Blooms & Barnacles Who Was the Real Leopold Bloom?
Feb 10, 2021
56:11
James Joyce based many characters in Ulysses on friends, family, acquaintances, and enemies, but what about Leopold Bloom? Who were the real people in Joyce’s life who inspired the creation of one of literature’s greatest protagonists?
Topics in this episode include people who Joyce thought looked like Leopold Bloom, the story of Alfred Hunter, why Joyce chose the address 7 Eccles St., how many pounds are in a stone, the inspiration for Bloom’s kindly-curious personality, Ettore Schmitz (Italo Svevo), how true friendship influenced Ulysses, why Bloom is Hungarian, why he’s called Leopold, how Leopold Bloom embodies the quality of maturity.
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Who Was the Real Leopold Bloom?