【Abstract】Whether living in an ideal world and sticking to ones own heart demand criticism or not？ It depends. On the one hand， some people indulge in their fantasies so deeply that they have no energy to face the realistic world. Gradually， they will run off the tracks of life. On the other hand， some people harbor their purest love in heart and still remember to continue their life. As a matter of fact， the latter kind of people is admirable， even when their emotions are impractical， they still carry on their life while holding true love. This paper is aimed at telling people that ordinary people who sticking to pure love regardless of the changing world should be respected by analyzing emotions of main characteristic in Clay， Maria.

【Key words】Love； Emotion； Feminist criticism

Generally speaking， in Clay written by James Joyce， Maria is a scraggy and peaceable maidservant. To some extent， she is like Virgin Maria because she did not get married or even be in contact with any man in her life. From my perspective， I believe that Maria has held her deep love to Joe for several decades. There are some other people share the same opinion with me， but most of them consider Maria as an impractical woman who is overconfident and lives in her own world. Just imagine， she does not cause any perplexity to anyone and the society. Whats more， she can persist in her own heart no matter how the world keeps changing. We can appreciate touching love stories of the famous ones. We should also appreciate the ordinary. I will prove my position by analyzing four plots in the text， and explain the relevance to our current life.

I. Before having tea

Maria had planned the route and time meticulously， from which we can clearly see that she attaches much importance to this visit. When Maria took out the purse， I almost can depict the happy expression on her face. Although it has been used for five years， Maria is still very interested in reading the words A Present from Belfast. Just because Joe bought it for her， a purse turns from ordinary to extraordinary. As a Chinese saying goes， “beauty is the eyes of the beholder（情人眼里出西施）”. Precisely because of Maris deep love， Joes present is far more unique and meaningful than any other purses in the world. In order to look better， Maria took off her working clothes and started to dress herself up carefully， just like a little girl to keep appointment with her beloved boy. These details all prove Marias emotions from the bottom of her heart.

II. During the teatime

Apart from the symbols showing Marias deep love mentioned above， we can also witness Marias firm inner heart. During the teatime， Lizzie Fleming said Maria was sure to get a ring. It should be a kind benediction， but Maria said that she didnt want any ring or man disappointedly and shyly. In our life， few women have the courage to declare that they dont need a husband or love， but Maria is an exception. A woman like Lizzie will find someone as her husband just for continuing her normal life. But in the privacy of Marias thoughts， she longs for true love with her Mr. Right， Joe. Since Maria is not a member of the nobility， she is so different from the ordinary girls. Thats why she thinks Lizzie “had the notions of a common woman”. From this point， we can see a great woman owning the faith to seek for her ideal love rigidly.

Not like many girls nowadays who just chasing material enjoyment， Maria and her courage or persistence benefit all women a lot. Modern people tend to pay more attention to money than to spiritual wealth， which is a dangerous symbol. Affected by the fast pace of society， most of us become changeable and fickle. We seldom stop and listen to the voice from bottom of our heart. To this extent， people who can be honest to his or her lover for a longer time is more successful because he or she is wealthy in spirit. As a saying goes， “where there is great love， there are always miracles”.

III. On her way to Joes house

In the cake shop in Henry Street， she spent a lot of time selecting a “really nice” cake， which shows that she tried her best to express her sincerity. But she lost the cake in the tram after the long journey， which makes her embarrassed and disappointed. Although Joe and his family dont think it is a big deal， to Maria， the cake is not only goods that worthy of two-and-four shillings but also the only present can show her concern to Joe. Maybe most of us have the same experience with Maria. All of us would pick a crystal ball for our good friends as a birthday present when we were children. However， the result would always be unexpected because of our carelessness. Even our friends kept telling us that did not matter， and they were really grateful. Therefore， it is easier for us to feel Marias devout spirit and her pure wish to Joe. She is a lovely woman all of us tend to admire.

