Analysis of Finnegans Wake, Pages 130-133:

Executive Summary

This document provides a comprehensive synthesis of annotations for pages 130-133 of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. The analysis of the source context reveals a text of extraordinary density, built upon a foundation of multilingual wordplay, historical and mythological allusion, and intricate geographical mapping. The central focus of these pages is the characterization of the protean male protagonist, commonly identified by the trigram HCE ("Here Comes Everybody"). This figure is depicted not as a single individual but as a universal archetype embodying a vast spectrum of historical figures, mythological gods, and everyday men. His identity is constructed through a collage of contradictory attributes and roles, from benevolent despot to fallen father, reflecting a cyclical vision of history.

The text is deeply anchored in the topography of Dublin, with numerous specific references to its bridges, streets, and suburbs, yet its scope is global, encompassing locations from Poland and China to ancient Egypt and the Americas. This geographical layering is mirrored by a temporal one, weaving together events and personalities from Irish myth, the Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Wars, and 19th-century Irish politics. The annotations demonstrate that Joyce's method involved drawing from a wide array of specific source texts, including Sir Richard Paget's linguistic theories in Babel, historical accounts of Scottish tartans, E.A. Wallis Budge's work on The Book of the Dead, and James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian.

Core to the work's structure are recurring motifs and cyclical patterns, most notably the Viconian cycle of history (divine, heroic, human, and ricorso), which is explicitly referenced. The text is a linguistic labyrinth where words are systematically deconstructed and reassembled, combining elements from German, Latin, French, Irish, and numerous other languages to create layers of simultaneous meaning. Ultimately, these pages exemplify the novel's core principles: the universality of the human experience, the cyclical nature of existence, and the boundless potential of language itself.

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1. The Protean Nature of the HCE Archetype

The central male figure of Finnegans Wake, referred to by readers as "Here Comes Everybody," is a complex and multifaceted archetype whose presence saturates the text. The source context highlights how this character is constructed through a dense web of allusions, descriptions, and contradictory roles.

A. Identification and Naming

The HCE figure is identified through various linguistic devices, including direct trigrams and scrambled acrostics that evolve as the text progresses.

• Trigrams: The base initials HCE appear directly in phrases like "hoveth chieftains evrywehr" (131.07), "hereditatis columna erecta" (131.30), "hagion chiton eraphon" (131.30), "a hunnibal in exhaustive conflict" (132.06), and "hallucination, cauchman, ectoplasm" (133.24).
• Scrambled Forms: The annotations note that as HCE's mind becomes more scrambled, his name also becomes scrambled. The phrase "Comm, eilderdich hecklebury" (132.36) is identified as an instance of CEH, an inversion of the standard HCE trigram.

B. Physical and Personal Characteristics

The text provides a collage of physical and personal traits that are often contradictory, building a character who is simultaneously grand and flawed, monumental and mundane.

• Physicality: He grows "girther, girther and girther" (130.27) after surviving famine. He possesses a "conical hodpiece" (131.33), is described as "paunch and judex" (133.23), and has a "rather strange walk" (131.29). A "threefaced stonehead" attributed to him was found on a hill (132.12).
• Contradictory Nature: He embodies fundamental dualities. He is "distinctly dirty but rather a dear" (131.06), "larger than life, doughtier than death" (132.28), and politically paradoxical, being "unhesitent in his unionism and yet a pigotted nationalist" (133.15). He can "rant as grave as oxtail soup and chat as gay as a porto flippant" (133.14).
• Actions and Roles: His life is a composite of diverse actions. He is portrayed as a benevolent despot who "ads aliments, das doles, raps rustics, tams turmoil" (130.16). Despite having "seed enough for a semination," he "sues skivvies on the sly" (130.17-18). He is a creator who "led the upplaws at the Creation" (132.15) and a destroyer who "hissed a snake charmer off her stays" (132.16). He is both "hunter become fox" and "hounded become haunter" (132.16-17).

