A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
(James Joyce)

Chapter 1

The chapter begins with snippets from Stephen’s earliest memories. His father is strong and has a hairy face. He accidentally wet the bed, and his mother cleaned it up. His mom smells pleasant, and she plays the piano so he can dance for Uncle Charles and Dante. Stephen thinks he will marry Eileen when he grows up.

*****

Stephen is older now, playing football on the playground. He feels small and weak, unlike the other boys. He admires Rody Kickham, the captain of the football team and dislikes Nasty Roche. Roche says Stephen’s name is weird, and Stephen suddenly remembers his parents dropping him off at boarding school. His mother was crying, and his Dad told him to call if he needed anything. He remembers them waving as they were driving away.

Stephen’s mind comes back to the scrimmage. It is wintertime, and he wishes he were inside the study hall relaxing by a fire instead of out in the cold.

Yesterday, a boy named Wells pushed Stephen into the square ditch. It was wet and slimy. Stephen hears the prefect yell “all-in”, but some of the boys still want to play ball. Simon Moonan tells them to stop because the prefect is watching, and he is called a suck by the other boys. The word suck sounds weird to Stephen, and it makes him feel hot and cold.

In the study hall, it is the hour for sums. Father Arnall turns it into a competition. There are two teams, the red and white roses. Stephen truly wants to win for the white team, but sums are too hard. He gets fixated on all the colors, and the red team wins.

At lunch, Stephen has trouble eating. Fleming asks him if he feels okay, and Stephen says he’s fine. The sound of the cafeteria is roaring in his ears, reminding him of a train. Wells comes up to him, and asks if he kisses him mother goodnight. When Stephen says yes, he is mocked. He changes his answer to no and is laughed at again. He remembers his mother’s soft lips and wonders if there is a right answer.

In study hall, they are studying geography. Stephen is counting down the days until Christmas break. He gets lost in thoughts about God and the nature of the universe, but thinking so much hurts his head.

The front of his geography book is red and green and makes him remember Dante’s brushes. One has a maroon velvet back for Michael Davitt, and the other green for Parnell. Dante ripped the green back off Parnell’s, and told Stephen Parnell was a bad man. Stephen doesn’t know much about politics and wishes he understood it better.

In his dorm, Stephen says his prayers before getting into bed so he won’t be sent to Hell. He drifts off to sleep and dreams about a ghostly black dog and a marshal wounded in Prague. He prays for the nightmares to stop, and instead dreams about red and green for Christmas.

In the morning, Stephen feels hot and weak. Fleming tells him that he’s sick and to stay in bed. The boys agree it was mean of Wells to shove Stephen into the ditch. Stephen is worried he will get some deadly disease. After the other boys are gone, Wells asks Stephen if he’s going to tell on him. Stephen says he won’t, and Wells apologizes for pushing him.

The prefect comes in, helps him get dressed, and takes him to the infirmary. Brother Michael is waiting, and he smells like medicine. Stephen is put into bed and told to rest. He dreams about his own funeral. If Stephen died, maybe Wells would be sorry for pushing him into the water.

Stephen’s bed-mate, Athy tells him stories and riddles. Stephen is starting to feel better. He dreams that he is on a pier in front of the ocean, and Brother Michael is on the head of a ship. Brother Michael announces that Parnell is dead, and Dante walks forward in a maroon velvet dress with a green mantle.

*****

Stephen is sitting at the Christmas table with Uncle Charles, Dante, Mr. Casey, and his father. They are all waiting for Christmas dinner to be ready. Stephen’s father, Mr. Dedalus pours the men some whiskey.

When the meal is ready, Stephen says grace. He remembers buying the turkey at the market, and is looking forward to pudding being served at the end of the meal. It is Stephen’s first dinner at the table and not in the nursery.

Mr. Dadelus serves the food, and the adults begin arguing politics. Mr. Dedalus believes that catholic priests should not teach politics, and Dante believes that preachers must guard their flocks. Dante ends up yelling, and Uncle Charles reminds everyone that Stephen is present.

Dante becomes embarrassed, and there is a long awkward silence. Mr. Dedalus tries to lighten the mood, but no one is talking. Suddenly Dante begins arguing again, she accuses them of being renegade Catholics.

Stephen wonders who is right. He doesn’t know much about politics, other than Catholics are good, and Protestants are bad. Dante wouldn’t let Stephen play with Eileen as a child because her family was protestant. Now, Dante is arguing on behalf of the priests, and Stephen’s father on behalf of the politicians. Mr. Casey begins yelling: “Away with God!” and Dante walks out of the house.

Parnell is revealed to be the former king of Ireland and is now dead. Stephen notices a tear in his father’s eye.

