"A Painful Case" is a short story by James Joyce published in his 1914 collection Dubliners. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (Irish Séamus Seoighe; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... For the Irish folk band, see The Dubliners. ...

The story

Mr. Duffy, a bank cashier, deliberately lives in an isolated suburb of Dublin. He is characterized as very meticulous and ordered and has little social contact. At a concert one night. Mr. Duffy makes the acquaintance of Mrs. Sinico, a married mother who is his age. They start up a relationship that is innocent enough to be known and allowed by Mrs. Sinico’s husband, who is frequently away. The two draw closer together, and one night Mrs. Sinico impulsively takes his hand, but Mr. Duffy is not pleased at the development and ends their meetings. Four years later, he reads that Mrs. Sinico has been struck by a train and killed. The newspaper article, the title of which provides the title of the story, contains an account by her husband, who states that she began drinking two years ago. The details of the accident suggest that she may have committed suicide. He first reacts with revulsion, concluding that some inherent weakness led to her drinking and the accident, but he slowly realizes that not only did he condemn her to loneliness and death by his rejection, but he has also denied himself the possibility of intimacy and love.

Details

• Bile Beans —a popular patent medicine in Ireland during Joyce’s day.

• the Rotunda —a group of buildings on Rutland Square, one of which is a concert hall.

• astrakhan —a wool fabric with a pile cut and curled to look like a loosely curled fur made from the pelt of very young lambs originally bred near Astrakhan, a city and port in southwest Russia.

• Earlsfort Terrace —the location of the Dublin International Exhibition Building, a concert venue at the time this story takes place.

• Leghorn —a seaport in Tuscany, western Italy, on the Ligurian Sea (The Italian name is Livorno.)

• Parkgate —the main entrance to Phoenix Park, the large public park in northwest Dublin.

• the buff Mail —the Dublin Evening Mail, which was printed on buff (brownish-yellow) paper.

• reefer —an overcoat; a short, thick, double-breasted coat in the style of a seaman’s jacket.

• the prayers —Secret prayers in the Roman Catholic mass between the Offertory and the Preface, read silently or quietly by the priest.

• Sidney Parade —a train station on Sidney Parade Avenue, in the village of Merion, southeast of Dublin.

• Leoville —apparently the name of the house in which the Sinicos lived.

• a league —a temperance association; its members would have pledged to avoid alcohol.

• the Herald —the Dublin Evening Herald.

References

• Joyce, James. Dubliners (London: Grant Richards, 1914)