Moulded, re-moulded, and pieced together: The origins of Joyce’s Ulysses

Abstract

Joyce’s subject notebook (MS 36,639/3) at the National Library of Ireland, the earliest available document specifically devoted to Ulysses, contains pre-compositional annotations arranged under twenty subject headings. The notebook offers not only a unique glimpse into ideas for plot and characters that were later abandoned or reconceived, but also precious information about the conceptual frameworks guiding the author’s hand while shaping his novel. In this sense, analysis of the topics “Leopold”, “Stephen”, “Weininger”, and “Jews” is especially useful to reveal some interconnecting threads of Joyce’s imagination.