Ulysses Episode 3: Proteus

Wow. This episode is like hitting a brick wall at 120 MPH. But I hope that this video will open it up for you. There are a few episodes like this so let this prepare us for what's ahead!

PLEASE leave me your comments. I want to hear from you.

[KT_RK]

What you do here and how passionate you are about the book is just precious ✨ a huge thank you for these inspiring talks!
I've been thinking about what Stephen's missing and about the vision "trick". Well, Stephen often reminds me of Camus' Stranger. He is not "grounded", there's nothing or no one for him to hold on to. And it shows up even more when we get to know Bloom. And not only Stephen sees the world kind of hostile, he sees himself weak and because of that he becomes so. And Bloom on the contrary sees himself quite adequately, but he is depressed, usurped. But he sees that inner sleeping power, so he dares, he does something, he tries to start anew. Here is how I think we can use the "ineluctable modality of the visible" too)
P.S. I'm from Russia so please excuse my mistakes)

[ThrockmortonSign]

This is so much more than just a summary! Your passion and knowledge on Ulysses, joyce and everything around it is amazing. We're so lucky we can listen to you for hours

[eulaliacarrizosa]

Middle aged woman from Colombia: I just finished reading Proteus for the third time. First I really enjoyed it. Like a treasure hunt with a good map vs. being in a wilderness with hope there is a treasure somewhere. THANK YOU!

[colinellesmere]

Second time reading Ulysses. Your the first commentator that mentions Proteus's knowledge of past present and future which is useful. Another person explained clearly the time and space references but not directy linked to Proteus. This chapter is I think the hardest and is training for the rest. Maybe Circe is more difficult but by the time you get there your more informed and more familiar with unusual langage and imagery.

Just to add. I finished Ulysses and started re-reading it the next week. For me the best book I have ever read and an inexhaustible learning resource.

What makes it so re-readable is its musicality in words. Poetic. You can study and study which is an important aspect of reading. But the poetic musicality conveys a feeling that cannot be intellectualised. This is for me what makes this book a work of genuine craft and genius. It holds both the asthetic and the intellectual in equal measure, and isnt that in a way what the books main message is about. That very divide. There is no complete bridge between the intellect and direct knowing. Maybe just a pier which was referred to in Telechemus.

[TeachUBusiness]

Remember to think about what Stephen is missing. The opening line of this episode is your first clue. Leave your comments. I want to hear from YOU!

[JamesChan]

Reading this episode is like learning Tai Chi as a beginner. You don't know what you're doing. You are told that it'll take a long time to learn it; and that you may never be good enough at it even if you practice it daily till you die. Yet, some won't let go. Ineluctable modality of the visible indeed.

[christelleliscia-sadik]

Challenge episode indeed but instead of being scared of I feel more invested into discovering the different layers of Ulysses. I can see how this novel is not only a masterpiece but also a novel you can enjoy in a very literary nerdy way :D Thank you for your videos

[Zakum]

Chris, I was a bit surprised to hear you mention Stephens visit to his uncle's house as if it was actual. From what I gathered, the visit completely played out in our protagonist's mind and never really took place. Around line 160: "He halted. I have passed the way to aunt Sara's. Am I not going there? Seems not."
This seems to me a fine riff on the first theme of the episode, the inescapable modality of the visible. Here, Joyce makes us even see things that are not really there: Unactualized possibilities that only appear in front of the mind's eye.
To further develop your note of Joyce's eye condition: It is an interesting phenomenon, that people with sight problems usually have unimpaired mental imagery. In their visual memories, things appear much clearer to them than what they were capable of actually perceiving (the mind simply fills in the gaps). This is what happens to Stepehen: he doesn't need to visit his aunt, because the mental encounter gives him all the contact that he needs, or maybe even more. The contempt of the incorporeal ghost (concept?) of aunt Sara is more than enough to replace "the real thing". Inescapable modality...

[weuvos]

I like what I’m reading a lot, but this episode really does stretch your perception of what physically is going on. Feels just like pure cognition put on paper. I got the impression he was remembering his time in Paris and that he didn’t even go to his uncles house and was more like just thinking of what would happen if he did and pessimistically predicting how it’d go. Fun read though

[michaelodowd]

Thanks, Chris, very helpful guide for a difficult Chapter. Writing this as I look out on the snotgreen irish Sea.

[vinsta]

I bought the book years ago and despaired of the 1. chapter... kinda bought it, because it would make a good look in the shelf. But it always bothered me, that i couldn't finish it. So now in this strange days, i said to myself - when, if not now. And i Starter again.
I struggled again, but found some pleasure in chapter 2. Chapter 3 now was just - wtf?!
And i looked up YouTube for some explanation videos like yours. Good that you're here. Will make the read way enjoyable ;)
Cheers from Austria. Reading in german.

