During one of the fantasy scenes in “Circe,” Leopold Bloom’s eccentric Hungarian grandfather Lipoti Virag pops into Bella Cohen’s brothel through a chimney, wearing Cashel Farrell’s monocle and a brown macintosh (a reference to the man in the macintosh). He talks about sex in a sterile, scientific way and gives anatomical descriptions of the prostitutes Zoe Higgins, Kitty Ricketts, and Florry Talbot. He represents Bloom’s rationality, prudence, and worldly curiosity, but his obsession with sex also points to Bloom’s concern about his ability to carry on his bloodline.
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Lipoti Virag Character Timeline in Ulysses
The timeline below shows where the character Lipoti Virag appears in Ulysses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Episode 15: Circe
...he’s not looking. Bloom is, and then he launches into another fantasy: his grandfather, Lipoti Virag, shoots through the chimney into the room, wearing a brown macintosh. He comments in detail...
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Virag encourages Bloom to think harder. He mentions various medical procedures and Bloom’s forgotten ambitions, then...
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Zoe reports that a priest came to visit her, and Lipoti Virag responds that this is a logical expression of the Christian belief in humankind’s original sin....
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...jump at him. Holding a woman’s severed head, Henry Flower grooms himself and then leaves. Virag unscrews his own head and follows Flower out. As they chat about the clergy, Florry...
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