Abstract
Abstract: James Joyce’s “Circe” episode in Ulysses , by way of its closet drama form, raises questions at the center of ongoing debates on reading practice and method. Joyce uses the closet drama genre, whose name and tradition call attention to depth and concealment, to examine the relationship between surfaces and depths. Instances of free indirect discourse and interior monologue within the “Circe” episode’s stage directions renegotiate reader receptivity and accessibility. Ultimately, “Circe” is not only a consideration of surfaces and depths but also the relationship between action and contemplation. Honoring the closet drama’s historical function as pedagogical and philosophical apparatus, “Circe” is an opportunity to evaluate the relationship between theory and practice in literary studies.