*****

Back at school, the boys are gossiping in the schoolyard. Some of the upperclassman have gotten in trouble for something, and there are rumors about what.

This morning, a boy on a bike broke Stephen’s glasses, so he can’t see everyone’s faces well. What he lacks in sight, he makes up for in hearing. There is a cricket game going on, and the noise is distracting.

Wells heard the boys got caught drinking the alter wine in the chapel. Stephen is shocked that they would do such a thing in a holy place. He remembers his first communion, the most momentous day of his life.

Athy tells the boys they are all wrong, and if they want to know the truth to ask Simon Moonan. The boys want to know what happened, and Athy finally tells them the boys were caught smugging. Stephen doesn’t know what smugging is (a sexual act) and so his mind travels to Boyle, one of the boys in trouble. His nickname is Lady Boyle, because he’s always examining his nails.

Thinking of hands reminds Stephen of Eileen’s hands. They were ivory and soft, and her hair was blond in the sunlight. He is reminded of the phrases “tower of ivory” and “house of gold”.

The group of young boys is quiet now, and afraid. They wonder if they will be punished too. The older boys had to choose between getting flogged by Mr. Gleeson or being expelled, and only one chose the flogging. The sounds of cricket are still in the background and fill the scared silence. Stephen thinks Mr. Gleeson’s fingernails are pointy and cruel.

One of the prefects calls “all-in” and the boys head to study hall.

It is time for writing lessons. Mr. Hartford walks around the room, gently correcting student’s mistakes. Stephen is glad that Mr. Hartford is nice and not cruel. He is preoccupied with sin and punishment and wonders what kind of sin the boys committed.

Next hour is Latin with Father Arnell. He is upset because no one knows the material. He singles Fleming out for not answering the question correctly, and has him kneel in the center of the room. Stephen wonders if it is a sin for Father Arnell to be so angry.

The prefect of studies, Father Dolan, comes in, ready to dole out some punishment. He notices Fleming in the center of the room and asks what he is in trouble for. As a lesson to the other students, Father Dolan beats Fleming’s hands for being idle.

Father Dolan asks Stephen why he isn’t writing. Father Arnell answers that he broke his glasses and is exempt from lesson. Father Dolan asks Stephen to come to the center of the room and interrogates him. Believing Stephen’s story to be a lie, he beats Stephen’s hands, and Stephen cries out in pain. The prefect leaves, and Stephen feels humiliated.

Father Arnell walks around the room, correcting the student’s mistakes in a gentler manner. He tells Fleming and Stephen they can go back to their seats. Stephen thinks the punishment was not fair, he was telling the truth. Even though Father Dolan is a priest, he was still wrong.

After class, the boys are mad about the punishment. They all agree it wasn’t fair, and urge Stephen to tell the rector. A student once told the rector he was wrongly punished, and Stephen puts him on par with ancient heroes and great men.

Later in the refectory, Stephen wrestles with himself over whether or not to tell the rector. He thinks he can’t, but his feet keep on walking down the hallway. He asks a maid where the rector’s room is, and knocks.

The rector tells him to come in; he is at his desk writing, and greets Stephen kindly. Stephen tells the rector that he broke his glasses and was wrongly punished for it. The rector agrees to talk to Father Dolan, and see he is not punished again.

When Stephen leaves the office, he is so excited he runs back to where the boys are waiting for him. They excitedly ask what happened, and he told them. The boys pronounce Stephen a hero and hoist him onto their shoulders, taking him back outside to the courtyard.

Stephen decides not to be proud toward Father Dolan, but humble and obedient. He wonders if there is something kind he can do for the Father to show his sincerity. Cricket practice is still going, and Stephen can hear the sound of the balls being hit.

Chapter 2

Stephen’s family is living in Blackrock outside of Dublin. He is home for the summer, and Uncle Charles is his constant companion. He helps him run errands, and Uncle Charles gives him sweets. After errands, they go to the park, where Mike Flynn, an old friend of Stephen’s father, trains him in track. Uncle Charles prays at the chapel every day and Stephen wonders what he is praying for.

On Sundays Mr. Dedalus and Uncle Charles take their constitutional. Stephen listens intently to them talking politics, realizing he is getting to the age where he needs to know more about the world.

Stephen has the evenings to himself and reads The Count of Monte Cristo. He is fascinated by the dark avenger and imagines Mercedes. He spends some of his free time playing with a neighbor boy named Audrey Mills.

Come September, however, Audrey is back at school and Stephen is not at Clongowes. Stephen realizes his father is in some sort of trouble, or he would be in school. He feels a keen sense of unrest, especially when imagining Mercedes. He realizes he is different from others his age, as the sound of children playing now annoys him.

