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James JoyceA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Lenehan is the story’s protagonist, and sections of the narrative are viewed from his perspective. The changes that the character undergoes gradually transform the meaning and significance of the narrative’s events. Lenehan’s function in the text also aligns with Joyce’s dualistic reliance on realism and modernism. The character represents a realistic figure who faces challenges related to his muddled ambitions. As an unambitious 31-year-old with a ruinous life, Lenehan lacks a coherent plan for his future and regrets the decisions that led him to his current state. At the same time, Lenehan’s lack of personal development symbolically reflects Ireland’s social, political, and cultural decline and stasis.
At the beginning of the story, Joyce describes Lenehan as “squat and ruddy” (1). While he wears youthful clothing—a yachting cap and white rubber shoes—his physical appearance suggests a much older man, as “his figure f[alls] into rotundity at the waist, his hair [i]s scant and grey and his face […] ha[s] a ravaged look” (2). Lenehan’s premature aging reflects his jaded outlook and cynical lifestyle. His physical position at the beginning of the story, when compared to Corley, indicates a stance of accepted subordination. He walks along the side of the street to accommodate his friend, who dominates the space. This detail, coupled with his tendency to laugh uproariously at Corley’s stories, suggests Lenehan’s sycophancy and willingness to accept a secondhand status in his friendships. However, Joyce’s description of the protagonist’s ability to hold “himself nimbly at the borders of the company until he [i]s included in a round” implies that he ingratiates himself into social groups to exploit these relationships for his personal ends (2). When listening to Corley, his expression also reveals “cunning enjoyment.” These details imply that the character’s subservience can be viewed as a manipulative strategy.
Joyce’s descriptions of Lenehan throughout the narrative examine the complex and contradictory aspects of his character. In the opening scene, Joyce connects him with Corley by identifying their shared traits, perspectives, and attitudes. Lenehan appears to respect and admire his companion. He laughs at Corley’s story and expresses interest in his plan for the evening. Lenehan verbally agrees with the man’s pronouncements about women and the uselessness of conventional romance. In the dining scene, Joyce complicates this view of the character by presenting his interior thoughts and epiphany. These passages add depth to the character and indicate that his earlier behavior might have been a façade. Lenehan reflects on his lifestyle and realizes that his empty relationships and manipulative behavior do not advance his life or bring him true satisfaction. These passages convey his capacity for growth and ability to escape his current status as a rogue. The narrative’s depiction of Lenehan defines him as a flat character; while he wants to change, the abrupt nature of the story’s ending suggests an inability to transcend his current circumstances.
Corley serves as a foil to Lenehan in “Two Gallants.” The character parallels Lenehan’s cynical outlook and dissolute lifestyle. Joyce’s reliance on a limited third-person perspective limits the reader’s insight into his motivations. The narrative does not indicate if Corley reflects on his actions, thoughts, or behaviors. He is a flat character who does not undergo significant character development but instead causes Lenehan to reflect on the relative emptiness of his life. His character also fits within Joyce’s dualistic approach to narrative realism and experimental modernism within the text. Corley can be interpreted as a realistically depicted marginal social figure and as a symbolic representation of Ireland’s Social Decline.
The detailed physical description of Corley underlines the irony of the story’s title. While he presents himself as a “Lothario,” adept at seducing women, Joyce depicts him in repellant terms, stating, “His head was large, globular and oily; it sweated in all weather” (4). Corley is physically imposing and dominant in terms of his personality. His expansive girth and tendency to dominate the sidewalk force Lenehan into the margins as they walk down Rutland Square.
The story’s early passages indicate that Corley comes from a respectable family but did not choose a respectable career. Corley rejects the example of his father, a police inspector, preferring to make a precarious living as a police informant and engaging in the same type of carousing that marks Lenehan’s choices. The characters also share the same cynical and misogynistic view of women and romantic relationships. Corley’s discussions with Lenehan indicate that he manipulates women for sexual and financial purposes and does not view his actions as unethical. Corley’s bitter account of a former girlfriend who became a sex worker indicates that while he is practiced at betrayal, he is outraged at receiving the same treatment.
The young servant woman whom Corley involves in his plan is a minor character but serves a pivotal function in the plot. She demonstrates her compliance with the scheme to steal from her employer at the end of the story when Corley shows Lenehan the gold coin. Significantly, her character is unnamed, reflecting Corley’s dismissive attitude toward women. Although they have been intimate, he variously refers to her as “a slavey” and “a fine decent tart” (8). Joyce invests this last remark with irony to indicate the qualities Corley looks for in a woman. He defines “decency” as a willingness to steal on his behalf.
The third-person narration gives no insight into the young woman’s emotions or thought processes, and she is given no dialogue in the story. Nevertheless, Joyce provides a detailed description of her physical appearance and the way she is dressed. Like the male characters, she is portrayed in an unflattering light with “broad nostrils, a straggling mouth which l[ies] open in a contented leer, and two projecting front teeth” (10). Her depiction and actions contribute to the story’s portrayal of Dublin’s citizens as unattractive and amoral. Meanwhile, her “Sunday finery,” which includes a “ragged black boa” and “a big bunch of red flowers” (10), conveys that she is trying hard to impress Corley. Her efforts seem to confirm Lenehan’s suggestion that she believes Corley is marriage material. The young woman’s character underlines the theme of Suspicion and Betrayal. While Corley manipulates her, she, in turn, betrays her employers.
By James Joyce