# Molly Bloom — Ulysses character guide

> Molly Bloom in Ulysses by James Joyce.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mrs Marion Bloom, Mrs Marion, Marion, Marion Softly, Mrs Bloom, Madam Marion Tweedy, Marion Tweedy, Miss Marion Tweedy, Miss Tweedy

**First appearance:** 0004-ii

## Snapshot

A warm, shrewd soprano and Bloom's wife, Molly hovers over the day as memory, rumor, and desire—her voice and her choices pulling every thread of the story taut.

## Who they are

Molly is a professional singer with a Belfast engagement and a reputation that travels faster than she does. Her affair with the flashy Boylan shadows Bloom's whole day, while her half-sleeping thoughts drift through lovers, losses, and the Gibraltar of her girlhood. She matters because the novel's heart beats in her: everything Bloom does is measured against her, and her final word belongs to her alone.

## Relationships

### [Stephen Dedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/stephen_dedalus)

_psychological_

Molly is intrigued by Stephen as a young intellectual, and her thoughts about him mix maternal curiosity with romantic fantasy.

### [Leopold Bloom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/leopold_bloom)

_family_

Bloom and Molly are married, but their relationship is strained by emotional distance and Molly's affair with Blazes Boylan.

### [Gerty MacDowell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/gerty_macdowell)

_psychological_

Gerty is a young woman who fantasizes about romance and marriage, and her thoughts parallel Molly's own sensual and domestic desires.

### [Leopold Bloom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/leopold_bloom)

_family_

Bloom and Molly are married, but their relationship is strained by emotional distance and Molly's affair with Blazes Boylan.

### [Leopold Bloom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/leopold_bloom)

_family_

Bloom and Molly are married, but their relationship is strained by emotional distance and Molly's affair with Blazes Boylan.

### [Stephen Dedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/stephen_dedalus)

_psychological_

Molly is intrigued by Stephen as a young intellectual, and her thoughts about him mix maternal curiosity with romantic fantasy.

### [Stephen Dedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/stephen_dedalus)

_psychological_

Molly is intrigued by Stephen as a young intellectual, and her thoughts about him mix maternal curiosity with romantic fantasy.

## In the story

### [Calypso](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/iv)

Molly is in bed, receives breakfast and the letter from Milly, and discusses reincarnation with Bloom.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/v)

Referenced in Bloom's thoughts about her perfume and her singing at a past mass.

### [Lestrygonians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/viii)

Recalled by Bloom in memories of their early marriage and intimate moments.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/xvii)

Mentioned as Miss Marion Tweedy, with whom Bloom discussed subjects in 1888.

### [Penelope](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/xviii)

Protagonist of the episode; her uninterrupted stream of consciousness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/molly_bloom
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters