A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:

Joyce was born on February 2, 1882, in Dublin, Ireland. He was the eldest child of John Stanislaus and
Mary Jane Murray Joyce, who had, according to Joyce's father, "sixteen or seventeen children." Joyce's
upbringing and education had much in common with that of the fictional Stephen Dedalus in  A Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man. Joyce's parents were devout Catholics, and they sent him to Clongowes
Wood College, a Catholic boarding school in County Kildare, and south of Dublin. Run by the Jesuit
order, this was considered the best Catholic school in Ireland. However, Joyce was taken out of
Clongowes Wood a few years later when his father suffered some financial losses and the
family's standard of living declined. After his family moved to Dublin, Joyce enrolled at Belvedere
College, a Jesuit day school, where he was especially interested in poetry and languages.After
graduating from University College in 1902, Joyce went to Paris for a year. He was supposed to be
studying medicine but spent most of his time reading and writing, and decided to pursue a literary
career. 

Introduction

In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, as a person who's regarded withinside the tale because the
protagonist and antihero, who's " the leader man or woman in contemporary-day novel whose
individual is broadly discrepant from that of conventional protagonist or hero. Instead of manifesting
largeness, dignity, strength or heroism, the antihero, like Stephen Dedalus in Joyce's work, is petty,
ignominious, passive, clownish, or dishonest" (Abrams, 2009, p. 10). As we see in the course of the tale
that how he turns into petty via way of means of the phrases of his College's friends in bankruptcy one,
due to his call and social rank. When Joyce changed into a child, Ireland have been beneath Neath
British rule considering that 16th century, and anxiety between Ireland and Britain have been high. In
addition to political strife, there has been spiritual anxiety among Catholics, the bulk of Irish, and
Protestant. James Joyce's complete training from age six to 9 changed into at Clongowes Wood College
and from age 11 to the age 16 at Belvedere College in Dublin changed into Catholic. As he studied in
Clongowes Wood College, in his early youth, he changed into very spiritual, however in a yr to his
commencement from Belvedere he commenced to reject his Catholic religion and this is why he noticed
as related to in rise up and exile.

Summary of the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:

A Portrait of the creator as a Young Man may be a story concerning the formation of a person, author
Dedalus, from his childhood to youth. He ought to study at a Jesuit faculty for boys, as his family
decides, at Clongowes Wood College. The young Stephen finds it laborious to integrate with others. He
ne'er participates in games with the opposite children, because of the older boys invariably mock him
and treat him as an outsider or stranger, thus he always aggravated by behavior of his classmates. He
usually acknowledges own self, as a hero however, remains isolated from others and "exile" himself. As
he becomes younger, he goes to Cork as a brief trip alongside his father. His father was a Corkonian,
who humiliates his son, throughout a short trip, by drinking, flirting, and a protracted talk. Cork town
causes author' father to recollect his youth. Stephen cannot understand his father' attitudes and
emotions. Stephen believes he is wiser and older than his father is, but he was young and this sense of
authority was an area of his arousal sexuality. He became strange along with his family, by passing
faculty days. Instead of his deep religious beliefs, he understands that lust is surrounded him by
pleasures which he can find in worldly enjoyments and delights. Stephen looking for a way of escaping
from the conflict around and within him. He was full of regrets because of many sins that he committed.
In this moment, he visits a priest, Father Arnall, who speaks of hell. The description of hell makes him
scared and it was a motivation for his confesses ion. Despite a short time, his belief to Catholic, his
religion, begins to fade again. When he leaves his family, in Europe, Stephen continues his studies at
university. In this time, he was away from society while by writing and studying literature he tries to go
inside of himself. Finally, Stephen knows himself and realizes that he must decline the ideologies, which
surrounded him. Because of his revolution, he leaves all the lost paths and continues the way, which he
has chosen for himself from leaving Ireland to become a successful artist.

Analyze of "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a unique through the Irish modernist author James Joyce. It
follows the intellectual, ethical and non-secular improvement of a young. The call Dedalus hyperlinks to
Ovid’s mythological tale of Daedalus – the ‘vintage artificer’ – and his son Icarus, who flies too near the
sun. We are reminded of this photo whilst Stephen tells his pal Davin: ‘When the soul of a person is born
on this us of a there are nets flung at it to maintain it lower back from flight. You communicate to me of
nationality, language, religion. I shall try and fly through the ones nets’.

