Opening Passage - Stately, Plump Buck Mulligan

From Ulysses by James Joyce
The novel opens with Buck Mulligan's mock-religious shaving ritual atop the Martello tower, establishing the mock-epic tone and Stephen's strained relationship with his roommate.
Episode 1 (Telemachus), opening

'Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.' Mulligan intones 'Introibo ad altare Dei,' parodying the Catholic Mass and setting the novel's blasphemous, parodic register.

Read in Books4Free →

Read or Listen to Ulysses on Books4Free

Every chapter free to read. Free audio narration on the opening chapter. Plus an AI study assistant that knows the book.

Open in Books4Free →
X Facebook

More topics from Ulysses