Ulysses

Ulysses

by

James Joyce

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Ulysses makes teaching easy.
A pianola is a player piano.

Pianola Quotes in Ulysses

The Ulysses quotes below are all either spoken by Pianola or refer to Pianola. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
).
Episode 15: Circe Quotes

STEPHEN: Here’s another for you. (he frowns) The reason is because the fundamental and the dominant are separated by the greatest possible interval which …
THE CAP: Which? Finish. You can’t.
STEPHEN: (with an effort) Interval which. Is the greatest possible ellipse. Consistent with. The ultimate return. The octave. Which.
THE CAP: Which?
(Outside the gramophone begins to blare The Holy City.)
STEPHEN: (abruptly) What went forth to the ends of the world to traverse not itself, God, the sun, Shakespeare, a commercial traveller, having itself traversed in reality itself becomes that self. Wait a moment. Wait a second. Damn that fellow’s noise in the street. Self which it itself was ineluctably preconditioned to become. Ecco!

Related Characters: Stephen Dedalus (speaker), Vincent Lynch (speaker), Leopold Bloom, William Shakespeare
Page Number: 411-412
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Ulysses LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ulysses PDF

Pianola Term Timeline in Ulysses

The timeline below shows where the term Pianola appears in Ulysses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Episode 15: Circe
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
...a wand. The prostitute Kitty Ricketts sits on the table, and Stephen prods at the pianola, playing perfect fifths. Florry Talbot, another prostitute, is laying on the couch. Stephen rants incomprehensibly... (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
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
...from Zoe, who has been hiding it in her stocking. Bella approaches Stephen at the pianola, and with excessive deference and politeness, he repeatedly pays her the wrong amount, leaving enough... (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
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
...reading palms. Suddenly, Father Conmee and Stephen’s old schoolmaster Father Dolan spring out of the pianola and briefly reenact a scene from Stephen’s childhood: Dolan accuses Stephen of pretending to break... (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
...the song “My Girl’s a Yorkshire Girl.” The Yorkshire-born Zoe sticks two pennies in the pianola, which starts playing the same tune. The elderly Professor Goodwin staggers over to the piano,... (full context)