C. Life Cycle: Death and Rebirth

These pages frame HCE's story within a cycle of life, death, and legacy, beginning with what resembles a mock obituary.

• The Obituary: The passage opens with funereal language: "after a lenty illness," "no followers by bequest," "fanfare all private" (130.08-10). It includes mock memorial titles like "Gone Where Glory Waits Him" and "Not Here Yet" (130.10-11), echoing a joke from Joyce's Ulysses.
• The Fall: His downfall is depicted through various allusions, such as being "felled" by "one Liam Fail" in "Westmunster" (131.10-11), referencing both the Irish Stone of Destiny and the political fall of Parnell.
• The Legacy: After his ambiguous demise—"one asks was he poisoned, one thinks how much did he leave" (133.05-06)—his body is metaphorically "rationed in isobaric patties among the crew" (133.04), suggesting a sacrificial or Eucharistic role where his substance is distributed among his successors.

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2. Geographical and Topographical Mapping

The narrative is deeply rooted in the specific geography of Dublin while simultaneously expanding to a global and even cosmic scale. This creates a landscape where the local becomes universal.

A. The Dublin Core

Dublin serves as the text's primary geographical anchor, with precise locations forming the backdrop of HCE's identity.

Location Type : Specific References (with Line Numbers)

Bridges: Rialto Bridge (130.20), Annesley Bridge (130.21), Binn's Bridge (130.21), Ball's Bridge (130.21), Newcomen Bridge (130.21).

Streets/Roads: Raglan Road (132.21), Marlborough Place (132.22), Camden Street (132.06).

Districts: Howth ("Hoed," 130.33), Sorrento/Dalkey (130.34), Booterstown ("Baddersdown," 132.04), Oxmantown ("Olaph the Oxman," 132.17).

Landmarks: The area around Daniel O'Connell's statue (130.06).

Rivers: Tolka (130.21), Dodder (130.21), Liffey (implied in setting it "a fire," 131.13).

B. Irish Landscapes

Beyond Dublin, the text incorporates significant locations from Irish history and mythology.

• The Burren, County Clare: Referenced in "the burre in the dark" (130.12).
• Tara: The ancient seat of Irish kings is invoked in "his Tiara of scones" (131.09).
• Mount Slemish, Co. Antrim: The site of St. Patrick's servitude appears as "Mount of Mish" (131.01).
• Mythical Otherworld: The Irish paradise Magh Meall is present in "Mell of Moy" (131.01).

C. Global and Cosmic Expansion

The narrative consistently projects beyond Ireland, linking HCE to a global and astronomical context.

• Global Cities & Nations: New Zealand ("New Yealand," 130.08), the United States (containing twenty-four towns named Dublin, 130.27-28), Poland (with its city of Lublin, a "namesake with an initial difference" to Dublin, 130.29), China (Peking, 130.34), Hungary (Budapest, 131.13), and Denmark (Bornholm, Copenhagen, 130.24, 132.02).
• Astronomical Allusions: A detailed passage describes HCE as the planet Saturn: "he's as globeful as a gasometer of lithium and luridity and he was thrice ten anular years before he wallowed round Raggiant Circos" (131.35-132.01). This alludes to Saturn's gaseous nature, its low density (lighter than lithium), its pale yellow ("lurid") color, its near thirty-year orbit, and its famous rings ("anular").

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3. Historical and Mythological Tapestry

The identity of HCE is a composite of countless historical figures, mythological beings, and legendary heroes from a multitude of cultures and eras, illustrating the concept of "Here Comes Everybody."

A. Figures from Irish History and Legend

Era / Theme: Alluded Figures and Events

Myth & Legend: Finn MacCool (as Fingal in Ossian allusions), King Arthur (hunting the boar Twrch Trwyth, his death at Camlann, 132.04-06), Norse invaders (Olaf, first king of Dublin; Turgesius, 132.17-18).

Religious: St. Patrick (on Mount Slemish, 131.01), St. Laurence O'Toole (Bishop of Glendalough, 130.33), Father Charles of Mount Argus (miracle worker, 132.15).

