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Exiles

james joyce

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The only extant play by the great Irish novelist, Exiles is of interest both for its autobiographical content and for formal reasons. In the characters and their circumstances details of Joyce's life are evident. The main character, Richard Rowan, the moody, tormented writer who is at odds with both his wife and the parochial Irish society around him, is clearly a portrait of Joyce himself. The character of Rowan's wife, Bertha, is certainly influenced by Joyce's lover and later wife, Nora Barnacle, with whom he left Ireland and lived a seminomadic existence in Zurich, Rome, Trieste, and Paris. As in real life, the play depicts the couple with a young son and, like Joyce, Rowan has returned to Ireland because of his mother's illness and subsequent death.
One can also detect hints of Joyce's interest in Nietzsche in Rowan's flawed pursuit of total individual freedom despite the stifling morals of Irish society. Though wrestling with guilt over his own infidelities, Rowan insists on this personal liberty, not only for himself but for his wife as well, who he knows is tempted by his cousin's amorous overtures.
Joyce's decision to express himself in the form of a play no doubt reflects his long admiration of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. In the tense dialogue, the largely interior drama focused on the characters' relationships, the undertones of guilt, and the longing for freedom one sees similarities with Ibsen's themes. Also the spare, understated writing style - so unlike Joyce's exuberant, playful, and experimental use of language in his novels - shows the influence of Ibsen's "naked drama" (as Joyce described Ibsen's style in a published review). Above all, Joyce emulated the Scandinavian master in making the central issue of his drama the conflict between individual freedom and a demanding, judgmental society. In Exiles the protagonists struggle with the choice between living in defiance of the rigid conventions of Irish society or exile from their homeland.
Though lesser-known, Exiles, written after Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and while Joyce was working on Ulysses, provides interesting insights into the development of the creative gifts of a literary genius.

154 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1914
Places
ireland, dublin, 

This edition

Format
154 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 2003 by Prometheus
ISBN
9781591020752
ASIN
1591020751
Language
English
Characters More characters

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About the author

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james joyce

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A profound influence of literary innovations of Irish writer James Augustine Aloysius Joyce on modern fiction includes his works, Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939).

Sylvia Beach published the first edition of Ulysses of James Augustine Aloysius Joyce in 1922.

People note this novelist for his experimental use of language in these works. Technical innovations of Joyce in the art of the novel include an extensive use of interior monologue; he used a complex network of symbolic parallels, drawn from the mythology, history, and literature, and he created a unique language of invented words, puns, and allusions.

John Stanislaus Joyce, an impoverished gentleman and father of James Joyce, nine younger surviving siblings, and two other siblings who died of typhoid, failed in a distillery business and tried all kinds of other professions, including politics and tax collecting. The Roman Catholic Church dominated life of Mary Jane Murray, an accomplished pianist and his mother. In spite of poverty, the family struggled to maintain a solid middle-class façade.

Jesuits at Clongowes Wood college, Clane, and then Belvedere college in Dublin educated Joyce from the age of six years; he graduated in 1897. In 1898, he entered the University College, Dublin. Joyce published first an essay on When We Dead Awaken, play of Heinrich Ibsen, in the Fortnightly Review in 1900. At this time, he also began writing lyric poems.

After graduation in 1902, the twenty-year-old Joyce went to Paris, where he worked as a journalist, as a teacher, and in other occupations under difficult financial conditions. He spent a year in France, and when a telegram about his dying mother arrived, he returned. Not long after her death, Joyce traveled again. He left Dublin in 1904 with Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid, whom he married in 1931.

Joyce published Dubliners in 1914, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in 1916, a play Exiles in 1918 and Ulysses in 1922. In 1907, Joyce published a collection of poems, Chamber Music.

At the outset of the Great War, Joyce moved with his family to Zürich. In Zürich, Joyce started to develop the early chapters of Ulysses, first published in France because of censorship troubles in the Great Britain and the United States, where the book became legally available only in 1933.

In March 1923, Joyce in Paris started Finnegans Wake, his second major work; glaucoma caused chronic eye troubles that he suffered at the same time. Transatlantic review of Ford Madox Ford in April 1924 carried the first segment of the novel, called part of Work in Progress. He published the final version in 1939.

Some critics considered the work a masterpiece, though many readers found it incomprehensible. After the fall of France in World War II, Joyce returned to Zürich, where he died, still disappointed with the reception of Finnegans Wake.

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Profile Image for Kimberly .
jigga69000
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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Joyce's sole extant play is not held in high regard, and now I have a better understanding of the reasons behind it.

It is practically an Ibsen pastiche, with Joycean obsessions over infidelity lying at its very core.

After delving into other recent works related to Joyce, I can't help but have the feeling that Joyce was titillated by the idea of being cuckolded, just as one of the characters in this play seems to be.

The emotions portrayed are all very complex, but unfortunately, it doesn't make for a terribly interesting piece.

Perhaps if the play had explored these themes in a more unique or engaging way, it might have received a different reception.

As it stands, it remains a somewhat overlooked and underappreciated work in Joyce's oeuvre.

However, it still offers valuable insights into Joyce's mind and his preoccupations, even if it doesn't quite measure up to his other literary achievements.
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moonBlossom
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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Thought I'd fill in a Joyce gap since I should be rereading chunks soon.

This is a funny little piece - his only play. It's, well, not brilliant. I wouldn't quite call it regressive but I don't think it could ever be described as forward-thinking. The genius that we so often associate with Joyce simply doesn't shine here as it ought to.

At one point, I was halfway convinced it was going to go all Design for Living. It's incredibly generous in feeding fuel to queer readings, so there's that entertaining avenue there. In its own way, it is entertaining and the dialogue isn't cumbersome, so Exiles could absolutely be a less pleasant experience.

