The two un- words applied to Mulligan at the beginning of Telemachus
emphasize his very un-priestly nature as he imitates the
actions of a priest. His dressinggown is "ungirdled," and his
hair is "untonsured."
The gown is ungirdled simply because Mulligan has not tied
the cloth belt around his waist. But a priest's vestments are
secured with a similar cloth band with tassels on the ends,
called a cincture, and as the priest puts on the cincture he
recites a prayer with the line, “Gird me, o Lord, with the girdle
of purity.” Gifford plausibly infers that a
dressinggown lacking the girdle of purity “suggests violation
of the priestly vow of chastity.” Like his real-life
counterpart Gogarty,
Mulligan is an enthusiastic brothel-goer.
"Tonsure" derives from a Latin verb meaning to shear or
shave. It refers to the part of a priest's or monk's head that
is shaved, often just prior to taking holy orders. In Proteus
Stephen thinks of priests "moving burly in their albs, tonsured
and oiled and gelded." (The "alb" is the
priest's white vestment, from the Latin word for white, alba.)
Here again, the un-word applied to Mulligan suggests lack of
reverence for the rite he is so blasphemously imitating.
