This essay analyzes the theme of temperance in James Joyce's short story "A Mother" from Dubliners, focusing on Mrs. Kearney's response to the dispute over her daughter's performance contract. While Mrs. Kearney had a legitimate grievance regarding unpaid fees, her decision to confront the organizer Holohan publicly at the concert rather than through appropriate channels undermined her position. The essay argues that her lack of calm and strategic restraint caused greater harm to her daughter's musical career than the withheld payment itself, and that better temperance would have preserved both her credibility and her daughter's prospects.
The paper applies a virtue-ethics lens to close literary analysis, judging a character not by whether she was right or wrong on the facts, but by whether she exercised appropriate self-governance. This technique — evaluating conduct rather than just outcome — is a useful model for character-based literary essays.
The essay opens by establishing the stakes of Mrs. Kearney's dilemma, then argues that she elevated principle above both money and social wisdom. The middle section examines the damage caused by her public confrontation and its timing. The closing paragraph uses a hypothetical to show how restraint would have served her interests better, ending on a causal claim that ties temperance directly to outcome.
Mrs. Kearney faced a dilemma regarding her daughter's performance and the matter of unpaid fees. There was no clear indication that the contract with her daughter had been broken, but the apparent stalling suggested to her that it would be. She was therefore faced with two unpleasant options: allow her daughter to be taken advantage of, or risk her daughter's musical career coming to an abrupt end. That career may or may not have held significant future value. Either way, Mrs. Kearney's actions ultimately destroyed any potential it had — and she did so for the sake of a few guineas and a point of principle.
By virtue of her decision, Mrs. Kearney placed principle on a higher plane than money, whether present or future. With respect to temperance as a virtue, however, she displayed very little calm. While there were certainly legitimate reasons to be concerned about payment, the time and place for such a confrontation was not at the concert itself. There was an expected formality to such proceedings that she simply did not observe. As a result, the situation spiraled out of control for both Holohan and Mrs. Kearney alike.
The collateral damage Mrs. Kearney was causing was not adequately taken into consideration, nor was the inevitable blowback. She was within her rights to insist on proper payment for her daughter in accordance with the contract. However, her behavior was consistent with being right for the sake of being right. She did not consider that pressing the issue at that moment would cause considerably more damage than necessary — and damage to far more people than just herself.
You’re 48% through this paper. Sign up to read the full paper.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.