First Dubliners, which was first published in 1914, is a lovely collection of short stories that depict Irish middle-class life in and around Dublin around the turn of the 20th century. In his own words, Joyce intended for Dubliners to be a chapter in the moral history of his own nation. He chose Dublin as the setting for the scenario because he saw it as the epicenter of paralysis and decay. He attempted to frame it in terms of four different stages: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and public life.