*****

One day, two yellow caravans take all the furniture in the house away. The family is moving again, and it is due to Mr. Dedalus’ hardships.

They move to Dublin, and Stephen has large amounts of free time. He wanders the city, his moodiness and restlessness growing. He wishes he were in Marseilles, and has the distinct feeling he is looking for someone.

He and his mother visit family members in Dublin, although they feel like strangers to him.

At a children’s party, Stephen sits apart, observing the festivities. He realizes there is a certain joy to his loneliness. He and another young girl are the last to leave. They take the tram together, and Stephen realizes she is flirting with him. He knows he should kiss her, but doesn’t.

*****

The next day Stephen tries to put his feelings down in poetry. This is his first real attempt at expression through art. He becomes distracted, and instead of writing poetry writes the names of some of his old classmates.

Father is sending Stephen back to school. He had a run-in with the rector of Clongowes that day, who told him about the incident with the glasses. Stephen’s father, the rector, and Father Dolan all laughed at the situation, and Stephen feels disgust.

*****

Stephen is now a second-year student at Belvedere, second in his class. He is participating in a play and is in his dressing room watching the visitors, prefects and students out the window. He is feeling moody again and decides to go outside for some fresh air.

Outside, he spots two boys smoking. One is a fellow student named Heron, and the other is Heron’s friend, Willis. They make fun of Stephen for not smoking, and Stephen thinks Heron’s name is fitting because he looks so bird-like.

Heron and Willis saw Stephen’s father entering the playhouse with a young girl who was asking all about Stephen. They think the girl is hot, and Stephen is angry at the direction their thoughts take. The restless feeling returns more strongly than before. Heron tells Stephen to “admit” that he likes the girl, and Stephen is reminded of a memory two years earlier.

His first term at the college, Stephen was accused to having heresy in his paper. After class, Heron and his friends picked on him, mockingly asking him about poetry. Stephen declares Bryon to be the best poet, and Heron accuses Bryon of being a heretic. Stephen says he doesn’t care if Bryon is a heretic and calls the boys ignorant and stupid. He is beaten up, all the while being to “admit” that Bryon is no good. Stephen holds his ground and takes the beating.

He is surprised to realize that he holds no grudge against his classmate for the incident. His thoughts turn instead to the memory of the strange girl from that tram ride. He remembers her touch.

Suddenly a boy runs up, telling Stephen to get dressed for the play. Heron tells the boy Stephen doesn’t take orders, but Stephen doesn’t trust Heron’s camaraderie. The idea of personal honor seems trivial to him. So many people tell Stephen to be different things, and he listens to them for a time, but, in the end, all he wants is to get away from them.

Inside the vestry, a smartly dressed priest is waiting. Stephen begins getting into costume and analyzes that, although he doesn’t have stage fright, he is humiliated by his role. From the corner of the stage, he sees the girl’s eyes and experiences a rare moment of excitement and youth.

Once on stage, the play seems to take on a life of its own in front of the audience. Stephen is surprised to discover he enjoys it. After the play, he runs out to the college garden, blood boiling, ready for more adventure. He sees his family, but the girl is not with them. He runs down the hill, venting his crushed pride and desire. Eventually he calms down, and decides to go back.

*****

Stephen is traveling with his father on a train to Cork. He muses that there is no more childish wonder at the workings of the train, or the scenery. His father’s property is to be sold at auction. When everyone is asleep, Stephen prays for the daylight to come.

In the morning, Stephen and Mr. Dedalus are getting ready at the hotel. Mr. Dedalus is singing a sad song from his youth, and Stephen is drawn by the words. Stephen’s father grew up in Cork, and they are going to visit Queen’s College, where he went to school.

At the college, Mr. Dedalus looks for his initials on the old desks. Stephen sees words carved on the top of the desks, and vividly imagines the boy carving them and being made fun of. Stephen wonders where such fantasies come from, and what they mean.

Afterwards, Mr. Dedalus is telling old school stories Stephen has heard before. His mind is still unfocused, and he feels sick remembering the words on the desk.

He feels utterly out of touch with reality, and even his old thoughts. He reminds himself who he is, saying his name, his father’s name, and where they are. He tries to recall his childhood, but finds that the memories have become dim. He can no longer recall complete stories, only bits and pieces, and specific names. He is trying to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer a child.

The day the property is sold, Mr. Dedalus spends the night going from bar to bar. He meets some old friends who knew him as a child, and an old man, Johnny Cashman, who knew his father. Mr. Cashman asks Stephen which are prettier, Dublin girls or Cork girls. Stephen is confused by the question and alienated from the conversation. As a teen, Mr. Dedalus had been a notorious flirt, and he hopes Stephen will become as decent a man as he is.

