The Schema

In a 1920 letter to Carlo Linati (a friend and early reader of Ulysses), Joyce wrote, “in view of the enormous bulk and the more than enormous complexity of my […] novel it would be better to send you a sort of summary-key-skeleton-scheme (for your personal use only). Perhaps my idea will appear clearer to you when you have the text” (Letters I 146). So, even before having finished writing the novel, Joyce recognized that readers needed some support in grasping the nuanced allusions and intricate structures he had put into Ulysses. He later sent similar "schemas" to other friends and early scholars of Joyce’s work, including Stuart Gilbert. Joyce gave Gilbert permission to publish the contents of the schema in his study of the novel published in 1930.  The Gilbert and Linati schemas have some differences, but I have collated their information into the table below.

EpisodeTimeSceneColorTechniqueCorrespondencesScience/ArtMeaningOrganSymbols
1.Telemachus8:00TowerGold, WhiteNarrative (young) Stephen = Telemachus, Buck = Antinous, Milkwoman = MentorTheologyDispossessed son in struggleNoneHamlet, Ireland, Heir
2. Nestor10:00SchoolBrownCatechism (personal)Deasy = Nestor, Stephen = Telemachus, Sargent = Pisistratus, Mrs. O'Shea = HelenHistoryWisdom of the Old WorldNoneHorse, Ulster, Woman, Common Sense
3. Proteus11:00StrandBlue, GreenMonologue (male)Primal Matter = Proteus, Kevin Egan = Menelaus, Cocklepickers = magapenthesPhilologyPrima materiaNoneWord, Tide, Evolution, Metamorphosis
4. Calypso8:00HouseOrangeNarrative (mature)Mr. Bloom = Ulysses, Molly Bloom = Calypso, Penelope, The Nymph = Calypso, Zion = IthacaMythology, EconomicsThe departing wayfarerKidneysExile, family, Nymph, Israel, vagina
5. Lotus-Eaters10:00BathBrownNarcissism Ulysses, Nausicaa, Erylochus, bather, communicantsChemistry, BotanySeduction of the faithSkin, genitalsHost, penis, flower, drugs
6. Hades11:00GraveyardBlack, WhiteIncubismDignam = Elpinor, Menton = Ajax, Parnell = Agamemnon, O'Connell = Hercules, Cunningham = Sisyphus, Caretaker = Hades, the 4 rivers, Orion, Laertes, Telemachus, AntinousReligionDescent to NothingHeartCemetary, the past, the unknown man, heart trouble
7. Aeolus12:00NewspaperRedEnthymemicCrawford = Aeolus, Journalism = Incest, Press = Floating Island, Mentor, Ulysses, TelemachusRhetoricMockery of victoryLungsMachines, wind, fame, kite, failed destinies, press, mutability
8.Lestrygonians1:00LunchBlood ColorPeristaltic ProseHunger = Antiphates, Food = The Decoy, Teeth = LestrygoniansArchitectureDejectionEsophagusBloody sacrifice, foods, shame, constables
9. Scylla & Charybdis2:00LibrarynoneWhirlpools, dialecticThe rock = Aristotle, Dogma, Stratford / The Whirlpool = Plato, Mysticism, London / Ulysses = Socrates, Jesus, Shakespeare / Telemachus, AntinousLiteratureTwo-edged dilemmaBrainHamlet, Shakespeare, Christ, Socrates, London and Stratford, Scholasticism and Mysticism, Plato and Aristotle, Youth and Maturity
10. Wandering Rocks3:00StreetsRainbowLabyrinthLiffey = Bosphorous, Viceroy = European Bank, Conmee = Asiatic Bank, Groups of Citizens = SymplegadesMechanicsHostile EnvironmentBloodChrist and Caesar, Errors, Homynyms, Sychronization, Resemblances
11. Sirens4:00Concert RoomCoralFuga per CanonemBarmaids = Sirens, Bar = Isle, Parthenope, Ulysses, Orpheus, MenalausMusicSweet CheatEarPromises, Woman, Sounds, Embellishments
12. Cyclops5:00TavernGreenGigantismI = Noman, Cigar = Stake, Apotheosis = ChallengeSurgeryThe egocidal terrorMuscles, BoneNation, Religion, Gymnastics, Idealism, Exaggeration, Fanaticism, Collectivity
13. Nausicaa8:00RocksGreyTuescence/Detumescence, Retrogressive ProgressionStar of the Sea = Phaescia, Gerty = Nausicaa, UlyssesPaintingThe projected mirageEye, NoseOnanism, Female, Virgin, Hypocrisy
14. Oxen of the Sun10:00HospitalWhiteEmbryonic developmentHospital = Trinacria, Nurses = Lampetie, Phaesthusa / Horne = Helios, Fertility = Oxen, Fraud = Crime / Jove, UlyssesMedicineThe Eternal FlocksMatrix, UterusFecundation, Frauds, mothers
15. Circe12:00BrothelVioletHallucinationBella = Circe / beasts, Telemachus, Ulysses, HermesMagicThe man-eating orcLocomotor apparatusZoology, personification, pantheism, poison, antidote
16. Eumaeus1:00ShelterNoneNarrative (old)Skin the Goat = Eumaeus, Sailor = Ulysses Pseudangelos, Corley - MelanthiusNavigationThe ambush at homeNervesSailors
17. Ithaca2:00HouseStarry, MilkyCatechism (impersonal)Boylan = Eurymachus, Scruples = Suitors, Reason = BowScienceThe armed hopeSkeletonComets
18. Penelope∞BedStarry, Milky, DawnMonologue (female)Earth = Penelope, Movement = WebNoneThe past sleepsFatEarth

In addition to the individual episode titles, the Gilbert schema divides the novel into three parts, which Joyce also titled:

  • Part I: “Telemachia” (Episodes 1-3)

  • Part II: “Odyssey” (Episodes 4-15)

  • Part III: “Nostos” (Episodes 16-18)

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