This book investigates the process of characterisation of secondary figures in Joyce's Ulysses. Drawing on theories from stylistics, pragmatics and narratology, this study explores the linguistic/literary interface of Joyce's novel focusing on the author's orchestration of different textual cues for presenting secondary characters as miniature examples of human complexity. Although grounded on solid theoretical bases and supported by sound methodological suggestions, this work provides the reader with a number of practical examples of character analysis which can be applied to any work of prose fiction. The characters selected for analysis are Buck Mulligan, Simon Dedalus, Mrs Breen and Milly Bloom. The thorough account of their textual characterisation uncovers the colourful individualities of Joyce's minor figures and reveals their intriguing potential for the contemporary reader. This book investigates the process of characterisation of secondary figures in Joyce's Ulysses. Drawing on theories from stylistics, pragmatics and narratology, this study explores the linguistic/literary interface of Joyce's novel focusing on the author's orchestration of different textual cues for presenting secondary characters as miniature examples of human complexity. Although grounded on solid theoretical bases and supported by sound methodological suggestions, this work provides the reader with a number of practical examples of character analysis which can be applied to any work of prose fiction. The characters selected for analysis are Buck Mulligan, Simon Dedalus, Mrs Breen and Milly Bloom. The thorough account of their textual characterisation uncovers the colourful individualities of Joyce's minor figures and reveals their intriguing potential for the contemporary reader. Preface 13 1. The Theoretical Background 17 1.1. What is a 'character' in literary theory 17 1.2. The humanising approach 18 1.3. The de-humanising approach 19 1.4. Chatman and the reassessment of the humanising approach 23 1.5. Towards an integrated approach 24 1.6. Models of character classification: Forster, Harvey, Hochman and Fishelov 26 2. Secondary characters in Ulysses 31 2.1. Concept of "character" in Ulysses 31 2.2. Process of characterisation of minor figures 35 2.3. Linguistic tools of analysis 37 3. Buck Mulligan: Characterisation Process 41 3.1. Preliminary considerations 41 3.2. Information inferred from the character's speech-contributions 42 3.2.1. Buck Mulligan's conversational behaviour 43 3.2.2. Style variation and allusions 51 3.3. Information conveyed by the narrator 58 3.3.1. Verbs denoting processes 59 3.3.2. Manner adjuncts 68 3.3.3. Adjectives and nouns 72 3.4. Other-presentation 76 3.4.1. Stephen 76 3.4.2. Mr Dedalus 80 3.4.3. Bloom 81 3.5. A closing overview on Buck Mulligan 83 4. Simon Dedalus: Characterisation Process 87 4.1. Preliminary considerations 87 4.2. Information inferred from the character's speech-contributions 89 4.2.1. Simon Dedalus's relationship with Stephen 90 4.2.2. Simon Dedalus's poverty 100 4.2.3. Simon's flirtatious attitude and musical talent 111 4.2.4. An analysis of Simon Dedalus's speech-style 115 4.3. Information conveyed by the narrator 122 4.3.1. Conclusion 128 4.4. Other-presentation 129 4.4.1. Stephen Dedalus 129 4.4.2. Bloom 132 4.4.3. Molly Bloom 134 4.4.4. Boody Dedalus 135 4.5. A closing overview on Simon Dedalus 136 5. Mrs Breen: Characterisation Process 139 5.1. Preliminary considerations 139 5.2. Information inferred from the character's, the narrator's and the monologist's contributions 140 5.3. Other-presentation 150 5.3.1. Mrs Breen's characterisation in "Cyclops" 150 5.3.2. Mrs Breen's characterisation in "Circe" 153 5.3.3. Mrs Breen's characterisation in "Penelope" 164 5.4. Some closing observations on Mrs Breen's characterisation process 168 5.5. A closing overview on Mrs Breen 169 6. Milly Bloom: Characterisation Process 173 6.1. Preliminary considerations 173 6.2. Information inferred from Milly's discourse construction in her letter 175 6.3. Other-presentation 184 6.3.1. Bloom's presentation of Milly Bloom 184 6.3.2. Bannon's presentation of Milly Bloom 192 6.3.3. Molly's presentation of Milly Bloom 195 6.4. Closing observations on Milly's process of characterisation 200 6.5. A closing overview on Milly Bloom 201 References 203