...But it don't mean nothin' without a woman or a girl
If episode twelve "Cyclops" was a testosterone bathed dudefest, "Nausicaa" is a cleansing dip in the estrogen pool, as we find ourselves awash in the "namby-pamby jammy marmalady drawsery,"* prose of Gerty's fantasies.
*Joyce's description
That's what she said
Through the mind of Gerty McDowell Joyce presents to us the naive or immature picture of girlish love (as distinct from the mature and experienced woman-love of Molly Bloom that awaits us in a later episode). Gerty is a girl-woman whose ideas of life and love are romantic caricatures shaped by the popular literature of the time. She seems to exist in a sugar sweetened universe of which she is the center point. Gerty's narcissism is wrapped up in her feminine identity and this identity seems to become the standard from which all femininity is measured. "Gerty MacDowell... was, in very truth, as fair a specimen of winsome Irish girlhood as one could wish to see."
While Gerty finds her companions perfectly acceptable, Eddy Boardman with her "squinty eyes" and Cissy Caffrey with her "skinny shanks" and short hair "which had a good enough colour if there had been more of it..." could never compare with "[t]he waxen pallor of [Gerty's] face... almost spiritual in its ivorylike purity though her rosebud mouth was a genuine Cupid's bow, Greekly perfect."
It is easy to think that Joyce was taking a cheap shot at the feminine element, but that seems too simplistic for me. It might be worthwhile to consider why Joyce constructed Gerty's internal dialogue in this idealized fashion.
She said, he said
The prose style for Gerty is uber-romantic contrasting sharply with the Dublin-masculinese of "Cyclops". It also contrasts (or compliments, depending on your point of view) with Bloom's style of thought. Through this prose dialectic, which is employed constantly throughout the book, Joyce shapes narrative, characters, and overall plot. Ulysses is a story where extremes meet to interact with, form, and transform one another, and "Nausicaa" may be one of the purist examples of this tendency as Gerty McDowell brings Bloom into sharp relief for us.
While Gerty has created her romanticized narrative of the events passing between herself and Bloom, Bloom is engaged in what amounts to be a purely practical exercise, a "necessary evil" shall we say. This is in perfect keeping with the Bloom we have come to know up to this point in the novel, practical-minded and particularly fond of women's undergarments. There is more to this interaction, subtextually speaking, than meets the eye, and a variety of conclusions, parallels, and metaphors can be drawn from this episode. I'll leave you to work out what those might be.
Intercession of the Virgin
Narratively, "Nausicaa" should present no significant challenge to you, it is super-simple and straightforward reading. The only possible difficulty I can imagine is the interlacing of the benediction service throughout Gerty's monologue. But this is (for the most part) fairly clear cut from the general narration. Nothing to get lost in. However, you may be wondering why it's there at all, and if you aren't then you should be. Remember: Joyce doesn't throw these things in on a whim or for the sake of being difficult, they serve a purpose. So, as usual, you should give at least a little thought to the possible reasons that this bit of religion has worked its way into the narrative. Consider:
"He told her that time when she told him about that in confession, crimsoning up to the roots of her hair for fear he could see, not to be troubled because that was only the voice of nature and we were all subject to nature's laws, he said, in this life and that that was no sin because that came from the nature of woman instituted by God, he said, and that Our Blessed Lady herself said to the archangel Gabriel be it done unto me according to Thy Word. "
If it don't fit, don't force it
In terms of placing "Nausicaa" into the context of the larger story, I find it to be one of those episodes not easily incorporated. Relative to my own theories and assumptions about what Ulysses is about, "Nausicaa" seems to have no direct bearing. But through writing this blog and being forced to be more attentive to the details of the text, I have been able to make some general assessments which might be helpful.
At minimum I would say that "Nausicaa" helps to reinforce and further round out the character of Leopold Bloom.
Because Joyce does not (generally speaking) present Bloom via traditional physical description, we instead come by our understanding of Bloom through his thoughts, and through his relationships and interactions with the surrounding people and environment. Thus his "liason" with Gerty further shapes and dimensionalizes Bloom. Another aspect of his character is revealed, habits, proclivities, and outlook are made plain to us, and while this may not tie directly into the mission of Ulysses, it does help to create the conditions to make that mission manifest.
Bloom looks different to us through Gerty's eyes, relative to the other eyes through which we have seen him. (How different is this Bloom from the one we saw just an episode before?). But Bloom also looks different to himself when imagining himself from Gerty's perspective. "Saw something in me. Wonder what." This multiple perspectivism is in keeping with the theme of parallax that is woven throughout the text as well as the persistent theme of 'seeing ourselves as others see us.' All of these grand themes and sub-themes are destined to coalesce into something more complete. That integrated whole is the underlying message of Ulysses, and it is what we are on a quest to discover.
