The eight guineas symbolize both Mrs Kearney’s desire for social status and the outdated beliefs that ultimately undermine that status. When Mrs Kearney and Mr Holohan draw up a contract for Kathleen’s performance at the four concerts, they decide that she will receive eight guineas in payment. The guinea was a gold coin that circulated in Britain from 1663 to 1814. But since “A Mother” takes place in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century, the “guinea” would not have actually been in use—indeed, rather than a single coin, Mr Fitzpatrick gives Mrs Kearney four banknotes that don’t even add up to the four guineas he promised her before the concert. Around the time Joyce wrote “A Mother,” the guinea was more of a status symbol: only upper-class transactions like legal fees, animal sales, and bets at horse and greyhound races happened in guineas. People used guineas as a unit of measure mostly to make their financial transactions seem more aristocratic. And given Mrs Kearney’s upper-class background and her social and economic ambition, it follows that she would want her contracts made out in guineas, especially after flaunting her wealth to Mr Holohan by bringing him refreshments in a “silver biscuit barrel.”
Moreover, since the guinea would not have been in circulation at the time “A Mother” is set, it suggests the theme of paralysis: rather than move on from this outdated, upper-class symbol, Mrs Kearney insists upon it, and becomes so fixated on her eight-guinea payment that she brings the entire final concert to a screeching halt. Her outdated beliefs based on her social class—marrying for wealth, looking down on the less-wealthy, and seeking to increase her wealth at any personal cost—result in her demands for special treatment from the Eire Abu Society, and end up ruining her family’s reputation and her daughter’s career in the process. By stubbornly failing to adjust to the idea that her daughter’s performance is about more than just eight guineas, she brings about her own downfall.
Eight Guineas Quotes in A Mother
Therefore she was not surprised when one day Mr Holohan came to her and proposed that her daughter should be the accompanist at a series of four grand concerts which his Society was going to give in the Antient Concert Rooms. She brought him into the drawing-room, made him sit down and brought out the decanter and the silver biscuit barrel. She entered heart and soul into the details of the enterprise, advised and dissuaded; and finally a contract was drawn up by which Kathleen was to receive eight guineas for her services as accompanist at the four grand concerts.
She called Mr Fitzpatrick away from his screen and told him that her daughter had signed for four concerts and that, of course, according to the terms of the contract, she should receive the sum originally stipulated for whether the society gave the four concerts or not. Mr Fitzpatrick, who did not catch the point at issue very quickly, seemed unable to resolve the difficulty and said that he would bring the matter before the Committee. Mrs Kearney's anger began to flutter in her cheek and she had all she could do to keep from asking:
“And who is the Cometty, pray?”
But she knew that it would not be ladylike to do that: so she was silent.
Mr Holohan became very red and excited. He spoke volubly, but Mrs Kearney said curtly at intervals:
“She won't go on. She must get her eight guineas.”
Mr Holohan pointed desperately towards the hall where the audience was clapping and stamping. He appealed to Mr Kearney and to Kathleen. But Mr Kearney continued to stroke his beard and Kathleen looked down moving the point of her new shoe: it was not her fault. Mrs Kearney repeated:
“She won't go on without her money.”
Mr Fitzpatrick held a few banknotes in his hand. He counted out four into Mrs Kearney's hand and said she would get the other half at the interval. Mrs Kearney said:
“This is four shillings short.”
But Kathleen gathered in her skirt and said: Now, Mr Bell, to the first item, who was shaking like an aspen. The singer and the accompanist went out together. The noise in the hall died away. There was a pause of a few seconds: and then the piano was heard.
Eight Guineas Symbol Timeline in A Mother
