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Leopold Bloom
A
thirty-eight-year-old advertising canvasser in Dublin. Bloom was
raised in Dublin by his Hungarian Jewish father, Rudolph, and his
Irish Catholic mother, Ellen. He enjoys reading and thinking about
science and inventions and explaining his knowledge to others. Bloom
is compassionate and curious and loves music. He is preoccupied
by his estrangement from his wife, Molly.
Read an
in-depth analysis of Leopold Bloom.
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Marion (Molly) Bloom
Leopold Bloom’s wife. Molly Bloom is thirty-three
years old, plump with dark coloring, good-looking, and flirtatious.
She is not well-educated, but she is nevertheless clever and opinionated.
She is a professional singer, raised by her Irish father, Major Brian
Tweedy, in Gibraltar. Molly is impatient with Bloom, especially
about his refusal to be intimate with her since the death of their
son, Rudy, eleven years ago.
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Stephen Dedalus
An aspiring poet in his early twenties. Stephen is
intelligent and extremely well-read, and he likes music. He seems
to exist more for himself, in a cerebral way, than as a member of
a community or even the group of medical students that he associates
with. Stephen was extremely religious as a child, but now he struggles
with issues of faith and doubt in the wake of his mother’s death,
which occurred less than a year ago.
Read an
in-depth analysis of Stephen Dedalus.
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Malachi (Buck) Mulligan
A medical student and a friend of Stephen. Buck
Mulligan is plump and well-read, and manages to ridicule nearly
everything. He is well-liked by nearly everyone for his bawdy and
witty jokes except Stephen, Simon, and Bloom.
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Haines
A
folklore student at Oxford who is particularly interested in studying
Irish people and culture. Haines is often unwittingly condescending.
He has been staying at the Martello tower where Stephen and Buck live.
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Hugh (“Blazes”) Boylan
The manager for Molly’s upcoming concert in Belfast.
Blazes Boylan is well-known and well-liked around town, though he
seems somewhat sleazy, especially toward women. Boylan has become interested
in Molly, and they commence an affair during the afternoon of the
novel.
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Millicent (Milly) Bloom
Molly and Leopold Bloom’s fifteen-year-old daughter,
who does not actually appear in Ulysses. The Blooms
recently sent Milly to live in Mullingar and learn photography.
Milly is blond and pretty and has become interested in boys—she
is dating Alec Bannon
in Mullingar.
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Simon Dedalus
Stephen
Dedalus’s father. Simon Dedalus grew up in Cork, moved to Dublin,
and was a fairly successful man until recently. Other men look up
to him, even though his home life has been in disarray since his
wife died. Simon has a good singing voice and a talent for funny
stories, and he might have capitalized on these assets if not for
his drinking habit. Simon is extremely critical of Stephen.
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A.E. (George Russell)
A.E. is the pseudonym of George Russell, a famous
poet of the Irish Literary Revival who is at the center of Irish
literary circles—circles that do not include Stephen Dedalus. He
is deeply interested in esoteric mysticism. Other men consult A.E.
for wisdom as if he were an oracle.
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Richard Best
A
librarian at the National Library. Best is enthusiastic and agreeable,
though most of his own contributions to the Hamlet conversation
in Episode Nine are points of received wisdom.
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Edy Boardman
One
of Gerty MacDowell’s friends. Gerty’s uppity demeanor annoys Edy,
who attempts to deflate Gerty
with jibes.
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Josie (née Powell) and Denis Breen
Josie Powell and Bloom were interested in each other
when they were younger. Josie was good-looking and flirtatious.
After Bloom married Molly, Josie married Denis. Denis Breen is slightly
insane and seems paranoid. Looking after her “dotty” husband has
taken its toll on Josie, who now seems haggard.
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Cissy, Jacky, and Tommy Caffrey
Cissy Caffrey is one of Gerty MacDowell’s best friends.
She is something of a tomboy and quite frank. She looks after her
younger toddler brothers, Jacky and Tommy.
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The citizen
An
older Irish patriot who champions the Nationalist cause. Though
the citizen seems to work for the cause in no official capacity,
others look to him for news and opinions. He was formerly an athlete
in Irish sports. He is belligerent and xenophobic.
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Martha Clifford
A woman with whom Bloom corresponds under the pseudonym
Henry Flower. Martha’s letters are strewn with spelling mistakes,
and she is sexually daring in only a pedestrian way.
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Bella Cohen
A
conniving brothel-mistress. Bella Cohen is large and slightly mannish,
with dark coloring. She is somewhat concerned about respectability,
and has a son at Oxford, whose tuition is paid by one of her customers.
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Martin Cunningham
A leader among Bloom’s circle of friends. Martin
Cunningham can be sympathetic toward others, and he sticks up for
Bloom at various points during the day, yet he still treats Bloom
as an outsider. He has a face that resembles Shakespeare’s.
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Garrett Deasy
Headmaster
of the boys’ school where Stephen teaches. Deasy is a Protestant
from the north of Ireland, and he is respectful of the English government.