[odemir]

Stephen wants to be remembered, recognized, get the attention he deserved. The paper, the particle he left on the rock, the urinating, all of these for creating something for somebody else to remember. He was asking that question in the text as well. He thinks he is weak not capable of neither his mom nor a drowning body. This is I think Joyce's worry as well to write this novel.

[cosimocaputo]

Oh Gosh, this was really something! I guess next time I'll record a video to list all my thoughts. However, for now, let's go theme by theme.

1) ABOUT THE DIFFICULTY OF THIS CHAPTER
" Put forth all your strength and hold him fast, for he will do his very utmost to get away from you. He will turn himself into every kind of creature that goes upon the earth, and will become also both fire and water; but you must hold him fast and grip him tighter and tighter, till he begins to talk to you and comes back to what he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may slacken your hold and let him go; and you can ask him which of the gods it is that is angry with you, and what you must do to reach your home over the seas" (The Odyssy by Homer, Book IV, Athena describes how to deal with Proteus)

This time we can't make a parallel between a character in the Odyssy and a sigle one in the Ulysses. I rather believe that the whole chapter itself is Proteus: it changes multidimentionally (language shift, time-space shift, style shift). Yet if you have the will to go through it, this chapter can virtually answer to any question, because there are so many references in it, that wikipedia itself would have a hard time competing with it.

2) PRESENT, PAST AND FUTURE (OMPHALOS)
Omphalos is a stone given to Cronus. It represents the navel of the word, located in Delphi (famous for predictions). As Cronus started the timeline of our era, this chapter starts the story.

3) THE INELUCTIBLE MODALITY OF THE VISIBLE
Only by climbing up and falling down the six realms of existance, you may possibly get a taste of Nirvana.
Only when Dante is ready to jump into Lucifer's jaws at the bottom of the hell, he may possibly hope to have a vision of God.

4) THE DEATH CYCLE
5) VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
In one of the first lines of this chapter, Joyce quotes Dante's Inferno (Maesto di color che sanno). In the same book (Inf, IV 12-13) there is this line:
"Or discendiam quaggiù nel cieco mundo"
"dark and deep, adn thick with clouds o' er spread, mine eye is vain"

5) WHY DIDN'T STEPHEN GO TO HIS AUNT SARA'S?
I'm just guessing, but maybe that's becuse, although Stephen's affection for aunt Sara, her relation with the rest of the family may be not that good. I think, however, we will know more about this point later on.

6) THE MISSING PIECE
You may ask questions to an oracle, but you may not get the answer you expected. This chapter is covered in question marks, but I don't see answers.

[robertwhalley]

Thanks for this, I'm taking a U3A class on the book and rereading it after 50 years. I loved "Portrait" as a young man and was surprised, on reading Ulysses in the 70s and again now, how holy I find Bloom. I like a topology of head, heart, gut groin; and It seemed to be then, and now, that Stephen was enmeshed in head and groin, thoughts and desires, where Leopold is led by heart and gut, feelings and convictions. Between them there's a whole person. Again, thanks for sharing your ideas!

[bredashannon]

Yes thank you. And the comments are very helpful too. Irish and years trying to read Ulysses.

[christie-lipike]

Thank you so much for this. I am reading Ulysses for my honours class and it has been a bit of a struggle. You have helped a lot!

[dianaknapp]

A shout in the street can be heard and so can little boys whistling in the dark. I love these videos as much as I love the room they are recorded in. It would be really appropriate if the blind was raised after each episode to let a little more light in each time

[johnmull]

Great video, thanks. First time reading Ulysses and I'm learning alot from your videos!
Writing from Old Kilkenny, near Strongbow's castle on the Nore!

[GabrielConroy]

I realize this comment is very late in coming, but I just wanted to say I really appreciate these videos. I read Ulysses (on my own) about 20 years ago and understood (maybe!) 10% of it. Now I'm re-reading it, with your help. (I'm also using a guidebook. I realize you don't recommend that, but I find it helpful, too.)

As you might tell by my pseudonym, I'm a big fan of Dubliners. I first read it in 1993 for an undergrad literature class, and I've read it many, many times.

(P.S. I guess my pseudonym doesn't appear in the comments? I'll just say it's "Gabriel Conroy."

[Agonisteez]

I’m just getting to your videos, and I just want to thank you. This is good content. You’re the man.