Homosocial bonds in Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and "Ulysses"

Table of Contents

TITLE

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL

CONTENTS

LIST OF APPENDICES

CHAPTERS
I. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Research Objectives
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Methodology
1.6 Scope of the Study
1.7 Limitations of the Study
1.8 Significance of the Study
1.9 Definition of Terms
1.10 Conclusion

II. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Homophobia and Homosociality
2.3 Homosociality and Sexuality
2.4 Ulysses and Masculinity
2.5 Ulysses and Masculine Nationalism
2.6 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young man and Gender
2.7 Public Intimacy and Homosociality
2.8 Masculinity and Homosociality
2.9 Triangles and Homosociality

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Stephen in School
3.3 Stephen in Family
3.4 Stephen in University Ulysses
3.5 Introduction
3.6 Stephen Dedalus
3.7 Leopold Bloom
3.8 Sense of Fatherhood
3.9 Triangle Love: Split-object triangle
3.10 Conclusion

IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.2 Conclusion
4.3 Recommendations

WORKS CITED

LIST OF APPENDICES

A: Summary of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

B: Summary of Ulysses

ABSTRACT

This project paper aims to analyze the homosocial desire and the lack of it in two protagonists and heroes of James Joyce in his two novels, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses. Unlike the fame of these novels and the extensive research done on these two novels, the theoretical relevance of Homosociality in A Portrait and Ulysses has not been widely discussed. This is mostly due to the fact that although, the theory first became popular in the 1990s, it is still a relatively new perspective. This study analyses various views of the social bonds and private lives and their effects on social behaviors to determine the reasons for the lack of homosociality and the ways in which it is regained in the two Joyce protagonists. Furthermore, this study will seek to argue that if the characters endeavour logically to solve the problems in their lives and mind, their homosociality will be boosted. For example, according to the plot of the story, if Stephen and Bloom as the main characters in Ulysses find their paternity and the root of fatherhood, their relationships and associations with other males in society will be changed accordingly.

On the other hand, if Stephen, as the only hero and protagonist in A Portrait can find the answers to the questions posed in his own mind regarding religion and his own identity, his personal confusion that alienates him from others in society will be eliminated. In order to achieve these results the theory of Homosociality, coined for the first time by Jean Lipman-Blumen in 1976 and made popular by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, will be applied to the novels under study.

ABSTRAK

Penyelidikan berikut bertujuan untuk menganalisis keinginan homosocial dan kekurangan dalam dua protagonis dan wira James Joyce dua dalam novel beliau yang cemerlang: "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" dan "Ulysses". Tidak seperti kemasyhuran lain, novel ini dan penyelidikan yang berlainan yang dilakukan ke atas kedua-dua novel adalah aspek berterusan kedua-dua novel (Homosociality) telah agak diabaikan dan ini adalah disebabkan pembaharuan teori yang telah menjadi popular dari perspektif hampir 1990-an.Perspektif berlainan, hubungan sosial, kehidupan peribadi dan kesannya terhadap tingkah laku sosial akan hilang di bawah analisis mendapati apa sebab (s) kekurangan homososialiti dan cara-cara untuk mendapatkan kembali homososialiti dalam kedua-dua watak. Tambahan pula, kajian ini akan menyimpulkan bahawa jika mereka berusaha secara logik untuk menyelesaikan beberapa masalah dalam kehidupan mereka, kemahiran homososialiti mereka akan meningkatkan juga. Sebagai contoh, mengikut plot cerita, jika Stephen dan Bloom sebagai watak utama dalam "Ulysses" mengkaji asal usul bapa mereka, hubungan dan persatuan mereka dengan lelaki lain dalam masyarakat akan berubah juga.

Sebaliknya, jika Stephen sebagai wira sahaja dan protoganist novel " Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man " boleh mengetahui jawapan bagi soalan-soalan yang ditimbulkan dalam fikiran sendiri mengenai agama dan identiti sendiri, dia tidak akan akan terlibat dalam minda dan tidak akan mewujudkan fikiran baru untuk menjadikannya jauh lain dari yang lain. Dalam usaha untuk mendapatkan keputusan, teori Homososialiti Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick akan digunakan untuk novel ini. Sedgwick mengembangkan pendekatan keinginan lelaki homososial dalam buku " Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all my utmost gratitude and deepest appreciation go to Dr. Rosli for his kindness and patience in supporting and providing sufficient guidance, consultation and thoughtful knowledge towards the completion of this project. Thank you for supporting and encouraging me all the time.

