# Mrs. Mooney — Dubliners character guide

> Mrs. Mooney in Dubliners by James Joyce.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0006-the-boarding-house

## Snapshot

A boarding-house proprietor who deals with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat, and has decided her daughter's honour requires marriage.

## Who they are

Mrs. Mooney runs her house with the same economy she brings to her daughter's predicament, watching, waiting, and intervening only when the moment is ripe. She is not sentimental about reparation: she counts her cards, weighs social opinion, and prepares to confront Mr. Doran with the full force of an outraged mother. Her cold, methodical pursuit of a wedding turns a private scandal into a public transaction and gives the story its grim comic engine.

## Relationships

### [Kathleen Kearney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/kathleen_kearney)

_professional_

Concert organizer and performer; Mrs. Mooney manages Kathleen's musical career with calculated ambition.

### [Mr. Fitzpatrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/mr_fitzpatrick)

_professional_

Employer and employee; Fitzpatrick is the butcher who employs Mrs. Mooney's daughter, with underlying tension.

### [Kathleen Kearney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/kathleen_kearney)

_professional_

Concert organizer and performer; Mrs. Mooney manages Kathleen's musical career with calculated ambition.

## In the story

### [The Boarding House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/chapters/the-boarding-house)

The cunning and authoritative mother who orchestrates the marriage plot.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/mrs_mooney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters