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Alexa Gregorian
Professor Olson
ENGL114B
18 February 2015
Mother & Daughter Social Restrictions
In many countries, the social class structure defines how a person is to live their life, and
the opportunities that are given to them. In both A Mother and The Boarding House by
James Joyce, we see that within the Irish culture, a mothers influence will define her daughters
life. A Mother by James Joyce is a short story about an inexperienced Dubliner named Mr.
Holohan that arranges with Mrs. Kearney for her daughter Kathleen to perform on the piano for
four shows. When the first three concerts are attended, Mrs. Kearney demands payment for all
the performances before the fourth show, delaying the start of that evening's entertainment.
Finally, Mrs. Kearney refuses to let Kathleen play during the second half of the concert because
she has not been paid the entire promised fee. The Boarding House, also written by James
Joyce, is about a woman named Mrs. Mooney who has been separated from her abusive
alcoholic husband and runs a boarding house full of music-hall performers and young Dubliner
clerks. Her daughter Polly, works as a typist and labors as a housekeeper at home. When Polly
becomes involved with one of the boarders, a clerk in his thirties named Mr. Doran, Mrs.
Mooney does not interfere. Instead, she allows the affair to continue until other lodgers at the
house notice it themselves. Then, she insists that Doran marries her daughter. Despite the fact
that he does not love her, and that his family will look down on the marriage because the
Mooneys belong to a lower social class, Doran agrees to marry Polly. Both of these short stories
demonstrate how Irish mothers manipulate their daughters into having no say in their happiness

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or lifestyle. One important factor to note is that each story takes place within the early 1900s and
much has changed since then, for the better. We perceive through these short stories by James
Joyce how women in the 1900s often alienated their daughters by being manipulative and
unaffectionate. These mothers define their own daughters emotional space by the overbearing
attitude they show towards them.
We distinguish through the two stories that social restrictions placed upon women
highlight the fact that they were considered less valuable than men. Their work focused mostly
on handling the family finances and domestic or sales work. A Mother shows just how women
were thought of during this time period. In the short story, Mrs. Kearney arranges for her
daughter Kathleen to play the piano for several shows. Kathleen was shorted her promised sum
for the performances, and Mrs. Kearney refuses to let her daughter perform. Kathleen is being set
up to be taken advantage of and her mother pulls the plug on the whole performance before that
can take place. Mrs. Kearney takes control of her daughter several times throughout the story.
Kathleen has no say in whether or not she wishes to perform the piano. Mrs. Kearney takes the
role of being Kathleens manager and rarely shows her motherly affection. She takes control of
the situation with payment by stating, she wont go on without her money (125). Mrs. Kearney
speaks for her daughter, while Kathleen allows it to happen. She never tries to tell her mother
that she should be responsible for her own contracts and performances. This demonstrates how
family members have the ability to change a persons emotional space. Kathleen isnt
comfortable standing up to her mother, so she will wait in the shadows and perform on cue and
as instructed.
These brief stories exemplify the minimal motherly instincts women had and that social
constraints were ordinary for the time period. The Boarding House demonstrates another

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example of a demanding mother in the early 1900s. Mrs. Mooney lives in a lower standing class
and wants what is best for her daughter, Polly. She runs a boarding house filled with men and has
her daughter working for her. Her daughter begins to have an affair with one of the men in the
house. Instead of reacting like a loving mother offering advice and a way out of this scandal,
Mrs. Mooney remains quiet and lets the situation pan out. We see in this quote how Mrs.
Mooney would rather use her daughter as a source of advertisement for her business; besides
young men like to feel that there is a young woman not very far away (51). In todays society, a
mother would never think of or use their daughter to make money for their business like Mrs.
Mooney did. In my opinion, this proves that she has no motherly instincts towards Polly. An
additional example is how all the men in the boarding house call Mrs. Mooney The Madam.
She was essentially the female proprietress of a house of prostitution. Right away, this quote
reveals no protective or caring attributes towards Polly. It makes her mother look like she is
using her daughter to make a fortune for herself and her career. Mrs. Mooney displays another
example of how a mother is using her own social pull to change the emotional space of her
daughter.
Social class and moderate wealth, influence lifes choices and affect ones identity. In the
early 1900s, mothers did not cognize how to apply their influence and still be able to approach
their girls in a fonder manner. In each short story we notice patterns of poor power in both social
classes. Mrs. Kearney and Kathleen come from a higher class than Mrs. Mooney and Polly. Mrs.
Kearney still manipulates her daughter much in the same way Mrs. Mooney manipulates Polly.
In A Mother, Mrs. Kearney is solely out for the money she believes her Kathleen is owed. She
has no desire for her daughter to accomplish better things in her life or achieve any major goals,
whereas Mrs. Mooney is coming from a much different place. Mrs. Mooney wants the best

