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Overview
James Joyce’s “Clay” is a cautionary tale about loneliness and middle-age
. It tells the story of an unmarried woman named Maria who attends the Hallow Eve party of the man that she used to nurse when he was a boy. “Clay” is part of Joyce’s Dubliners, a collection of fifteen short stories set in Dublin, which was first published in 1914. “Clay” and the fourteen other short stories offer a realistic depiction of what life was like for the Irish middle-class in the early 20th century.Read a full story summary, a full story analysis, and explanations of important quotes from “Clay.”
