“The Sisters”: Their Disease

Abstract

By analyzing the trivial details in “The Sisters,” this essay suggests that Father Flynn and his siblings share the disease neurosyphilis. These details include Nannie’s severe stooping, her oddly worn footwear, her deafness, her muteness, and her torpor. Eliza also has unusual quirks: her need for pneumatic tires indicating hyperacusis associated with vertigo, her malapropisms, and her frequent pauses during speech. Given the epidemic nature of syphilis at the turn of the twentieth century, and given Joyce’s medical knowledge, the unfortunate possibility of a familial disease seems likely.