Stephen Dedalus spends the early morning hours of June 16, 1904, remaining aloof

from his mocking friend, Buck Mulligan, and Bucks English acquaintance, Haines. As
Stephen leaves for work, Buck orders him to leave the house key and meet them at the
pub at 1 2 :3 0 . Stephen resents Buck.

Around 10:00 A. M. , Stephen teaches a history lesson to his class at Garrett Deasys
boys school. After class, Stephen meets with Deasy to receive his wages. The narrowminded and prejudiced Deasy lectures Stephen on life. Stephen agrees to take Deasys
editorial letter about cattle disease to acquaintances at the newspaper.

Stephen spends the remainder of his morning walking alone on Sandymount Strand,
thinking critically about his younger self and about perception. He composes a poem in
his head and writes it down on a scrap torn from Deasys letter.

At 8:00 A . M. the same morning, Leopold Bloom fixes breakfast and brings his wife her
mail and breakfast in bed. One of her letters is from Mollys concert tour manager,
Blazes Boylan (Bloom suspects he is also Mollys lover)Boylan will visit at 4:00 this
afternoon. Bloom returns downstairs, reads a letter from their daughter, Milly, then goes
to the outhouse.

At 10:00 A.M. , Bloom picks up an amorous letter from the post officehe is
corresponding with a woman named Martha Clifford under the pseudonym Henry
Flower. He reads the tepid letter, ducks briefly into a church, then orders Mollys lotion
from the pharmacist. He runs into Bantam Lyons, who mistakenly gets the impression
that Bloom is giving him a tip on the horse Throwaway in the afternoons Gold Cup race.

Around 11:00 A. M. , Bloom rides with Simon Dedalus (Stephens father), Martin
Cunningham, and Jack Power to the funeral of Paddy Dignam. The men treat Bloom as
somewhat of an outsider. At the funeral, Bloom thinks about the deaths of his son and
his father.

One Kid Too Many and a Deadbeat Dad

Welcome to The Bottoms. With a name like that, this neighborhood can't be too nice,
can it? The opening three chapters of the book give us some background on the village
of Bestwood and this neighborhood in it, which is where Gertrude and Walter Morel
have moved with their children.
Being from a prim and proper family, Gertrude's fell for Walter because he was a young
miner who danced well and laughed at danger. But he changed quickly. As time goes
on, we watch as Walter turns into a boozehound and abusive father.
Gertrude hates living in poverty, and her situation only gets worse as she gives birth to
her third and fourth children: Paul and Arthur. We also learn in this part of the story that
William ends up taking Walter's place in Gertrude's heart. Gertrude is a very intelligent
woman who bet everything on her marriage and lost.
So now she has to content herself with raising her children. And she way overdoes it
with her love and investment in them.
By showing us all of these family issues and character flaws up front, Lawrence uses
the exposition stage of the novel to lay the groundwork for the conflicts that will plague
the young Paul Morel for the rest of this book especially after William dies and Mrs.
Morel focuses all her stunted desires on Paul.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
Dead Brother + Homewrecker = Unhappy Mom
As William (the oldest son) grows up, he turns out to be pretty hot stuff. Soon, he's
making a lot of money for the family, and moves to London. But his big plans for the
future hit a little snag when he suddenly dies.
Mrs. Morel is devastated. But hey, no worries, she's got another son named Paul who
she's more than happy to focus her attention on.
Another conflict arises when Paul meets a young girl named Miriam Leivers and totally
falls in love with her well, sort of. In any case, Paul and Miriam's complicated
relationship basically serves as the main conflict for the rest of the book. Because of
course, Mrs. Morel wants Paul all to herself.
The weird love triangle between Paul, Miriam, and Mrs. Morel escalates and escalates.
Paul feels like he has to choose between Miriam, his mother, and even himselfwhat
about his own career aspirations, for example?
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)

Gone Mommy Gone

Eventually, Paul finds out that his mother is living with a tumor on the side of her belly
that's the size of two fists. That's pretty big. Mrs. Morel and his sister, Annie, totally guilttrip him about not noticing because he's been spending so much time having sex with a
woman named Clara Dawes.
On the one hand, he's totally sad that his mom's going to die. But on the other hand, he
actually gets frustrated that the stubborn old woman takes so long to die.
One day, over dinner, Paul tells Annie that he's going to give his mother an overdose of
morphine to kill her. It's unclear if he ever goes through with this, though Mrs. Morel
does finally lose consciousness and die.
You can tell this is the climax of the story because all of the action and conflict in the
book has in some way stemmed from Mrs. Morel's attachment to Paul and vice versa.
Dun dun dun.
The relationship between Mrs. Morel and her son has always complicated Paul's love
for Miriam. With Mrs. Morel gone, though, Paul might just be able to live like a normal
adult. But does he?
Falling Action
Paul Hits the Town
With his mother dead, Paul loses all sense of direction in his life and starts drinking and
hanging out in bars, just like dear old Dad. It's pretty sad to see Paul go down this road.
But, as readers, we hold out hope for the fact that he'll go crawling back to Miriam
Leivers.
She'll make him into a good person, right?
When Paul actually approaches Miriam, all of their old cat-and-mouse habits get the
best of them. Neither one is willing to go out on a limb and ask the other to marry them.
So the romantic reconciliation fails, and Paul and Miriam go their separate ways.
The book teases us with the possibility for more romance between them one more time,
but then snatches it away and says, "Guess what, you've entered the Falling Action
portion of the book. Stuff is winding down, and nothing major is going to happen."
Half of you might be disappointed, but the other half might realize that you've already
read four hundred pages, and you don't need four hundred more.
Resolution (Denouement)

Hooray for Life. Maybe?

