Part Two of "Circe," then, includes Stephen's "dark night of the soul," as it were, but it is no less a trial for Bloom, for it is a night in which all of his own secret obsessions are laid bare.
Bloom's masochistic binge begins with the entrance of the swinish Bella Cohen. It ends (temporarily) with the "Bip!" of his back trouser button, a noise which recalls him to reality. At this point, he turns on Bella (who has now resumed her real name in Joyce's text; during the masochistic session, she was referred to in the Latin, masculine equivalent, Bello), and Bloom begins to point out her physical flaws. This temporary return to the conscious world permits Bloom to safeguard Stephen's money, for Bella Cohen would certainly have cheated him. Unfortunately, Stephen does not appreciate what Bloom is doing for him, even when Bloom says, "This is yours." Bloom's victory and his "saving"of Stephen are short-lived, however, for with the appearance of Boylan' s avatar, Bloom begins imagining that he is watching Blazes Boylan make unbridled (or bridled, possibly) love to Molly.
This major masochistic streak in Bloom's psyche has drawn much attention from Joycean critics; some find it humorous, some lurid, and some feel that it reveals universal traits which are buried in all of us. Certainly, Bloom's psyche is composed of many and varied elements: foot fetishes, transvestism, coprophilia (an abnormal attraction to fecal matter), and guilt over the picture of the naked nymph that hangs over the Blooms' bed — to name just four bizarre elements. But Joyce obviously felt a need to include these diverse, exotic components of Bloom's subconscious mind if he were to portray a complete, individuated character. There had to be a "Circe" chapter in this novel to release them, to let them all emerge, for Bloom's second drink would not have accounted for all of the revelations, contrary to his opinion. Also, the sexual nightmare that Joyce portrays provides a catharsis for Bloom, permitting him to capably help Stephen during the ending chapters of Ulysses. Finally, Joyce in "Circe" is close to certain theories of Freud in his belief that dreams are purgations.
