Emma appears only as glimpses during most of Stephen’s young life, and he never gets to know her as a person. To Stephen, Emma defines one end of a spectrum of femininity. He seems to apprehend only the extremes of this spectrum. For him, women are either pure, reserved and unapproachable, or poisoned, sexual and ordinary, like the prostitutes he visits in Belvedere. Instead, she becomes a symbol of pure love, untainted by sexuality or veracity. When he goes through his fervently religious phase, he imagines his reward for his piety as a union with Emma in heaven. At the university, we finally see a real conversation characterizing Emma as a real, friendly, and ordinary girl, but certainly not the goddess Stephen earlier makes her out to be. This more balanced view of Emma mirrors Stephen’s abandonment of the extremes of complete sin and devotion in favor of a happy medium, the loyalty to the admiration of beauty.Analysis of a Scene
--It is a curious thing, do you know, Cranly said dispassionately, how your mind is supersaturated with the religion in which you say you disbelieve. Did you believe in it when you were at school? I bet you did.
--I did, Stephen answered.
--And were you happier then? Cranly asked softly, happier than you are now, for instance?
--Often happy Stephen said, and often unhappy. I was someone else then.
--I did, Stephen answered.
--And were you happier then? Cranly asked softly, happier than you are now, for instance?
--Often happy Stephen said, and often unhappy. I was someone else then.
--How someone else? What do you mean by that statement?
--I mean, said Stephen, that I was not myself as I am now, as I had to become. (section 5, page 261)
--I mean, said Stephen, that I was not myself as I am now, as I had to become. (section 5, page 261)
The declaration that Stephen’s transformation was necessary indicates that perhaps the person he is now is who he was somehow destined to be all along. The most interesting things to look at, in Portrait of an Artist, are the moments that catalyze Stephen Dedalus in his transformation from child to artist. In five chapters, we're taken through Stephen's early childhood in Ireland and confinement at boarding school, his dalliances with theater and hiring prostitutes, his retreat from sensory excess into religious devotion, his retreat from religious devotion into aesthetic, and, ultimately, his retreat from Ireland
This quick snippet from the final pages of Joyce’s novel, finally give way to Stephen’s epiphany, his realization and happiness with his life and where he is headed. Religion was a constant pressure on Stephen, influenced by his parents’ wishes or those of the priest. Throughout this novel, Stephen was struggling to find himself, becoming an individual. From the readers perspective, this passage is an exciting one because after experiencing Stephen’s hardships, we can finally be proud of him; overcoming the oppression of his parents, his peers, and his society.
OpinionWOW—how do I even describe how I feel? Most of my classmates complained of the complexity and stream of conscientiousness writing style that James Joyce used. Now I am not going to say it was easy, but I will say that I actually loved the language of this novel. The detail work that went into his imagery was astounding. My favorite part is the emotions that I as a reader felt, while experiencing Stephen’s life. For example, the sermon scene legitimately had me scared… Being an Irish Roman Catholic myself, it was hard not to be on the same level as Stephen. I could feel his anxiety and stress and fear and desire to save himself from this horrific ending. Having words on a page do this to me only excites me to read more.
Often in class it was mentioned that A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man had no defined plot, but i completely disagree. We can safely assume that Stephen's life parallels to that of James Joyce's. He wrote the experiences in his life that shaped him into the artist and man he is today. It was a long and gradual transformation, but it played out beautifully. I loved how previous emotions, actions and learning experiences, influenced the next steps to this novel. Finally equating to our final product, Stephen or James as a incredibly gifted artist.
Often in class it was mentioned that A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man had no defined plot, but i completely disagree. We can safely assume that Stephen's life parallels to that of James Joyce's. He wrote the experiences in his life that shaped him into the artist and man he is today. It was a long and gradual transformation, but it played out beautifully. I loved how previous emotions, actions and learning experiences, influenced the next steps to this novel. Finally equating to our final product, Stephen or James as a incredibly gifted artist.
