SOURCE: Lloyd, David. “Counterparts: Dubliners, Masculinity, and Temperance Nationalism.” In Future Crossings: Literature between Philosophy and Cultural Studies, edited by Krzysztof Ziarek and Seamus Deane, pp. 193-220. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2000.

In the following essay, Lloyd discusses Joyce's story, “Counterparts,” as an exploration of Irish societal definitions of masculinity in public and private life.

The man returned to the lower office and sat down again at his desk. He stared intently at the incomplete phrase: In no case shall the said Bernard Bodley be … and thought how strange it was that the last three words began with the same letter. The chief clerk began to hurry Miss Parker, saying she would never have the letters typed in time for the post. The man listened to the clicking of the machine for a few minutes and then set to work to finish his copy. But his head was...