Political: Daniel O'Connell (130.06, 133.03), Charles Stewart Parnell (as "Mr. Fox," 132.17; the Pigott forgery, 133.15), numerous Lord Mayors of Dublin (B.V.H., B.L.G., etc., 131.03-04), the Invincibles and the Phoenix Park Murders (132.32-33).

B. World History and Mythology

The text weaves a dense fabric of allusions to global history and foundational myths.

• Ancient & Classical: Roman Emperors (Otho, Vespasian, Marcus Aurelius, 132.06-19), Hannibal of Carthage (132.06), the Celtic deity Lugus ("threefaced stonehead," 132.12), the Greek Titan Atlas (132.03), and the Roman god Janus (133.19).
• Religious: Figures and events from Christianity (Christ, St. Paul's conversion at Damascus, 131.11-12), Islam (legends of Mohammed hiding in a cave, 131.18-21), and Egyptian mythology (Osiris as "the god at the top of the staircase," 131.17).
• European History: The Merovingian "lazy kings" (rois fainéants, 131.09), the Borgia popes (130.12), and key figures of the Battle of Waterloo including Napoleon Bonaparte, Wellesley (Duke of Wellington), and the Prussian Marshal Blücher (133.21-22).
• Eastern Philosophy: Confucius is referenced through his "conical hodpiece" (a bump on his head), his move to Chufu, and the sacred mountain Tai Shan (131.33-35).

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4. Linguistic Complexity and Literary Intertextuality

The fundamental methodology of the text involves the deconstruction and reconstruction of language itself, creating a multi-layered linguistic artifact that draws heavily from other literary works.

A. Multilingual Wordplay

The text is built on a constant stream of puns and portmanteaus that span numerous languages, often within a single word or phrase.

Language: Example from Text: Annotated Meaning

German: "hoch die Becher": Embedded in "hockinbechers" (130.15), a drinking toast meaning "raise your cups."

German: "komm, eilerdich": In "comm, eilerdich, hecklebury" (132.36), meaning "come, hurry up."

Latin: "hickheckhocks": The elementary Latin declension hic, haec, hoc ("this") (130.20).

Latin: "comminxed": Contains comminxit, meaning "he has defiled" or "pissed on" (130.11).

French: "roi des fainéants": "King of the lazybones," referring to the last Merovingian kings (131.09).

French: "cauchman":Contains cauchemar, meaning "nightmare" (133.24).

Dutch: "paddystool": Contains paddenstoel, meaning "mushroom" or "toadstool" (130.06).

Chinese: "Hwang Chang": The Imperial City of Peking and contains hwang ("yellow") (130.35).

Irish: "earish": A pun on "Irish" (130.19).

Irish: "Beurla": The Irish word for the English language (132.27).

Italian: "Miraculone": Contains mira ("look!"), culone ("big buttocks"), and miracolone ("great miracle") (132.15).

B. Literary and Textual Sources

The annotations reveal Joyce's direct use of specific texts as source material for imagery, language, and structural patterns.

• James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian: This is a major source, providing names (Swaran, Fingal, Fithil, Moran), places (Mora, Lora, Lego, Morven), and specific phrases like "the shell of joy," "feet of wind," and the "sun-beam" standard of Fingal.
• Sir Richard Paget's Babel: Joyce's notebooks show he extracted Paget's theories on the gestural origin of language, including the idea that the sound "AL" is a natural gesture-word for "up" (130.13) and that roots like AD ("eat"), DA ("give"), and SA ("sow") derive from mouth gestures.
• E.A. Wallis Budge's The Book of the Dead: The source for the image of Osiris as "the god at the top of the staircase" (131.17) and for details on Egyptian burial practices.
• The Scottish Clans and their Tartans: This book is the direct source for the list of plants used as native dyes—rueroot (red), dulse (brown), bracken (yellow), teasel (green), sundew (purple), and cress (violet)—which correspond to the colors of the rainbow (130.25).
• Other Literary Works: Allusions are made to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer (132.36), Charles Dickens' David Copperfield (Wilkins Micawber, 131.16), Lewis Carroll, William Shakespeare, and Joyce's own Ulysses.