Stephen's sensitivity approximately his call and identification usually is challenged at college in a manner
that he does not realize the cause of it. In any other word, he has identification-crises at his early life
age. Nasty Roche who's one in every of his classmates, is constantly challenged authority of Stephen's
father and identification of them, like Dante, who represents the cruel, nasty, and unsightly facet of the
church, (roche = rock = church), and Stephen by no means can solution his questions “Stephen’s
perceptions of self and struggles with identification start in Portrait with the wondering of his call. The
importance of his call precipitates in questions of paternity. He attempts to be unswerving to his blind
popularity of authority, however his capacity to accomplish that is ruined through the argument at
dinner at home, and later through the unfair punishment, and he gets at college. When he's punished
it's far an excessive amount of for his scheme, and his confusion and unhappiness are emphasized
through the manner he thinks the priest goes to shake palms with him".

At school, Stephen by no means takes element within side the sports of the opposite boys, so due to his
identification-crises, he ship himself to a form of exile. He cannot even communicate to others. Exile,
silence and cunning, he definitely separates himself from others and those 3 classes have been Stephen
Dedalus's weapon in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. At the quit of Portrait Stephen proclaims, "I
visit come upon for the millionth time the fact of enjoy and to forge within side the smithy of my soul
the uncreated judgment of right and wrong of my race. on this story, is a image of disorderly existence
that's by no means be on the restore and regular law and in literary language we will refer him as a
image of temptation in human. Stephen’s soul to prison. In order to set his soul loose from the
mysterious identification, which will become a prison for him, he has to discover, via self-perception,
what his identification is and, next, the way to be given all of the social requirement with out dropping
his characteristic.

Stephen creates a extreme, efficient, thoughtful, and business-minded nature. He is one to make his
personal selection and now no longer to be encouraged with the aid of using others. He dreams
independence and freedom in authority and interference of others. He isn't always overly formidable
and in his non-public relations, he's willing to be extreme and now no longer to peer the humor or
probable to reply spontaneously.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Major

Characters
Stephen Dedalus: The 'artist' of the novel's title, whose life and thoughts are at the center
of the story. The book follows Stephen's life from his nursery, to his upbringing in a home
with lots of financial, religious and political tension, to religious school where he decides not
to become a priest, and finally to the university, where he is seen by his peers as a poet
and is working to develop his own theories of art and beauty. Stephen's trials show us not
only the life of a growing boy in late 19th century Dublin, but also the thoughts and
decisions a person has to deal with in order to become an artist. Even though he writes only
one poem, the implication is that Stephen has made the decisions necessary for a life of art.
Stephen's experiences are very similar to Joyce's, making the novel a loose autobiography.
Stephen's father (Simon Dedalus): Described by Stephen near the end of the novel as '
medical student, an oarsman, a tenor, an amateur actor, a shouting politician, a small
landlord, a small investor, a drinker, a good fellow, a storyteller, somebody's secretary,
something in a distillery, a tax gatherer, a bankrupt and at present a praise of his own past'
(pg. 262), Stephen's father is in turns a model and an embarrassment to his son. His
passions about religion and politics make these topics a big part of Stephen, too, and Mr.
Dedalus' drinking and financial troubles force Stephen and his family to move around a lot
when he is growing up.
Stephen's mother: Mrs. Dedalus has a less direct effect upon Stephen than does his
father, although she surely has a hand in forming his expectations of women. Stephen
seems to outgrow his mother, especially after he is teased by his schoolmates at Clongowes
for answering that yes, he does kiss his mother before bed. Mrs. Dedalus is not mentioned
much in the middle of the book but she reappears at the end. Having borne many children
and characterized by her steady faith in God, Stephen is troubled about whether to comply
with her wishes that he participate in a religious Easter ceremony.
Uncle Charles: Uncle Charles lives with the Dedalus family at Blackrock and is Stephen's
constant companion during that summer. He buys Stephen treats and takes him along to
church, though soon grows witless and disappears from the novel.
Dante Riordan: A character modeled on Joyce's aunt, who was his first educator as a
young boy. In Portrait, Dante comes to Christmas supper and gets in a huge religious
argument with another dinner guest. Like her real-life counterpart, Dante's uncompromising
faith in priests and the Catholic faith has a strong effect upon the young boy. Dante does
not appear in later parts of the novel.
Parnell: An Irish political figure who was very much on the minds of the people during
Stephen's childhood. Parnell was a Protestant and a leader for the common people, but lost
many of his fans when he was caught in an adulterous affair with the wife of a political
colleague. Mr. Dedalus and Mr. Casey are pro-Parnell; Dante is decidedly against him.
Father Arnall: A priest and teacher at Clongowes. Father Arnall sits by and does nothing
when Stephen is unfairly pandied (beaten with a type of paddle). He also leads the religious
retreat that so affects Stephen.
The prefect (Father Dolan): Even though the prefect only shows up in one scene, his
cruel pandying (beating) of Stephen shakes loose some of the boy's faith in religious
authorities. Later in the novel, Stephen's father mentions that he's seen the prefect and
they'd had a good laugh about the incident, which further disturbs Stephen's notion of
religious authority.
Mr. Casey: A friend of Mr. Dedalus', who gets into a shouting match with Dante at
Christmas dinner. This is the only scene in which we see Mr. Casey, although his dramatic
shouts 'No God for Ireland!' surely have a lasting effect upon Stephen.
Emma (the girl from the tram): Emma is the girl most on Stephen's mind. As children,
Stephen and Emma have a memorable ride home from a party together (on a tram), after
which Stephen tries to write a poem to her. Emma appears often later in the novel,
although she is not usually mentioned by her name. She continues to be Stephen's primary
muse.
The bird girl (the wading girl): Stephen sees this girl standing on the beach right when
he's in the process of deciding that he will definitely not join the priesthood. Her beauty
inspires him and he takes her to be a muse, a reason and an inspiration to choose a life of
art and beauty rather than religious devotion.
Cranly: A friend of Stephen is at the university who has a long discussion with Stephen
about religion and Stephen's artistic ambitions near the end of the novel. Stephen likes
Cranley, though it's suggested that a life of art may mean that Stephen will not be able to
keep friends like this. Stephen is also a bit suspicious that Cranley may have some sort of
relationship with the same girl he's after.

