essay of Eveline 1Back to Square one摘要乔伊斯的短篇小说伊芙琳描述了女人公伊芙琳沉闷乏味的生活经历以及在出走的最后一刻却退回原地，选择放弃的故事，结尾处的女主人公的决策使得小说晦涩难懂，本文以此为着眼点，展示了民众内心瘫痪的主题，揭示了女性意识的觉醒，以及梦想的幻灭导致的无助的退却。关键词：伊芙琳; 瘫痪；女性意识觉醒；幻灭；退却AbstractEveline is a novel by James Joyce, which describes the protagonists stultifying life experiences and her giving up of leaving at the last minute. At the end of the story, her final decision was obscure and confusing. Thus, I take it as a key point to demonstrate the public psychic paralysis which is the theme of this novel, then further display the awakening of female consciousness and the helpless retreat brought about by the disillusion of dream.Key Words: Eveline; paralysis; awakening of female consciousness; disillusion；shrink backI. IntroductionFor a long time, James Joyce has always been considered as one of the most influential modernist novelist of the early 20th century. He was born in an Irish Catholic family in Dublin. Though most of his adult life was spent overseas, Joyces fictional universe does not extend beyond Dublin where seemed to be the center of paralysisl. His masterpiece Dubliners is a powerful illustration, which was completed in 1905, composed of 15 short stories2. Eveline, as the fourth story in this collection, reflects the paralytic life of the young in Dublin in a most direct and vivid way. The protagonist, a girl at the age of 19, had suffered an oppressive life ever since her beloved people died. She was ordered about at the store, and she lived an impoverished life with an abusive father who refused to let her have a life of her own. In order to seek for a brand new life with her boyfriend Frank, she decided to run away to Buenos Aires. Howerver, just before boarding the ship, she had a change of mind and essay of Eveline 2shrunk back to her depressing life. Many people hold the view that this ending simply shows a dilemma between family and love. Eveline choosed to stay beacause her sense of obligation to her family outweighed her desire for a whole new life. However, in my opinoin, it is not totally so. Actually, such a process of decision making happens to reveal the theme of Dubliners the psychic paralysis. The paralysis of Dublin life hinders the awakening of woman consciousness and causes the disillusion of dream. This gives me the aspiration of writing this paper. II. The paralysis of Dublin lifeIn this short story, through the depicting of the depressive surrounding, the paralysis of Dublin life was presented vividly. At the very beginning of this story, Eveline sat at the window, leaned against the window curtains, surging thoughts and emotions about stay or leave, and in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. Clearly, the word dusty symbolized the dry, uninteresting life in Dublin. Even Eveline wondered where on earth all the dust came from, though she had been cleaning it out for so many years2. Obviously the thick dust suggested the degree of Dublins paralysis. This foreshadowed the destiny of women in Evelines period. Some of them are fully apathetic; others might have ever tried to escape from the dull life only to find that the “dust” cover on the heart and soul is too thick. While reading this story, the unhappy experiences of Eveline were unfolded little by little. Since her mother died, Eveline began to lived in a state of endless uncertainty. She had to shoulder the responsibility of supporting her family. She felt no longer protected because of the heavy burden of family and her fathers threatening. She, in fact, played a double role in her family, a mother for the young, a wife for her father. Under the mounting stress from different aspects, she tried to fight against this “paralysis”. She was about to explore another life in another world. However, before boarding the ship, she was totally at a loss about whether to go or not, and at last fail to go. This reveals Evelines puzzlement and the spiritual dilemma on the one hand; On the other hand, it shows the lingering repression and paralysis of Dublin.III. the awakening of woman consciousnessIn such a male-dominant society, women had a hard life even when they were still essay of Eveline 3young. Through the presentation of Evelines and her mothers life, it shows that women at that time should devote to the family whole-heartily, while they didnt have the right to determine things independently, even their own life, marriage and fate; they have to accept their unbearable miseries in life passively and obediently. Thus it exposed the irrationality of traditional feminine role. Whats more, from the story we get to know that a sailor called Frank rushed into the her life like a sea breeze. Evenline met him secretly and experienced many brand new things together. She inevitably generated the idea of elopement. “To be or not to be