J. Joyce `A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'

The Structure

`A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' is an example of the maturation novel (German- Bildungsroman) in English literature:

• Joyce's novel presents the intellectual and religio-philosophical awakening of young Stephen Dedalus. Stephen begins to question and rebel against the Catholic and Irish conventions in which he has been raised. He has got a conflict with his father (religious and political matters) ant this is one of the reason why he is leaving.

• Stephen finally go abroad to pursue his calling as an artist (realizować swoje powołanie jako artysta).

• Stephen has relationship with a woman in Dublin who is a prostitute - maturation object

Aesthetic theory (teoria estetyki)

Stephen supports his aesthetic theory (his theory of art) and the artist's place in society with the classical teachings of Auinas (Italian priest and philosopher) Plato, and Aristotle. Stephen says that there are two types of art- the emotional art and the art that is purely physical. Stephen states that the emotional art that is involved (wplątana) in the mind is the higher art, and the physical art is low art. He describes the process of creating the art- it is similar to the situation when God created man. Stephen also suggests that the artist actually becomes part of the art he creates. Lyrical form is personal, not distant from the artist, whatever he creates it is connected with him. In the end he states that he must alienate himself from Ireland or society to become an artist, suggesting that artists need isolation. Stephen is an artist but he is limited in the place where he is, he needs to do the same what Daedalus did. Daedalus built a labyrinth and he was imprisoned in order to keep in secret how it was constructed. Daedalus escaped because he created the art, Stephen has to escape in order to create.

Symbolism

Flight/bird:

Stephen's last name Dedalus is the first example of symbolic flight. Daedalus, a character from Greek mythology, designs a labyrinth for the king. Daedalus and the king's son, Icarus, are imprisoned, so Daedalus makes plans to escape by making wings for himself. He successfully escapes and survives, but Icarus meets his death because he does not listen to the warnings about the height at which he is allowed to fly. Consequently, when he soars too close to the sun, the wax holding his wings together melts, and he plummets into the sea. This anecdote regarding Daedalus parallels with Stephen's life. Stephen also faces problems he must overcome. Stephen wants to flee from Ireland, yet from family, religious figures, or fellow students. Stephen attempts to make his dream come true, he overestimates his own abilities the same way Icarus does when he flies. The name Dedalus travels with Stephen as he breaks free from the constraints, especially family-related, and discovers who he is. Stephen's family experiences financial troubles and must relocate to Dublin. Stephen's journey to discover himself finally begins to take off as he realizes from what he needs to escape. Joyce uses symbolic birds and flight to reveal Stephen's path of self-discovery. The protagonist overcomes the social, educational and religious constraints that once prevented him from venturing into the world and living his life at his own discretion. Stephen later thinks of himself as a "hawklike man," a patient and solitary bird who can view society from a great height but who remains aloof from the world that he views.

Senses

the 5 senses( sight, sound, taste, touch) are symbols. Sight symbolizes the way his father looks at Stephen, sound-the songs that was sung to him and the clapping of uncle Charles the Dante, touch- the feeling when he wets the bed, taste-the reward of a cachou (cukierek)from Dante. Joyce considered the five senses to be indispensable tools for the literary artist. Of these, the sense of sight is most prominent.

Green and Maroon

Stephen associates the colors green and maroon with his governess, Dante, and with two leaders of the Irish resistance, Charles Parnell and Michael Davitt. In a dream after Parnell's death, Stephen sees Dante dressed in green and maroon as the Irish people mourn their fallen leader. This vision indicates that Stephen associates the two colors with the way Irish politics are played out among the members of his own family.

Emma

Emma appears only in glimpses throughout most of Stephen's young life, and he never gets to know her as a person. Instead, she becomes a symbol of pure love, untainted by sexuality or reality. Stephen worships Emma as the ideal of feminine purity. When he goes through his devoutly religious phase, he imagines his reward for his piety (pobożność)as a union with Emma in heaven.

Style:

-narrative style

-is written in the 3^rd person point of view, it is a traditional 3^rd person narrative

-narrow narrative

-the poet doesn't tell what is happening but shows what is happening without explaining the events

-there is no plot

-there are gaps in the chronology

-the focus is on the central character

-Joyce uses interior monologue to let the reader see, feel what Stephen is experiencing

-simple vocabulary

- the style of a children story

-uses narrative duality( it means that both poet and readers know what is happening but the main character is not always aware of it)

-sophisticated style

Language:

The language at the beginning of the novel is disjointed (chaotyczny) and even babyish (dziecinny). This is Joyce's signal that the narrative style of the book will change to reflect the changes in Stephen's mood and mentality. It means that language develops with Stephen (from children-like to more sophisticated sentences).

Stephen's fascination with the word "suck" shows him trying to understand the relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. His curiosity about words are perhaps an early indication that he will grow up to be a writer.

When the English is acquired by Stephen he is keen on new sounds, words. Lg in the next parts of the novel becomes increasingly sexually suggestive as Stephen gets more interested with sex e.g. description of the prostitute's lips.

The language of the sermons is interesting. It is used so long that and we have an impression that Joyce wants the reader to participate in there sermons for as long and to the same degree as Stephen himself.

Stephen's conversation with the dean, an Englishman, makes him think about how English is not really his own language. For the Irish, English is both "familiar" and "foreign," always an "acquired speech."

Stephen uses the word `nest” which suggests that he wants to fly of the nest, of this prison and find the freedom. The conclusion of the novel (the Stephen's diary) means that the narrative has shifted from the impersonal third-person point of view to the personal first-person and suggests that Stephen is now ready to use his own words to determine (decydować) and express his own destiny.

Presentation of Ireland

Dublin: The Irish city where Joyce and Stephen grow up. The city with all of its diversity seemed to inspire Joyce the same way it does Stephen. It is stimulating to the mind and the senses. Joyce was an exile (wygnaniec) from Dublin for most of his adult life, but the city is still the setting for all of his major fiction.

Ireland: The Ireland of Stephen's time was a place where politics, history and religion (Catholics vs. Protestants) caused a lot of tension (napięcie). The influence of the English was still on everyone's minds and there was a strong nationalist movement, which wanted to bring back Ireland's old culture and language. The boys that Stephen knows at the university talk a lot about the nationalist issue. Stephen also things about and the role he should play as an artist in Ireland's nationalist struggle. Ireland is a part of the labyrinth which influences the Stephen and makes him to escape. The country is opposite of Stephen's ideal because the Irish are shaped by different cultures and they are victims of the English empire.

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