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5. Recurring Motifs and Cyclical Structures

The text is organized around a series of recurring motifs and cyclical frameworks that reinforce its themes of repetition, transformation, and universal patterns.

• The Viconian Cycle: The four-stage historical cycle of Giambattista Vico is explicitly referenced.

1. Divine Age (Thunder): "speared the rod and spoiled the lightning" (131.14).
2. Heroic Age (Marriage): "married with cakes" (131.15).
3. Human Age (Burial): "till he was buried howhappy was he" (131.15-16).
4. Ricorso (Providence/Return): "god at the top of the staircase" (131.17). A second, more compressed version appears as "harrier, marrier, terrier, tav" (132.17), representing ages of being harried (divine), marrying (heroic), burial in the earth (terra), and death/sleep (támh).

• The Dublin Riddle: The name of the city is encoded in a riddle: "his first's a young rose [BUD > DUB] and his second's French-Egyptian [French for Nile is NIL > LIN] and his whole means a slump at Christie's [DUB-LIN / null-bid]" (130.30-31).
• Oppositional Pairs: The text is structured around dualities and opposites, such as "commenced" and "finished" (130.11), "hunter" and "haunter" (132.16-17), and the doors of the Temple of Janus being "aldays open for polemypolity's sake when he's not suntimes closed for the love of Janus" (133.18-19), representing states of war and peace.
• Numerical and Sensory Patterns: Motifs include "two cardinal ventures and three capitol sinks" (131.01-02), the four meals of the day ("Breakfates, Lunger, Diener and Souper," 131.04), and the four senses of "hand to mouth," "earish," and "eyes shut," with smell noted as missing (130.18-19).

Analysis of Finnegans Wake, Pages 133-136

Executive Summary

The provided source context offers a multi-layered, scholarly analysis of pages 133-136 of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. These pages construct a complex and deliberately contradictory portrait of a central patriarchal figure, identifiable with HCE (Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker), who serves as a metonym for the city of Dublin itself. The character is depicted as a protean entity, embodying roles from king and father to sinner and builder, defined by a constant state of duality and transformation. The text is a dense tapestry of multilingual puns, historical events, mythological allusions, literary references, and Dublin-specific topography. Key themes that emerge are the cyclical nature of history, the fusion of identity between person and place, the inherent contradiction in human nature, and the deconstruction of language to hold multiple, simultaneous meanings. The analysis reveals the text to be a meticulously constructed artifact where every word and phrase is loaded with overlapping references to Norse, Irish, Egyptian, and classical history and myth, as well as to Joyce's personal life and contemporary culture.

The Protean Nature of the Central Figure

The text describes a central male figure through an exhaustive and often paradoxical list of attributes, identities, and actions. This figure is never singular but is a composite of historical, mythological, and archetypal characters.

Names, Titles, and Identities

The character is given numerous names and titles, shifting between high and low status:

• Paternal and Familial: He is called "babu," a Hindi term of respect, and "babbo," an Italian childish term for "daddy" that Joyce's children used for him.
• Royal and Authoritative: He is described with a series of royal titles from different languages: "basidens" (from Greek basileus), "ardree" (from Irish ardrí, high king), "kongsemma" (Norwegian for heir to the crown), and "rexregulorum" (Latin for "king of petty kings"). He is also compared to Napoleon III ("the second imperial").
• Exotic and Indigenous: His "Indian name is Hapapoosiesobjibway," a seven-syllable name referencing the Ojibwe people and the idea of having "papooses everywhere."
• Historical and Literary: He is associated with Richard III ("Crookback"), Peter the Great, King Mark of Cornwall, and William of Orange. He is also "Timour of Tortur" (Timur the Tartar).
• Biblical and Mythological: He is likened to mythological figures like Gaudio Gambrinus (legendary brewer of beer) and embodies aspects of Egyptian, Sumerian, and Greek myths.

