A Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man

Ismaeel 1
Mohd Ismaeel
Dr. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui
EOM2103 (Prose and Fiction in Modern Period)
May 21, 2020
Stream of Consciousness in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Modernist literature has its origins in the early 20th century; it could be traced back to the
outbreak the First World War. It is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways
of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction. The horrors of the First World War had affected
almost every field of life, modernist writers questioned the motives that led to the war, and this
led them to experiment with the literary form and expression, as exemplified by Ezra Pound's
maxim to “Make it new”. This led to the adaptation of William James's concept of Stream of
Consciousness into a narrative technique that would provide a smooth and continuous access to
character's mind. Many Modernist writers such as James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson and
Virginia Woolf adopted and innovated in this technique to depict the inner side of human beings
and psychological effect of the World War on individuals.
The Stream of Consciousness is a literary technique that can be defined as the continuous
flow of thoughts, images, feelings, memories and emotions in the character’s mind. This term is
often used as a synonym of interior monologue; however, they can also be distinguished
psychologically. In a psychological sense, stream of consciousness is the subject matter, while
interior monologue is the technique for presenting it. James Joyce uses this technique in his novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. He sought that the traditional narrative methods and
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techniques could not meet the social pressures of the new age; thus, he rejected the socio-
descriptive novel and preferred the novel that is concerned with the character itself. Joyce used
stream of consciousness to give the reader continuous access to the protagonist’s mind, feelings,
animosity and consciousness. He used this form to achieve an aesthetic and psychological effect
on the formation of the young man to be an artist.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. It
traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, a fictional alter ego of
Joyce and an allusion to Daedalus, the consummate craftsman of Greek mythology. Stephen, the
protagonist, is a typical ‘Bildungsroman’ hero. He is a sensitive, intelligent and intellectual
young man growing up in colonial Ireland, in a society and culture prevailed by religion. The
evolution of the linguistic patterns used in the interior monologue of the protagonist, Stephen
Dedalus, goes hand in hand with his formation into maturity and awareness. As the novel
progresses and Stephen Becomes Better acclimatied to his world, the language expands and
develops accordingly. The stream of consciousness in the first page of the novel exhibits a loose
style with fragmentation of expression, child-like vocabulary, simple sentences and language
without standard grammar, syntax or punctuation; however, it becomes gradually sophisticated
in the following chapters. The artistic use of the stream of consciousness in this novel gives the
reader a faithful access to the child-like mind of the young Stephen.
In the starting of the novel Joyce used stream of consciousness that expresses what it
seems to be an infant-directed speech, the language used by adults to talk to infants. The
narrative starts off at a memory of the child Stephen from when he was even younger and his
father told him a story about Tucko in an infant-directed speech. Stephen’s interior world is
introduced to us directly through the use of interior monologue. The story is retold in Stephen’s
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mind in the same baby-talk manner; however, he also remembers how his father looked at him
and his fairy face. Then without any prior notice, the story shifts to another scene at Stephen’s
school in the next page. It turns out that Stephen is involved in a school play, then the stream of
consciousness shifts to a discussion with his friends about his favorite book, and then it shifts
back to the play: “Time is constituted by abstracting the spatial qualities of memory. The reader
is sent back and forth in time chapter by chapter, lacking the whole ‘picture’ until the conclusion.
Stream of Consciousness takes the reader to Stephens' first year at Clangowes Wood
College where, even after being accepted by his colleagues, he is being bullied by a classmate
called Wells. Wells asks him whether he kisses his mother before he goes to bed, Stephen
answers “yes” and Wells makes fun of him in front of his classmates, then he answers “no”, but
Wells continues to make fun of him. When everybody starts laughing, Stephen undergoes
another continuous flow of thoughts in his mind, thinking what would be the right answer if
both yes and no are not correct. The free association of the stream of consciousness of Stephen in
skeleton could be seen at many places in the novel. For instant, when he wonders what would be
the right answer and whether Wells kisses his mother or not, when he thinks about Wells’ mother
and thinks of how much he hates Wells, when he thinks how far his family is and wonders if he
could die in that sunny morning and many more places.
In A Portrait of an Artist as a young Man, Joyce followed Stephen's life from childhood
through adolescence to first flash of manhood using one of the most artistic and remarkable
techniques ever used in English Novel. The evolution of Stephen from childhood to manhood is
shaped by the use of stream of consciousness. Joyce’s use of stream of consciousness in this
novel is characterised by the balance between Stephen’s evolution from childhood to manhood
and the evolution of the language used to depict his interior monologue, starting off from a baby-
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like language in the first page to become artistic language full of poetic features. By the end of
the novel, Joyce renders a portrait of a mind that has achieved emotional, intellectual, and artistic
adulthood.
lac
“bildung” and formation into maturity and aw
an artist
Continuous access to the protagonist’s mind,
feelings, animosity and consciousness.
However, Stream of Consciousness is not the on

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Ismaeel 1

Dr. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui

EOM2103 (Prose and Fiction in Modern Period)

May 21, 2020

Stream of Consciousness in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

and psychological effect of the World War on individuals.

psychologically. In a psychological sense, stream of consciousness is the subject matter, while

on the formation of the young man to be an artist.

protagonist, is a typical ‘Bildungsroman’ hero. He is a sensitive, intelligent and intellectual

without standard grammar, syntax or punctuation; however, it becomes gradually sophisticated

reader a faithful access to the child-like mind of the young Stephen.

could die in that sunny morning and many more places.

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