Joyce`s Ulysses endows its three main characters, Stephen, Bloom, and Molly with the diverse interior monologues, which plays the fundamental role in the unique narrative structure of the text. To begin with, the common element of the three main characters` interior monologues is that it allows them to acquire the dominant narrative position over other characters such as Mulligan, Haines, Deasy, and Citizen who are not given the narrative style. However, the fact that Ulysses contains the several narrators who have different interior monologue makes the narrative of the text more complicated and more entangled, obstructing the fixation of the meaning of the narrated things. In addition, the main characters` dependence on interior monologue styles for the purpose of expressing their points of view regarding the diverse social matters and their internal desire reveals their alienated social positions in Irish society. In other words, it can be said that there exists the close connection between the particular interior monologue styles of the main characters and their specific social position in Ireland. Firstly, Stephen largely relies on the free style interior monologue instead of actively participating in the dialogues with other characters such as Mulligan and Deasy who represent the dominant discourses in Ireland. Secondly, Bloom`s interior monologue which takes advantage of fantasy drama genre in "Circe" not only reveals his social condition in which he can not acquire the means to express his own ideas in the real world, but also functions to upset the order of the reality by providing the effective narrative device with which he can release his opinion freely in the fantastic world. This is similar to the case of Molly. Her interior monologue in "Penelope" which is exclusively composed of her own voice has ambivalent functions. This monologue not only reveals her situation in which she can not make communication with other people in the real world, but also it becomes the effective means to express her own ideas without being obstructed. In conclusion, the three different interior monologues given to the three main characters have two fundamental functions, one of which is to reflect the real social condition of those characters and the other of which is to provide them the device to dismantle the existing dominant discourses in their society. |