In “A Mother,” Mrs Kearney is an ambitious, upper-class, educated woman who mistreats the people of the Eire Abu Society whom she deems beneath her. While she ends up ruining her family’s reputation and her daughter’s music career with her efforts to climb the social ladder, Joyce also includes details about Mrs Kearney that invite the reader to pity her: as a woman, her piano-playing was only seen as useful for its ability to charm a husband, while her daughter’s musical talent could secure her a career of her own. Furthermore, since Mrs Kearney could not marry for love, she had to marry for improved social status and financial gain. And rather than exercise her power directly or command the kind of respect her husband does, she can only turn circumstances to her advantage by convincing more powerful men to do what she says. The details Joyce includes about Mrs Kearney’s upbringing, her views of her husband, and her final argument with Mr Holohan reveal how her abilities to gain respect and power in society are colored by her gender, making her a more sympathetic character.
While Joyce’s descriptions of Mrs Kearney’s wealth emphasize the privileges she has in life, they also point out how limited her power is in shaping her own life. Although Mrs Kearney attended an upper-class school, her talents were only cultivated in order to attract a husband—and her choosiness in doing so only made her the subject of negative gossip. Unlike Kathleen, Mrs Kearney did not appear to have the option of channeling her musical talents into a career. Instead, she had to rely on marriage to shape her financial and social future, meaning she ultimately married for wealth instead of love. Ultimately, although her life is comfortable and she and Mr Kearney respect one another, Mrs Kearney appears to be dissatisfied with her position and to live vicariously through her daughter’s successes.
Mrs Kearney’s views of the men around her bring to light the gendered power imbalances at the turn of the 20th century in Dublin. Mr and Mrs Kearney’s marriage is a social and financial transaction more than a decision made for love: Mrs Kearney seems invested in appearing like a happy, prosperous family when she describes her vacations to her friends, but her relationship with her husband seems distant. When she thinks of her husband, she views him as “secure and fixed” like the post office. And, although she does not find him particularly personally impressive, she recognizes his “abstract value as a male,” suggesting that her view of her husband is largely pragmatic: he is a means to an end.
When she encounters Mr Holohan, Mrs Kearney appears to view him as a means to an end, too. To convince him to agree to her desired contract terms, Mrs Kearney must play the hostess, keeping him supplied with plenty of food and wine to gain his favor. In this way, she leverages a traditionally feminine role to influence the hapless man who actually holds power. Finally, when Mrs Kearney’s argument with the Committee members approaches its peak, she immediately thinks that they would have taken her more seriously if she were a man. In particular, the moment she decides to make sure that Kathleen gets her “rights” suggests that the conflict is about more than just the eight guineas Mr Holohan promised her: it is about how she is treated—and how Kathleen will be treated—as a woman mostly doing business with men.
Mr Holohan’s remark to Mrs Kearney after she mocks him confirms her suspicion that he is using her gender to his advantage: he accuses Mrs Kearney of not being a “lady,” which implies that she is both a lower-class (thus, lower-quality) person and a particularly lower-quality woman. When Mr Holohan makes this comment, he takes advantage of the fact that the only power Mrs Kearney has is social: the power of her reputation and of her ability to influence other people. By humiliating her in front of everyone, therefore, he undermines what power she has. And since Mrs Kearney does indeed fall short of societal expectations of a “lady,” all the onlookers agree with Mr Holohan. They are primed to be biased: patriarchal expectations mean that they see Mr Holohan’s anger as justified and Mrs Kearney’s as excessive. But because her outburst is fairly tame, the reader can see just how thin a line Mrs Kearney must walk to maintain her reputation, the source of her power. In this respect, Joyce subtly criticizes the patriarchal expectations of his day and prompts readers’ sympathy for the position of women like Mrs Kearney.
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Gender and Power Quotes in A Mother
Miss Devlin had become Mrs Kearney out of spite. She had been educated in a high-class convent where she had learned French and music. As she was naturally pale and unbending in manner she made few friends at school. When she came to the age of marriage she was sent out to many houses where her playing and ivory manners were much admired. She sat amid the chilly circle of her accomplishments, waiting for some suitor to brave it and offer her a brilliant life.
He sent the elder daughter, Kathleen, to a good convent, where she learned French and music and afterwards paid her fees at the Academy. Every year in the month of July Mrs Kearney found occasion to say to some friend:
“My good man is packing us off to Skerries for a few weeks.”
If it was not Skerries it was Howth or Greystones.
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.
He listened carefully and said that perhaps it would be better if he went with her on Saturday night. She agreed. She respected her husband in the same way as she respected the General Post Office, as something large, secure and fixed; and though she knew the small number of his talents she appreciated his abstract value as a male.
Mrs Kearney said that the Committee had treated her scandalously. She had spared neither trouble nor expense and this was how she was repaid.
They thought they had only a girl to deal with and that, therefore, they could ride roughshod over her. But she would show them their mistake. They wouldn't have dared to have treated her like that if she had been a man. But she would see that her daughter got her rights: she wouldn't be fooled.
Her face was inundated with an angry colour and she looked as if she would attack someone with her hands.
“I’m asking for my rights,” she said.
“You might have some sense of decency,” said Mr Holohan.
“Might I, indeed? ... And when I ask when my daughter is going to be paid I can’t get a civil answer.”
She tossed her head and assumed a haughty voice:
“You must speak to the secretary. It's not my business. I’m a great fellow fol-the-diddle-I-do.”
“I thought you were a lady,” said Mr Holohan, walking away from her abruptly.
After that Mrs Kearney's conduct was condemned on all hands: everyone approved of what the Committee had done.
