"Eveline" by James Joyce: Stream of Consciousness as Failed Escapism In his story Patricia Stec College, James mentions Eveline. Joyce portrays a bleak image of the secluded lives of women in Dublin in the nineteenth century. Eveline, part of the Dubliners trilogy, is the story of a young lady divided between sentimental obligation and the possibility of escape. Her life is one of perpetual disappointment for which she has no one to blame but herself. She is a product of her time and place who has been taught from birth that marriage is an end not a means to another end. Like many other young ladies, she dreams of something more than what her world offers her. In order to understand how Eveline came to be we must first learn about her family. To begin with we know that she comes from a large family since she has two brothers already married and living their own lives away from home. Her father is a wealthy merchant who owns a shop where he sells clothing and other household items. He is well-respected in society and has no trouble meeting suitable wives for his sons. However, only one of these marriages turns out to be legal since all the others are merely contracts entered into for economic reasons. It seems like this family is destined to remain poor since both of Eveline's parents were born into rich families and therefore they expect their children to keep them in that state forever.