Historical Background: Some time before the authorship of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, tensions (cultural, political, and religious) had erupted amongst Ireland and Britain. Ireland was somewhat in a state of chaos; most of the Catholic Irish desired independence from the control of Britain however, a minority of Irish were Protestant and were loyal to the British crown. In fact there was a nationalist movement around 1880s by a man named Charles Parnell who was the largest advocate for for independence but it quickly dissolves as the man is condemned by the Catholic Churches of Ireland. However, his impact was felt greatly by the Irish people until the early 1900s where the entire country became united in order to declare independence from the British rule. The novel focuses mainly on the questions and states of the Ireland however it may also be applicable due to a major world event during the time of publication, World War I. Coincidentally, during publication the first major war took place in Europe, known as World War I, from 1914-1918. Which developed many new questions on the importance of life, education, and self-construction of beliefs and ideas. It also pinned countries against one another just as Ireland was in conflict with the British Empire therefore, the novel's ideology was applicable as well during World War I.
Author Background: The novel is semi-autobiographical of James Joyce's own life. James Joyce was born in February 2, 1882 in Ireland; he was born into a relatively impoverished family of then children. Luckily with enough money the family was able to send Joyce to college which slowly began to develop his mind into one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. He attends quite a few different colleges: Clogowes Wood College, then Belverdere College until finally he began study of modern language in University College of Dublin. He quickly became a published author on several English journals and magazines; he began to write his first novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and his most famous novel, Ulysses, relatively early in his career as an author.
Key Characters:
Stephen Dedalus: He is the main protagonist and driving voice of the entire novel; the character for the most part resembles James Joyce and his own personal life experiences. The entire novel is based around the idea of his growth as an individual and as a man during the hardships of his family and the political chaos of Ireland. In college, he begins to understand the overwhelming effects and nature of religion, nationality, morality, and family while solving and foreseeing his own future. Each chapter of the novel and different area Stephen is sent to signifies a substantial change in his state of mind and into adulthood. He goes from an impoverished small boy to an English scholar throughout the entire stretch of the novel. Perhaps one of the most significant aspect of the character is the realization that he has control of his own life and has the ability to contemplate his own future; he expresses this within the final chapter when he decides to choose the path of English scholar with appreciation of beauty and the aesthetic aspects of the world rather than absolute and unparalleled devotion of God. We can each shape our lives to how we see fit and also by what we desire from life.
Simon Dedalus: Although the novel is mainly reliant on the character of Stephen, Simon is the father of Stephen and has a small influence upon the novel. He is a family man who spends most of the time simply reminiscing about the "good ol' days" and pondering about how times have significantly changed. However, often times he is portrayed in a rather depressing manner in order to convey the importance of family, both the bonds and burdens held by each individual member. He is also portrayed as a rather impulsive, threatening, and drunk man which also signifies the troubles and hardships of family.
Quotes:
"Could it be that he, Stephen Dedalus, had done those things? His conscience sighed in answer. Yes, he had done them, secretly, filthily, time after time, and, hardened in sinful impenitence, he had dared to wear the mask of holiness before the tabernacle itself while his soul within was a living mass of corruption. How came it that God had not struck him dead? The leprous company of his sins closed about him, breathing upon him, bending over him from all sides." (Chapter 3, Section 2, pg 116 )
He feels completely shocked at himself and to an extent disgusted by his own state of mind. For that moment in time Stephen does not at all recognize the person he is; he does not even recognize his own humanity. Stephen has gone to far by developing a type of dual personality from daytime and nighttime; he now accepts the broken and fractured person he is.
"There was a cold night smell in the chapel. But it was a holy smell. It was not like the smell of the old peasants who knelt at the back of the chapel at Sunday mass. That was a smell of air and rain and turf and corduroy. But they were very holy peasants. They breathed behind him on his neck and sighed as they prayed."(Chapter I, Section II, pg 13 )
The quote portrays the overwhelming influence that religion has had upon the life of Stephen; he even associates certain smells with the holiness of God rather than by their actual smell. It also significantly expresses the importance of religion to the Irish and many others who are like Stephen and his family.
"He had tried to build a break-water of order and elegance against the sordid tide of life without him and to dam up, by rules of conduct and active interest and new filial relations, the powerful recurrence of the tides within him. Useless. From without as from within the waters had flowed over his barriers: their tides began once more to jostle fiercely above the crumbled mole." (Chapter 2, Section 5, pg. 83 )
This is the commonly known fact of life: We are not able to control our own absolute destiny, we can only help to shape and develop the plans God has laid out for us. The metaphor of the tides is symbolic of the pressures and unknown forces at work in every individual's life; one cannot completely defy this forces of God, they must be accepted and understood in order to live a happy and healthy life. This also portrays a significant moment in the development of Stephen, he is truly becoming an adult and understanding the purpose and meaning of life, through his own terms.
"A dim antagonism gathered force within him and darkened his mind as a cloud against her disloyalty and when it passed, cloud-like, leaving his mind serene and dutiful towards her again, he was made aware dimly and without regret of a first noiseless sundering of their lives." (Chapter 4, Section 3, pg. 140-141)
This quote is very relatable to my current life situation; I understand the important of my own life choices yet i still have some influences outside of my own intrinsic needs and desires. I have not yet fully developed as an adult, just as Stephen has not either. However, which age Stephen realizes there must be a small disconnection with your own family, no matter how much you are loved, in order to establish yourself and dictate your own future. One cannot always follow what they are told; one develops their own sense of ethics and life morality which they must abide by, this is a fact of growing up.
Open Ended Question: 2005. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess "that outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man perfectly captures this concept of outward conformity and inward questioning through the young aging adolescent protagonist of Stephen Dedalus. His life has suddenly change because somehow through his impoverished family of about twelve people, he has gotten an opportunity to study at a college to further his education greatly. He must conform to the new societal level and people at his colleges in order to maintain his eligibility within in them; while inwardly question the morality of life, religion, politics, and family through the obtainment of his education. He appears to be normal through observation in the text however, the inner conscious of Stephen Dedalus is slowly been broken apart and resembling as he begins to develop his own code of ethics and sets of belief as a young man and not a child. He participates in various things such as embracing a prostitute while maintaining a normal college education; slowly, such actions, begin to eat away at his conscience.
Theme:
Growth and Independence: The first descriptions of Stephen Dadelus is emanated through the story he is being told by his father; storytelling perhaps is the most apparent manner of describing a child, young man does not get old stories by his father. Therefore the first depiction of Stephen is that of a young child with a sponge-like mind and absolute innocence. However, through his experience is college he is vastly different, he has even had a sexual encounter with a prostitute. The truth is mischievous deeds is part of growing up, one begins to push the limits of the balance between what is good and what is not. Stephen with sudden and absolute independence has completely changed into a different persona.
