated with identity and language. In Book 1, Chapter 1, Joyce wrote, “Behove this sound of Irish sense. Really? Here English might be seen. Royally? One sovereign punned to petery pence. Regally? The silence speaks the scene. Fake! / So This Is Dyoublong?” (Joyce 1959, p. 11). According to Roland McHugh’s annotations, this is a playful reference to Jonathan Swift’s “Epigram on the Magazine (in Phoenix Park): ‘Behold a proof of Irish sense! Here Irish wit is seen! Where nothing’s left that’s worth defence, They build a magazine’” (McHugh 2006, p. 13). “Fake” is attributed to the Irish “Feach” which means “to look” and of course “So This Is Dyoublong” is a pun on M.J. MacManus’s book So This Is Dublin, published in 1927, in which MacManus wrote about Dublin’s various locations and citizens, even noting Joyce’s visit to the city in search of inspiration for Ulysses. It is fascinating that Joyce chose Swift to parody as he was a cleric of the Church of Ireland, an Anglican branch of Christianity. “Petery pence,” as McHugh noted, is a play on Saint Peter and the currency, pence, to suggest a donation to the Roman Catholic church. Here, Joyce could be revealing the complications of national identity not only through language, as we shall see, but also through the church’s historic influence in Ireland.
One can also look closely at the original and note some interesting changes Joyce made. One alteration is “sound” for Swift’s “proof” which could allude to Irish being also the language spoken and thus heard, not just the nationality. There is also the substitution of “Irish” for Swift’s “English” which again gives the reader the feeling Joyce is also referring to the Irish and English as languages as English would have been the dominant language of Dublin, not Irish, hence: “Here English might be seen.” This is the written language as opposed to the previously mentioned spoken language which is a “sound.” While “Fake!” could certainly be the Irish “Feach!” meaning “Look!”, it could also be Joyce’s use of dislocution alluding to English being the “fake” language of Ireland with Irish being its natural and original tongue. “The silence speaks the scene” is similar to the phrase “the silence is deafening” as a reference to the lack of Irish being spoken in Dublin is noticeable.
And there is no doubt that Joyce is making a pun on MacManus’s book with “So This Is Dyoublong?” But there is the inescapable sense of questioning one’s identity in Joyce’s substitution for “Dublin”. Interestingly, Joyce wrote an essay entitled “Ireland: Island of Saints and Sages” in 1907 in which he noted, “Ten years ago it [Irish] was spoken only by peasants in the western province, on the Atlantic coast, and a little on the small islands that stand like pickets at the advance outpost of Europe facing the western hemisphere…The [Gaelic] League organizes festivals, concerts, debates and social gatherings at which the speaker of Beurla [sic] (that is, English) feels like a fish out of water, lost in the midst of a crowd chatting away in a harsh, guttural tongue” (Joyce 2008, p. 109). It is almost as if Joyce, in Finnegans Wake, is questioning if Dubliners are truly Irish if the language they speak is English. So what could it say about Joyce and the numerous Irish citizens like him who were taught Latin in school, and hence speak Latin – the mother tongue of English, but not the linguistic root of Gaelic?
Joyce, J. (1959). Finnegans Wake. New York, NY: The Viking Press.
Joyce, J. (2008). James Joyce: Occasional, Critical, and Political Writing. Kevin Barry (Ed.).
Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
McHugh, R. (2006). Annotations to Finnegans Wake (3rd Ed.). Baltimore, MD: The Johns
Hopkins University Press.
So This Is Dyoublong?”
In Finnegans Wake there is the sense of conflict between English and Irish associated with identity and language. In Book 1, Chapter 1, Joyce wrote, “Behove this sound of Irish sense. Really? Here English might be seen. Royally? One sovereign punned to petery pence. Regally? The silence speaks the scene. Fake! / So This Is Dyoublong?” (Joyce 1959, p. 11). According to Roland McHugh’s annotations, this is a playful reference to Jonathan Swift’s “Epigram on the Magazine (in Phoenix Park): ‘Behold a proof of Irish sense! Here Irish wit is seen! Where nothing’s left that’s worth defence, They build a magazine’” (McHugh 2006, p. 13). “Fake” is attributed to the Irish “Feach” which means “to look” and of course “So This Is Dyoublong” is a pun on M.J. MacManus’s book So This Is Dublin, published in 1927, in which MacManus wrote about Dublin’s various locations and citizens, even noting Joyce’s visit to the city in search of inspiration for Ulysses. It is fascinating that Joyce chose Swift to parody as he was a cleric of the Church of Ireland, an Anglican branch of Christianity. “Petery pence,” as McHugh noted, is a play on Saint Peter and the currency, pence, to suggest a donation to the Roman Catholic church. Here, Joyce could be revealing the complications of national identity not only through language, as we shall see, but also through the church’s historic influence in Ireland.
One can also look closely at the original and note some interesting changes Joyce made. One alteration is “sound” for Swift’s “proof” which could allude to Irish being also the language spoken and thus heard, not just the nationality. There is also the substitution of “Irish” for Swift’s “English” which again gives the reader the feeling Joyce is also referring to the Irish and English as languages as English would have been the dominant language of Dublin, not Irish, hence: “Here English might be seen.” This is the written language as opposed to the previously mentioned spoken language which is a “sound.” While “Fake!” could certainly be the Irish “Feach!” meaning “Look!”, it could also be Joyce’s use of dislocution alluding to English being the “fake” language of Ireland with Irish being its natural and original tongue. “The silence speaks the scene” is similar to the phrase “the silence is deafening” as a reference to the lack of Irish being spoken in Dublin is noticeable.
And there is no doubt that Joyce is making a pun on MacManus’s book with “So This Is Dyoublong?” But there is the inescapable sense of questioning one’s identity in Joyce’s substitution for “Dublin”. Interestingly, Joyce wrote an essay entitled “Ireland: Island of Saints and Sages” in 1907 in which he noted, “Ten years ago it [Irish] was spoken only by peasants in the western province, on the Atlantic coast, and a little on the small islands that stand like pickets at the advance outpost of Europe facing the western hemisphere…The [Gaelic] League organizes festivals, concerts, debates and social gatherings at which the speaker of Beurla [sic] (that is, English) feels like a fish out of water, lost in the midst of a crowd chatting away in a harsh, guttural tongue” (Joyce 2008, p. 109). It is almost as if Joyce, in Finnegans Wake, is questioning if Dubliners are truly Irish if the language they speak is English. So what could it say about Joyce and the numerous Irish citizens like him who were taught Latin in school, and hence speak Latin – the mother tongue of English, but not the linguistic root of Gaelic?
Joyce, J. (1959). Finnegans Wake. New York, NY: The Viking Press.
Joyce, J. (2008). James Joyce: Occasional, Critical, and Political Writing. Kevin Barry (Ed.).
Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
McHugh, R. (2006). Annotations to Finnegans Wake (3rd Ed.). Baltimore, MD: The Johns
Hopkins University Press.
