Appearance of Propriety vs Essence of Propriety in "The Boarding House" by James Joyce

Objective: Explain the theme of James Joyce's "The Boarding House." Identify its overriding idea. Establish grounds for your interpretation and explain why the idea is important. Theme: Every reputation meets the challenge of realizing the appearance of propriety is of greater social importance than the essence of propriety. Discussion of theme in "The Boarding House" by James Joyce When an author sits down to write a story, he or she may already have the basic …

…purity and innocence in the community; Polly no longer possesses her virginity and would therefore be hard to pair with any respectable man; Mr. Doran is a man working in the Catholic church and cannot let down his co-workers, employers, family members, or parish. By arranging a marriage between Polly and Mr. Doran, the appearance of propriety comes into existence in a futile attempt to make up for the lack of the essence of propriety.