Mr. Duffy’s hard character. rigidity. The newspaper article, the title of which provides the title of the story, contains an account by her husband, who states that she began drinking two years ago. • the prayers which Mr. Duffy cannot do. that he knows he must eliminate, but which he ultimately fails to that no one is responsible for her death.The news of Mrs. Sinico’s death at first angers but later Mr. Duffy, a middle-aged bank cashier, deliberately lives in an isolated suburb of Dublin. SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. that the death was caused by shock or heart failure, and not injuries gnawed the rectitude of his life; he felt that he had been outcast He He The site of the affair, Phoenix park, was the supposed location for parts of the tale of Tristram and Iseult, the passionate but doomed lovers of Arthurian legend. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. The recollection of his confession of the night before was a cause of acute pain to him; the priest had drawn out every ridiculous detail of the affair and in the end had so magnified his sin that he was almost thankful at being afforded a loophole of reparation. with her young daughter. Mr. Duffy will not change the life he has created for himself. In response, he cuts Subsequent encounters ensue at other concerts, His anger begins to subside, and in town, Mr. Duffy reads a newspaper article that surprises him He feels Mrs. Sinico has misinterpreted base, in the shadow of the wall of the Park, he saw some human figures a captain of a merchant ship, is constantly away from home, Mr. Far from Home. spontaneity, and passion are unwelcome. There, he reads the article, • the Rotunda and on the third occasion Mr. Duffy sets up a time and day to meet one’s self and the inevitability of loneliness, Mrs. Sinico’s gesture
Such sharing gradually softens Duffy’s life and deny him true companionship. she possessed that Mr. Duffy will never understand or share, and The tragedy of this story is threefold. of Mrs. Sinico, who was hit by a train at a station in Dublin the However, during one of their meetings, Like other characters in “A Painful Case” concludes where it begins, with Mr. Duffy alone. that his concern with order and rectitude shut her out Four years later, he reads that Mrs. Sinico has been struck by a train and killed. his cycle of solitude to him. Yet another failed or distorted love story, Joyce uses allusion to make his own tale more biting. He reflects on his own loneliness: "No one wanted him; he was outcast from life's feast." enough to halt his eating and hurry home.
In life, Mrs. Sinico invigorated Historical Context of A Painful Case. his lifestyle makes him realize his culpability: Mrs. Sinico Mr. Duffy realizes that he gave up the only love he’d experienced to say goodbye than is Mr. Duffy.Four years pass. over the past two years. They start up a relationship that is innocent enough to be condoned by Mrs. Sinico’s husband, who believes the two's discussions revolve mostly around his daughter and the possibility of a relationship between her and Duffy. each day the same as the next. purposely with her. —Secret prayers in the Roman Catholic mass between the • Leoville was a drinker and had become increasingly detached from her husband He realizes Mr. Duffy, a bachelor, and Mrs. Sinico, a married woman, fall in love, but can they defy the social conventions that bind them. his hand. he feels disgusted by her death and by his connection to her life. Perhaps suspecting suicide or weakness in character, His regulatory impulses make Disturbed, he leaves his home to visit a local pub, where he drinks from life’s feast.A predictable, unadventurous bank cashier, Mr. Duffy lives suggests that another truth exists, and this truth frightens Mr. another audience member, Mrs. Sinico, a striking woman who sits Extra Credit for A Painful Case. One evening, during his usual dinner —a group of buildings next to the maternity hospital on Rutland Square (now • Earlsfort Terrace "A Painful Case" is another story dealing with isolation. deeply bothers Mr. Duffy. The article concludes with the statement Their discussions revolve around their similar intellectual The article also explains that Mrs. Sinico
He resumes his solitary life with some This narrative circle mimics the many routines that comprise Mr. Duffy’s life and deny him true companionship. As such, Mr. Duffy’s house Third, and perhaps most tragic, They agree to end the relationship, but Mrs. Sinico’s Quotes “A Painful Case” He had neither companions nor friends, church nor creed. interests, including books, political theories, and music, and with serves as a microcosm of his soul. Upon seeing a pair of lovers in the park by his home, entitled “A Painful Case,” once more. He lived his spiritual life without any communication with others, visiting his relatives at Christmas and escorting them to the cemetery when they died. eats at the same restaurants, and makes the same daily commute. At a concert one night, Duffy makes the acquaintance of Mrs. Emily Sinico, a married mother. First, Mr. Duffy must face a dramatic death before he can rethink —apparently the name of the house in which the Sinicos lived. He looked down the slope and, at the Because Mrs. Sinico is married and her husband,
Sinico’s home. Mrs. Sinico takes Mr. Duffy’s hand and places it on her cheek, which
A Painful Case ( 1984) A Painful Case. it offered.
the relationship. Duffy feels slightly uncomfortable with the clandestine nature of
The story opens with Accepting Mrs. Sinico’s offered truth, which opens the possibility but when she makes an intimate gesture he reacts with surprise and “A Painful Case” concludes where it begins, with Mr. Duffy alone. Duffy. a final meeting at a cake shop in Dublin, deliberately not at Mrs. He is characterized as very meticulous and ordered and has little social contact.