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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Mother, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class, Ambition, and Corruption
Irish Nationalism, Colonization, and Failure
Paralysis and Decay
Gender and Power
Summary
Analysis
Mr Holohan is the assistant secretary of the Eire Abu Society. Because of his bad leg, his friends call him “Hoppy Holohan.” He has spent the past month trying to arrange a series of concerts in Dublin, and although he spends a lot of time advertising for the concerts, a woman named Mrs Kearney ends up pulling everything together.
Mr Holohan’s limp is the first sign of paralysis in “A Mother.” His physical disability mirrors the Irish Nationalist movement’s inability to effect change for Ireland in a lasting, meaningful way: both Mr Holohan and the Nationalist movement “limp” along without accomplishing much. And the detail that Mrs Kearney ends up pulling together most of the concert details underscores how ineffective Mr Holohan is as a spokesman for the Nationalist cause.
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Mrs Kearney received an education from an upper-class convent, including instruction in music and French. At school, her stubbornness made it difficult for her to make friends. When she was of marrying age, she impressed many people with her manners and her piano playing, but despite her skills, none of the men she met seemed extraordinary enough to give her a “brilliant” life, and she dealt with her disappointment by secretly eating a lot of Turkish Delight. Once she was a bit old to still be unmarried, people started to gossip about her, so she married Mr Kearney, a boot manufacturer, “out of spite.”
Joyce’s description of Mrs Kearney’s past establishes the level of wealth she is accustomed to, complete with a high-class education. And her stubbornness foreshadows the conflict she will get into with the Eire Abu Society. However, the detail that she uses her piano-playing to attract a husband hints at how limited her choices in life are despite her wealth: as a woman, the only way she can actively determine her lifestyle is by choosing whom to marry. In this light, her stubbornness and her high expectations seem more sympathetic as she takes care in choosing what is really best for her. At the same time, when she marries Mr Kearney to silence the gossip about her, she chooses to keep up appearances instead of waiting for real love, revealing how highly she prioritizes her social status.
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Mr Kearney is significantly older than Mrs Kearney, and he’s very serious. While Mrs Kearney has come to appreciate him and is a good wife, she has never completely abandoned her romantic ideals. Mr Kearney is “sober, thrifty, and pious,” has a brown beard, and takes Communion on the first Friday of every month with or without his wife.
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The Kearneys are very attuned to one another’s needs and Mr Kearney is a good father, putting money into accounts for his two daughters to ensure that they will each have hundred-pound dowries when they turn 24. Mr Kearney sent his oldest daughter, Kathleen, to a convent like the one her mother attended, and he paid for her to study music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He regularly takes his family to nice seaside resorts in Skerries, Howth, or Greystones during the summer.
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Once the Irish Revival became popular, Mrs Kearney decided to “take advantage of her daughter’s name,” Kathleen, and have her learn to speak and write to her friends in Irish. When Mr Kearney and his family attend Sunday mass at the pro-Cathedral, a temporary cathedral in Dublin, people wait for the Kearneys outside the church to gossip about music and Irish Nationalism. Kathleen Kearney is well-known in Dublin for being musically gifted, kind, and “a believer” in the revival of the Irish language.
Mrs Kearney, pleased with Kathleen’s fame, is not surprised when Mr Holohan approaches her to ask if Kathleen would be the piano accompanist for a series of four concerts his Society will host in the Antient Concert Rooms, a public meeting-hall in Dublin. Mrs Kearney invites him into her drawing-room, offers him wine and “the silver biscuit barrel,” and works with him to set a contract for Kathleen so that she will receive eight guineas for her performance.
Because Mr Holohan is inexperienced in event planning, Mrs Kearney helps him write the bills for the concert and order the performers. With her “tact,” she decides which “artistes” should go in what order and how the bills advertise them, putting some performers’ names in “capitals” and others in “small type.” She balances comedic performers with serious singers and makes sure the audience will stay entertained by putting “doubtful” performers between sure audience favorites. Mr Holohan asks for her opinion nearly every day throughout the planning process, and she is always friendly and thoughtful—and keeps giving Mr Holohan plenty of wine.