Deasy is condescending to Stephen and not a good listener. His overwrought
letter to the editor about foot-and-mouth disease among cattle is
the object of mockery among Dublin men for the rest of the day.
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Dilly, Katey, Boody, and Maggy Dedalus
Stephen’s younger sisters. They try to keep the
Dedalus household running after their mother’s death. Dilly seems
to have aspirations, such as learning French.
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Patrick Dignam, Mrs. Dignam, and Patrick
Dignam, Jr.
Patrick Dignam is an
acquaintance of Bloom who passed away very recently, apparently
from drinking. His funeral is today, and Bloom and others get together to
raise some money for the widow Dignam and her children, who were
left with almost nothing after Paddy used his life insurance to
pay off a debt.
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Ben Dollard
A
man known around Dublin for his superior bass voice. Ben Dollard’s
business and career went under a while ago. He seems good-natured
but is perhaps rattled by a past drinking habit.
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John Eglinton
An
essayist who spends time at the National Library. John Eglinton
is affronted by Stephen’s youthful self-confidence and doubtful
of Stephen’s Hamlet theory.
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Richie, Sara (Sally), and Walter Goulding
Richie Goulding is Stephen Dedalus’s uncle; he was
Stephen’s mother, May’s, brother. Richie is a law clerk, who has
been less able to work recently because of a bad back—a fact that
makes him an object of ridicule for Simon Dedalus. Richie and Sara’s
son, Walter, is “skeweyed” and has a stutter.
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Zoe Higgins
A
prostitute in Bella Cohen’s brothel. Zoe is outgoing and good at
teasing.
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Joe Hynes
A
reporter for the Dublin newspaper who seems to be without money
often—he borrowed three pounds from Bloom and has not paid him back.
Hynes does not know Bloom well, and he appears to be good friends with
the citizen in Episode Twelve.
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Corny Kelleher
An undertaker’s assistant who is friendly with
the police.
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Mina Kennedy and Lydia Douce
The barmaids at the Ormond hotel. Mina and Lydia
are flirtatious and friendly to the men who come into the bar, though
they tend to be scornful of the opposite sex when they talk together. Miss
Douce, who is bronze-haired, seems to be the more outgoing of the
two, and she has a crush on Blazes Boylan. Miss Kennedy, who is
golden-haired, is more reserved.
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Ned Lambert
A
friend of Simon Dedalus and other men in Dublin. Ned Lambert is
often found joking and laughing. He works in a seed and grain warehouse downtown,
in what used to be St. Mary’s Abbey.
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Lenehan
A
racing editor at the Dublin newspaper, though his tip, Sceptre,
loses the Gold Cup horserace. Lenehan is a jokester and flirtatious
with women. He is mocking of Bloom but respectful of Simon and Stephen
Dedalus.
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Lynch
A
medical student and old friend of Stephen (he also appears in A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man). Lynch is used to
hearing Stephen’s pretentious and overwhelming aesthetic theories,
and he is familiar with Stephen’s stubbornness. He is seeing Kitty Ricketts.
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Thomas W. Lyster
A librarian at the National Library in Dublin, and
a Quaker. Lyster is the most solicitous of Stephen’s listeners in
Episode Nine.
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Gerty MacDowell
A woman in her early twenties from a lower-middle-class
family. Gerty suffers from a permanent limp, possibly from a bicycle
accident. She fastidiously attends to her clothing and personal
beauty regimen, and she hopes to fall in love and marry. She rarely allows
herself to think about her disability.
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John Henry Menton
A solicitor in Dublin who employed Paddy Dignam.
When Bloom and Molly were first courting, Menton was a rival for
Molly’s affections. He is disdainful of Bloom.
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Episode Twelve’s Nameless Narrator
The unnamed narrator of Episode Twelve is currently
a debt collector, though this is the most recent of many different
jobs. He enjoys feeling like he is “in the know” and has gotten
most of his gossip about the Blooms from his friend “Pisser” Burke,
who knew them when they lived at the City Arms Hotel.
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City Councillor Nannetti
A head printer for the Dublin newspaper, and a member
of Parliament. Nannetti is of mixed Italian and Irish heritage.
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J. J. O’Molloy
A
lawyer who is now out of work and money. O’Molloy is thwarted in
his attempts to borrow money from friends today. He sticks up for
Bloom in Barney Kiernan’s pub in Episode Twelve.
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Jack Power
A
friend of Simon Dedalus and Martin Cunningham and other men around
town. Power possibly works in law enforcement. He is not very nice
to Bloom.
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Kitty Ricketts
One
of the prostitutes working in Bella Cohen’s brothel. Kitty seems
to have a relationship with Lynch and has spent part of the day
with him. She is thin, and her clothing reflects her upper-class
aspirations.
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Florry Talbot
One
of the prostitutes in Bella Cohen’s brothel. Florry is plump and
seems slow but eager to please.