Listening to them talk about their childhoods, Stephen feels older than them. His childhood was dead or lost, and he never experienced that sort of excitement for life. Instead, he feels as if he is merely drifting.

*****

Stephen won money for an academic prize. He gets his money in the bank, and the teller is friendly, which annoys Stephen. Over the next couple of months, he spends his money frivolously, buying gifts and giving out loans. Eventually, all his money is gone, and he is desolate again.

Stephen goes back to school feeling foolish. All his plans fell through, and he thinks nothing will work out for him. He begins wandering around Dublin again, plagued by thoughts of unrest and lust. He wants to sin, to experience something new.

He wanders into a bad part of town, and sees many women in colorful gowns; they are prostitutes. A woman in a bright pink gown grabs Stephen by the arm and leads him inside. She undresses and tells Stephen to kiss her. Stephen is nervous, and his body won’t bend down to kiss her. She kisses him, and he surrenders himself to her.

Chapter 3

It is December. Stephen is staring out the window of the schoolroom, imagining his trip to the brothels that evening. He imagines looking at the whores, and the interactions between them and the men they are trying to entice. He is doodling instead of working on his equations, and his doodles turn into giant eyes.

He feared that in committing such a sin, his soul would be harmed. Instead, it brought a dark sense of peace between him and his soul. It turned the chaos of his emotions into cold knowledge. He knows he’s sinned many times, and that every sin makes him more likely to be found guilty when Judgment Day comes. However, his soul seems to lust for his own destruction.

He is a prefect in college, and the worshippers are grating on him more every day. He teaches devotionals about Virgin Mary and feels no guilt over the falseness of his position.

The bell rings, and Stephen listens to Heron and Ennis talk about trivial matters. Stephen listens but doesn’t actually pay attention. He finds a strange sense of pride in his abandonment of the church, and in his head analyzes all the seven deadly sins he has committed.

The boys are in chapel now, and the rector is seated at the Dais. He tells the prefects about the upcoming retreat. It will last from Wednesday to Friday, when there will be a confessional. Saturday and Sunday will be free days, but Monday everyone must go back to classes. The rector tells the story of Saint Francis Xavier, the patron of the college. It was said he baptized 10,000 souls in a single day. The rector upholds him as a true warrior of the faith, and Stephen feels a pang of guilt.

*****

The first day of retreat, Father Arnell is giving the sermon. Seeing the Father brings back memories of Clongowes for Stephen.

Father Arnell begins by saying that the retreat is a time-honored tradition in reverence of Saint Francis Xavier, and is meant to be a withdrawal from the worries of life. The topics of the retreat will focus on death, judgment, hell and heaven.

He urges the boys to put away all earthly thoughts. He tells them that they are only on earth to do God’s will and save their holy souls. If they pay attention and show true discipline in their study, they will be rewarded.

After dinner, Stephen experiences a taste of fear. He fears he has become nothing more than his bestial nature, and that his soul is fat and corrupted. The next day, Stephen’s fear becomes true terror.

The first sermon is over the subject of death. Stephen feels as if he is truly dying. He experiences his life flashing before his eyes, the fading of his limbs, and even his own funeral. He realizes there is no point in being a great man or accomplishing great things on earth, because everyone is equal in judgment.

Father Arnell preaches that there are only two options after death: to be sent to the prison of purgatory, or the depths of hell. Doomsday is coming, and the only thing anyone can ever be certain of is their own death. He says a just man has no cause for terror, and that those who experience fear are certainly guilty.

Stephen acknowledges to himself that the sermon got to him. On his way home, he hears a girl laughing and is reminded of Emma, the mysterious girl who he almost kissed, and who came to his play. He feels shame for his “monstrous dreams” of her, and instead imagines himself apologizing to her chastely for his wicked thoughts and asking the forgiveness of God.

The second sermon Father Arnell tells the story of the beginning. He tells how Lucifer fell from heaven because of the sin of pride, and how he tempted Adam and Eve, tricking them into eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge.

Father Arnell then goes into an extremely vivid account of the horrors of hell. The scariest part about hell is that there is no chance for repentance.

After the sermon, Stephen is shaky and afraid he will die any second. He can’t think about anything but hell, and convinces himself that he is actually dying.

Back in the classroom, he hears the normal sounds of students talking, which soothes him and makes him realize he is still alive. During the lesson, he sends up a prayer. He feels he must confess his sins, but not at the school.

At dusk, the third sermon begins. The second sermon used the imagination to give the students a view of the physical torments of hell. In this second half, Father Arnell is going to reveal the spiritual torments of hell.

He says that sin is divided into two parts: on one hand, the bestial urges, and on the other, the turning away of man’s higher nature. Just as there are two parts to sinning, so there are two types of punishment in hell: physical and spiritual.

