Joyce: Penelope Question

Penelope: What is Molly saying "yes" to at the end of this work. In what tone does she say it?

(letter from Joyce to Frank Budgen, 16 August 1921,
Letters 1:170, Selected Letters, p. 285)

"Penelope is the clou* of the book. The first sentence contains 2500 words. There are eight sentences in the episode. It begins and ends with the female word yes. It turns like the huge earth ball slowly surely and evenly round and round spinning, its four cardinal points being the female breasts, arse, womb and cunt expressed by the words because, bottom (in all senses bottom button, bottom of the class, bottom of the sea, bottom of his heart), woman, yes. Though probably more obscene than any preceding episode it seems to me to be perfectly sane full amoral fertilisable untrustworthy engaging shrewd limited prudent indifferent Weib.** Ich bin der Fleisch der stets bejaht.***"


* the "star turn," or topper
** woman