James Joyce, as a writer in the British colony of Ireland, critically interprets Shakespeare and his work in Ulysses. He refers to Shakespeare, either commenting directly on Shakespeare in text or citing different characters’ dialogues in Shakespeare’s work. Joyce presents critical consciousness of Shakespeare and British imperialism in the context of quoting Shakespeare’s work. First of all, in the “Telemachus” episode, Joyce deals with Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” as the motif of usurpation. The situation in Ireland, which is a British colony, can be linked to Hamlet deprived of the throne. Lady Macbeth’s guilt is also connected to the guilt of the British. In addition, in the “Scylla and Charybdis” episode, Stephen Daedalus interprets Shakespeare as an element of personal history, shaking Shakespeare’s canonicity, while other characters view Shakespeare as a great writer. Finally, in the “Circe” episode, Joyce recreates Shakespeare as an aging man who has been abandoned by his wife, not as a great British writer. Masculinity is closely related to imperialism, and Joyce criticizes British imperialism in a way that makes a mockery of Shakespeare’s masculinity.