Contradictory Attributes and Actions

The figure's character is defined by a series of fundamental dualities and contradictions, reflecting a complex, non-linear identity.

• Moral Ambiguity: He "passed for baabaa blacksheep till he grew white woo woo woolly," reversing the typical racial concept of "passing." His "reverse makes a virtue of necessity while his obverse mars a mother by invention," suggesting a two-sided nature where his back/arse is associated with defecation ("necessity of nature") and his front/penis ("invention") with potentially shameful impregnation.
• Public vs. Private Self: When covered in silk ("beskilk his gunwale"), he is "the second imperial," but when undressed ("untie points, unhook tenters"), he is mere "lath and plaster," revealing the flimsy foundation of his grandiose public persona.
• Creator and Sinner: He is a founder of cities ("founded a house, Uru") and a builder, but also "crawls with lice" and "swarms with saggarts" (priests). He "has a tussle with the trulls [prostitutes] and then does himself justice," implying he patronizes prostitutes and then acquits himself of the crime.
• Sound and Silence: He "is as quiet as a mursque [mosque/mouse] but can be as noisy as a sonogog [synagogue/son of Gog]."
• Exaltation and Depression: He is described as being simultaneously "exalted and depressed, assembled and asundered."
• Generational Cycle: He is described with the phrase "when youngheaded oldshouldered," an inversion of "old head on young shoulders." His identity is fluid through generations, as seen in the joke: "with Pa's new heft and Papa's new helve he's Papapa's old cutlass Papapapa left us."

Dublin as Character and Setting

The text is deeply rooted in the geography, history, and culture of Dublin. The central figure is inseparable from the city, whose own layered history is reflected in his composite identity.

Topographical References

Numerous Dublin locations are woven into the text:

• City Name: The city's Irish name, Baile Átha Cliath ("Town of the Ford of the Hurdles"), appears as "Baulacleeva" and "bally clay." Its origin from dubh linn ("black pool") is referenced in "pool in the dark." Its Ptolemaic name, Eblana, appears in "ebblanes."
• Landmarks and Districts: Portobello bridge, Watling Street, Pimlico Street, Ballsbridge ("Baslesbridge"), Dundrum, and the Shelbourne Hotel are all mentioned.
• Phoenix Park: The park is central, with references to the "Furry Glen" (or Hawthorn Glen), the "Fifteen Acres," and its name, which derives from Irish fionn uisge ("clear water"), alluded to in "a well of Artesia into a bird of Arabia."
• Statues and Structures: The equestrian statue of William III on College Green is heavily referenced, noted for facing Dame Street ("dames troth") and having its back to Trinity College ("trinity left behind him"). The practice of displaying a white horse statuette (a symbol of William III) in Dublin homes is also noted.

Historical and Cultural Layers

The history of Dublin, from its Norse origins to its place in the British Empire, is a constant subtext.

• Viking and Norse Influence: References to Harald Fairhair ("herald hairyfair"), Olaf the White ("alloaf the wheat"), and place-name elements like "-wath" (ford), "-scale" (house), "-scar" (rock), and "-scow" (wood) are drawn from Scandinavian history in Ireland. The raven banner of the Danes is alluded to in "bears a raaven geulant on a fjeld duiv."
• English Rule: The 1172 grant of Dublin to the citizens of Bristol is referenced in "was schenkt publicly to brigstoll." The city's status as the "second city of the British Empire" is also noted.
• Irish Rebellion: The song "The Boys of Wexford," commemorating the 1798 Rebellion, is directly named. The pike, a weapon of Irish rebels, is also mentioned.
• Cultural Artifacts: The Irish one-pound note, featuring Lady Lavery as an Irish colleen, appears as "laveries." Local Dublin theatre productions, such as Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata, My Awful Dad, and Timour the Tartar, are woven into the narrative.