This work would not have been possible without my caring family’s patience and their love and attention that convince me to always do my best mainly here in this foreign country. I would also like to thank all my lecturers and friends especially who were always on my side to give me a helping hand when I encounter with problem during my study. Finally my gratitude goes to those people who have helped and supported me directly and indirectly during my project. Thank you so much.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The term homosociality was coined for the first time by Jean Lipman-Blumen in 1976 and became popular mainly because of the influence of Eve Sedgwick’s (1950) book. Homosociality basically pays attention to social relationships or friendships between individuals of the same gender especially between men (male-male relationships) without any romantic core or sex-based intention; even though, it is not out of the question for a homosocial individual to be a homosexual or heterosexual person under certain circumstances. Eve Sedgwick herself defines homosociality as “Social bonds between persons of the same sex,” (11) and she defines desire as “the affective or social force, the glue . . . that shapes an important relationship” (12). Therefore, it should be mentioned that homosociality is a bridge between homosexual and heterosexual desires with dissimilar perspectives in a society.

As Sedgwick believes, her contribution is the notion that the boundaries between the social and the sexual are blurry, fuzzy; thus, homosociality and homosexuality are connected and can never fully be disentangled. She acknowledges that the nature of this boundary varies from society to society and from era to era, and even within one society, it can differ between women and men. She points to how, in the contemporary United States, there is a clear connection and continuum (but not an identity) between the desire of women to help their fellow women (feminism) and the desire of women for their fellow women (lesbianism).

However, turning to men, the story is different. Patriarchy is analogous to feminism; in that, social relations just involve among men (Sedgwick connects this to Heidi Hartmann's view of patriarchy: "relations between men [...] create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women"). Yet, the men who are the furthest from patriarchy are also (at least publicly/consciously) those who are most homophobic. Homophobia occurs because the members of homosocial circles are under other males’ observation at all times. This observation makes them pay attention to the details of their lives in such a way that this issue creates a kind of stress or phobia among the people with the same sex.

On the other hand, it is not quite unusual for people in a homosocial companionship to be physically affectionate with each other, though not in a sexual way. Shaking hands, hugging, and teasing are all common features of this sort of relationship, as are frank discussions about sexuality, life, and health. Some researchers believe that the physical aspect of such friendships may actually be a significant socializing tool, pointing out that people with less physical contact in their lives would be less socially confident and less emotionally stable.

This project paper will attempt to analyse the homosocial desire and its lack in two protagonists and heroes of James Joyce in his two novels, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses. Various perspectives in social and private lives will be closely analysed to determine the reasons for the lack of homosociality and explore the ways to regain the homosociality in these two characters.

Furthermore, this research will prove that if these homosociality-deficient characters can solve their personal problems in their lives and minds, their lack of homosociality will be boosted as well. For example, according to the story, if Stephen and Bloom as the main characters in Ulysses find their paternity and the root of fatherhood, their associations with other males in society will change too. On the other hand, if Stephen, as the only hero and protagonist in A Portrait of the Artist can find the answers to the questions posed in his mind regarding religion and his own identity, his personal confusion that alienates him from others in society will be eliminated.

In short, A Portrait of the Artist actually unbridles the enormous power of Joyce’s innovation and modernity upon the literary world. Remarkably, this novel uses a technique that would make Joyce famous - and/or infamous - with Ulysses. That is the stream of consciousness narration and/or interiority (an illuminating view of the character’s inner world), and a forthright realism that surprised some booklovers of the time. This novel also acquaints us with Stephen Dedalus, who would later be presented prominently in Ulysses.

A Portrait of the Artist is Joyce’s adaptation of the classic coming-of-age story (the fancy German term is bildungsroman ), and it reflects the author’s life up to age of 20, when he left Dublin for Paris. Its thought-provoking attitude to family, homeland and the Catholic Church are the issues that gave the novel (and James Joyce himself) a controversial reputation when the book was published. Joyce treats youth with a directness and honesty in his works and is particularly outstanding in this respect in A Portrait of the Artist which is noteworthy.

