Dedalus And Ulysses Comparison

In the “Telemachus” episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Joyce alludes to the parallel of Stephen Dedalus being a modern Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The novel’s first chapter conveys several similar ideas, however both stories convey contrasting key themes. Both main characters are troubled men who have experienced extreme tragedy through the loss of one of their parents. Each story has drama that occurs before the first page, and these events are mentioned later as memories so the audience can fully comprehend the story’s background. Prior to “Telemachus,” Stephen visits his dying mother. When she asks, he refuses to pray at her deathbed which eventually leads to his guilt and melancholy. Similarly, prior to the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet’s own uncle, Claudius, murders his father and marries his mother. Joyce uses direct and indirect references to Hamlet throughout Ulysses to include the “play within a play” feel which made his story more engaging. Joyce studied Hamlet in 1912 and gave several lectures on Shakespeare which proves his interest and reason for the parallel in Ulysses. Cite this!
Ulysses contains a theme of motherhood, which is expressed as an issue for Stephen who, even a year after his mother’s death, continues to wear all black clothing in mourning. In addition, Hamlet also suffered a great loss; the death of his father. As readers, we are first aware of the Hamlet parallel when Haines brings to attention how the Martello Tower reminds him of the Elsinore Castle from Hamlet. Just as Hamlet sees his own father’s ghost in the Elsinore Castle, Stephen has dreams of his mother’s