The Boardinghouse By James Joyce - 1529 Words

She runs away in anguish as her husband chases her with a cleaver ready to end her at any minute. Mrs. Mooney is able to escape her husband’s attempt to kill and destroy her life. She has two adult children and attempts to start a new life with them by opening up a boardinghouse. Her reputation is already tarnished because her husband was known for being a mad drunk and she separated from the marriage which was a taboo of this time. Although in her time she was looked down upon for her actions, modern day feminist would have praised her because she was freeing herself. In the short story The Boardinghouse, by James joyce, Mrs Mooney would be praised by feminists for unapologetically breaking gender roles, but ironically she imposes those roles onto her daughter. Mrs. Mooney broke a societal rule of marrying beneath her status of wealth. â€Å"She was a woman who was quite able to keep things to herself: a determined woman. She had had married her father’s foreman and o pened a butcher’s shop near Spring Gardens† (pg 38). Soon after her father passed away Mr. Mooney had become a reckless drunk and gambled a lot of their money away. The last strike for her was when â€Å"One night he went for the cleaver and she had to sleep in a neighbor’s house† (pg 38). After enduring that frightful night she was able to obtain a separation from him by the Priest. It was not common to get separated from your spouse in these days so she knew that she would her reputation would again be tarnished in