On the other hand, a remarkable characteristic of this novel is the critical role of the language. The story telling in A Portrait of the Artist is developmental as it chronicles the growth and progress of the young artist’s consciousness from childhood to young adulthood. He moves through a number of stages that are marked by language. As a young child, the language is that of nursery rhymes and children’s stories. Then, as a young boy, the language is the adventure stories of Sir Walter Scott. As he reaches youth, he moves on to Byron as his hero of the poem. Furthermore, as a young man, he is preoccupied with the Elizabethan writers running through his head. All the time, the language of the church influences the very organization of his intellect. The language of Irish nationalism is a pool by which he is fascinated and paradoxically resistant to. The predominant metaphor of the novel’s plot might be labelled as a ‘metaphor of emergence’. Stephen emerges, or thinks he is able to emerge, from the nets of social commitment, traditionalism, and dogma, to free himself in order to become an artist of his own imagination.

An analysis of the second novel, Ulysses indicates that Ulysses, remains as one of the most challenging and worthwhile works of literature in English. Not only does it slender its sequential concentration on a single day, it also expands its scope to follow three major characters - Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom - and even the city of Dublin itself.

Stylistically, Ulysses is unique not only because it alters in style with every chapter, but for the reason that the narrative declines to remain submissive to the story. It progressively peels away from the plot and indulges in independent raillery of the reader over the heads of the characters. The narrative “wanders” in a way that rejoices the craft, humor, and meaning of exploration similar to other famous wanderers: Odysseus, Bloom, the Jews, and Bloom’s simultaneously adulterous and unfaithful wife, Molly Bloom.

In brief, Ulysses stands as a classic novel by James Joyce, authored in Trieste, Zurich and Paris, between 1914 and 1921. The first edition was printed in Paris by Weaver's Egoist Press on February 2, 1922 (also the 40th birthday of James Joyce). Its publication caused a lot of forbidding and prohibition in both England and United States.

The whole plot of the novel takes place in Dublin on a single day, 16 June 1904. This day is regularly celebrated as "Bloom’s day" in the world. The chief protagonists in the novel are: Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertisement canvasser; his wife Molly, a concert singer who is guilty of an infidelity; and Stephen Dedalus, also the protagonist from Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus wander through the whole day separately without any connection till evening around Dublin. They finally come across each other at the end of the day, when they provide each other a small account of their day.

The comprehensive description of the day's chapters in addition to the geography of Dublin would indicate that James Joyce's desire was to present a unique example of telling the reality and life in the history of the English novel. Nevertheless, a dissimilar purpose is implied by the systematic allusion to Homer's Odyssey, which governs the novel's multifarious references to history, literature, music, philosophy and even myth.

In relation to the plot of Joyce's novel, Bloom characterizes "Odysseus" (in Latin: Ulysses.) Molly parallels "Penelope" and then Stephen represents "Telemachus." These were the chapter titles that Joyce initially provided to the novel's eighteen chapters; even though, all are not mentioned directly in the novel. They come in the following equivalent:

1. Telemachus: Stephen and Buck Mulligan at the Martello Tower
2. Nestor: Stephen at work as a schoolteacher
3. Proteus: Stephen meditating on the beach
4. Calypso: Bloom making breakfast for Molly
5. Lotus Eaters: Bloom on Sir John Rogerson's Quay
6. Hades: Bloom at Paddy Dignam's funeral
7. Aeolus: Bloom in the newspaper office
8. Lestrygonians: Bloom at lunch
9. Scylla and Charybdis: Stephen in the National Library
10. Wandering Rocks: The citizens of Dublin on the streets
11. Sirens: Bloom in the Ormond hotel
12. Polyphemus or Cyclops: Bloom's encounter with an Irish nationalist
13. Nausicaa: Bloom watching Gertie McDowell on the beach
14. Oxen of the Sun: Bloom and Stephen separately visiting the Holles Street Hospital
15. Circe: Bloom and Stephen meeting in the Mabbot Street brothel district
16. Eumaeus: Stephen and Bloom at Bloom's home in Eccles Street
17. Ithaca: Bloom falling asleep
18. Penelope: Molly Bloom's soliloquy

(Source: www.shvoong.com )

The novel Ulysses chronicles the passage through Dublin by its major character, Leopold Bloom, throughout a regular day, June 16, 1904. The title of the book alludes to the protagonist of Homer's "Odyssey" and there exist numerous parallels, both implicit and explicit, between the two works. There are examples such as, the correspondences between Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, etc.

