“PENELOPE” WITHOUT THE BODY
In: Joyce, "Penelope" and the Body
Author:
MAUD ELLMANN
MAUD ELLMANN
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Abstract
This essay challenges the critical consensus that “Penelope” identifies woman with the body. Pointing out that “Penelope” is more concerned with letters than with flesh, it argues that Molly’s discourse represents a form of disembodiment, in which her flesh is rewoven into words. The final kiss melts away any commonsense conception of the book-body as gendered, individuated, self-contained, transuming both body and language into a “posthuman” topography of intensities.