James Joyce's Two Gallant

The story “Two Gallants” by James Joyce, at first glance, can be read as a story about two impoverished men who need to ask a lover for money in order to survive. However, with a closer look, you can see that the two men, Corley and Lenehan, get close to a woman in order to possibly swindle money from her. Although one definition of Gallant means to court someone, which Corley does, the other definitions which include being “brave, spirited, noble-minded, or chivalrous,” “exceptionally polite and attentive to women,” and “showy, colorful, or stylish, as in dress; magnificent;” none of which fit either character. The word “gallant” in the story’s title, and in the story itself, is used semi-ironically by Joyce in order to show the true miscreant nature of Corley and Lenehan, who are stand-ins for Dublin as a whole.
The most blasphemous act for a so-called gallant comes on page 54 and 55, at the end of the story, when Corley “tries” the Slavey woman and comes away from the encounter with a gold coin. This specific scene is inappropriate for a brave or noble-minded man because it appears that the gold coin was stolen from the Slavey’s employer. However, the real owner of the coin is left out of the story, so readers can only speculate where the coin came from. One theory is that the Slavey stole the coin by adroitly sneaking in and out of the house, and taking it from her employer. This theory comes from the fact that the Slavey entered the house using one door, then after “some minutes passed,” (page number) she left the house “slowly and cautiously” through a different door, and then suspiciously ran down the stairs, gave Corley the coin, then sprinted up the stairs back into the house. If the coin was stolen, it is particularly ignoble that Corley asked someone else to do his thieving for him, especially a