James Joyce’s experimental method is a thorough response to a complex knowledge of past and present. He takes advantage of the Stream of Consciousness technique, especially in the chapter “Penelope”. As mentioned earlier, Joyce's Ulysses is considered as one of the most significant and difficult classical works of Modernist literature and this success is attributable mainly to Joyce’s technique.

James Joyce is possibly the foremost 20th-century author in English. He was a master of language, exploiting its overall resources in all ways. Trained in Dublin Jesuit schools, he lived after 1902 on the Continent, turning back to Ireland only temporarily. Dubliners, his collection of short stories, was blocked in Ireland on account of relevant references and published in London in 1914. Joyce passed over World War I in Zürich, occupied with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, his first novel, which was published in 1916.

Publication of Ulysses, authored from 1914 to 1921, was delayed by obscenity charges. It did not emerge in the U.S. until 1933. After 1922, Joyce was busy on Finnegan’s Wake (1939). Joyce died in Zürich in 1941. With every chief work, Joyce's profoundness and complexity were obvious. The novel Dubliners, for example, focuses on moments of spiritual insight, which he called epiphanies.

A Portrait of the Artist is a truthful autobiographical version of young Stephen Dedalus's rising in understanding that he ought to make himself free from the restriction of Irish society. Ulysses as mentioned before narrates the dealings of June 16, 1904, as reflected in the actions and thoughts of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly, and Stephen Dedalus as a teacher. Finnegan’s Wake appears at times to render the dreams of a Dublin publican, once in a while, to embody a worldwide consciousness. It is however, less read, since it is not quite well understood.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Stephen and Bloom both wander in their minds and reality—Stephen comes with this wandering from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Bloom appears with this matter from Chapter Four of Ulysses. This wandering leads them to be alienated from other males. As a result, they create a world in their minds, which makes them busy in a way that they sometimes forget the real world. This happens to Bloom who has not had any sexual relationship with his wife since their boy died.

This solitude - as the problem of this research - comes to Stephen at home facing with his compulsory housemates in a way that he cannot defend his own right as his lack of sociality has made him weak and obedient. This happens also when Stephen is in the library and pub with his friends. On the other hand, for Bloom, it happens at home too - as in the case of Stephen - but in a triangle love issue; furthermore in the office with colleagues and also with his friends on the way to the cemetery. However, in the middle of the story, the feeling of paternity or fatherhood makes both characters change their attitudes temporarily about relationships and people around them, which are indicative of the reasons for their lack of sociality among their male peers.

1.3 Research Objectives

Based on the information given in the Introduction and Methodology sections of this project, the aim of this project is to concentrate on the social behavior of two characters, Stephen individually in A Portrait of the Artist and Bloom along with Stephen in Ulysses. This also focuses on the lack of sociality that they encounter among their peers in various settings. Moreover, this research will find the reasons for the protagonists’ solitude and the ways to solve them.

Based on the character of Joyce himself, Stephen Dedalus is a delicate, considerate young boy who re-emerges in Joyce's later masterwork, Ulysses. In A Portrait of the 9 Artist, even though, Stephen's big family encounters with growing pecuniary troubles his parents manage to send him to prestigious schools and ultimately to a university. As he develops in age and maturity, Stephen struggles with his nationality, religion, family, and morality issues and lastly makes his mind to discard all socially-imposed ties and lives liberally as an artist. Stephen experiences numerous vital alterations over the course of the novel. The first one, which happens throughout his early years in Clongowes, is from a protected little boy to a smart student who comprehends social interactions and can start to make sense of the world around him.

The second one, that happens when Stephen commences an affair with the Dublin prostitute, is from blamelessness to decadence. The third alteration, which occurs when Stephen hears Father Arnall's lectures on death and hell, is from an impenitent sinner to a devout Catholic. Lastly, Stephen's chief alteration is from near obsessive devoutness to a new devoutness to art and beauty. This evolution takes place in Chapter Four of A portrait, when he is offered admission to the Jesuit order but declines it in order to join the university. Stephen's rejection and his following epiphany on the beach mark his evolution from belief in God to belief in aesthetic beauty. This alteration endures through his college years. By the end of his time in college, Stephen has become an entirely formed artist, and his diary entries mirror the liberated individual he has become. These perplexes, which continue to Ulysses as well bring Stephens to doubt everything. These issues lead him to retreat into solitude.

