Two Gallants

by

James Joyce

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Corley Character Analysis

Corley is the son of a police inspector but is himself unemployed and uninterested in finding steady work. What money he does make seems to come primarily from occasionally acting as a police informant, which in itself implies a decline from his father’s generation to his own. Corley regards none of this with shame. Rather, he is a man who believes in his own powers of seduction––both in storytelling and womanizing. Corley is less attractive than he believes, though: his “large, globular and oily” head sweats profusely, and he talks only about himself, not listening to others. Though he enjoys passing judgments, he does not seem to be able to turn that judgment inward to recognize his own faults. He accepts Lenehan’s over-the-top way of sucking up at face value and does not have the “subtle mind” to recognize when Lenehan is being sarcastic. Corley was once something of a romantic, but his experiences have led him to the belief that such behavior is, in fact, a game for idiots, as it never gets you anything. He is uninterested in treating women with respect or gallantry, and instead now focuses on wooing and manipulating the women he sees in order to get them to spend their money on him. Other than a single brief moment in the story, Corley shows no remorse for his behavior, and he comes to seem like a man who has fully molded his own way of being to function in Ireland’s declining society.

Corley Quotes in Two Gallants

The Two Gallants quotes below are all either spoken by Corley or refer to Corley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Ireland’s Decline Theme Icon
).
Two Gallants Quotes

—That takes the solitary, unique, and, if I may so call it, recherché biscuit

Related Characters: Lenehan (speaker), Corley
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

Most people considered Lenehan a leech but, in spite of this reputation, his adroitness and eloquence had always prevented his friends from forming any general policy against him.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Related Symbols: Walking
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

Lenehan’s gaze was fixed on the large moon circled with a double halo. He watched earnestly the passing of the grey web of twilight across its face.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Related Symbols: The Moon
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:

—Well...tell me, Corley, I suppose you’ll be able to pull it off all right, eh?

Related Characters: Lenehan (speaker), Corley, The Maid
Related Symbols: Women, Walking
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:

—You’re what I call a gay Lothario, said Lenehan. And the proper kind of Lothario too!

Related Characters: Lenehan (speaker), Corley
Related Symbols: Women
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:

—She was...a bit of all right, he said regretfully.

Related Characters: Corley (speaker), Lenehan
Related Symbols: Women
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:

He knew that he would have to speak a great deal, to invent and amuse, and his brain and throat were too dry for such a task. The problem of how he could pass the hours till he met Corley again troubled him a little. He could think of no way of passing them but to keep on walking.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley, The Maid
Related Symbols: Walking
Page Number: 50
Explanation and Analysis:

He was tired of knocking about, of pulling the devil by the tail, of shifts and intrigues. He would be thirty-one in November. Would he never get a good job? Would he never get a home of his own? [...] Experience had embittered his heart against the world.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Related Symbols: Women
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 51-52
Explanation and Analysis:

His friends talked very little. They looked vacantly after some figures in the crowd and sometimes made a critical remark.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:

He knew Corley would fail; he knew it was no go.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley, The Maid
Related Symbols: Walking
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:
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Two Gallants PDF

Corley Quotes in Two Gallants

The Two Gallants quotes below are all either spoken by Corley or refer to Corley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Ireland’s Decline Theme Icon
).
Two Gallants Quotes

—That takes the solitary, unique, and, if I may so call it, recherché biscuit

Related Characters: Lenehan (speaker), Corley
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

Most people considered Lenehan a leech but, in spite of this reputation, his adroitness and eloquence had always prevented his friends from forming any general policy against him.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Related Symbols: Walking
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

Lenehan’s gaze was fixed on the large moon circled with a double halo. He watched earnestly the passing of the grey web of twilight across its face.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Related Symbols: The Moon
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:

—Well...tell me, Corley, I suppose you’ll be able to pull it off all right, eh?

Related Characters: Lenehan (speaker), Corley, The Maid
Related Symbols: Women, Walking
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:

—You’re what I call a gay Lothario, said Lenehan. And the proper kind of Lothario too!

Related Characters: Lenehan (speaker), Corley
Related Symbols: Women
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:

—She was...a bit of all right, he said regretfully.

Related Characters: Corley (speaker), Lenehan
Related Symbols: Women
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:

He knew that he would have to speak a great deal, to invent and amuse, and his brain and throat were too dry for such a task. The problem of how he could pass the hours till he met Corley again troubled him a little. He could think of no way of passing them but to keep on walking.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley, The Maid
Related Symbols: Walking
Page Number: 50
Explanation and Analysis:

He was tired of knocking about, of pulling the devil by the tail, of shifts and intrigues. He would be thirty-one in November. Would he never get a good job? Would he never get a home of his own? [...] Experience had embittered his heart against the world.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Related Symbols: Women
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 51-52
Explanation and Analysis:

His friends talked very little. They looked vacantly after some figures in the crowd and sometimes made a critical remark.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:

He knew Corley would fail; he knew it was no go.

Related Characters: Lenehan, Corley, The Maid
Related Symbols: Walking
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis: