Purification Rituals in Joyce

Abstract: In this study I examine Joyce's complex and often contradictory relationship to purification rituals. On the one hand, he rebelled against such rituals insofar as they equated sexuality with defilement and virginity with purity. On the other, as Beckett pointed out, there is a continual purgatorial process at work throughout the Wake, often involving the purgation of the sin of pride. Joyce also exploited the ambiguity of such substances as blood that alternately defile and purify. In addition, he alludes to many rituals in which those who were supposed to be protected and purified become victimized and defiled.