【Abstract】Whether living in an ideal world and sticking to one’s own heart demand criticism or not？ It depends. On the one hand， some people indulge in their fantasies so deeply that they have no energy to face the realistic world. Gradually， they will run off the tracks of life. On the other hand， some people harbor their purest love in heart and still remember to continue their life. As a matter of fact， the latter kind of people is admirable， even when their emotions are impractical， they still carry on their life while holding true love. This paper is aimed at telling people that ordinary people who sticking to pure love regardless of the changing world should be respected by analyzing emotions of main characteristic in Clay， Maria.
　　【Key words】Love； Emotion； Feminist criticism
　　Generally speaking， in Clay written by James Joyce， Maria is a scraggy and peaceable maidservant. To some extent， she is like Virgin Maria because she did not get married or even be in contact with any man in her life. From my perspective， I believe that Maria has held her deep love to Joe for several decades. There are some other people share the same opinion with me， but most of them consider Maria as an impractical woman who is overconfident and lives in her own world. Just imagine， she does not cause any perplexity to anyone and the society. What’s more， she can persist in her own heart no matter how the world keeps changing. We can appreciate touching love stories of the famous ones. We should also appreciate the ordinary. I will prove my position by analyzing four plots in the text， and explain the relevance to our current life.
　　I. Before having tea
　　Maria had planned the route and time meticulously， from which we can clearly see that she attaches much importance to this visit. When Maria took out the purse， I almost can depict the happy expression on her face. Although it has been used for five years， Maria is still very interested in reading the words A Present from Belfast. Just because Joe bought it for her， a purse turns from ordinary to extraordinary. As a Chinese saying goes， “beauty is the eyes of the beholder（情人眼里出西施）”. Precisely because of Mari’s deep love， Joe’s present is far more unique and meaningful than any other purses in the world. In order to look better， Maria took off her working clothes and started to dress herself up carefully，， just like a little girl to keep appointment with her beloved boy. These details all prove Maria’s emotions from the bottom of her heart.