To return to Bill Cadbury's home page Finnegans Wake, a sort of Table of Contents with sections, subsections and draft dates James Joyce Archive, chapter, section and subsection draft table, with pages. This is the structure of the Wake in terms of its composition units. I put the subtitles which the Archive uses in "()", and subtitles or descriptions I use myself, or find elsewhere, in "[]". Dates are of composition of first draft. Remember that plot units and compositional units are very different--I am labelling the central events of the compositional units but there is often crossover within them]. I will improve on this as we go. Book I I.1 (3-29)[10-11/1926] §1 (3-18.16)A (3-10.23) [intro and Museyroom] B (10.24-13.29) [the hen, two mounds, four things] C (13.30-14.27) ("Annals") D (14.28-15.28) [Quinet reflection] E (15.29-18.16) ("Mutt and Jute")§2 (18.17-29)A (18.17-21.04) [the claybook] B (21.05-29) [The Prankquean (to 23.15), the 4 tell HCE to stay dead and report how things are here. I.2 (30-47) [8-10/1923] [chs2-4 are "the crime plot": ch2 is HCE history, cad, and Rann] §1 (30-34.29) ("Here Comes Everybody") vignette--8/1/23] §2 (34.30-44.21) [cad encounter and the rumor trail-- 10/23] §3 (44.22-47) ("The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly") [also known as "The Rann"][10/23] I.3 (48-74) [11/23] [gossip, and name-calling of HCE inside] §1 (48-61.27)[fate of Rann-writers, later retellings, plebiscite] §2 (61.28-67.27) [ "the visit of the night assailant" (Hayman)] §3 (67.28-74) [the inside attack--HCE called names] I.4 (75-103) [HCE resurrects, struggles with assailant, Festy is tried, HCE escapes] §1 (75-96.25)A (75-92.05) (11/1923) [HCE emerges, another attack, the trial of Festy King] B (92.06-96.25) (12/1926) [Shem and Shaun emerge from the trial, and 4 reflect]§2 (96.26-103) (12/1923) [HCE escapes as fox, is reborn, transition to ALP] I.5 (104-125) [the Mamafesta: Shem writes about the hen and the letter she digs up] §1 (104-113.22) (12/1923) [§2 "The Revered Letter", later incorporated into Book IV)] [§3 "The Delivery of the Letter", later used as a basis for Book III] §4 (113.23-125) (12/1923) I.6 (126-168) [questions and answers: a run-through of the cast] (July 1927) §1 (126-150.14)A (126-149.10) B (149.11-150.14)§2 (150.15-152.03) §3 (152.04-159.23) ("The Mookse and the Gripes") §4 (159.24-168) I.7 (169-195) [Shem] (January 1924) §1 (169-187.23) §2 (187.24-195) I.8 (196-216) ("Anna Livia Plurabelle") (January 1924) §1 (196-208.26) §2 (208.27-216) Book II II.1 (219-59) [Night Games, "The Mime of Mick, Nick and the Maggies"] (January 1931) §1 (219-222.21); §2 (222.22-236.32); §3 (236-33-240.04); §4 (240.05-244.12); §5 (244.13-246.36); §6 (247.01-257.02); [§6 has 6 subsections] §7 (257.03-259.07). II.2 (260-308) [The schoolroom: learning sexual geometry] (January 1934) §1 (260-263.30 and notes); §2 (263.31-266.19); §3 (266.20-275.02); [§4 "Scribbledehobble", later incorporated into §5]; §5 (275.03-279.09); §6 (279 footnote) ("The Letter" [Issy's]); §7 (280.01-282.04); §8 (282.05-304.04) ("The Triangle", later called "The Muddest Thick That Was Ever Heard Dump", first part of chapter to be written); §9 (304.05-308.25 and notes). II.3 (309-382) [The scene in the pub] (1935-6) §1 (309-331.36) [Kersse and the Norwegian Captain] (January 1935)Subsections ending: A (309.10); B (310.21); C (331.36)§2 (332.01-337.03) §3 (337.04-338.08) [Butt and Taff on Buckley and the Russian General] (January 1936) §4 (338.04-354.06) [Butt and Taff continued] §5 (354.07-355.07) [Butt and Taff concluded] §6 (355.08-370.29) [the 4 judge HCE, and his defense]Two subsections ending: A (355.13); B (370.29)§7 (370.30-382.30) [closing of the pub, HCE drinks the dregs] (380ff March 1923) II.4 (383-399) [Mamalujo observe Tristan and Isolde kiss] [§1 "Tristan and Isolde", later incorporated into §2] (vignette, March 1923) §2 (383-398.28) (October 1923) (vignettes interwoven) §3 (398.29-399.34) (September 1923)Two subsections, ending: A (398.30); B (399.34) Book III ("the delivery of the letter by Shaun") or (as Joyce called it "/\abcd" ) [For some reason the chapters of Book III are called sections, and sections subsections; Book III is "the 4 watches of Shaun", and his name changes in each; drafted starting March 1924ff, with episodes added as noted below] III.§1 (403-428) A (403-414.13) B (414.14-414.21) (introduction to "The Ondt") C (414.22-419.10) ("The Ondt and the Gracehoper") (Feb 1928) D (419.11-428) III.§2 (429-73) A (429-461.32) B (461.33-468.19) ("Dave the Dancekerl") (November 1925) C (468.20-743) III.§3 (474-554) (November 1924) A (474-532.05) B (532.06-554) ("Haveth Childers Everywhere") III§4 (555-590) Mamalujo see the Porters in bed, the children asleep (May 1926) (555.01-556.22) children in their room [A] (556.23-.30) "character" paragraph (556.31-557.12) Kate the Slop discovers HCE on his way to bed (557.13-558.20) "character" paragraph (558.21-25) the rainbow girls (558.32-565.17) the marriage bed, first position (Matthew), 2nd position (Mark) begins at 564.01 (focus broadens, first the room, then Park, then world) (565.18-566.06) ALP at Shem's bedside [A] (566.07-571.26) the 4 see HCE's penis, and/or a signpost in the Park, and George IV's visit (571.27-572.06) Shem is quiet, the 4 leave to go to bed [A] (572.21-576.09) the 4 see ALP enter the bedroom, and debate the legal case (576.10-578.02) Shem sighs, the 4 go back to bedroom, prayer to roadmaker, all quiet [A] (578.03-585.21) HCE appears to the 4, they think about him, second position (Mark) ends and third (Luke) begins (2nd ends at 582.28) (585.22-587.02) narrator soothes couple, and family goes back to sleep, reintegrated (587.03-589.11) the 4 interview witness in the Park (589.12-590) the 4 discuss HCE again (590.13 is 4th position, John's) Book IV (593-end) §1 (593.01-604.26) (dawn) (November 1937) §2 (604.27-607.22): (" St. Kevin") (June 1923) §3 (607.23-614.18) ("St. Patrick and the Druid") (July 1923) §4 (614.19-619.19): (The Letter) (January 1938) §5 (619.20-628.16) (final monologue) (January 1938)