Hugh “Blazes” Boylan is a fictional character from James Joyce

James Joyce

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

's novel Ulysses

Ulysses (novel)

Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...

. He is the manager for Molly Bloom

Molly Bloom

Molly Bloom is a fictional character in the novel Ulysses by James Joyce. The wife of main character Leopold Bloom, she roughly corresponds to Penelope in the Odyssey. The major difference between Molly and Penelope is that while Penelope is eternally faithful, Molly is not, having an affair with...

's upcoming concert in Belfast. Boylan is well known and well liked around town, but comes across as a rather sleazy individual, especially in regards to his attitudes toward women. Boylan has become interested in Molly, and they commence an affair of a sexual nature during the novel.