Monkstown

Monkstown is the Conroys’ home, invoked in “The Dead” as the destination they would ordinarily return to after the Morkan sisters’ dance. Gabriel’s decision not to take a cab there that night instead places the familiar home against a hotel room in Dublin, where he imagines being alone with Gretta.

Setting and Domestic Life

Aunt Kate asks whether Gretta and Gabriel will take a cab back to Monkstown. Gabriel explains that they will not repeat the previous year’s journey: the cab windows rattled, the east wind blew in after they passed Merrion, and Gretta caught a severe cold. The memory gives the return trip a concrete domestic history, shaped by discomfort and concern for Gretta’s health.

The couple have arranged to stay at the Gresham Hotel instead. When Aunt Kate asks whether Gretta is anxious about the children, Gretta answers that they will be away for only one night and that Bessie will look after them. Monkstown is thus associated with the household they leave temporarily behind, including the children and their dependable caregiver.

Home and the Hotel

The planned night away changes the meaning of the journey: rather than returning to their home in Monkstown, Gabriel and Gretta will share a room at the Gresham. As the gathering ends, Gabriel anticipates that once the others have gone, he and Gretta will be alone there. His attention turns toward private moments from their life together and to a letter he wrote years earlier, imagining that he might call her name and recover their intimacy.

This anticipation belongs to Gabriel’s thoughts, not to a confirmed outcome. The passage establishes Monkstown as the home left behind for the night, while the hotel becomes the setting of his hoped-for reunion with Gretta. The contrast brings ordinary family life and Gabriel’s romantic expectations into the same frame without establishing that his hopes will be fulfilled.