Saturday 2 November 2019

Monday, 28 October 2019, Page 584

We read a bit more on page 584 and stopped at "Cocorico!" (584.27)

We already know that what we are reading is the act of copulation between HCE and ALP. The act that was interrupted when Shem, one of the twins cried in his sleep, making the parents go upstairs and calm him down, continues after they get back to the bed. The time was kicksolock. The act is finally over when a hen begins in a kikkery key way not only to bray like a donkey (neigh, neigh) but also to crow 'Cocorico' like a cock.

Cricket:
The details of the event are masked by Joyce's use of cricket terminology. In the 17 lines we read today, I marked 27 words related to cricket. If you are interested in knowing more about how cricket terminology relates to sex in Finnegans Wake, refer to
http://peterchrisp.blogspot.com/2016/07/sex-and-cricket-in-finnegans-wake.html
and
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/larks-in-the-park-an-irishman-s-diary-about-james-joyce-cricket-and-running-in-the-dark-1.3069045

The four evangelists:
The act on page 584 is witnessed and described by Luke. One of the questions raised at our reading was how does one know that it is by Luke. Let me try to find a plausible answer. We have been confronting the four evangelists at various place, in various avataras in this book: some time as four old men, in this section as four bedposts. They are always named in the order Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. For example, the last words on page 554 are Mattahah! Marhah! Luahah! Joahanahanahana! In that order. Why this order? Because the first gospel is accepted to be the Gospel of Matthew, the second as that of Mark, third as that of Luke, and the fourth as that of John.

In the section we are reading, the first description of the bedroom scene is given by Matthew starting at 559.21. There we read the following:
A. time.
Act: dumbshow. (according to Oxford dictionary, this means describing something with gestures instead of speech.)
Closeup. Leads
Man with nightcap (obviously HCE) . . . Woman, with curlpins (obviously ALP) . . . Side point of view. First position of harmony..... Check action. Matt (i.e., Matthew)

The second dumbshow starts at page 564.1. There we read the following:
Jeminy, what is the view which now takes up a second position of discordance, tell it please? Mark!

The third dumbshow starts at 582.29. But (unfortunately for me) Joyce does not name that the 'speaker' (gesturer) as Luke. So be it!

So, there is one dumbshow that is yet to come up. By John!

No comments:

Post a Comment