The Sacred Heart, The Human Heart, and the Unassailable Chasm Between Angelina Fay College

What happens to a dream deferred? According to James Joyce, perhaps nothing. Illustrated in his short story Eveline, this Dublin-born author both poses and responds to the age old-question of comfort versus risk. In a time of upheaval throughout the continent, Eveline serves as an archetypal damsel in distress, accessible only by the man she loves, but conversely as the template of a person subservient to her own mind. Validated only by her male superiors, Eveline trips into the pitfalls surrounding the ideas of her own happiness, sparring internally with her duty as a woman. Gripped by fear of the unknown yet exhausted by the monotony of her daily life, Eveline represents both the internal struggle between mind and heart while still reflecting the religious goings-on across Europe, and the subsequent treatment of women thereof.

The story revolves around Eveline, a nineteen-year-old girl from Dublin, reflecting on the time that has passed in her home. She gazes out the window, both mentally and physically in a prison from which she cannot escape. She considers her role in the household, the passing of her brother and deranged mother, and the abuse she endured by the hand of her father. She plans to escape to Buenos Aires with...