Essay on the Soul of the Artist in A Portrait of the...

Soul of the Artist in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man As James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man unfolds, protagonist Stephen Dedalus personal vision grows closer and closer to that of an artist. Stephen attempts throughout the story to understand the inspiration he receives while being tormented by influences that seem to distract him. Stephens thoughtful approach to his experiences, brings him through his tormented youth to a refined understanding of his feelings about art. After explicitly stating his aesthetic theories, Stephen composes a villanelle whose structure and classically Joycean crafted diction implicitly represent Stephens entire story. Once the parallel is established, it†¦show more content†¦But evidence does exist to suggest that this poem is not merely the raw artists first work but a representation of Joyces dramatic art, wherein he [the artist] presents his image in immediate relation to others (481): this poem is implicitly a condensation for the reader of the key elements of Stephens whole story. First, consider the fact that there are nineteen lines in the poem, and nineteen sections (as separated by three asterisks) in the novel. If not for the further evidence presented in the villanelles structure and content, this could be dismissed as coincidence. But the first and third lines are repeated in the stanzas following: line 1 in the second and fourth, and line 3 in the third and fifth. Likewise, throughout his story, Stephen grapples with the church and with his sexuality, alternating between the two. Major instances of this vacillation appear in each chapter: as a young boy at Clongowes, he considers the implications of Gods name (262); the young adolescent Stephen struggles to allow himself to be kissed by a prostitute (353), leading to guilt as he tries to reconcile himself with the church (395-7); and the vision of a woman on the beach keeps him from promising himself to the priesthood (434). The final two lines of the villanelle present lines 1 and 3 repeated as a couplet. As we will see in the next section, they represent the change of focus that takes place in Stephen as he writes this poem, redirecting his energy from theShow MoreRelatedStephen As A Fan Of Lord Byron s Poetry1503 Words   |  7 Pagesattending his first year at Belvedere College. He was accused of heresy by Mr. Tate, the English master. While in class, Mr. Tate accused Stephen of heresy, and Stephen knew his essay contained heresy because he, â€Å"did not look up. [†¦] He was conscious of failure and detection [†¦]† (Joyce, 69) After opening Stephen’s essay to find the heresy in question, Mr. Tate proclaimed, â€Å"Ah! without a possibility of ever approaching nearer. That’s heresy,† to which Stephen mumbled, â€Å"I meant without a possibilityRead More A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Essay1512 Words   |  7 PagesA Portrait of the Artist as a Young M an Stephen Dedalus - Rebel Without a Cause? His soul had arisen from the grave of boyhood, spurning her grave-clothes. Yes! Yes! Yes! He would create proudly out of the freedom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable Throughout A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man Stephen Dedalus is persistently portrayed as the outsider, apart from the society he andRead More The Key Elements of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Essay1853 Words   |  8 PagesKey Elements of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man provides an introspective exploration of an Irish Catholic upbringing. To provide the reader with a proper interpretation, Joyce permeates the story with vivid imagery and a variety of linguistic devices. This paper will provide an in-depth of analysis of the work by examining its key elements. The central theme of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is Stephen DedalusRead MoreDorian Gray And Dr Faustus Literary Analysis1278 Words   |  6 PagesFinal Essay Dorian Gray and Dr Faustus By Mohammad Hussain Starting with greed and temptation, then with a sense of immortality, and ending with destruction of one s morals and soul. In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, the main character trades his soul for what he desires most, beauty and eternal youth. He ends up dying after living a tortuous life because of the damage he has to his soul. Similarly, in Dr. Faustus, a play by Christopher Marlowe, a doctor sells his soul to theRead MoreA Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man1594 Words   |  7 Pages EL111 The purpose of this essay is to discuss how James Joyce’s seminal novel A Portrait of the Artist as a young man, is experimental with regards to plot, point of view, language, symbolism, style and character development, and will begin with a brief introduction. Many artists, be they of the pen, brush or instrument, seek through innovation an artistic immortality that has the potential to act as a blueprint from which imitation is spawned. Joyce’s Portrait is at its core innovative pioneeringRead More James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Flann OBriens At Swim-Two-Birds and Modernist Writing2431 Words   |  10 PagesJames Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Flann OBriens At Swim-Two-Birds and Modernist Writing The Twentieth Century found literature with a considerably different attitude and frame-of-mind than had the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Two hundred years is, of course, a long time to allow change within genres, but after the fairly gradual progression of the novel as a form, its change in the hands of modernism happened rapidly in comparison. Explaining how textsRead MoreEssay James Joyce and Catholicism in Portrait and Dubliners3374 Words   |  14 Pagesreligion is a motif brought forth prominently in Joyces works. In Dubliners, his book of short stories as well as his supposed autobiography, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce shows religious turmoil and indecision through his characters. Stephen Dedalus, the main character in the journal-like story of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, goes through an internal turmoil of his own throughout the entire book on how he would view religion. He shows certain extremities of religiousRead MoreDedalus and Daed alus In James Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce tells1500 Words   |  6 PagesDedalus and Daedalus In James Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce tells us a story of a young man who struggles with who he is and who he is to become. Stephen Dedalus was born into an Irish Catholic family with very strong beliefs. Stephan believes in God and follows the path he is taught. His young life is very doctrinaire, but he believes in his God. He follows the ways of the Church because he does not want to let God down. Later, as Stephan matures, he struggles withRead MoreEssay on Oscar Wildes Success at a Gothic Novel1489 Words   |  6 PagesIn this essay I will be looking at how successful Oscar Wilde was at creating a gothic novel. I will be using Edgar Alan Poe’s short story The Fall of the House of Usher and the film Bram Stokers, Dracula and the The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this essay I will be looking at how successful Oscar Wilde was at creating a gothic novel. I will be using Edgar Alan Poe’s short story ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and the film ‘Bram Stokers, Dracula’ and the earlier version ‘Nosferatu’ asRead More Stephen Dedalus in James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man3169 Words   |  13 PagesStephen Dedalus in James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets The spirit of Ireland is embodied in young Stephen Dedalus, the central character of James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Like the Dedalus of Greek myth, Stephen must grow wings so that he may fly above the tribulations