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

Portrait of the Artist as a Young man is a fictional autobiography of James Joyce’s first twenty years of life. Many scholars argue about exactly which parts are fictional and true, but it is universally agreed that Stephen Dedalus is James’ fictional alter-ego and that most of the story comes from James’ life.

Like Stephen Dedalus, James was born and raised in Ireland by a middle-lower class family along with nine other brothers and sisters. His father was constantly in money troubles, and his mother was a devout Catholic. He went to school at the Jesuit boarding college Clongowes, and then was taken out because his father couldn’t pay the tuition. He was then accepted into the prestigious Belvedere and graduated from University College of Dublin. After graduating, James Joyce moved to Europe, traveling abroad and spending most of his life away from his home country. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ends at the point where Stephen leaves Dublin to travel the world.

James Joyce was born in Ireland in 1882. During the time in which he was growing up, the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s, Ireland was in the process of breaking free from the rule of Great Britain. The country was divided: the Catholics wanted independence, and the Protestants wanted to stay with Great Britain. Even though James didn’t understand everything that was going on at the time, he caught on to the political and religious tension. This tension shows up throughout Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

In the beginning of the novel, especially, references are made to Parnell. A Catholic who wanted independence for Ireland, Parnell was found having an affair with a married woman and the Catholic Church was blamed. The Christmas dinner scene is one argument about the role of the Catholic Church, the need for independence, and Parnell. These feelings of freedom versus bondage end up in Portrait of the Artist in Stephen’s need to be free of religious and social conventions.

James Joyce threaded many philosophies throughout his novel, especially making use of Thomas Aquinas’ views on beauty and art, and modernism. The novel itself follows Aquinas’ progression of lyrical, epical, and dramatic art.

Many different styles of writing and lyricism are used in Portrait of the Artist, and the book is almost divided up into three sections, each with its own individual style. In the first section, Stephen is a child. Most of the writing is in stream of consciousness and relies heavily on sensory details. The second section consists of Stephen’s time at the University. By this point, many of Stephen’s philosophical ideas have formed, and much of the writing takes place through extensive dialogue. Finally, the last chapter switches from first person limited to third person through Stephen’s journal. This is designed to show Stephen’s progression from an innocent child to an intellectual and an artist.