Cities and Rivers in the Wake

Cities and Rivers in the Wake

In Finnegans Wake, Anna LiviaPlurabelle (ALP) is Humphrey C Earwicker’s (HCE) wife. She appears in many guises throughout the book, and is frequently associated with rivers. ALP is symbolically mother earth, or the great mother of all things, and thus embodies the fertility and flow of life-giving river waters. Remember that every major civilization started on the shore of a river, underscoring its historical importance to human life.

One way to look at the book is that HCE (the father) is Dublin, and ALP (the mother) is the Liffey River (river of life?)that flows through the heart of the city. The product of their fertile union is the living and dying, breathing and gasping, ordered and chaotic city of Dublin. Furthermore, the archetypal couple represents every city and river in the world, as explained in the following quote from Wikipedia:

“The most extensive discussion of ALP comes in chapter I.8, in which hundreds of names of rivers are woven into the tale of ALP's life. Similarly hundreds of city names are woven into "Haveth Childers Everywhere", the corresponding passage at the end of III.3 which focuses on HCE. As a result it is generally contended that HCE personifies the Viking-founded city of Dublin, and his wife ALP personifies the river Liffey, on whose banks the city was built.”

Activity 1

Define the literary technique known asstream of consciousness and explain how it can be associated with a river. From what you know of Finnegans Wake from the introductory activities, why would a stream of consciousness style work well for representing a dream? (200 words)

Rivers, River and more Rivers

Section 1.8, which focuses on ALP, is one of the most famous passages in the book. The section relates the tale of two old women who are washing clothes on opposite banks of the river Liffeyand gossiping about ALP. As they speak, night descends and it becomes darker and darker. The river waters begin to rise and swell with every word they speak and are pushed further and further apart, until they can no longer see or hear each other. The passage ends when one of the women turns into a tree, the other a stone.

Anna LiviaPlurabelle, as the passage is typically called, is replete with river references. The women are washing clothes by a river, gossiping about ALP, who represents all rivers (and is the veryLiffey river where the women are “airing the dirty laundry” or gossiping). Also, there are literally hundreds of river names and names for river in various languages punned into the passage. Finally, Joyce would say that when read aloud, the reader can hear river sounds gushing from the text.

The importance of rivers is attested to by the first word in the book: “riverrun”. Technically, Finnegans Wake does not have a first word, as the last sentence continues on the first page, making the book a complete circle. Like every word in the Wake, riverrun is deceptively simple.

Activity 2

Look at the Finnegans Web entry for riverrun* and the various interpretations that are proposed for its potential meaning. Note that almost every interpretation speaks to the book as a whole. Peruse the Finnegans Web entry on “riverun” and choose any four interpretations and discuss how they might relate to the book as whole. For example, reveronmeans “let us dream” in French, thus alluding to the book being a dream.

* Full address:

Taking the Plunge: Listening to Wake

You are now prepared to delve into the murky waters of the Wake. This is your first exposure to the Joyce’s masterpiece, and should keep the following in mind:

1)Listen to it as music, not as language. Listen for the tone, the sound effects, and the quirky Irish brogue. Joyce loved the sound and music of words and exploited their auditory quality in every aspect of the Wake. He said it was meant to be heard more than read.

2)Enjoy it without feeling the pressure to understand it.

3)Remember that it is meant to be funny. You should absorb it in the spirit comedy, as strange as that may seem.

Thislink* is to a 9-minute recording of Joyce himself reading Anna LiviaPlurabellein 1929. Somewhat disturbingly, but comically, the filmmaker for this video animated Joyce’s headstone and matched it with the recording. Please listen to the entire piece. It’s a bit scratchy due to its age, but the words are captioned. Please listen to this with earphones, or ask your teacher to let you (and perhaps a partner or two) listen to it in a quiet spot that will not disturb the rest of the class.

If you are interested, you can read the passage read by Joyce in the recording - it begins here on line 11.

* If you have trouble accessing the link, I will also post it in the additional resources column on the SSD

Activity 3

What are your thoughts after listening to the passage? Did you hate it? Love it? Were you intrigued? Mystified? Wonder why he bothered? Does he pass as an Irish washerwoman? Please write 200 words describing your reaction/reception to hearing a passage of the work.

Activity 4

As mentioned previously, literally hundreds of river names are punned into the ALP section, implying that she is all rivers. Look over the Anna LiviaPlurabelle passage that begins hereand runs to page 216 (you can flip the pages at the top of the screen). Scan the passage for: the names of rivers, the word river in another language (rio, riviere, etc.), or references to river parts (bank, etc). You must find 10 river related words and fill the chart below.