After his failed meeting with Miriam, Paul thinks about killing himself so he can be with
his mommy again. But at the last second, he totally pulls himself up by the bootstraps
and decides that he's going to keep living on no matter how terrible his life gets.
From one perspective, the book denies us closure because Paul never reconciles with
Miriam. From another perspective, the last paragraph gives us a tidy little resolution:
Paul chooses life. And we're left to wonder if he ever manages to do anything good with
his life.

Initial Situation
The Helmers have a seemingly perfect, happy home.
In the beginning, all seems well. Nora and Torvald Helmer appear to be the perfect,
happy couple. Torvald is getting a new job managing the bank. They won't have to worry
about money ever again. We meet Nora's old friend, Mrs. Christine Linde, who's fallen
on hard times. Torvald gives her a job. Also, there's Dr. Rank, a Helmer family friend
who is slowly dying from tuberculosis. (So not everything is great.)
Conflict
Krogstad brings trouble. Nora is afraid.
Things start to go bad for Nora when Krogstad shows up. She borrowed money from
him and forged a signature in the bargain. Now Torvald wants to fire Krogstad from his
job at the bank. He threatens to reveal Nora's little secret if he gets fired.
Complication
Nora begs. Torvald fires. Krogstad blackmails.
Nora begs Torvald not to fire Krogstad. Her begging only makes her husband mad and
he fires Krogstad anyway. Krogstad tells Nora that he's going to blackmail both her and
Torvald and there's nothing she can do about it. He drops a letter detailing everything in
the mailbox. Nora tells Christine her troubles, and Christine runs off to try to talk to
Krogstad.
Climax

Nora dances the tarantella.

To stall Torvald from opening the mail, Nora dances a wild and crazy tarantella. She
convinces him that he must do nothing but help her practice until they go to a party the
next night. For one night at least she is safe.
Suspense
Nora allows Torvald to open the letter.
Krogstad and Christine get together. Krogstad has a change of heart about the
blackmail, but Christine tells him to still let Torvald read the letter. She thinks there are
too many lies in the Helmer household. Nora and Torvald come home from the party. Dr.
Rank stops by to let everybody know he's dying. Nora finally allows Torvald to open the
letter.
Denouement
Torvald flips out. Nora severs the marriage.
When Torvald finds out Nora's secret, he flips out on her, saying all kinds of terrible
things. Krogstad, overjoyed at being with Christine, sends a letter... saying he's not
blackmailing them anymore. Torvald forgives Nora, but she doesn't forgive him. She
tells him that they're strangers and that they've never had real marriage. She's been his
doll, not his wife.
Conclusion
Torvald hopes. Nora slams the door.
The play concludes with Torvald alone in the room. He seems to have a last-minute
revelation. Perhaps he's realized what the most wonderful thing of all really is. We don't
know for sure. The last thing we hear is Nora slamming the door as she leaves. Is it
really for forever? Who knows? Either way, both Helmers have finally woken up to the
emptiness of their lives.
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark.
Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost
resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited
the throne and married the kings widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the
watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost,
it speaks to him, declaring ominously that it is indeed his fathers spirit, and that he was

murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man
who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the dawn.

Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his fathers death, but, because he is
contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep melancholy and
even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about the princes erratic
behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They employ a pair of Hamlets friends,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius, the pompous Lord
Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia,
Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though Hamlet
certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a
nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages.

A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test
his uncles guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling the
sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if
Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the
theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this
proves his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. Since he believes
that killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudiuss soul to heaven, Hamlet
considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to wait. Claudius, now
frightened of Hamlets madness and fearing for his own safety, orders that Hamlet be
sent to England at once.

Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden behind
a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is hiding
there. He draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this crime,
he is immediately dispatched to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However,
Claudiuss plan for Hamlet includes more than banishment, as he has given
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed orders for the King of England demanding that
Hamlet be put to death.

In the aftermath of her fathers death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in the
river. Poloniuss son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to Denmark in a
rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his fathers and sisters

deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet indicating that the prince
has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked his ship en route to England, Claudius
concocts a plan to use Laertes desire for revenge to secure Hamlets death. Laertes will
fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but Claudius will poison Laertes blade so that if he
draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a backup plan, the king decides to poison a goblet,
which he will give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet score the first or second hits of the
match. Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelias funeral is taking place.
Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact always loved
Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes one must be prepared to
die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish courtier named Osric arrives on
Claudiuss orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes.

The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but declines to drink from the
kings proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink from it and is swiftly killed by the
poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet, though Hamlet does not die of the
poison immediately. First, Laertes is cut by his own swords blade, and, after revealing
to Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the queens death, he dies from the blades
poison. Hamlet then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to
drink down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately
after achieving his revenge.

At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras, who has led an army to
Denmark and attacked Poland earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from
England, who report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is stunned
by the gruesome sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead. He
moves to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlets last request, tells him
Hamlets tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried away in a manner
befitting a fallen soldier.