Molly Bloom, is the main female voice in Joyce's Ulysses, finishing off the epic tale in her own more intimate style.
Joyce's Ulysses has three main protagonists, we start with the brilliant but moody Stephen Delgas, then we enter Bloom's world which is more stable & mature.
Fortunately, our anti-hero Bloom is no prig, he is worldly wise and can still enjoy earthly pleasures, he even embraces the infantile: one of the surprises of Ulysses is how much you learn about his bowel movements throughout Bloom's day!
But the last words go to Molly (Mrs Bloom), there is something wonderfully touching about her long and sometimes rambling monologue. She goes from melancholy to romance, to excitement, to disobedience, to finally reconciliation and love.
Many essays and even whole books have been written about how Joyce based his fictional heroine on his mistress Nora Barnacle (much later became Nora Joyce), who Joyce absolutely worshipped.
Nora Barnacle (21 March 1884 – 10 April 1951) was the muse and wife of Irish author James Joyce.
"Well, Jim, I haven't read any of your books but I'll have to someday because they must be good considering how well they sell."
Dictionary of Quotations, p. 452, To her husband James Joyce, Recalled on her death, 12 April 1951
Joyce was madly in love with Nora, and his ideas were extremely progressive in 1922 and some still are radical in 2022.
Although Joyce was recognised as a literary genius in his own lifetime and he never got delusions of grandeur and never attempted to become a saint. I think he understood human frailty & imperfectability at a very deep level, and that is why I expect he wasn't deluded by his literary genius status?
Getting back to Joyce's muse, one of Nora Barnacle's currently more popular and funny quotes
"What do you think ... of a book with a big, fat, horrible married woman as the heroine?"
I feel I've heard this multiple times in 2022, and it shows plenty of wit if a bit harsh.
The main goodreads quote for Nora is also very funny
“I go to bed and then that man sits in the next room and continues laughing about his own writing. And then I knock at the door, and I say, now Jim, stop writing or stop laughing.”
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6884195.Nora_Barnacle
So the closing words Ulysses goto Molly, based on Penelope, and I believe this more carnal and femine section is what excited Marilyn Monroe, who can still be seen reading Ulysses, the internet is awash with images like this
Penelope (/pəˈnɛləpiː/ pə-NEL-ə-pee; Greek: Πηνελόπεια, Pēnelópeia, or Greek: Πηνελόπη, Pēnelópē) is a character in Homer's Odyssey. She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Penelope is known for her fidelity to her husband Odysseus, despite the attention of more than a hundred suitors during his absence.
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