The barroom setting, the flirtations with the bar-maids, the genial confusion and the wealth of witty conversation accurately catch the gay and hectic atmosphere of a Dublin tavern. The universally sentimental response to the songs touchingly represents the unifying force of the pathetic in Irish song and legend. Bloom, we may notice, leaves while the others are transfixed. The characters incongruously gathered around the piano find, in music, some inner harmony and beauty in the midst of their oppressively drab lives. At the height of Ban Dollard’s fine song, Miss Douce and Bloom exchange meaningful glances in the mirror. After Bloom leaves the bar, he encounters a wretched street-walker and recognizes her with momentary horror.

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