Stephen Dedalus

Stephen Dedalus is the "artist" and "younger man" of the title. It is not possible to remember him within
side the manner that a reader could remember maximum characters in fiction, for his roles is going
some distance past that simply of imperative character. The name "Stephen Dedalus" itself has symbolic
significance. Saint Stephen changed into the primary Christian martyr, positioned to dying for professing
his beliefs. it's far clean that Stephen is sensitive, perceptive, intelligent, and curious. He additionally
proves to be aloof and at instances conceited and self-crucial. Moreover, in spite of his intelligence, he's
regularly the sufferer of his personal self-deception. Joyce's narrative isn't always continuous, and there
may be no "plot" as such. Rather, the ee-e book is a chain of "portraits" of Stephen at numerous crucial
moments in his younger life, from his creation as an toddler thru decided on faculty boy reviews to his
statement of creative independence as a scholar at University College, Dublin. The technique of
Stephen's maturation is registered in his increasing cognizance of the sector and with inside the novel's
an increasing number of state-of-the-art use of language. His dating to his family, schoolmates, teachers,
friends, religion, and usa in addition to to his personal language shape the essence of this novel.

Themes

Consciousness

In literary terms, one of the revolutionary aspects of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man  the
progress of the novel is organized around the growing consciousness of the central character, Stephen
Dedalus. His consciousness of the world around him is an ongoing theme and is developed differently in
each of the book's five chapters. He experiences many types and levels of consciousness. Moreover,
Joyce uses a highly original "stream-of-consciousness" technique to render Stephen's thoughts and
experiences.
Stephen's initial consciousness comes through his five senses, Here Joyce reports Stephen's awareness
of how his father's face looks, how the wet bed feels, the "queer smell" of the oil sheet and the nice
smell of his mother. He sings a song and listens to his mother's piano playing.

From the beginning, Stephen is conscious of words as things in themselves. When he goes to Clongowes
Wood College, he becomes conscious of what words mean—and of the fact that a word can have more
than one meaning. Stephen's consciousness of trouble is at first vague—he is not sure what Dante and
Mr. Casey are arguing about at the Christmas dinner, but he knows that the situation is unpleasant. He is
conscious of impending trouble when Father Dolan enters the classroom and threatens to "pandy" any
"idle, lazy" boys. A little later he is also conscious that his father is in trouble of some sort, but he does
not know the cause of this trouble.

As the novel progresses, Joyce's language becomes more sophisticated, matching Stephen's growing
maturity and understanding. Simultaneously Stephen becomes increasingly conscious of his artistic
vocation, until in the last chapter he decides to devote himself entirely to his art, regardless of the
consequences to his life.

Artists and Society

As the title indicates, a central theme of the book is the development of the young artist and his
relationship to the society in which he lives. The opening sentences of the book show baby Stephen's
awareness of language and of the power of the senses. For Stephen, as for Joyce, the ability to use the
language to create a work of art is its own reward. Stephen is especially sensitive to words and to
sensuous phrases, such as "a day of dappled seaborne clouds" and "Madam, I never eat muscatel
grapes." He is not so much concerned with what sentences mean as with how they sound and what they
suggest. This musical, suggestive quality of his art comes through in the villanelle ("Are you not weary of
ardent ways …") that Stephen writes near the end of the book. Because of his artistic temperament,
Stephen feels increasingly estranged from society. He considers the vocation of the artist a sort of
independent priesthood "of eternal imagination" that ultimately prevents him from serving the Catholic
Church, from taking part in politics, and even from participating in ordinary Irish life.

