Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Kristina Guevara Guevara 1

Mr. Keithley

English IV Honors

10 March 2009

The novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, depicts the life that both the author James Joyce and the protagonist Stephan Dedaelus went through. When reading, you see the constant struggle that Stephan had to go through to become the artist that was buried inside him. His childhood was one filled with insecurity, isolation and constant bullying from his peer because of his social awkwardness. His primary personality caused a split from his family, friends, and the people around him. He is often seen as a contradictory; his character “is fearful yet bold, insecure yet proud, lonely and at the same tim afraid of love (Brauer 7). Because of his choosing of art and writing, he emerged from his introverted self and broke free; his desires and personal aspirations were not feared to be accomplished. Stephan’s self-awakening had driven him to reject conformity to society, religion and the image that his family wanted him to be. But, his self-ruling eventually caught up to him; this led to experiences that emotionally drained him and at the same time, gave him the opportunity to truly find himself. Although the many risks he had taken, the rejection of family, religion and society, he had successful gotten the self-actualization that he had been wanting.

Stephan’s desire to become an artist is a constant struggle throughout the book, which eventually turns into a self-discovery of him. This all began when he was a young child in Dublin, Ireland. When he was a little boy, even before he was able to speak a

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single word, he was intrigued by sounds and the words being said around him. He felt some sort of power within them. It was evident that he was really interested in it. For

example, in chapter one, Dante was told little Stephan that if he didn’t apologize, there were birds that would pick his eyes out. With this being said, Stephan created a song, sort of like a catchy children’s song. He stressed the beauty that he found in art, more in the literary way. There were many negative parts in his life, but he was able to turn them into poems and simultaneously turned them into to happy thoughts. At the school, Clongowes, the dean asked him about his thoughts and wants to be an artist. He asked Stephan this question.

You are an artist, are you not, Mr. Dedaelus? Said the dean, glancing up and blinking his pale eyes. The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What is beautiful is another question. (Joyce 169)

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As the dean asked this, Stephan realized that this was a clue in him understand what it means to be an artist. He had an idea about what art was. He saw art as a calling, a flight and a religion. A calling for are was something that he could never let go, even if it would cause negative consequences on his part. His imagination, creativity, and dreams were seen as just a flight away from reality for he was able to turn his personal tragedies into harmonious words. Stephan felt he was somewhat his own priest in his art-filled mind. This was a religion he would much rather believe in than conform to the main religion of Ireland, Catholicism. These three view are what Stephan followed in order to find his character as an artist. His wanting to become that artist causes several

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problematic situations that only he could overcome himself in order to accomplish his self-actualization.

Stephan's relationship to the society in which he lives is one of the central themes (Benstock 1). His aspiration to be independent led to his isolation from society. Although, it wasn’t just the society around him that had shunned him. It was also his family and his friends. When he had mentioned in public his calling for art, everyone tried to digress his mind onto a different path. He had stated this to one of his colleagues, who had tried to talk him out of it.

You made me confess the fears that I have. But I will tell you also what I do not fear. I do not fear to be alone or to be spurned for another of to leave whatever I have to leave. And I’m not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as an eternity too. (Joyce 188)

Stephan then separated from the family relationships, especially from his parents. He decided to reject the opinions, feeling, and ruling of his father. The reason why he had lost the trust of his father is because he had discovered that his dad was an alcoholic. Then his rejection of Catholicism, God, and any type of religious life to follow art led to the separation of his mother also. His mom was a very religious woman and saw it as offensive that her own son would not follow his mom’s ruling. The area where he grew up was, too, a very religious area. Because throughout his childhood he had grown up with this view of religion, his questioning was somewhat seen as a sign of premature rebellion.

Is baptism with a mineral water valid? How comes it that while the first beatitude promises the kingdom of heaven to the poor of heart the second beatitude also

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promises to the meek that they shall possess the land? Why was the sacrament of the Eucharist instituted under the two species of bread and wine if Jesus Christ be

present body and blood, soul and divinity, in the bread alone and in the wine alone? Does a tiny particle of consecrated bread contain all the body and blood of Jesus Christ or a part only of the body and blood? (Joyce 109)

Whenever Stephan went off, sinning away, his fellow community always would try and save him. He never wanted to take any ones advice, leading him to be shunned from the Dublin society all because he was different and wanted to explore and discover the art world. There was a positive to this alienation from his family, friend and society. I gave him a better opportunity and pushed him even more forward to his self-discovery.

