Eveline Summary & Analysis

Eveline, a nineteen-year-old woman in Dublin, is sitting with her head against the curtains, watching dusk fall on her street. She notices that it smells like “dusty cretonne” (heavy fabric used for upholstery) and that she is tired. There is hardly anyone outside, but she notices a man who lives in the last house walking home. She hears his footsteps change from the concrete to the cinder path as he enters the newer part of the street that is filled with red houses, instead of brown ones like hers. She remembers that there used to be a field here where she would play with the neighborhood children and her siblings, except for Ernest, because he was already too old. Keogh the cripple used to warn them when Eveline’s father—who was carrying a blackthorn stick, most likely as a threat—came out to call them inside.

Eveline reflects back on her childhood, realizing that she was happier back then when her father was less violent and her mother was still alive. But now she and her siblings are all grown up, and her mother is dead along with her neighbor Tizzie Dunn. The Waters have moved back to England. Eveline sums it up by saying simply “Everything changes” and now it is finally Eveline’s turn to leave home.

Eveline is suddenly overcome with nostalgia as she looks around at the objects that she has dusted over the years. She wonders where the dust comes from, and then realizes she may never see these objects again. She realizes she still does not even know the name of the priest whose photo is hanging on the wall, along with a broken harmonium and a colored print of promises made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque (a French Catholic saint). The priest is an old friend of her Eveline’s father, and he used to tell visitors that the priest is in Melbourne now.

Eveline is starting to question her decision to leave more and more. In Dublin she has shelter and food, and she is surrounded by the same familiar people she has known her whole life. She imagines that her coworkers at the Stores, the shop where she works, will say she is a fool when they learn she has run away with a man. Eveline imagines Miss Gavan, the owner, will be glad that she is gone, since she always seemed to be especially critical of Eveline. She decides she is not sad to leave work, and that once she is married and living in her new home in an unknown land she will have the respect of her peers.

Now that Eveline is over nineteen and none of her siblings are there to protect her, her father has begun to threaten her more. As a result, she has begun to suffer from heart palpitations. Ernest is dead and Harry (another brother) is usually away for business. Eveline is beginning to grow tired of fighting about money with her father as well. She gives him all of her wages, but he never gives her any money to spend because he thinks she will waste it. In addition to keeping the house together, she also cares for two children who have been left in her charge. The life she lives is hard, but now that she is about to leave, she realizes that it is not “a wholly undesirable life.”

Eveline reflects on her relationship with her lover, Frank. She is planning to take the night boat with him to Buenos Ayres, Argentina, where he lives. Eveline feels like she only met him a few weeks ago, when he was visiting Dublin on a break from his job as a sailor. At first walked her home from the Stores, and then he took her to see “The Bohemian Girl” at the theatre, where they sat in a section Eveline was “unaccustomed to.” At first Eveline likes the attention, and she begins to grow fond of Frank and his stories about “distant countries.” However, after Eveline’s father finds out about their relationship and quarrels with Frank, they can only see each other in secret.

Eveline looks down at the two letters she has been holding in her lap: one for Harry, and one for her father. Eveline remembers the good memories with her father, like when he made her toast when she was sick, and entertained the children on a family picnic. Eveline notices the smell of dusty cretonne again and hears a street organ playing outside. She knows the tune, and it reminds her of the street organ that was playing on her mother’s last night before she died (of an unspecified illness). Eveline also remembers the promise she made to her mother, that she would keep the home together “as long as she could.”

Eveline feels pity for her mother, who seems to have spent her life making sacrifices for Eveline’s father and family, only to be driven to insanity. Eveline is suddenly struck with terror and is desperate to escape. She reasons that she has a right to happiness. She hopes Frank will save her and resolves to go meet him.

Eveline meets Frank at the station, but cannot seem to focus on what he is saying as they head toward the boat, holding hands. Eveline prays to God for direction “out of a maze of distress.” She wonders if it is wrong to change her mind after all that Frank has done for her. She is becoming nauseated from her distress, and continues silently praying.

At last Eveline feels “a bell clang upon her heart” and Frank grabs her hand to board the ship. She feels the pressure from Frank, as if he is leading her into the sea, and she suddenly feels he will “drown her.” She clutches the iron railing, and cries out toward the sea in distress, unable to move. She watches Frank being pushed onto the boat as he calls out to her, but she looks at him expressionlessly, with “no sign of love or farewell or recognition.”