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Encouraged by how well the planning is going, Mrs Kearney goes out and buys lace dress trim from an expensive fabric shop in Dublin to add to Kathleen’s performing dress. Although she knows how expensive it is, she believes it is worth it. Then, she buys a dozen two-shilling tickets to give to friends who “could not be trusted to come otherwise.” She thinks of everything and, as a result, “everything that was to be done was done.”
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The four concerts are scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but when Mrs Kearney and Kathleen arrive at the venue on Wednesday night, Mrs Kearney is not impressed with what she sees. A few young, underdressed stewards idle in the vestibule, and when Mrs Kearney looks down the hall, she realizes why: not enough people have shown up. While at first Mrs Kearney wonders if she is too early, it is almost eight o’clock.
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Backstage in the dressing-room, Mrs Kearney meets the secretary of the Eire Abu Society, Mr Fitzpatrick, a small man with a “white vacant face,” a brown hat perched “carelessly” on his head, and a “flat” Dublin accent. As he speaks to her, he gnaws on one of the ends of the concert program. Mr Holohan comes in every so often with reports from the box office, and Mr Fitzpatrick appears to “bear disappointments lightly.”
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As Mr Holohan pops in and out, reporting box office numbers to Mr Fitzpatrick, the “artistes” talk nervously amongst themselves. At almost half past eight, the few people waiting in the hall ask for the performance to begin, and in response, Mr Fitzpatrick smiles “vacantly” at the room and declares that he supposes they had better get started. Mrs Kearney again notes his accent’s flatness and glares at him before asking Kathleen if she is ready to perform.
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When she has the opportunity, Mrs Kearney pulls Mr Holohan to the side and asks him why the turnout is so low. Mr Holohan replies that he isn’t sure, but he figures that the Committee must have made a mistake when they decided on four concerts, since four seem to be too many. Mrs Kearney tells Mr Holohan that the “artistes” performing are not good, and Mr Holohan agrees. He tells her that the Committee has decided to let the first three concerts be mediocre and save all the talent for the final Saturday night show.
Once Mr Holohan finishes explaining, Mrs Kearney says nothing in reply and, after watching the disappointing concert go on—and the crowd thin out—she begins to regret spending so much money and making such an effort on the series. Something about the concert doesn’t seem right to her, and she particularly doesn’t care for Mr Fitzpatrick’s “vacant” smile. She holds her tongue until the end of the concert, and everyone goes home just before ten.
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Compared to the Wednesday concert, the Thursday concert is much better attended. However, when Mrs Kearney looks at the crowd, she can see that it is “filled with paper”—full of people who have been admitted to the theater for free. The audience behaves poorly throughout the evening. Nevertheless, Mr Fitzpatrick appears to be having a good time, talking and laughing with friends occasionally, completely unaware of Mrs Kearney glaring at him, irritated with his behavior.
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During the Thursday evening concert, Mrs Kearney learns that the Friday concert will be cancelled, and the Committee will do everything in its power to make Saturday’s show a full house. As soon as she learns about the Committee’s plans, she goes looking for Mr Holohan. She stops him while he is limping over to a young woman to bring her lemonade and asks him if it is true that the Friday concert will be cancelled. He tells her that it is true, and Mrs Kearney insists that the cancellation shouldn’t affect Kathleen’s contract. Mr Holohan, who seems to be in a hurry, tells Mrs Kearney that she ought to talk to Mr Fitzpatrick. Feeling increasingly worried, Mrs Kearney flags down Mr Fitzpatrick.
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Once Mrs Kearney gets Mr Fitzpatrick’s attention, she reminds him that Kathleen has signed a contract for four concerts and, “of course,” she ought to receive the full payment regardless of whether all four concerts happen. However, Mr Fitzpatrick does not seem to understand the problem or be able to solve it. He tells Mrs Kearney that he will present the issue to the Committee, and Mrs Kearney begins to flush with anger. She holds herself back from mocking Mr Fitzpatrick’s accent and asking who the “Cometty” is because it would not be “ladylike,” so she holds her tongue.