The spiritual punishment is divided into three distinct parts. The greatest is the pain of loss, the second greatest the pain of consciousness, and the third greatest the pain of extension. He explains that, in hell, the soul is capable of handling more suffering and that every type of punishment can be inflicted simultaneously.

Even though the punishment for hell is so harsh, however, God is still a just God. While mortals may wonder why one sin would warrant such a severe punishment, they only do so because they cannot understand how hideous mortal sin truly is. Only one sin is needed to condemn a man for eternity. Lucifer fell in a moment, Adam and Eve’s betrayal happened in a second – because of this, Jesus had to die. Father Arnell goes on to say that every sin committed by man might as well be a thorn in Jesus’ head, or the soldier lancing his side.

He falls for the students to repent, and they will be forgiven. Stephen bows his head and prays with all his heart.

*****

After dinner, Stephen heads upstairs to be alone in his room. He is wary of what he will find, and when he opens the door he imagines faces talking to him. He walks inside, convincing himself that it is safe, and kneels by the bed to pray like he did when he was a child.

Stephen wanted to be alone so that he could communicate with his soul. He tries to remember all his sins, but finds many of them vague. He believes it is the devil scattering his thoughts, and that he is not worthy of forgiveness. Stephen climbs into bed, huddling under the covers, and wonders why God has not struck him down already before falling asleep.

He dreams he is in a field. There are six goat-ish creatures walking around in circles. They have the faces of men and are walking in smaller and smaller circles, and there is a horrible smell of refuse and rot in the air.

Stephen wakes up, flinging his blankets off, and believes the nightmare is a vision of his own personal hell given to him by God. He can still smell the stench of the field and vomits into his sink.

When he is cleaned up, he prays, weeping for his lost innocence. He realizes he must confess, but doesn’t know how he is going to do so without being shamed to death. He gets dressed and leaves the house.

On the street, Stephen notices girls sitting on the curbstone. They aren’t pretty to look at, but Stephen knows their souls are beautiful to God. He also believes that their souls are cleaner than his, and is disgusted by how far he has fallen.

Eventually, Stephen arrives at the chapel in the city. His soul is so foul he finds it hard to pray. The priest enters the box and begins accepting penitents. Stephen thinks there is still time for him to leave, to back out, and to avoid the shame. Stephen wishes that he had remained a child, free from the clutches of sin. But he believes God to be merciful to those he loves, and so enters the box when it is his turn.

He admits his lesser sins to the priest, and then grudgingly admits his sins of sexual nature. The priest crosses his chest and asks how old Stephen is. When Stephen tells him sixteen, the priest tells him that he is too young for sins that grievous and he must stop them immediately. If Stephen prays to the Virgin Mary, maybe she will help him. The priest gives Stephen his words of absolution, and Stephen exits the chapel.

Outside, Stephen feels ultimate relief, and there is a lightness in his step. Life looks uncluttered and beautiful to his eyes.

He goes to class in a waking dream. He realizes that God has given him a second chance. The chapter ends with Stephen praying at the altar.

Chapter 4

After the retreat, Stephen revolves his life around his newfound piety. His weekly schedule consists of sections of devotionals. Every morning he prays fervently, setting his resolve for the day. He is in a state of paranoia about his soul, and worries that he is not doing enough. Since the soul isn’t visible, he doesn’t know if his efforts are cleaning his soul a lot of just a tiny bit. Stephen carries his rosaries with him wherever he goes and is constantly saying them.

He divides the seven days of the week into seven different saints to worship, as well as the seven deadly sins to ruminate on or avoid.

He believes only in love and hate, as all other passions have left him. Even as a boy, he found it difficult to hold on to emotions and reverted instead to a state of indifference about things. However, he has to believe in love because God is love, and only God has loved his soul for all eternity. Because of his faith in God’s love, Stephen experiences a deep sense of divine meaning and spiritual exaltation.

Stephen, in a safeguard against temptation, numbs himself to sensations. He shuns all glimpses of women, lest he be tempted to go to the brothels. He purposefully cuts off his sense of hearing and smell, as well as punishing his body for the sins it committed. He sits uncomfortably in chairs, and away from the warmth of the fire. He feels that, if he can control every aspect of his body, that he will never be tempted by earthly sensations again.

Eventually, though, temptations begin to creep back despite his precautions. His flesh begins to exert more power over him. He takes a certain pride in knowing that all his hard work could be undone in an instant, and entertains the possibility of temptation while resisting the pull. In his mind, these temptations are further proof that he is on the right path, and the teachings at the retreat were true.

