Disability and Desirability: A Study of Gendered Disabled Identity in James Joyce’s Ulysses

Abstract

Unlike his contemporaries who perceived disability as an individual defect, James Joyce presented an alternative viewpoint towards the people with disabilities. Issues related to sexuality and gender in “Nausicaa”, chapter 13 of Ulysses attracted Joyce scholars as a major critical focus, but discourse on disability as an important part of significance was absent. Disability Studies emerged as an interdisciplinary field that looks at disability not only as a medical condition but as a result of socio political and cultural marginalization. Early elucidations of this chapter have centered on Gerty's powerlessness and Bloom's objectification of her body. My analysis perceives Gerty not as a passive victim but highlights her agency in the scene. The author depicted his disabled character as both sexually desirable and desiring which is a denial of the traditional consciousness that disabled people are either sexually deviant or asexual. Through the character of Gerty MacDowell, an unconventional erotic sensibility is established that focuses more on pleasure rather than on copulation or reproduction. To understand how disability functions in Ulysses, it is very important to differentiate between the defacement of Gerty's limp and the disability imposed on her by society and Bloom's male gaze is also very crucial in this aspect. This paper aims to apply disability outlook and interrogates the rudimentary acceptance of gender, desire and sexuality and also provide an analytical perspective how gender is performative.