Gretta: Living with the Dead

“The Dead” , by James Joyce, provides robust characters that stir the soul to reach deeper into the world of the living. Gretta is one character in the story that encourages self examination of relationships both past and present. While physically Gretta is with Gabriel, her soul remains with Michael Furey. Michael Furey is the prince charming that the souls of women spend lifetimes hoping to find. Like Gretta and Gabriel , relationships are often about settling. What is the price of settling?

Throughout this work, Gretta is a sideline, never really the center stage. That spot is taken by Gabriel. Gretta “lives” in a shadow. As Gabriel observes Gretta listening to Mr. D’Arcy, she is at a distance. This seems symbolic of their relationship. Gabriel even makes reference to the distance when he thinks of the image as an artist would see his wife. He states he would name it Distant Music. Joyce has, in a very subtle way implied distance. It is also his desire, whether known or unknown, to bridge the distance between them. Joyce symbolizes this when Gabriel dismisses the others and makes Gretta the focus of his attention: “ Gabriel pointed upstairs towards where his wife was standing.” He was very aware of her “grace and mystery” and wanted to be a part of it. His interest in the song was not direct; it was interest because it was captivating to Gretta.

The “mystery” of Gretta draws Gabriel to desire her in ways that he could remember only by remembering years past. Joyce eloquently describes Gabriel’s revived desires for his wife:

"A wave of yet more tender joy escaped from his heart and went coursing in ware flood along his arteries. Like the tender fire of stars moments of their life together, that no one knew of or would ever know of, broke upon and illumined his memory. He longed to recall to her those moments, to make her forget the years of their dull existence tougher and remember only their moments of ecstasy.”

This rekindled desire for Gretta is twisted into an epiphany of their life and a mature acceptance of Gretta and her past love. Once they are in their room Gretta does not respond to him with sexual offerings, she responds to Gabriel with sadness and a “meltdown” of emotions from the song she heard at the party. She opens up to Gabriel and shares the story of the man who died for her. Harold Bloom offers an interesting observation:

“Gretta Conroy in “The Dead” has suddenly recalled an old lover, of whom she has never spoken and who moved her passions more deeply than her husband has done. After the dance she confesses as much to Gabriel, yet she too is remarkably free of shame, penitence, or the desire to apologize...Has her immature passion for Michael Furey been succeeded by a mature love for Gabriel. Joyce does not say so openly, but we do sense that the humiliation Gabriel feels as a result of her confession is an exaggerated, over-dramatized first response. Later he calmly accepts the situation and this is what leads to the visionary state evoked at the end of the story.” (Bloom 371)

The price of settling was reconciled to Gabriel in the end. Both Gretta and Gabriel paid the price of a life without great passions of a lover. Gretta knew the love while Gabriel realized he had never known that feeling. Could "The Dead" title be a reference to Gretta's love with someone of "the dead" instead of the living?

Works Cited:
Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Reviews James Joyce. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
Sipiora, Phillip. Reading and Writing About Literature. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002.