Ulysses characters

Appears from the start

A young writer and teacher living in a Martello tower outside Dublin. Still mourning his mother and troubled by having refused to pray at her deathbed, he feels used by Buck Mulligan and out of place beside the visiting Haines. Proud, intellectually restless, and nearly penniless, he intends not to return to the tower after the day begins.

Also known as Buck Mulligan

Appears from the start

A medical student sharing the Martello tower with Stephen. Witty, theatrical, and irreverent, he turns Stephen's grief and religious unease into material for jokes while expecting Stephen to help pay for their life together.

Appears from the start

An English visitor staying at the tower with Stephen and Mulligan. He is interested in Irish culture but treats Ireland and its people with the detached curiosity of an outsider, making Stephen wary of him.

Also known as Mr Deasy

First appears in chapter 2

The headmaster of the boys' school where Stephen teaches. Certain of his own financial and political wisdom, he pays Stephen's wages, lectures him about thrift and history, and asks him to place a letter about cattle disease with the Dublin press.

Also known as Poldy

First appears in chapter 4

A thirty-eight-year-old Dublin advertising canvasser living at 7 Eccles Street with his wife, Molly. Practical, observant, and given to private chains of association, he prepares breakfast, buys a pork kidney, reads letters addressed to his household, and begins his rounds before attending a funeral.

Also known as Marion Bloom

First appears in chapter 4

Bloom's wife, a professional singer born in Gibraltar. From bed she receives breakfast and a letter from concert promoter Blazes Boylan, whose planned visit later that day weighs heavily on Bloom's thoughts.

First appears in chapter 4

Leopold and Molly's fifteen-year-old daughter, who is living away from home while working with a photographer in Mullingar. Her morning letter reports on her life there and prompts both parental concern and memories of the Bloom household.

First appears in chapter 4

A confident concert promoter arranging a singing tour for Molly. His morning letter announces that he will call at the Bloom home that afternoon, and Bloom recognizes him as a rival for Molly's attention.

First appears in chapter 5

The assumed name of a woman with whom Bloom exchanges secret, romantic letters under his own alias, Henry Flower. Her latest note seeks greater intimacy, while Bloom remains intrigued but cautious about meeting her.

First appears in chapter 5

A Dublin acquaintance who stops Bloom in the street, talks about mutual friends, and asks him to put his name down at Paddy Dignam's funeral. His request forces Bloom to conceal the letter he has just collected under an assumed name.

First appears in chapter 6

Stephen's father, a sociable, financially diminished widower whose talk mixes stories, songs, resentments, and memories. He rides to Paddy Dignam's funeral with Bloom and other Dublin acquaintances while Stephen follows his separate course through the city.

First appears in chapter 6

A composed Dublin businessman who accompanies Bloom to Paddy Dignam's funeral. Considerate toward the dead man's family and skilled at smoothing social friction, he is one of the more sympathetic members of the funeral party.

First appears in chapter 7

The forceful editor of the Freeman's Journal, encountered as Bloom tries to secure a newspaper advertisement and Stephen delivers Mr Deasy's letter. Surrounded by noise, deadlines, and verbal display, he demands firmer terms before accepting Bloom's advertising proposal.

First appears in chapter 8

The proprietor of a Dublin pub where Bloom stops for a light lunch. He serves Bloom a cheese sandwich and wine, discusses Paddy Dignam's death, and offers a comparatively calm refuge from the crowded restaurants nearby.

First appears in chapter 12

A combative Irish nationalist holding court in Barney Kiernan's pub. He challenges Bloom's belonging and politics, turning a drinking-room argument about nationhood, persecution, and violence into a personal confrontation.

First appears in chapter 13

A young woman sitting with friends and children on Sandymount Strand during an evening fireworks display. Romantic and self-conscious, she notices Bloom watching her and deliberately presents herself to his gaze before leaving, when her limp becomes apparent.

Also known as Madam Bella

First appears in chapter 15

The imposing proprietor of a Nighttown brothel entered by Bloom while he searches for Stephen. She takes command of the room and becomes the central figure in Bloom's feverish vision of humiliation and reversed power.