In his autobiographical novel, James Joyce develops an alter ego in Stephen Dedalus who is the protagonist in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. While it is very easy to point out Stephens many weaknesses as a person, the majority of these com
Jon Diakanwa
AP English
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Stephen Dedalus
2/9/12
In his autobiographical novel, James Joyce develops an alter ego in Stephen Dedalus who is the protagonist in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. While it is very easy to point out Stephen’s many weaknesses as a person, the majority of these come about because of his adolescence, just as the title implies. Stephen is impulsive, sensitive, and very emotional but these traits are characteristic of any adolescent at his age. His real character flaws come about in the later chapters of the book in which we can see his excessive pride and his insecurity.
Throughout the story it is clear that Stephen is special but his self awareness of this quality leads him to the most deadly sin. In everything Stephen does, whether it be devoting himself to religion as in chapter 4 or devoting himself to art as in chapter 5, Stephen views himself as superior to both his peers and mentors. Ironically enough, it is Stephen’s excessive pride which leaves him “peculiarly vulnerable to the promptings of the director who initially approaches him by praising the young man’s piety and good example (Ranald).” Stephen is not drawn to priesthood because of his devotion to God but because of the prestige and power associated with it. This air of superiority remains with him as he becomes a University student and begins mastering his artistic talent. In chapter 5, he is still “aloof, outside the circle, different from other persons of his acquaintance (Ranald)” and he constantly expresses these different ideals in conversations and arguments with his peers in which he often mocks their beliefs. In his argument with Davin, Stephen mocks his patriotism and belief in the nationalistic movement with the belief that he is above all the problems and issues with the country.
