Ulysses

Ulysses

by

James Joyce

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Professor MacHugh Character Analysis

Although it’s unclear what or where he teaches, Professor MacHugh chats with Ned Lambert, Simon Dedalus, J.J. O’Molloy, Myles Crawford, and Lenehan in the Telegraph offices during “Aeolus.” He has strong feelings about Irish nationalism and history: he compares Ireland’s attempt to preserve its culture in the face of British imperialism to Pyrrhus’s attempt to save Greece from the Roman Empire. (This gives context to Stephen Dedalus’s intellectual pretensions and capacity to, in Buck Mulligan’s words, “Hellenise” Ireland.)
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Professor MacHugh Character Timeline in Ulysses

The timeline below shows where the character Professor MacHugh appears in Ulysses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Episode 7: Aeolus
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Love and Sex Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...decides to use the phone inside. He enters to find Ned, Simon Dedalus, and Professor MacHugh mocking an overelaborate speech made by the politician and baker Dan Dawson the previous night.... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
The harsh, imposing editor Myles Crawford rushes into the room. He and Professor MacHugh start making fun of each other, and then Ned Lambert and Simon Dedalus leave for... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
...in the door by accident, letting in a draft that shuffles around the paper’s pages. MacHugh kicks the staffer out. Meanwhile, Bloom finishes his phone call and crashes into Lenehan on... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
Lenehan and MacHugh watch through the window as Bloom walks away, and Crawford jingles his keys around and... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...threw her bowl of soup at a waiter, and Stephen suddenly understands Deasy’s misogyny. Professor MacHugh talks about how the Irish are “loyal to lost causes,” because they have lived under... (full context)
Love and Sex Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
Lenehan invents a limerick about MacHugh and makes a bad joke: the title of the English opera The Rose of Castille... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...Park murders committed by the invincibles (a group of Irish nationalists). The phone rings, and MacHugh answers: it’s Bloom, calling for Crawford. But Crawford asks MacHugh to pass on a message:... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
MacHugh interrupts to declare that John F. Taylor gave the best speech he ever saw in... (full context)
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...news from the races, Stephen realizes, “I have much, much to learn.” He starts telling MacHugh about the story he’s hoping to write under the headlines “Dear Dirty Dublin” and “Life... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Love and Sex Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
MacHugh mentions Stephen’s story to Crawford, which gives Stephen a chance to finish telling it. The... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Love and Sex Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...running because of a short circuit. Crawford admits that he doesn’t understand Stephen’s story, but MacHugh proposes a Latin name for it. Stephen prefers “A Pisgah Sight of Palestine or The... (full context)