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Women are blamed for men’s sexual misconduct.
Mr. Doran’s portion of “The Boarding House” consists primarily of him agonizing over the decision to either marry Polly against his will or be ruined by scandal and gossip. He sees himself as the victim in this situation because he does not want to commit to either option and feels he’s been forced into choosing between them. While reflecting on his dalliance with Polly, he reflects that “it was not altogether his fault that it had happened.” He goes on to blame Polly for encouraging his attentions by allowing “celibate” moments of contact, preparing his dinner and sitting with him when he came home late, and stopping by his room in the evening when she was dressed for bed so that he could light her candle with his. However, all of these examples can either be characterized as either the childish flirtations of the sexually inexperienced or Polly simply doing her job at the boarding house. Mr. Doran, on the other hand, is a grown man in his mid-thirties who is sexually experienced despite being unmarried—Mr. Doran acknowledges towards the middle of the story that he had “sown his wild oats” in his youth. However, at no point in the story does Mr. Doran acknowledge that he is to blame for compromising Polly and her family. Instead, he exclusively places the blame on Polly and her mother and claims that he is “being had.”
Religion produces guilt.
References to priests, religious belief, and spiritual experiences appear throughout the stories in Dubliners and ultimately paint an unflattering portrait of religion. In the collection’s first short story, “The Sisters,” an aging priest named Father Flynn cannot keep a strong grip on the chalice and goes mad in a confessional box. This story marks religion’s first appearance as a haunting but incompetent and dangerous component of Dublin life. The concept of religion haunting the narrative returns in “The Boarding House” when Mr. Doran reflects on his confession to his priest. Mr. Doran recalls how the priest listened to his confession and “dr[ew] out every ridiculous detail of the affair” which “magnified his sin.. He continues that the memory of his meeting with the priest causes him an “acute pain” which has left him shaken well into the next morning. Mr. Doran is so caught up in religious guilt that he refers to his hypothetical marriage to Polly as a “reparation” that can be his only salvation. Mr. Doran’s word choice is crucial here because he considers marrying Polly in order to absolve himself of any sin instead of because it is the right thing to do for Polly. Through Mr. Doran, Joyce comments on the stifling and guilt-inducing presence that religion has on the lives of Dubliners.
Dublin is too insular of a community.
Many of the short stories in Dubliners contemplate Dublin’s insularity. Ireland is an island, making it an excellent symbol for isolation and a lack of interest in outside cultures and ideas. Some rather more ambitious, characters in Dubliners bemoan Ireland’s status as being cut off from the rest of the world. Other characters, however, are less concerned with Dublin’s global insularity and are, instead, frustrated by Dublin’s claustrophobic atmosphere. Mr. Doran falls into this second category. He spends the majority of his portion of the narrative feeling anguish over the scandal that will consume him if he does not marry Polly. He acknowledges to himself that he either needs to marry Polly or flee Dublin because he will never be able to escape the gossip. He laments that “Dublin is such a small city” and that “everyone knows everyone else’s business” here. It is revealing that Mr. Doran blames the impending gossip on Dublin’s size. One cannot help but wonder if Mr. Doran would have consented to marry Polly if “The Boarding House” had been set in a larger city where he could easily retreat into the crowds.