IV. In Joes house

The last plot Id like to share with you is the song I Dreamt that I Dwelt sung by Maria. I suppose that this fragment is the climax of the text. From the lyrics， we can acquire sufficient information about her thoughts because the lyrics are like Marias voice in her heart. If she really “dwelt in marble halls”， “had riches too great to count” and “could boast of a high ancestral name”， she could earn the opportunity to do whatever she wanted to do and love whoever she wanted to love. However， things always go contrary to our wishes. Maria is just a common servant no matter how nice and kind she is， it is still impossible for her to seek happiness.All her longing for love is obstructed by her social position， or fate， we say. Actually， from Joes moved reaction， we understand that he has or once had the same feeling as Maria. But their love wouldnt be wished because of the serious hierarchy in temporal society. So the only way to comfort her is the dream. In the romantic and beautiful dream， Joe loved her still the same. The last sentence makes me greatly touched——

“But I also dreamt， which pleased me most，

That you loved me still the same”.

As long as we focus on their status， we can draw the conclusion that their love is a tragedy. Joe comes from a good family， he has the status to marry a young lady from the same background. In his inner heart， he did have the pure love to Maria， but his life changes so fast， it is not that hard for him to get rid of the pain of losing a lover older so much than him. However， it is totally different to Maria. What exists in her world is just the monotonous work and the pure love to Joe. So Maria is stronger and braver than we can imagine. Overcoming the emotions from time to time and continuing life are the difficulties not all of us can bear. Thats why I have strong will to write this paper.

V. Relevance to present life

As a woman living in 21st century， there is no doubt that Maria has given me a lesson. In the first place， sticking to be honest and envisage our emotions bravely. As the rapid development of our society， more and more women take fortune and appearance as priorities when considering men. To this extent， I think we can call this phenomenon “degeneration” because we even dont choose to follow the voice from our heart any more. Secondly， under todays social environment， women have already gotten the opportunity or position to express feelings and love freely. That is why there are attractions to analyze work written by a major male author， James Joyce， in feminist terms. No matter how we feel， we are allowed to declare our heart when necessary so that avoiding the tragedy like Maria can be possible. Hiding love maybe one way to cherish it， but if we are free to express our love to others， why dont we keep our mouths closed？ Learning how to show our emotions is extremely significant at present.

In that time， men had the absolute position in Ireland while women had to be limited. Critics usually pay attention to womens circumscribed social position in Joyces writings and come to the conclusion that he believed women only belonged to their families. Thus they ignore that Joyce also showed great sympathy to womens situation and repudiated this kind of unfair social reality. Clay is obvious evidence.

In feminist perspectives， Joyces work reflects that：“One is not born to be a woman， one become a one. Women are defined as the other. Women do not possess the same privilege and right as men.”His attitude to women is considering them as mens private objects. Women are born to be dependent. No matter what kind of attitude James Joyce takes towards women， his work has already given contribution to the feminism： it could help more female readers realize their daily life and difficulties， and stimulate them to participate in the feminist movement， to shake off the social shackle of women， to gain the equal right and value.

At all times and in all over the world， there are many famous persons like Maria， such as Eileen Chang， Jin Yuelin...They have had good reputation and talent， but ideal love is still far away from them. Since we always eulogize the famous persons incomparable love， why cant we sing a dirge for the ordinary and their ordinary but sacred love？ All the pilgrims on the way to love should be respected and loved.

If there could be a parallel world， I hope all of them can hug each other， and say：

——“I dont need to dream any more， and you still love me the same.”

References：

[1]彭珍珠.James Joyces Representation of Women——A Feminist Reading of Dubliners and Ulysses，（喬伊斯筆下的女性）[D].廣東外語外貿(mào)大學，2002.

[2]郭欽.The Dead——James Joyces Feminist Perspective， 2011，Science & Technology Information.

[3]李曉紅.James Joyces “Eveline” in Feminist Perspective [J].安徽文學（下半月刊），2007.

作者簡介：李秋凝（1995-），女，江蘇江陰人，學生，大學本科在讀，研究方向：英國語言文學研究。