Summary of the story Eveline by James Joyce [BA/BBS TU English Summary]

The story “Eveline” written by James Joyce is about a young woman’s failure to take action due to her lack of conscious will and a state of paralyzed existence. This story Eveline shows a girl’s failure to manage her life at both the social and economic levels.

Short Summary of the story Eveline by James Joyce

            Eveline, a short story by Irish author James Joyce, was originally published in 1914. It’s part of his collection called Dubliners. The story follows a young woman named Eveline and her relationship with her family.

Joyce’s story Eveline is about a woman of about nineteen years old who lives with her family and feels trapped by the life that she leads. She feels as though she has no future and no options in life, but she does have some options - to stay in Ireland with her family or run away with a young man named Frank in Buenos Aires, without her family by her side.

[Buenos Aires is the Capital of Argentina , Argentina is a country in South America.]

[Ireland is a country in Europe.]

Summary Of The Story Eveline 

Eveline was a young woman who lived in Dublin with her father. Her mother and her brother, Ernst were already dead. Eveline’s second brother, Harry, was almost away from home because he used to be busy in church decorating business.

Eveline’s two younger siblings completely relied upon her for being taken care of. After her mother’s death, the responsibility of managing the finances of the family and supporting the family, particularly her two younger siblings, fell on the shoulders of Eveline. To fulfill this responsibility, Eveline used to work in a shop to earn money. She used to do marketing in order to make money. However, her earnings were insufficient (merely seven shillings) and not enough to enable her to lead a comfortable life.

             Unfortunately, Eveline’s father was a drunkard and he was abusive too. He was a temperamental man who didn’t like Eveline playing outside. He wanted her at home where he could keep eyes on her. Her father was domineering (निरङ्कुश) in nature. He spent money unnecessarily in alcohol. Her duty was to provide all her salary to her father who spent the money in inn. Her father gaves her money only to buy goods for dinner on Saturday. Eveline got tired of this continuous and endless struggle and she wished to go away from her tiresome life.

Frank, a sailor, who was courting Eveline, was the only source of happiness in Eveline’s life. However, her father discovered their affair. Eveline’s father once quarreled with her beloved Frank and he asked Eveline not to meet Frank ever again. Since Frank was the only person who was a source of joy and peace for Eveline, therefore, she started meeting him secretly.

            Frank and Eveline finally decided to start a new life together, by running away to Buenos Aires. Eveline wanted to reinvent (परिवर्तन गरेर नयाँपन ल्याउनु) herself. She thought that if she moved away from home, she would forget her past and would be happier.  However, she felt weighed down by her familial (पारिवारिक) responsibilities. She too had promised her dead mother that she would unite her family members. The promise that she made to her mother to keep the family together made her drop the plan of eloping with Frank.

Thus, she did not board the ship to Buenos Aires and left Frank to board the ship alone.