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The following passage comes at the beginning of James Joyce's masterwork, Ulysses, an early twentieth century novel. There are a lot of references to Catholic ritual in it. Here, Buck Mulligan, the hero, is about to shave. He is carrying a straight-edge razor, the kind that is mostly used for legitimate purposes by barbers these days, and a bowl of foam, probably produced by shaving soap and a brush.

Are the words plump and stately adverb or adjective? Do they describe the attitude of Buck Mulligan or his body?

It is necessary to say that both words can according to many dictionaries be either adverb or adjective.

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressing-gown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him by the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned :

The German translator has translated this part very ambiguously.

STATTLICH UND FEIST erschien Buck Mulligan am Treppenaustritt, ein Seifenbecken in Händen, auf dem gekreuzt ein Spiegel und ein Rasiermesser lagen. Ein gelber Schlafrock mit offenem Gürtel bauschte sich leicht hinter ihm in der milden Morgenluft. Er hielt das Becken in die Höhe und intonierte:

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  • He appears in the self-satisfied pose of, say, a burgermeister or a monsignor: a substantial presence, somewhat imposing but certainly fodder for a satire of the bourgeoisie of early 19th century Ireland.
    – Robusto
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 4:24
  • @Robusto Did you mean "early 20th century"?
    – WS2
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 11:00
  • I think I see the problem. Collins dictionary says that stattlich means magnificent, strapping, imposing, impressive, large or handsome. None of these seems very much like the English definition of stately that applies here: which is dignified.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 12:57
  • @WS2: Yes, of course. I was thinking of June 16, 1904 (Bloomsday) and my idiot brain said "19th century!"
    – Robusto
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 13:41
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    I don't understand why you think it's an either/or. Why can't plump refer to Buck's body and stately refer to his manner?
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jan 25, 2020 at 13:47

3 Answers 3

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Plump would mean something like "fat" or perhaps more metaphorically, bloated, full of himself. Stately would mean something like dignified, ceremonial, lofty.

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  • I know, what they mean . describe thez here the body of the character or his stance ?
    – kazhvan
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 3:44
  • @kazhvan here are some other answers, a few of them good: quora.com/….
    – user1383058
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 3:52
  • I have already read the answers there. They are very confusing
    – kazhvan
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 3:59
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    @kazhvan I would say that neither word can be an adverb, both are adjectives. It would be ungrammatical to say "He sits plump" or "She walks stately" (although both sentences might occur in non-standard dialect speech). In this case Joyce is using both words to describe Mulligan. 'Plump' describes him physically and 'stately' describes his style of walking and his presentation but both relate to him. The only verb in the same clause as 'plump' and 'stately' is 'came' and neither modifier affects that verb.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 7:17
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    Plump could also imply rich -- rich men are often portrayed as overweight in period pieces because they could afford more and richer foods.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 19:34
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TvF is correct. In the original publication of Ulysses, the first page is a great big letter S, with a tiny comma, then the word 'plump' - next page - Buck Mulligan came... so, the word stately is an adverb, referring to how he came down the stairhead - it could have said, "In a stately manner, plump Buck..." Plump is the following adjective, describing Buck physically. "Plump Buck Mulligan" is the description. Whose walk is stately. The confusing thing is, without the comma, the sentence would also work. But in that case, since stately can be either an adverb or adjective, "Stately plump Buck Mulligan came down..." would describe Mulligan and being both stately and plump in appearance. In the actual sentence, he's plump in appearance and stately in the way he walks down the stairhead. Which makes him a more comical figure than the other way of reading it.

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Stately is the adverb, describing how he 'came from the stairhead'.

Plump is the adjective, describing Buck Mulligan.

Using different adverbs and adjectives (changing the meaning), it is easier to see: Quickly, fat Buck came from the stairhead.

It is also easier to understand if you re-order the sentence (without changing its meaning): Plump Buck Mulligan came quickly from the stairhead.

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  • And the German translator obviously didn't understand that because he translated both as adjectives.
    – TvF
    Commented Feb 8, 2020 at 2:02
  • "Stately" is an adjective -- look it up!
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Feb 8, 2020 at 2:17
  • @HotLicks I did. Stately can also be used as an adverb, see dictionary.com/browse/stately or merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stately . Please do not just read the first entry in a dictionary but take time to read the question, the poem, the context (poetry, verse) and think about it.
    – TvF
    Commented Feb 14, 2020 at 16:09
  • "Stately" can be an adverb, but it's usually an adjective, and in the stated context it's clearly on par with "plump", another adjective.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Feb 14, 2020 at 17:53
  • Sorry, that 'clearly' is just opinion. Please add something to found this on beyond 'usually it's an adjective, so clearly it's here, too'. Clearly, the OP didn't think it was that clear, or she wouldn't have asked that question.
    – TvF
    Commented Feb 14, 2020 at 23:01

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