On Friday morning, groups of little boys are sent out to distribute handbills for the Saturday concert, and “puffs” advertising the concert appear in the evening paper. The advertising somewhat reassures Mrs Kearney, but she still tells her husband about her worries. Mr Kearney listens to her and says that he thinks it would be better if he went to the Saturday concert with her, and Mrs Kearney agrees. She respects him the same way she respects other “large, secure and fixed” things like “the General Post Office,” and although she knows that he does not possess many talents, she can appreciate “his abstract value as a male.”
On the night of the Saturday concert, Mrs Kearney, Mr Kearney, and Kathleen arrive together 45 minutes before the beginning of the show. Unluckily, it is a rainy night. Once the Kearneys arrive, Mrs Kearney puts her husband in charge of Kathleen’s music and clothes and she goes to look for Mr Holohan or Mr Fitzpatrick. But when she can’t find either of them, she asks the stewards if they know where any of the Committee members are, and “after a great deal of trouble,” one of the stewards brings her “a little woman,” Miss Beirne.
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Mrs Kearney explains to Miss Beirne that she wants to see one of the Committee secretaries, and Miss Beirne replies that she expects them to arrive at any minute and asks if she can do anything for her. Mrs Kearney looks closely at Miss Beirne’s “oldish face” which is “screwed into an expression of trustfulness and enthusiasm,” and Mrs Kearney tells her no.
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Miss Beirne hopes that they will have a good house for the Saturday concert. Looking out at the rain, however, the “melancholy of the wet street” erases all the “trustfulness and enthusiasm” from her “twisted” face. She sighs and says, “Ah, well! We did our best, the dear knows,” and Mrs Kearney has to report back to the dressing-room as the “artistes” begin to arrive at the theater.
The bass, Mr Duggan, has already arrived backstage. He is a thin man with a “scattered” moustache who, despite only being a hall porter’s son, practiced his singing relentlessly “until he had become a first-rate artiste.” Once, he appeared as the king in the opera Maritana at the Queen’s Theatre when the original performer became sick. While he sang well and the audience loved him, he “marred” the impression he made by absentmindedly wiping his nose with his hand. He is a quiet, “unassuming” man who says “yous” so quietly that no one notices and drinks milk to preserve his voice.
The second tenor, Mr Bell, has also already arrived. He is a small, blond man who competes for prizes every year at the Feis Ceoil, an Irish music festival. In his fourth year of competition, he won a bronze medal. He is anxious-tempered and envious of other tenors, and when he meets Mr Duggan, he makes sure Mr Duggan knows how difficult concerts are for him before laughing and shaking his hand.
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Mrs Kearney passes by the bass and the tenor and peeks out into the audience from backstage. The seats are quickly filling up. Backtracking, she has a private conversation with Mr Kearney, which appears to be about Kathleen since they both keep looking at her while she speaks to Miss Healy, the contralto for the concert who is also their friend.
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When a pale woman no one has ever seen before arrives, the other women watch her and note the old blue dress on her thin body. Someone says that she is the soprano, Madam Glynn, and Kathleen asks Miss Healy “where did they dig her up” since she has never heard of her. In response, Miss Healy smiles, and Mr Holohan enters the room. When Kathleen and Miss Healy ask Mr Holohan who the woman is, he tells them that she is from London. Madam Glynn stands by herself in the corner of the room, looking around nervously as the shadows conceal her shabby dress from view but “revengefully” highlight how thin she is.
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When the much classier first tenor and baritone arrive, Mrs Kearney brings Kathleen over to them and tries to be friendly. But as she talks, she keeps an eye on Mr Holohan limping around backstage. As soon as she can, she asks to talk to him. In private, she asks him when Kathleen will be paid her eight guineas, but he keeps dodging her questions and telling her that he doesn’t know and that she should speak to Mr Fitzpatrick. Mrs Kearney insists that he fulfill the contract and leaves, returning to the dressing-room angry and flushed.
