Benstock, Bernard. Critical Essays on James Joyce's Ulysses. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1989.
Benstock speaks extensively about the romantic fantasy in Ulysses. He portrays the idea that Bloom is a victim of his own musings and circumstances with most of his thoughts focusing on the self and thus hampering his moving forward. Bloom’s musings and inner sexual thoughts are important parts of the whole narrative especially in Chapter 13 and Benstock also focuses on the links between one episode and another which should be read in continuity if we are to truly appreciate them. The interaction between Leopold Bloom and Molly is also dealt with extensively by Benstock although here the romantic attachment is slightly less pronounced and more hypocritical in nature
Gillespie, Michael Patrick and A. Nicholas Fargnoli, eds. Ulysses in Critical Perspective. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006 .
The three authors seem to focus on the musings of Bloom with his romantic attachments to others in the book. The episodic nature of the narrative is also touched upon by Gillespie and Patrick whose collection of articles speaks about Joyce directing his own autobiography from within. Episode Thirteen is focused upon as a very important part of the book when Bloom receives a letter which somehow ties him to Martha. Here the authors focus on the romantic attachments created by Bloom and how these continue to develop later in the book as some kind of leitmotif. Notwithstanding their disagreement with certain aspects of the novel, Gillespie, Patrick and Fargnoli wax lyrical about its literary tour de force especially in the concluding chapters when all comes together. This reaffirms Leopold Bloom’s status as the victim in the novel.
Campbell, Joseph. Mythic Worlds, Modern Words. Canada: New World Library, 2004.
Campbell’s work focuses extensively upon the mythical allusions in Ulysses and how these are developed in the terms of the romantic associations in the novel. Ulysses is very much based on the mythological assertions of the past and this comes across quite clearly when we read Campbell’s text which speaks about the contemporary preoccupation with sex as well as the past focus on the carnal aspect of human relationships. He speaks on Joyce’s musings regarding Bloom who is always engaged in some sort of romantic attachment to Martha and as this develops, he is his own victim as a slave of womanhood.
Arnold, Bruce. The Scandal of Ulysses: The Life and Afterlife of a Twentieth Century Masterpiece. Rev. ed. Dublin: Liffey Press, 2004
Bruce Arnold focuses extensively on the parts of the text which are deemed to be scandalous. However the frank discussion on the sexual proclivity and imagination which permeates Ulysses brings about some intriguing new revelations to light and confirms that Bloom was indeed a victim of his own making. His dalliance with Martha and his non-committal relationship with his wife make the latter lose her trust in him making out to be the victim. In a way there is also a comparison with Stephen Daedelus who is also similarly trapped. Bruce holds the strings of his descriptions very well and the book is a cogent and finely wrought narrative on the problems which Ulysses poses to the unaccustomed reader.
References:
Arnold, Bruce. The Scandal of Ulysses: The Life and Afterlife of a Twentieth Century Masterpiece. Rev. ed. Dublin: Liffey Press, 2004. ISBN 1-904148-45-X.
Attridge, Derek, ed. James Joyce's Ulysses: A Casebook. Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 2004. ISBN 978-0-19-515830-4.
Benstock, Bernard. Critical Essays on James Joyce's Ulysses. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8161-8766-9.
Duffy, Enda, The Subaltern Ulysses. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8166-2329-5.
Ellmann, Richard. Ulysses on the Liffey. New York: Oxford UP, 1972. ISBN 978-0-19-519665-8.
French, Marilyn. The Book as World: James Joyce's Ulysses. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1976. ISBN 978-0-674-07853-6.
Gillespie, Michael Patrick and A. Nicholas Fargnoli, eds. Ulysses in Critical Perspective. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006 . ISBN 978-0-8130-2932-0.
Goldberg, Samuel Louis. The Classical Temper: A Study of James Joyce's Ulysses. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1961 and 1969.
Henke, Suzette. Joyce's Moraculous Sindbook: A Study of Ulysses. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1978. ISBN 978-0-8142-0275-3.
Kiberd, Declan. Ulysses and Us: the art of everyday living. London: Faber and Faber, 2009 ISBN 978-0-571-24254-2