On the other hand, Leopold Bloom, as the protagonist of Ulysses has the same problem of solitude which is faced by Stephen. The first impression that one has of Leopold Bloom - Joyce's modernized equal of Ulysses and also Joyce's Wandering Jew - is that Bloom is an outsider in Dublin. Stephen's debate with the anti-Semite Deasy in “Nestor” foreshadows the behavior that Bloom is to have during the day. In "Hades," Bloom is patronized by the three other occupants of the carriage on the way to Glasnevin Cemetery. In the same chapter, his mollifying views of suicide stun the conservative Catholic Dubliners. In "The Cyclops," Bloom, before fighting back, is dishonoured by the intensely anti-Semitic Citizen.

There are many other signs of Bloom's alienation — from home and from society — in the novel. He is a "keyless" hero (as is Stephen), having left the key to 7 Eccles St. in his other pair of pants and being afraid to retrieve it since he may disturb Molly, his wife. His name is defaced into "L. Boom" in the newspaper report of Dignam's funeral. There is no occasion for him in Freeman's offices in "Aeolus," and an opening door strikes him at one point, although, accidentally. Even his "greasy eyes," which Lydia Douce, a barmaid at the Ormond Hotel, notifies as Bloom passes by with Sweets of Sin (a book for her wife) under his arm, are adequate to label him as a figure of ridicule. All these problems parallel those of Stephen and in some ways are indications of the Bloom as the future Stephen. However, we see that some issues can help them to mend their male bonds like solving the problem of fatherhood from both sides (for Stephen and Bloom). This study attempts to determine the reasons for the solitude in these two characters and the relationships that exist between them regarding their loneliness and the ways for them to come out of this solitude.

1.4 Research Questions

In order to achieve the research objectives, the following questions are asked:

1. Why do the protagonists of both novels lack a sense of homosociality?
2. How does this lack of homosociality affect their social relationships, especially with members of the same gender in the society?
3. How do these two protagonists help each other to improve their social relationships and achieve an acceptable level of homosociality?

1.5 Methodology and Theoretical Framework

Male homosocial desire: the phrase in the title of this study is intended to mark both discriminations and paradoxes. Homosocial desire, to begin with, is a kind of oxymoron. “Homosocial” is a word occasionally used in history and the social sciences, where it describes social bonds between persons of the same sex; it is a neologism, obviously formed by analogy with “Homosexual”, and just obviously meant to be distinguished from ‘homosexual’ (Eve Kosfsky Sedgwick, 1).

Methodology is the tool or way that researchers should pass in order to get to their aims in a research. There can be several methodologies in order to get to the intended goal. Therefore, we should select the most suitable one for our research according to our purposes. Recently in the world, considering and/or debating about the gender relationships have become very crucial and vital for scholars. This occurs particularly in the fields of Literature and Sociology. For the current investigation, the researcher is to utilize the homosociality factors prescribed by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick in her book, Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985) and her methods to expand the idea of male-male relationships without sexual or physical affection in two selected novels.

In her book, Sedgwick displays the different types of bonds that men or a group of men can have in positive or negative ways. She shows how the lack of homosociality can cause manifold problems, as we will see in the analysis of the characters of these two novels. She also displays the role of a female character in the male homosocial relations, which leads to a love triangle or competition to win a love. This research will be an attempt also to display this homosocial relation both directly and indirectly through analysing the selected novels with significant focus on triangle love, an approach that Sedgwick summed up as her basic argument in her famed work.

Between Men was supposed to demonstrate "the immanence of men’s same-sex bonds, and their prohibitive structuration, to male-female bonds in 19th century English literature. The book focuses on the largely oppressive effects of a cultural system on women and men where male-male desire could become intelligible only by being routed through non-existent desire involving a woman.

Sedgwick’s approach of male homosociality refers to all male bonds and associations, including every overt heterosexual person to overt homosexual one. Sedgwick coined the neologism "homosocial," which was supposed to be a rejection of the then- available lexical and conceptual alternatives to challenge the idea that hetero-, bi- and homosexual men and experiences could be easily differentiated. She argued that these three categories could not actually be readily distinguished from one another, since what might be conceptualised as "erotic" depend on an unpredictable, ever-changing array of local factors.