A Tapestry of Allusion

The text is constructed from a dense web of references spanning mythology, religion, literature, history, and popular culture.

Mythological and Religious Sources

• Egyptian: The Book of the Dead is a major source, referenced in "Theban recensors," the "Bug of the Deaf" (a pun on the sacred beetle/scarab, Khepera), and the naming of a boat's rudder as "Evil is it."
• Sumerian: A long poem about the paradise of Dilmun is heavily quoted, providing lines about it being a place where "None said to an old woman, 'Thou art an old woman,'" and the creation story where Nintur gives birth "Like fat, like fat, like tallow." The Sumerian word for city, "Uru," is also used.
• Greek and Roman: Allusions include Deucalion and Pyrrha creating people by throwing stones ("threw pebblets for luck"), Cadmus sowing dragons' teeth, Hero and Leander at the Hellespont ("herospont"), and Venus's birth ("softclad shellborn").
• Irish: Celtic mythology is present through references to Finn MacCool (in Alice Milligan's play), Tír na nÓg ("land of younkers"), and the old name for Dublin, Drom-Choll-Coil ("brow of a hazelwood").
• Welsh: The Mabinogion is a source for characters with fantastic abilities, such as Sugyn who could "suck up the sease," Gilla who could "lep laud [leap land] at ease," and the porter Glewlwyd of the Mighty Grasp ("his porter has a mighty grasp").

Historical and Literary Touchstones

• Nursery Rhymes: "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Sing a Song of Sixpence" are directly incorporated into the narrative.
• Songs: Numerous songs are referenced, including "The Boys of Wexford," bawdy songs like "Barnacle Bill the Sailor," T.S. Eliot's "Mrs Porter" from The Waste Land, "O Mr Porter," "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles," and Thomas Moore's "Oft, in the Stilly Night."
• Literature: The text alludes to Shakespeare's Richard III, Ibsen's plays (Kongs-Emnerne and Et Vers), Émile Zola's Germinal, and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn ("Pike County" dialect). Joyce's own work is also self-referenced, with imagery recalling passages from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (telegraph wires as a musical stave) and Ulysses (Daniel O'Connell's "hugecloaked" form).
• Historical Events: The Battle of Waterloo is invoked through General Cambronne and his famous expletive ("cumbrum, cumbrum"). The Battle of the Boyne is referenced via William of Orange ("King Billy") and "bomb-balls."

Linguistic Multivalence and Wordplay

The primary mode of the text is the use of puns, portmanteaus, and multilingual layering to create words and phrases that hold multiple, often contradictory, meanings simultaneously.

Word/Phrase : Component Meanings and Allusions

lebriety, frothearnity and quality : Liberty, Fraternity, Equality (French Revolution motto) + ebriety (drunkenness), frothiness (of beer), and quality (high-class people).

drummatoysed by Mac Milligan's daughter : Dramatised + toy drum + Alice Milligan (author of a play about Finn MacCool).

sonogog : Synagogue + son of Gog (of Gog and Magog) + sono- (sound) + a pun on "son of God."

Bug of the Deaf : Book of the Dead + the scarab beetle (bug) from Egyptian iconography + the proverb "deaf as a beetle."

alloaf the wheat : Olaf the White (Norse king of Dublin) + a loaf of wheat bread.

annacrwatter : Anna Livia Plurabelle (the Liffey) + water + reference to Anakreon + T.S. Eliot's line "wash their feet in soda water."

ebblanes : Eblana (Ptolemy's name for Dublin) + ebb and flow + airplanes.

Baulacleeva : Balaclava + Baile Átha Cliath (Irish name for Dublin).

sodden shoulder : Wet shoulder + possible echo of "summer soldier" (a lukewarm partisan).

This linguistic density is a core feature, forcing a slow, analytical reading where meaning is not singular but cumulative. Motifs such as stuttering ("baabaa," "woo woo"), numerical patterns (2 & 3, the number 7), and sensory pairs (ear/eye, deaf/blind) provide a loose structural framework for the otherwise free-flowing associations.