His longing for art was something that caused major conflicts with religion. His education of god and his love for art contradicted one another. He contemplated whether he wanted to follow his dream of being an artist or to conform. But, his strong, developing will power gave him the strength to choose art. He always talked to his teacher and peers about his feelings of art. “Art, said Stephan, is the human disposition of sensible intelligence matter far on aesthetic end” (Joyce 191). Here, Stephan’s choice is a crucial part of his upcoming life. He had the choice of entering himself into priesthood, or to still pursue his dream of artistry. Of course, he stuck with his idea and still wanted to find his role of being an artist. In Ireland, the government degraded all artists. This made Stephan’s reach from the goal even farther. This drove him to question whether if he should stay in Dublin, or leave the country so he could persist on his artist path.

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As a result to Stephan’s rejection to religion, he had earned independence from those who didn’t believe in his desire. This also made him wonder if he just wanted his

split from family, friends, and the community or to begin a brand new life and just start over. Stephan had several ideas of what freedom meant to him. He expresses that, “This

race and this country and this life produced me…I shall express myself as I am” (Joyce 188). One of the most important scenes that refer to his want for sovereignty was the love scene with Eileen. The two of them were childhood friends and grew up together. He was in love and wanted to get married to her. But something had stopped him; Eileen was a Protestant and Stephan was Catholic. There was no way that they could ever get married. He had remember and been haunted by a memory of him having the chance to

kiss her, but he just couldn’t. Stephan has felt that regret and says that is the reason why it was over between the two of them. Stephan naturally just didn’t have a relaxed feel with women, even though he grew up with four sisters. He later met a woman who was attracted to him. Her name was Emma. But again, he just was not comfortable and was later stood up because he wouldn’t make a move. Stephan’s sexual desires drove him to spend several nights in the red light district. He soon had this addiction to sin and every time he sinned, he just kept on sinning even more. While there, he had his first sexual experience with a prostitute. He had come to a conclusion that women are no longer seen as superior in his life; they are only just fellow human beings (Philips 4). Stephan kept up with his sinning streak because he felt independent, free, and rebellious. He realized that he is one of the only ones that picked up the life of an artist and questioned if that was

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really what he truly wanted. Stephan wonders if he should continue his life of artistry or just go home, give up what he has worked for and just be like everyone else and conform

to the Catholic religion. Stephan never really knew a lot about himself but he remembers his friend Temple saying, “He’s the one man in this institution that has an individual mind” (Joyce 187). He adored Temple because of that statement, especially because it was said in front of the dean of the university. Stephan’s inspiration and drive came from that inner feeling of being free and one with himself.

Everything that Stephan had went through and witnessed, his isolation and shun from everyone, his attack from those who believed and were devout Catholics, and longing for sovereignty, gave him a better understanding of himself. “The rhythmic rise and fall within each of the five parts controls the structuring of A Portrait of the Artist, as Stephan undergoes the traumatic instances of development and maturation between exploring the infant’s world with the awakening of his five senses and the suspended conclusion at which he prepares to embark for Paris” (Benstock 7). Stephan Dedaelus had finally found himself and can proudly say that he is an artist. James Joyce used Stephan as a fictional version of himself to describe hardships, paint a picture of the struggles he had to go through and just told his own personal story, all through a third person point of view. Throughout the novel, Joyce highlights that the only way to have a real understanding of who you are, you need to look at the whole picture, make and interpretation, and contemplate your choices. Your thoughts choose the pathway that you take, which result in the person that you become.

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Work Cited

Benstock, Bernard. “James Joyce.” DISCovering Authors. Online Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. 14 November 2008.

Benstock, Bernard. “Themes and Construction: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” DISCovering Authors. Online Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. 15 November 2008.

Brauer, Arlette. Barron’s Booknotes: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York: Barns & Noble, 2004

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 2005.

Phillips, Brian. SparkNote on A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 6 Mar. 2009.