Obsession with the past is one of the dominant features of James Joyce who is known to have a nostalgic view toward Ireland. This haunting by the past is also traceable in The Dead, the prominent short story in the Dubliners; the past of Gretta's relationship has tinged her present marital relationship. For Gretta, the absence of the deceased lover is more tangible than the presence of her husband. In this study, the psychic dynamics of this love relationship will be analyzed in terms of Lacanian psychoanalysis. The questions the article asks are how the desire is addressed, and whether Gretta as a woman in love yearns for an Other jouissance. Joyce's Lacanian deconstruction sketched a pretty image of love which underscored the inevitability of love after death and the apathetic status of love despite apparent living.
