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Dublin life imposes on its citizens.
It is common knowledge that James Joyce had a variety of issues with his home city and Ireland in general; so much so that he moved away from Dublin to continental Europe and never moved back. Many characters throughout Dubliners express this same dissatisfaction with Dublin life. Readers can glean Mr. Duffy’s disdain for Dublin in the text’s opening sentence when the narrator explains that Mr. Duffy lives in a suburb because he wishes to be as far away from Dublin as possible. Mr. Duffy is also judgmental towards Dubliners and seems to hold himself in a higher regard than his fellow citizens. However, over the course of the text, Joyce shows the reader that Mr. Duffy is not as removed from Dublin as he would like to think. Joyce establishes the extent to which Dublin has infected or imposed itself onto Mr. Duffy towards the beginning of the text when he describes Mr. Duffy’s appearance. Joyce writes that Mr. Duffy’s complexion and hair have “the brown tint of Dublin streets.” The color brown is repeatedly used throughout Dubliners to symbolize the depressing monotony of Dublin life.
Women can be simultaneously romanticized and undervalued.
Mr. Duffy is a solitary man who lives a dull life that is void of stimulation and excitement. Salvation arrives in the form of Mrs. Sinico, who transforms Mr. Duffy’s dull existence into a positive one. Mrs. Sinico’s striking looks and warm personality enthrall Mr. Duffy from the moment he meets her. However, Mr. Duffy is drawn to the intellectual sound boarding that Mrs. Sinico provides even more than he is drawn to her appearance or her demeanor. Mr. Duffy is clearly a man of many ideas but he has nobody to express them to until he meets Mrs. Sinico. While Mr. Duffy romanticizes their intellectual relationship, it becomes apparent that their dynamic is unequal. For example, while describing their many meetings at Mrs. Sinico’s cottage, Mr. Duffy reflects that he “lent her books, provided her with ideas, shared his intellectual life with her. She listened to all.” This line implies that Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico have two distinct roles in their scholarly relationship: Mr. Duffy expounds his ideas and Mrs. Sinico listens. Joyce highlights this dynamic a few lines later when he writes that Mrs. Sinico had become Mr. Duffy’s “confessor.” Although Joyce writes that Mrs. Sinico does tell Mr. Duffy about her own life in return, she does so only “sometimes.” It is important to note that these tidbits are not elaborated upon at any point in the text, unlike Mr. Duffy’s opinions which are explained at length. Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico’s unbalanced intellectual relationship suggests that women can be undervalued even as they are placed on a pedestal.
Loneliness has many forms.
“A Painful Case” posits the idea that there are two types of loneliness: the type that we inflict on ourselves and the type that we inflict on other people. Mr. Duffy represents the former. Mr. Duffy is a solitary man who lives alone with no family or friends to give his life meaning. He has isolated himself from the world around him and is lonely as a result. Mrs. Sinico represents the second, more nuanced side to loneliness to which the reader might not be accustomed. Mr. Duffy has cut himself off from all human connection so it is obvious that he is lonely. Mrs. Sinico, on the other hand, has a husband and a daughter. However, she is still isolated because her family does not provide the companionship that she clearly craves. Trapped in what appears to be a loveless marriage with an absent husband, Mrs. Sinico represents the many women who find themselves stuck within the confines of the domestic sphere without the tools to liberate themselves. She also represents the loneliness that such a life produces. It is no surprise, then, that Mrs. Sinico turned to alcohol (and possibly suicide) when she lost the only escape that she ever had.
