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The Open Windows
Towards the beginning of the short story, Mrs. Mooney walks through her boarding house and makes sure everything is in order before she has to meet with Mr. Doran to discuss his affair with Polly. Joyce writes, “All the windows of the boarding house were open and the lace curtains ballooned gently towards the street beneath the raised sashes.” It may sound like an insignificant line, but it begins to take on a deeper meaning when it is considered within the context of Dubliners as a whole. There are a few repeated images that are utilized symbolically throughout the various stories in the collection. One of these repeated symbols is a window. Windows in Dubliners consistently evoke the anticipation of events or encounters that are about to happen. Windows also mark the threshold between domestic space and the outside world, and through them the characters in Dubliners observe their own lives as well as the lives of others. In the case of “The Boarding House,” the open windows represent the public knowledge of Mr. Doran and Polly’s affair. Mr. Doran and Polly’s amorous relationship has not been subtle and, as a result, people have been able to bear witness to their indiscretion the way one watches something through an open window. The language in this line is particularly revealing because the image of the lace curtains billowing out towards the street represents the private events from inside the boarding house that have been showcased to the outside world.
The Boarding House
Mrs. Mooney’s titular boarding house is an integral component of the story. It is the text’s only setting and it also provides the space and context for the narrative to occur because it is likely that Mr. Doran and Polly would have never crossed paths if Polly’s mother did not need to take in lodgers in order to support their family. However, the boarding house has an additional, more symbolic purpose within the confines of the story outside of basic setting and plot structure. As a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business, the boarding house serves as a symbolic microcosm of Dublin. Various classes mix under its roof, but relationships are gauged and watched, class lines are constantly negotiated, and social standing must override emotions like love. The inhabitants are not free to do what they choose because unstated rules of decorum govern life in the house, just as they do in the city. Such rules maintain order, but they also ensnare people in awkward situations when they have competing and secret interests. Joyce solidifies that the boarding house is a symbolic microcosm of Dublin when he writes that Mr. Doran feels so trapped in his room in the boarding house that he contemplates running away. Many characters throughout Dubliners feel trapped by their native city and dream of solving their problems by fleeing Dublin. Joyce applies that same sentiment to Mr. Doran because he contemplates leaving both the symbolic and literal Dublin in order to avoid getting married.
