Debate: Be it resolved that the ending of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man should not be viewed as anything other than ironic.

Pro Argument #1:

It can be argued that the main character in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus, is ironically the youthful James Joyce himself.  Although Stephen possesses many similarities to the author, Joyce adds some very important differences as well.

  • We can compare Joyce himself, a very successful artist, to Stephen, an inspiring artist that does not succeed.
  • It has been said that Joyce was well-liked by his classmates but Stephen is not particularly likeable; seems arrogant and self-absorbed, often refuses to socialize or to intermingle in the community (i.e. in the playground at school where Stephen watches the game instead of playing (p.7)).
  • Stephen possesses many characteristics which are ironically contradictory to each other: he is lonely but afraid to love, a romantic in the sense that he’s a daydreamer, yet he is also a realist at home; too shy to kiss a girl he is interested in yet he seeks out prostitutes; hesitant when it comes to defending himself to his classmates yet courageous enough to confront authority figures (i.e. when he goes to see the rector after being wrongfully punished by Father Dolan (p. 45)).
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Pro Argument #2:

It can be argued that despite the derivation and meaning of Stephen Dedalus’ name, ironically his character is a portrayal of the exact opposite.

  • His first name derives from the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen; he seems be almost like a martyr to his art in the sense that he has overcome many obstacles in his search for his identity; before he realized that being an artist was his calling.  Ironically, his martyrdom is worth nothing due to the fact that he is too arrogant and self-absorbed to be a great artist.  
  • His ...

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