Poetry

I wanted to look more into the ways that Stephen views women throughout the story. More specifically, I wanted to look at what I see as the two opposite ends of what women can be. On the low end are the prostitutes that he visits and on the high end is the Virgin Mary He views the prostitutes as just a means to have sex. He feels a deep sense of shame in having been with them and sees them in a negative light. To Stephen, they are merely an outlet for his lust, and he views them as little more than this. From Stephen’s association between his habit of visiting prostitutes and his own damnation when he’s getting preached during the retreat, it can be inferred that his negative outlook on the prostitutes at least partially comes from his religious upbringing. He feels bad about what he has done mainly because he thinks it’s a sin and it’s immoral, so he views these women are sinners and immoral. On the other end of things there’s how Stephen views the Virgin Mary. S...