A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Novel by James Joyce published in 1916. Describes the process of growing up of young artist Stephen Dedalus.

Apart from a Portrait of the Artist the book also deals with the politics and religion of Ireland at the turn of the century, especially the Independence movement and the decline of the politician Charles Stewart Parnell, the Catholic faith and the importance of the family, sexuality and women, art and spiritual experience. It is a novel of education describing the protagonist`s struggle from childhood to maturity. While his life is at first tremendously influenced by the voices of authority, he later starts a rebellion against them and becomes a free individual.

Summary

The novel starts with the description of the earliest childhood memories of Stephen Dedalus, the beginning of his identification with the world of language and the confrontation with the restrictions imposed by the external world.

Stephen is sent to Clongowes Wood College, a conservative Jesuit school. He is portrayed as small, weak, isolated, sensitive and different from the other boys living there. He is faced with strict rules and unjust punishment at school and is often mocked by his classmates for his unusual name.

When he returns home for Christmas, he is for the first time in his life allowed to have the Christmas dinner at the table with the adults: his parents Mary and Simon Dedalus, John Casey (a friend of Simon’s), his great-uncle Charles and Dante Riordan. The adults discuss the political situation of Ireland, having an argument about the role of the Catholic Church in politics and about the downfall of the Irish nationalist Parnell, who has had a love affair with a married woman and is called a sinner by the Church. Stephen learns that this is the end of a political career which had seemed to promise Home Rule for Ireland.

As he grows older, Stephen feels increasingly alienated from his family and social environment and has his first sexual experience with a prostitute. Afterwards he is horrified by the sermon he listens to in Church, in which Father Arnall condemns sexual desires as sins and portrays the torments of Hell. Stephen confesses his sins to a priest and tries to live a religious life. Due to his striving for power and pride, he is momentarily tempted by the prospect to become a priest.

But then he realises that it is his vocation to become an artist. This vocation is revealed in form of an epiphany of a young, bird-like woman on the beach, whom he associates with spiritual freedom. Only in a state of freedom can he become a writer. He eventually [after some time at university...] escapes from Ireland and leaves behind the constraints imposed on him by his family, the school, the Church and the country.

Language

Characters, structures, perspective as well as the style used in the novel serve to shape the development of the protagonist. Joyce uses different styles in each chapter to point out the stages of the protagonist`s development. There is an evolution in the technique and style of language according to Stephen`s age, state of maturity and the degree of his interest in language.

Childhood is characterized by a limited speaking level while the following chapters introduce the ability to judge and describe. The change of language reflects the contrast between the outer and inner world, which Stephen becomes more and more aware of during his adolescence. On the one hand, he adopts certain styles in different social situations. On the other hand, his personal thoughts contain aesthetic elements that Joyce later developed further into the stream of consciousness technique. Stephen begins to use the complex grown-up language and especially the moments of artistic creation underline his growing sensitivity for words. In the diary sequence at the end of the novel, the protagonist takes over the part of the narrator. Nevertheless, he has not gained the stylistic maturity of an artist yet.

Sources

Blades, John (ed.). James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Harmondsworth: Penguin Press, 1991.

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – Edited with an introduction and notes by Seamus Deane. London: Penguin Books, 1992.

Sucksmith, Harvey P. James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. London: Arnold Press, 1976.