By Vivian Yuxin Wen /
While chocolate has become a ubiquitous and largely affordable commodity for the modern readers, it is coded with a sense of power in terms of financial status, colonial dominance and sexual prowess. Historically, when it first arrived in Europe, it was a luxurious good for the rich and only became democratized along with the development of manufacturing technology and started to appear on the shelves of corner shops in the beginning of the twentieth century. In an advertisement-like statement in “Circe” – “Try truffles at Andrews” (Joyce, 429) – we are grounded in a particular time in Dublin, where “Andrews & Co.” was still “a fashionable grocer and liquor merchant” found on “19-22 Dame Street, Dublin.” (Gifford, 500)
Power is an intersectional category. For example, economic and colonial powers could reinforce each other. In the blog named “A Literary History of Chocolate” by Nico and Amy’s Literary Kitchen, the writers explicate the “long history of colonial exploitation” behind the innocuous appearance of chocolate bar, as the food carefully chosen by Joyce can serve as map keys to the “geographical expanse of the British Empire.” The entrance of Bloom into the chapter and the 1904 “Nighttown” is particularly interesting, as he nervously stuffs “chocolate” along with “bread” into his pocket – a loaded juxtaposition between two kinds of foods:
“[…] The navvy, staggering forward, cleaves the crowd and lurches towards the tramsiding on the farther side under the railway bridge Bloom appears, flushed, panting, cramming bread and chocolate into a sidepocket.” (Joyce, 354)
Furthermore, the image of chocolate is complicated by its licentious connotation, which leads to demonstration of sexual power and desire – just like many other physical objects found in “Circe.” The later section of the chapter features an exchange of “chocolate/truffles” in between Bloom and Zoe, which represents a give-and-take of sexual offer, as captured in the word “aphrodisiac” (Joyce, 429). “Aphrodisiac” literally means a food, drink, or drug that stimulates sexual desire, and further evokes many medical and chemical lexicon and color symbols in this section, which can be disorienting. The confusion is mostly manifested in Bloom’s long speech as he “takes the chocolate” from Zoe. (Joyce, 429) With the repetition of “aphro,” Bloom suddenly speaks of a lot of colors which seem to altogether exert curious negative effects, such as “red” (“lupus,” an inflammation on the skin,) “black” (“sad[ness]”) and “mauve” (influence “taste”). “Mauve” is known as one of the earliest artificial colors, a unique shade of purple.
To back track a little, as Bloom first enters the brothel through the door, “chocolate” is the first thing that he takes out of his pocket, almost like a passport, a ticket to the sexual amusement park: “Bloom takes the chocolate from his pocket and offers it nervously to Zoe.” (Joyce, 428) Bloom is immediately portrayed as the more submissive party whereas when Zoe offers it back, the gesture is more assertive and matter-of-fact: “Zoe offers him chocolate.” (Joyce 429). Hence, the exchange of chocolate embodies the power imbalance between Bloom and the whores of the brothel, a power imbalance that is to evoke the grander historical narrative of colonial dominance and aristocracy surrounding the image of chocolate.
Works Cited
Gifford, Don & Seidmann, Robert. Ulysses Annotated. (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988)
Joyce, James. Ulysses: The Corrected Text. Ed. Gabler et al. (New York: Random House, Inc., 1986)
Nico and Amy’s Literary Kitchen, “A Literary History of Chocolate: Part 3.” https://nicoandamysliterarykitchen.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/a-literary-history-of-chocolate-part-3/ (Accessed on December 10, 2018)
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