Eveline

Joyce never reveals Eveline’s physical features, but her reminiscences and observations provide the reader with a clear idea of her inner state and the experiences that have shaped her. She is on the brink of leaving home, but she still struggles with whether leaving is wise. Feeling despair over her life’s difficulties, Eveline nevertheless fears the uncertainty of creating a life in a new land across the sea with a man she has not known long. Her indecision hovers over the text and clouds the brightness of her potential escape from her father’s abuse and her meager earnings.

Eveline is somewhat naïve and inexperienced despite her young exposure to death and trauma. She thinks “it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow and then she had begun to like him” (22), indicating that Frank is her first romantic entanglement (or one of her first). When Frank sings of “the lass that loves a sailor, she always felt pleasantly confused” (22), and she only calls him her lover after her father forbids her from seeing him. Eveline does not seem to know her own feelings; instead, she is happy to have a man’s interest and the chance to seek a new, happier life.