Though Joyce is sympathetic to Mrs. Kearney as a character, there are a few ways in which he gently mocks her for her upper-class elitism. One of the ways he does this is by repeating her use of the French word artiste throughout the novel whenever he refers to the musicians involved in the Eire Abu Society’s concert series—a subtle example of verbal irony. Take the following passage, for example, in which Joyce introduces readers to the musician Mr. Duggan:
From this humble state [Mr. Duggan] had raised himself until he had become a first-rate artiste. He had appeared in grand opera. One night, when an operatic artiste had fallen ill, he had undertaken the part of the king in the opera of Maritana at the Queen’s Theatre. He sang his music with great feeling and volume and was warmly welcomed by the gallery; but, unfortunately, he marred the good impression by wiping his nose in his gloved hand once or twice out of thoughtlessness.
When Mrs. Kearney uses the word artiste, it is not an example of verbal irony—she genuinely believes her daughter to be such a high caliber musician that she deserves to be referred to via a stylized French phrase. But when the narrator uses it in this passage—referring to Mr. Duggan as a “first-rate artiste” and noting a different “operatic artiste” whom Mr. Duggan knew—they are using it in a sarcastic way.
This comes across in the way that the narrator calls Mr. Duggan an artiste and then describes how he “wip[ed] his nose in his gloved hand once or twice out of thoughtlessness” during his appearance in the grand opera—something a “first-rate artiste” would not do. It’s important to note that Joyce is not mocking Mr. Duggan here—rather, he's mocking Mrs. Kearny for her elitist orientation to music and the arts.