However, it's kind of dramatically impotent. I felt a little that the conclusion only taught us that Richard has a difficult life. It seems to be a work that is more for the Joyceans, those die-hard fans who are eager to explore every aspect of his oeuvre, but perhaps not one that will have a wider appeal. It lacks that certain something that would make it a truly great and memorable piece of drama.

Overall, while it has its moments, it doesn't quite measure up to the high standards set by Joyce in his other works.
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AbrahamGlg
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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I don't know if this is the only play by James Joyce ever translated or performed in Finland. It is rather unusual for a Joyce work as its theme is love. After all, Joyce only writes about it in one of the Dubliners' short stories and in several of his poems (if there are several pieces from such a meager output). This play is somewhat like chamber music, there are few people and hardly any events, and even more tensions. It feels as if Eeva-Liisa Manner has read this very carefully and her play somehow came to mind from this, especially May Snow. Manner has also written a wonderful essay on this, "Chamber Music" (in the collection Annoying Writers, 1994), which, despite its name, only takes off from Joyce's poetry collections Chamber Music and Poemes Pennyeach and then focuses on the play Exiles. The play is not really a triangle drama as it first seems, because there are four key people. There is the emotional writer Richard who wants to bathe his feet without being baptized, his earthy wife Bertha who loves her husband but is susceptible to the blandishments of the smooth-talking Robert, and Beatrice Justice who just is. Richard is jealous of his faithful wife who is jealous of Richard's work. Jealousy doesn't need reasons, it makes them up and makes everything unhappy.

This play seems to offer a complex exploration of human relationships and emotions. The characters are all flawed and their interactions create a web of tensions and conflicts. It is interesting to see how Manner has interpreted Joyce's work and brought it to life in her own way. The reference to chamber music adds an interesting layer to the play, perhaps suggesting a sense of intimacy and complexity in the relationships.

Overall, this play seems to be a thought-provoking and engaging work that offers a unique perspective on love and jealousy. It would be interesting to see how it is received by audiences in Finland and whether it will gain wider recognition.
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PKMN_Trainer_Ash
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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I read the play in an old edition I had of "The Essential James Joyce," edited by Harry Levin, which I purchased in Britain nearly 55 years ago. I doubt this edition was ever made available in the States. It is indeed tattered and dog-eared, yet it has endured remarkably well. However, this is the first time I have delved into the play.


As a pre-WW1 reworking of Ibsen in English, this play may not be overly captivating. But as a surprisingly approachable aspect of James Joyce's creative journey, it proves to be a worthwhile read. I found it extremely challenging not to view the love story of Richard and Bertha as a parallel to that of James and Nora. I'm uncertain if the other characters are as closely modeled on real life, but that isn't truly crucial.


Since autobiographical inclinations influenced a significant portion of Joyce's work, this story becomes valuable in comprehending a wide array of his important works, from "The Dead" to "Ulysses." The unmarried and unwavering honesty that Richard demands does seem to resonate with the rest of Joyce's oeuvre. Honesty being far more significant than fidelity.


And then there is the fear that such a demand can impose on humans. When Robert queries Richard about his fear, Richard replies, "that I will reproach myself then for having taken all for myself because I would not suffer her to give to another what was hers and not mine to give, because I accepted from her her loyalty and made her life poorer in love. That is my fear. That I stand between her and any moment of life that should be hers..." This appears to be an extraordinary moment of self-awareness in Joyce, someone we typically envision as being completely immersed in his own genius.
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mononokke
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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A confused play that is supposedly based on Joyce's fear and expectation of what would occur if he returned to Ireland after spending years living abroad. However, this play fails to engage the audience and is not worth your precious time. The story seems to lack a clear direction, with the plot meandering aimlessly. The characters are not well-developed, making it difficult for the viewers to form any emotional connection with them. The dialogue is often平淡无奇, lacking the spark and vitality that one would expect from a play inspired by such a complex and interesting subject. Overall, it is a disappointment and a waste of time for those who were hoping for a thought-provoking and engaging theatrical experience.

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ninelline
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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I have inflicted a wound upon my soul for you, a profound and unhealable wound of doubt.

I can never truly know, not in this world. I have no wish to know or to believe. It simply doesn't matter to me.

It is not within the darkness of belief that I long for you. Instead, it is in the restless existence filled with wounding doubt.

To hold you without any constraints, not even those of love, to be joined with you in body and soul in absolute nakedness - this is what I desired.

And now, Bertha, I am weary for a time. My wound has exhausted me.

I find myself drained and in need of rest.

The weight of this doubt has become too much to bear.

But perhaps, in this weariness, there is a glimmer of something new.

Maybe a chance for healing, for a different kind of understanding.

Only time will tell.
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SpiNKaPPa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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‘Exiles’ is the solitary play that Joyce brought forth.

Upon its release, it was scornfully derided as filth and spurned by theatres both at home and abroad. Esteemed literary and theatre luminaries such as George Bernard Shaw and WB Yeats also rejected it.

Previously, Joyce was known mainly through his collection of stories, ‘The Dubliners’. ‘Exiles’ represented a departure, and unfortunately, a disappointing one.

The protagonist is evidently a self-projection of Joyce, and the exile of him and his wife to Rome clearly mirrors Joyce’s own departure for Trieste with Nora Barnacle, in response to an increasingly parochial Ireland.

Nevertheless, the semi-autobiographical elements fail to render this piece any more engaging. The dialogue alternates between being didactic and mechanized to the point of tedium.

Perhaps I am lacking the dramatist-like acumen required to envision how this would translate beautifully onto the stage. However, I struggle to see how prose as monotonous as this could ever assume any sort of captivating form.
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Soulhunterfrank
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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It was an enormous surprise to "discover" this piece by James Joyce as I was unaware that the author had written plays

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