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In the dressing room, a reporter from the Freeman (a Nationalist newspaper) and Mr O’Madden Burke are talking with Miss Healy and the baritone. The reporter, Mr Hendrick, says that he can’t wait around for the concert to start because he has to report on a lecture from an American priest. But he never really intended to stay because he doesn’t like concerts. Since Miss Healy obviously has a crush on him, he regrets that he has to leave, but he tells Mr Holohan that Burke will write the report and he will ensure it is published. Holohan invites him for a drink before he goes. They walk into a faraway room to drink, and in the room, they find Burke, a charismatic and well-respected older man, already drinking.
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Back in the dressing-room, Mrs Kearney speaks so intensely to Mr Kearney that he asks her to lower her voice, and although Mr Bell is ready to perform, Kathleen has not given him the signal to go on. While the audience gets rowdy waiting for the concert to start, the Kearneys all speak together and Mr Bell grows increasingly nervous that everyone will think he is late. Mr Holohan and Mr O’Madden Burke enter and Holohan and Mrs Kearney argue about payment. Mrs Kearney stops Kathleen from playing until she gets her eight guineas. Mr Holohan tries to appeal to her and Kathleen to think of the audience, but Kathleen keeps quiet and stares at her new shoes because the conflict is “not her fault.”
Mr Holohan rushes out, and in the tense silence, Miss Healy asks the baritone if he has seen Pat Campbell, a famous actress who is in town this week. The performers all wait uncomfortably, occasionally looking at Mrs Kearney. Mr Holohan returns with Mr Fitzpatrick, who hands Mrs Kearney some money and tells her that she will get the other half at intermission. But Mrs Kearney tells him that he is four shillings short. Despite this, Kathleen tells Mr Bell to start, and they walk out together to begin the concert.
While the first part of the concert is successful, Madam Glynn sings Killarney, an Irish standard, “in a bodiless gasping voice,” and the audience in the cheap seats makes fun of her old-fashioned singing intonation that she thinks makes her singing more elegant. Kathleen plays well, but backstage, a group of people, including Miss Beirne, Mr Holohan, and Mr Fitzpatrick, all gossip about the “scandalous” nature of Mrs Kearney’s insistence upon payment, and Mr O’Madden Burke states that Kathleen’s musical career is finished in Dublin. Altogether, the stewards and secretaries decide that she should receive no more payment.
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In a different backstage corner, Mrs Kearney, Mr Kearney, and a small crowd all gossip about how the Committee has treated her after she spent so much money and effort on the concert series. She thinks that the Committee has misjudged her and wouldn’t dare to treat her like this if she were a man. She determines that she will “make Dublin ring” if her daughter doesn’t receive full pay. Though she will feel bad for the “artistes,” it is the only thing to do. She tries to appeal to the second tenor and Miss Healy, and they both agree with her—although Miss Healy really is not on her side and just doesn’t want to make things awkward since she is friends with the Kearneys.
During intermission, Mr Fitzpatrick and Mr Holohan tell Mrs Kearney that they will pay her after the Committee meeting on Tuesday, but if Kathleen doesn’t play the second half of the concert, they will consider the contract broken and pay nothing. Mrs Kearney and Mr Holohan both can’t believe how the other has treated them, and Mrs Kearney gets so angry she looks like she might hit someone. She makes fun of Mr Holohan, mimicking his voice, and Mr Holohan tells her that he thought she was a lady and walks away.
After her outburst, everyone disapproves of Mrs Kearney’s behavior and sides with the Committee’s choice. As she argues with Kathleen and Mr Kearney, waiting for the secretaries to talk to her again, Mrs Healy agrees to play the accompaniments for the second half of the concert. When the baritone and his accompanist pass by Mrs Kearney to take the stage, she gets even angrier. Once the music starts to play, she grabs her daughter and orders her husband to call a cab.
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Mr Kearney exits and Mrs Kearney escorts Kathleen out. On her way out the door, Mrs Kearney looks at Mr Holohan and tells him that she isn’t done with him. But he responds that he is done with her. Kathleen “meekly” follows her mother out, and Mr Holohan angrily paces, sarcastically saying, “O, she’s a nice lady!” and Mr O’Madden Burke tells him he did the right thing.
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