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opportunities for her Polly and she knows that she wont be able to accomplish that without her
marrying into a better family. Meanwhile, she lets Polly get involved with an older man, simply
to better her social class. Mrs. Mooney began to think of sending Polly back to typewriting
when she noticed that something was going on between Polly and one of the young men. She
watched the pair and kept her own counsel (51). If that were my mother, she would approach
me right away and ask what I am doing with an older gentleman. Instead, Mrs. Mooney sees
what is going on between her daughter and Doran and lets the situation unfold itself. I believe
that with both mothers, Kathleen and Polly have learned from their mothers mistakes and
possessed their own identities and opinions on right from wrong.
In todays society, a mother has a great influence on her daughters self-esteem and
desires. We can see how a mother has significant impact on her children through a Mothers
Identities and Gender Socialization of Daughters. Mothers have a heartfelt influence on their
daughters self-awareness and aspirations. The stringency of parents gendered messages and
daughters resultant gender schemas are consequential. When parents do not enforce strict gender
norms, children are more likely to have flexible attitudes about their own and other people's
gender roles (Rittenour 215). Immediately, this quote stood out to me because I can relate this to
both Mrs. Kearney and Mrs. Mooney. Their behaviors and actions are being watched and
observed by their daughters who are supposed to follow their footsteps by being a better mother
for their children. Both mothers from the two stories show no proper motherly intuition or
affection towards their children. Kathleen and Polly have only grown up around that type of
conduct so they dont know what is appropriate.
Mothers have a powerful effect on their childrens lives as adults. In the journal Mothers
and Daughters: Understanding the Roles, the point is made that a mother has a role to play when

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she has children. Her children are going to look up to her as a mother figure for when they grow
up and have kids of their own. As daughters, our learned expectations of our mothers are of
great proportions: Mother-love is supposed to be continuous and unconditional (Pildes 2). In A
Mother and The Boarding House, neither Mrs. Kearney nor Mrs. Mooney show any kind of
motherly aspects towards their daughters. Mrs. Kearney is very aggressive and demanding
around her daughter and the way she spoke with Mr. Holoman about Kathleens contract. Mrs.
Mooney used Polly as an informal ad to acquire business and trade in deals. Kathleen and Polly
have not experienced how a normal mother should react to unusual circumstances so they believe
what they have been around for several years is ordinary. Having controlling and demanding
mothers their entire life is all that Kathleen and Polly know. We are well aware that present day
parenting is more distinct now then back in the 1900s.
A Mother and The Boarding House were clear examples of parenting in Ireland
around the early 20th century. Mothers lacked power in society and the only path to obtain control
was by being demanding and restraint to their daughters because that was the best route to take.
Mothers were very controlling of their daughters because of the society they were besieged by.
At the time, no one gave women any power in society so the only way to receive that dominance
was by being deceitful. To conclude, both stories from James Joyce A Mother and The
Boarding House, depict the role of mothers in Ireland during the turn of the 20 th century. Due to
social restrictions placed on women, parenting was very different and challenging during that
time. Because of these limitations their daughters emotional space was defined by controlling
maternal figures with very little affection.

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Works Cited

Joyce, James. Dubliners. New York: Norton, 2006. Print.

Pildes, Judith. Mothers and Daughters: Understanding the Roles. Frontiers: A Journal of
Women Studies (1978): 1-11. Print.
Rittenour, Christine E. Mothers Identities and Gender Socialization of Daughters. Southern
Communication Journal (2014): 215-234. Print.
"Social Services Took My Children." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 14 Apr.
2015.