One reviewer claims that the structures of homosocial desire that Sedgwick has mentioned in her approach to uncover homosociality in the book are so omnipresent in Western literature, and so often read through other ideological screens, that "we should beware." Homosocial is a neologism meant to be distinguished from homosexual and connotes a form of male bonding often accompanied by a fear or hatred of homosexuality; even though, most of the analysis in the present study will be based on homosociality far from any homosexuality.

1.6 Scope of the Study

In order to have a very systematic and acceptable research on an intended hypothesis, all attempts should be done in order to narrow down the research even to a single point. This strategy helps the researcher to focus on one aspect and try to expand and eradicate the doubts about that theory or approach as much as possible. This scope becomes very significant when the works under analysis are very substantial, like Ulysses, with more than one thousand pages and with several characters possessing various attitudes. The same attempt will be done in this present study. Homosociality is the theory used to analyse and understand the project’s objectives in these two novels; although, homosociality is very big concept to develop from various aspects.

Both Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist are modernist novels with new points of view to life. This modernity is clear when the author, in order to indicate his inner attitude towards the world around him, has taken advantage of different techniques, and at their summit is Stream of Consciousness, which has been developed overtly for the first time by Joyce himself. This technique, which goes through the minds of characters to cover the novel, makes the reading and analysis of the novel much more difficult than before. Here, regarding to the aims of this research about A Portrait of the Artist and Ulysses, the researcher will concentrate on two main characters of these novels, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus; even though, there are more characters like Stephen’s father or Bloom’s friends to be analysed by the Theory of Homosociality. On the other hand, this present study is wholly centered on homosociality far away any concept of homosexuality that is discussed as a part of homosociality in Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick theory and book. Within this scope, this research will be an effort to unearth the reasons for the solitude of Bloom and Stephen and their exclusion from social circles and associations.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

According to the situation and the lack of access to materials, it is sometimes quite difficult to focus on a research based on various aspects or all the applicable theories. Therefore, it should be mentioned that there are usually some obstacles or shortages that lead to limitations in a research. This issue happens because of the narrow-down format in the research. Therefore, it is quite normal to be limited by some weaknesses and drawbacks in every research and project.

Due to almost freshness of homosociality theory in literature, the current research has been encountered with some difficulties in gathering information and materials for the analysis. The most significant problem was the lack of access to the required books - Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire and Ulysses - which were not available in market so they had to be bought from abroad, which took quite a long time. To have a reasonable analysis, the researcher had to contact scholars, friends and associates from various universities in the world to gather the required materials and ideas. Regarding these difficulties and the weaknesses in this research, the researcher has tried to make up these lacks with the available materials.

1.8 Significance of the Study

All researches in all fields should be done based on a hypothesis and a reason for the research but the crucial point here is that a research should have sufficient credibility and authenticity to make it reliable and credible. This point becomes very sensitive in the case of literature and literary text, to which manifold theories, approaches and definitions can be applied. The homosociality approach as a literary and sociological approach is one of the crucial branches of Gender Study and queer theory which talks about people and their relationships in a social context.

James Joyce is a major author and A Portrait of the Artist and Ulysses are very effective works in the world of literature; therefore, a good research or project on these works may have significant influence on the perspectives regarding these novels.

Simply put, homosociality theory works in the same way as psychoanalysis on the characters and individuals. But the difference is that psychoanalysis analyses a character’s mind and its effects on the individual but homosociality analyses a character’s behavior and its effects in society. Furthermore, these novels as the celebrated works need to be analysed based on the characters’ behaviors and society since one of the significant reasons for the author of the novels in writing them was to present the social situation of his country alongside its residents. It is expected that the present research will aid other academicians and scholars to develop good ideas based on these novels to pursue homosociality theory further by applying it to other works. The researcher also hopes that others will pay greater attention to character relationships in novels following the effort made in this research to open a new perspective on these novels regarding the relationships among the characters.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Homosociality: of, relating to, or involving social relationships between persons of the same sex and especially between men ( www.merriam-webster.com ).

Homosocial Desire: a wish to be involved in social relationships between persons of the same sex and especially between men.

Male-male relationships: Association of two or more male persons.

Masculinity: having qualities appropriate to or usually associated with a man. Of, relating to, or constituting the gender that ordinarily includes most words or grammatical forms referring to males ( www.merriam-webster.com ). Paternity: Fatherhood

Triangle Love: Situations where two people both love a third person.

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