James Joyce

Dubliners by James Joyce

Dubliners, short-story collection by James Joyce, written in 1904-07, published in 1914. Three stories he had published under the pseudonym Stephen Dedalus served as the basis for Dubliners. Dubliners has a well-defined structure along with interweaving, recurring symbols. The first three stories, narrated in the first person, portray children; the next four deal with young adults, and, like the remaining stories, are told by a third person, whose tone and sensibility shifts to reflect that of the changing protagonists; the following four stories concern mature life from middle age onward; and the next three, the public life of politics, art, and religion. The 15th and final story, "The Dead," is considered not only the jewel of the collection but also a world masterpiece.