After a time, confession doesn’t bring the same sense of relief for Stephen that it did the first time. Instead of feeling clean, he feels a restless guilt. Since he is always sinning, he always needs to go to confessional, and it becomes dependence rather than a freedom.

*****

Stephen’s newfound devotion is noticed by the brothers, and one day the director summons Stephen to his office. He engages in small talk, and Stephen waits impassively, wishing the director would get to the point of the visit. He compares his vision of the brother now to his memories as a child. He used to admire the brothers’ piety and devotion, but now the director’s small talk sounds childish to his ears. Instead of focusing on intellect, all they focus on is devotion.

The director asks Stephen if he has a vocation, an urge to join the order. He goes on to say that only one or two boys in the college can be deemed worthy of accepting, and he believes Stephen is one.

Stephen imagines himself as a priest, living a life of devotion and prayer. As a priest, he would have power over his soul, and the souls of others; he would also have access to hidden knowledge. No sin would be able to linger on him.

The director urges Stephen to look for a sign tomorrow, and to give his answer after mass. He must be sure, because once someone becomes a priest they are in for life.

Outside, Stephen walks around campus, enjoying the evening air. The initial vision of his priesthood fades and in its place is a view of an ordered, passionless life. A feeling of immense unrest overcomes him, as if some instinct is compelling him to run. He imagines himself among the other priests, and the image now repulses him.

He suddenly realizes that the priesthood is not his destiny. Instead, he will fall. He will be driven by experience, creating his own path.

Stephen arrives at his house, where his younger brothers and sisters are just finishing up having tea. They tell him that Father is out looking for a new house, and Stephen deduces that his family’s money troubles are getting worse.

Stephen decides to go to University instead of joining the priesthood, and a sense of peace surrounds him.

*****

Some days later, Stephen goes out walking. He is waiting for his father to be done meeting with a tutor at the University. He goes across the bridge to the seawall and passes a group of brothers. Although he knows it is not his destiny, the sight of the priests still shames him. He recalls how he escaped their wish to use him for their own purposes, and his resolve to follow his own path.

At the sea, some of his classmates are swimming. Their nakedness disturbs him, and they call out to him to join in. He doesn’t join, but their calls bring to mind the mythological meaning of his name, and he realizes that his destiny is to be an artist, to create using his own soul as fodder.

Stephen feels as if his soul has risen with this knowledge and has the urge to run to the end of the earth, free from everything he knows.

After a while, there is no one else around. Stephen is barefoot, walking in the water, musing over the distinct knowledge that his boyhood is gone forever.

Suddenly he sees a girl standing in the water, staring out to sea. She is slight and beautiful, in between a woman and a child. He stares at her, and when she turns to look at him the sight of her beauty strikes his soul. He realizes that all he wants in life is to see beauty and that this image will stay with him forever.

Stephen keeps walking, amazed at his soul’s discovery. He falls asleep in the sands in a state of bliss, and when he awakens it is dark. He watches the sky, moon and stars, feeling the movement of the entire universe.

Chapter 5

Stephen is getting ready to go to University. He is living with his family, and their money situation hasn’t gotten any better. Stephen’s new clothes are all donated and hand-me-downs. While Stephen is getting ready, his mother helps him. She washes his face and ears and tells him that he will regret ever stepping foot in “that place”. It is inferred that Stephen changed after attending the University.

Stephen’s father calls upstairs, asking if his lazy bitch son is gone. Stephen is forced to sneak out the back of the house, and in the alley way hears a crazy nun screaming. In an effort to calm himself, he focuses on the sights, sounds and smells of the poverty-stricken area his family lives in.

On his walk to school, Stephen considers the works of Aristotle and Aquinas. He feels a strong connection to Aristotle’s philosophy, which he describes as mostly full of self-doubt and mistrust, but occasionally lit up by vivid intuition. Stephen is mirroring the state of his art, seeing it in the work of Aristotle.

It is already eleven o’clock, and he is late for his first lecture. He has to remind himself what day of the week it is, and figure out what class he is missing.

Stephen imagines all the students in class now, heads bent, diligently taking notes. When he is in class, his head is always up and his mind wandering. There is only one other student who does the same, and his name is Cranly.

Cranly is one of Stephen’s close friends, although the exact nature of their relationship isn’t quite clear. Stephen told Cranly all his secrets, about the journey of his soul and his epiphany. Cranly listened without saying a word.

Still walking, Stephen passes the statue of the national poet of Ireland. The statue reminds him of another one of his friends named Davin, a peasant student with a simple speech. One day, Davin told Stephen a story he had never told anyone else. Davin, when he was walking to a nearby village, stopped by a house and knocked on the door. When a woman greeted him, he asked her politely for a glass of water. She tries to get him to stay with her, and he refuses.

