Ulysses

As 8:00pm approaches, the narrative switches back to the third-person perspective. On Sandymount Street, people gather in the summer evening. Bloom visits the beach that Stephen visited earlier in the novel. He observes a trio of women—Cissy Caffrey, Gerty MacDowell, and Edy Boardman—watch over a group of children and a “chubby baby” (331). Gerty uses several cosmetic products to maintain her “almost spiritual” (333) beauty. She reflects on her relationship with an “undeniably handsome” (334) young man who frequently bicycles past her house but who recently has been acting aloof toward her. One day, she hopes, she will marry a strong, quiet man and she will become his “dear little wifey” (337). Cissy and Edy loudly corral the bickering children; their brusqueness and their swearwords horrify Gerty, especially as they are acting in what she considers to be an “unladylike” (338) fashion in front of a man (Bloom). At the nearby church, a temperance (anti-alcohol) group meets and prays. The children’s ball rolls toward Bloom. He throws it back to them, but it stops beside Gerty, who tries to kick the ball and misses. Noticing that Bloom is watching her, Gerty looks at his “wan and strangely drawn” (340) expression.