Throughout the book, Stephen records his feelings of being different and distant from his classmates, his
siblings, and even his friends. At the end of the novel, Stephen records his artistic manifesto in his diary:
"I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my
soul the uncreated conscience of my race."

Coming of Age

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is not generally considered a "coming of age" novel as such.
Joyce intended the book to have a wider scope, and the novel encompasses more than the brief time-
scale—often just a single school year or a summer—that usually marks the "coming of age" genre. In
Joyce's novel, the chronology spans approximately twenty years, as we follow the central character,
Stephen Dedalus, from his very early childhood to his college years. Nonetheless, there are a number of
typical "coming of age" elements here. Among them are young Stephen's growing consciousness of self-
identity and of family problems, his increasing understanding of the rules that govern the adult world,
and, later, his keen awareness of and preoccupation with the mysteries of sex.

God and Religion

Religion—in the form of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church—forms a major theme of the
novel. Indeed, religion was a pervasive force in late nineteenth-century Irish life, the time in which this
novel is set. Stephen's first consideration of God occurs early in Chapter One. While looking at his name
and address on his geography book, Stephen ponders his place in the world. This  stream of
consciousness leads him to wonder about the infinity of the universe and about God: "It was very big to
think about everything and everywhere. Only God could do that…." He goes on to consider God's name
in other languages and the fact that God can understand all languages: "But though there were different
names for God in all the different languages in the world and God understood what all the people who
prayed said in their different languages, still God remained always the same God and God's real name
was God."

Stephen is a silent witness to this argument, but he soon becomes embroiled in questions of religion
himself. Much of the novel concerns Stephen's relation to his religion, and his ultimate rejection of that
religion. Although he finally rejects church authority, Stephen is nonetheless shaped by his Jesuit
education and by a powerfully Roman Catholic outlook on life.His power, he realizes, will come not from
his initiation into the priesthood but from devoting himself to his solitary art, even at the cost of losing
his family, friends, nation, and God.

SYMBOLS

Bridges Bridges are as important to Joyce as the water they cover. In literature, they are often symbolic
of a new beginning, a venture dared. In this way, bridges can represent the idea of birth as much as
water does. Stephen is often seen crossing a bridge when a new insight comes to him. One such instance
is just before he happens on the bird-girl.

Stars Stars (collectively) are representative of spiritual aspirations, reaching toward the light (Truth),
striving for goals. The line by poet Percy Bysshe Shelley referring to (falling) bright starlight entrances
Stephen Dedalus, with his artist’s mind.

Another symbol in the novel is flight and birds. This symbol reflects the theme of freedom, and the myth
of Daedalus. For example, “His heart trembled in ecstasy of fear and his soul was in flight. His soul was
soaring in an air beyond the world and the body he knew”. Joyce uses flight to represent the freedom of
his soul representing himself as a bird.

In addition to flight, water is another symbol replete in the novel. For example, “Now at the name of
the fabulous artificer, he seemed to hear the noise of dim waves and to see a winged form flying above
the waves and slowly climbing the air. What did it mean? Here Joyce combines the water symbol and
flight to allude to the Daedalus myth.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE One of the most superior modern writers, James Joyce talked about freedom
and humanity and most of his themes were based on universality. His works refer to the individuality
rather than society. James Joyce constantly explored the total resources of language in all his novels and
he greatly influenced the fictional technique of twentieth-century writers, A portrait of the artist as a
young man is neay complete rewrite of the Stephen hero novel.

Modernism is a literary movement that shaped James Joyce’s writing extensively. the modernist
techniques connect the character of Stephen to Joyce; the artist himself.
– Stream of Consciousness technique In Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce creates an
uninhibited free-flowing style, reminiscent of Stephen’s unrestrained conscious thought. This technique
is an essential aspect of modernism in the novel because it creates a psychic reality, not a true reality.

Autobiography
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is semi-autobiographical. Stephen Dedalus is Joyce’s mythical
representation of himself. The story details the process of Stephen maturing and cultivating an artistic
aesthetic.

Focus on the Individual

Joyce’s use of modernist techniques extends to the themes he includes in Portrait of the Artist as a
Young Man. He focuses on universal themes like freedom, humanity, individualism and exile from
society. These themes reflect the modern focus on the development of the individual apart from the
general problems of society.

Modern Language Technique

Joyce integrated his intellectualism to form a combination of mythology, history and literature to create
innovative symbols and narrative techniques. Joyce uses symbols to reflect his themes. For example, a
rose represents Stephen; the color reflects his conscious awareness.