Lost in thought, Stephen comes back to the present when he feels a tug on his arm. A young urchin girl is trying to sell him blue flowers for his lady. He tells the girl he doesn’t have a lady, or money to buy flowers. He feels ashamed by his and her poverty.

At University, Stephen has already missed his first class and won’t make it in time for the second. He goes to his third classroom early, and finds it empty except for the dean, who is trying to start a fire. The dean is a priest, and everything about him tells Stephen that he is God’s servant. Stephen seems to look down on him, however, by constantly noting his lack of joy and expressionless eyes.

Stephen and the dean engage in a philosophical conversation about the nature of art. Stephen doubts himself, and the dean offers some encouraging words.

In class, Stephen has trouble paying attention. His mind focuses, not on the lecture but on the other students and their remarks. After class in the hallway, one of the students named MacCann is trying to get everyone to sign a petition for universal peace. MacCann approaches Stephen, attempting to get him to sign, and Stephen refuses. A battle of wits begins, consisting of Irish politics, Latin phrases, and classical literary references. Stephen is seen by the other students as a sort of poet, and there are a lot of mild insults being passed around.

Cranly, Stephen and a boy named Temple, who admires Stephen’s guts, walk out to the garden. When they are alone, Cranly calls Stephen a bloody idiot. Outside, they meet Davin and Lynch and begin another philosophical conversation. Davin accuses Stephen of not being a true Irishman because of his pride. He believes that Ireland should come first, and poetry second. Stephen has a much more pessimistic view of Ireland, probably due to his extreme dislike of poverty.

After their heated argument, Stephen and Lynch go out to the gardens. Stephen offers Lynch a cigarette because he knows Lynch is poor. The two friends begin talking instead of arguing, with Stephen mostly lecturing Lynch. Lynch asks questions such as “what is art?” and “what is beauty?” which Stephen answers.

Stephen admires substantially the philosophies of Thomas Aquinas. He believes that art is a way of expressing the intangible contents of the soul in such a way as to make them tangible to others. They also discuss the nature of beauty and of women. Stephen brings up the point that different types of women are considered beautiful in different cultures. There is the explanation that men find certain women beautiful because evolution convinces them of fertility. Stephen, however, finds this view dreary and decidedly un-artistic.

Stephen goes on to say that beauty needs three things to be considered universal: wholeness, harmony, and radiance. To comprehend wholeness, the artist must look at an object (or person) from every angle, and in every condition, seeing everything about them. When their wholeness is defined, then the artist understands the relationship between the object or person and the rest of the world. This is harmony. Radiance happens when the beauty is taken into the mind. Stephen calls this “the enchantment of the heart”. This definition of beauty is a general one, applied mostly to the literary arts.

After the issue of beauty is discussed, the boys turn back to art. Stephen’s view of art he admits is mostly based on Aquinas. He is occupied with the theory of esthetic and uses these definitions of art and beauty to puzzle out his beliefs on estheticism.

Lynch asks about the relation of beauty to art, and art to the soul. Stephen answers with his theory of esthetic, which consists of three stages: lyrical, epical, and dramatic.

In the lyrical stage, the art is created by the artist. It is wholly personal and shows the artist’s image in immediate relation to himself. Most likely it arises from an instant of pure emotion and is relatively straightforward in form.

In the epical stage, the art moves away from being downright tied to the artist when the artist begins self-analyzing. This causes the art to step outside itself, and it is no longer purely personal. This is the in-between stage.

The final stage is the dramatic stage, in which the art has taken on a life of its own and is quite separate from the artist who created it. The audience, whoever they may be, have taken the art into their own minds, and given it a new radiance.

It begins raining, and the boys run to the library. At the entrance, a girl is waiting with some of her friends under the awning. It is implied that she is Emma, the girl from the party long ago, and the one who came to Stephen’s play. He listens to her and her friends engaging in trivial small talk, and reminds himself not to be judgmental because her life and heart are simple. She is preparing to leave, and Stephen watches her walk away.

*****

Stephen wakes slowly in the early dawn. His soul is entirely at peace, and the night enchanted. He seems to be in a half-sleep, half-awake state. There is a lot of religious vocabulary used, and Stephen is inspired, creating in his mind lines for a villanelle.

After a few lines, he awakens completely and loses the rest of the poem he was creating in his head. He looks frantically for a pencil and a piece of paper, afraid to lose the inspiration. He writes the lines down on scrap paper.

He imagines Emma at the carnival ball, but when he sees her flirting with a priest anger overtakes him. Instead of remembering Emma, pictures of various poor peasant girls he’s met run through his mind. He is angry with Emma for tormenting him with her beauty.

