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Mrs. Mooney
Mr. Doran is a lodger at Mrs. Mooney’s boarding house who has an affair with Mrs. Mooney’s daughter, Polly. In his mid-30s, Mr. Doran has held a steady job for 13 years working for a Catholic wine merchant. Despite “sowing his wild oats” (that is, having many sexual relationships) and flirting with atheist ideas as a young man, Mr. Doran has led a respectable life for several years now. As for many characters in Dubliners, respectability is extremely restrictive for Mr. Doran: he is terrified of his family and his employer finding out about his affair with Polly, and he is near-traumatized by the agony of confessing the relationship to the priest. He doesn’t have strong or passionate feelings for Polly—he’s not even sure he likes her—but he’s so terrified of what Mrs. Mooney might do and of being exposed that by the story’s end, the strong implication is that he has agreed to marry Polly.
Mr. Doran Quotes in The Boarding House
The The Boarding House quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Doran or refer to Mr. Doran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Boarding House
Quotes
The belfry of George’s Church sent out constant peals and worshippers, singly or in groups, traversed the little circus before the church, revealing their purpose by their self-contained demeanour no less than by the little volumes in their gloved hands.
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There must be reparation made in such cases. It is all very well for the man: he can go his way as if nothing had happened, having had his moment of pleasure, but the girl has to bear the brunt.
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Dublin is such a small city: everyone knows everyone else’s business.
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All his long years of service gone for nothing! All his industry and diligence thrown away! As a young man he had sown his wild oats, of course; he had boasted of his free-thinking and denied the existence of God to his companions in public-houses. But that was all passed and done with . . . nearly.
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His instinct urged him to remain free, not to marry. Once you are married you are done for, it said.
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Mr. Doran Quotes in The Boarding House
The The Boarding House quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Doran or refer to Mr. Doran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Boarding House
Quotes
The belfry of George’s Church sent out constant peals and worshippers, singly or in groups, traversed the little circus before the church, revealing their purpose by their self-contained demeanour no less than by the little volumes in their gloved hands.
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Explanation and Analysis:
There must be reparation made in such cases. It is all very well for the man: he can go his way as if nothing had happened, having had his moment of pleasure, but the girl has to bear the brunt.
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Dublin is such a small city: everyone knows everyone else’s business.
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All his long years of service gone for nothing! All his industry and diligence thrown away! As a young man he had sown his wild oats, of course; he had boasted of his free-thinking and denied the existence of God to his companions in public-houses. But that was all passed and done with . . . nearly.
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His instinct urged him to remain free, not to marry. Once you are married you are done for, it said.
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