It is now full morning, and Stephen’s poem is complete. He realizes the last poem he wrote to Emma was ten years ago, after their tram ride together. Stephen feels as if he’s somehow robbed her of her innocence by imagining her, but he can’t help it because he desires Emma with his soul.

*****

The scene opens with Stephen watching the birds flying in the air. He muses that for thousands of years people have been watching the birds, and he wishes he could fly.

He comes back out of his thoughts and heads to the library. He wants to talk to Cranly, but Cranly is playing a game of chess with Dixon. Stephen asks Cranly to come with him; Cranly doesn’t answer but follows anyway.

Outside the library, the two run into their gang including Temple and Lynch and engage in another intellectual argument. While the boys are talking, Stephen sees Cranly take his hat off in greeting to someone. Stephen turns around, and Emma is walking out of the library. Stephen wonders if Cranly is in love with Emma too, and thinks that it would explain some of his odd behavior.

After the girl is gone, Stephen wanders away from the group. His thoughts have been overtaken with Emma, and he feels saturated with her presence. He can smell her and imagine her touch. Suddenly he feels something moving on the back of his neck – it is a louse. He picks it off him and is ashamed of his poverty and dirtiness. In anger, he walks back to his group of friends, thinking that Emma will love someone who is rich and doesn’t have lice.

Back with the group, Cranly gets mad at Temple over a remark, and overreacts. Stephen senses that there is more to Cranly’s anger than a silly remark, and asks him if they can talk.

Stephen talks to Cranly about his religious problems and his family life, especially his mother. Stephen openly doubts Catholicism, and it hurts his mother’s soul. Cranly asks Stephen if his mother is happy. Stephen thinks she isn’t happy and that the transition from her previous luxurious lifestyle to living in squalor affects her immensely. Stephen can swallow his pride and try not to hurt her with his beliefs, or stay true to his intellectual self.

Cranly calls Stephen out on being a previously pious person at his old school, and it is obvious that Stephen is not that person at all anymore. During this talk, Stephen feels close to Cranly and is thankful to have him.

The subject of the conversation transitions to love. Cranly asks Stephen if he has ever loved anyone before, and Stephen answers that he tried to love God, but it didn’t actually work out. Cranly asks if Stephen would consider being a Protestant instead of a Catholic, but Stephen replies that he has lost his religion, not his self-respect. Some of the prejudices Stephen was raised with are still intact even though he is now an intellectual and an artist rather than religious.

Cranly and Stephen pass a house where a servant woman is singing. They know the song and think it's beautiful. Stephen looks over to Cranly and notes that he is handsome and has a strong body.

As the conversation progresses, it becomes clear that Cranly and Stephen have different ideas on morals. Cranly interrogates Stephen about what “sins” he would and would not commit. Cranly asks if he would rob anyone, and Stephen wouldn’t. He then asks if Stephen would deflower a virgin. Stephen imagines Emma, who he views as innocent, and accuses Cranly of trying to pervert him.

Stephen tells Cranly that he is through serving morals that he doesn’t believe in. He is tired of listening to his parents, listening to the church, and listening to his classmates. In Dublin, in this life, he doesn’t feel as if he is free to express himself and form his own opinions. Cranly muses about how to solve this problem, and comes to the conclusion that all Stephen can do if he wants to become a true artist is leave Dublin, and his old life, behind him.

Stephen seems OK with this, and says he will rely on silence, exile, and cunning to get him through his travels. Cranly becomes quiet and asks Stephen seriously if he could handle being utterly alone, if he even knows what it’s like not to have even a single friend. Stephen realizes that Cranly is talking about himself, and the question stumps him.

*****

The narrative shifts in the last section from being written in third person to first. There are many short diary entries written by Stephen, beginning with a description of his long talk with Cranly about his revolt against religion and society. Stephen has an observant, analytical mind and picks apart details of Cranly’s nature in his first entry.

Most of the entries are relatively short, and detail mostly trivial interactions between Stephen and his family and schoolmates. Throughout the diary, however, Emma is threaded constantly. Stephen is always aware of her presence or lack of presence and spends a lot of his time lingering around areas where he knows she will be.

He also has many troubled dreams, and his feeling of restlessness that has followed him since he decided not to enter the priesthood continues to grow. He feels as if his instinct is leading him somewhere else now, and he realizes that he can learn no more from the University or his friends.

Ultimately, Stephen decides that he must leave Dublin. His mother helps pack his hand-me-down clothes, and even though Stephen is leaving with no money and almost no belongings, he is excited about the future. Even if it is difficult, and even if he has no friends, he will be able to forge his own experiences away from the influences of his childhood and away from Dublin. He hopes that, in the course of his journey, he will become a true artist.