Women, alienation, and art in Joyce's 'A portrait of the artist as a young man'

Abstract

The main aim of this dissertation will be to analyze James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in order to understand better the themes regarding women, alienation, and artistry as they occur in the text, both as they stand on their own as well as in relation to one another. Even though all three themes I will be dealing with are amongst those central to the novel, it must be noted that this essay is by no means exhaustive. Hence, more scope for discussion is possible since this essay does not go beyond a descriptive analysis of the topics within concern. In this novel, we are presented with Joyce's main character, Stephen Dedalus, whose development we follow as he passes from childhood to early manhood. Throughout the story, the experiences most significantly influential upon Stephen's character formation are recounted. Here, the original concept of the bildungsroman has been reworked. The more Stephen comes into contact with external reality, the more he seems to tum to an inward reality and idiosyncrasy. As stated above, the themes selected and the relationships held between them are possibly some of the most influential as seen in terms of this character development. With regard to the first theme, that is, women, Stephen comes into contact with various female characters throughout many parts of the novel. All of these appear to he influential on his character development in some way or another, depending on the time of his encounter with them and the type of relationship he holds with each and every one of them. As will be explained, these characters must be taken into consideration for the various characteristics they share in common with one another, of which, the most relevant to this essay are how they are viewed in connection with nationality as well as how they are important in terms of Stephen's artistic conception. The second theme I will be dealing with is that of alienation. This too will be seen in terms of nationality as Stephen's gradual detachment from the external reality surrounding him, the environment he has grown up in, increases. The novel comes to an end as he chooses exile. Hence, it is Stephen's gradually increasing alienation from his own environment which leads him to his self-imposed exile at the end. The third and final notion introduced here is that of art. This brings together all ends of themes present within the novel. Stephen seems to have found most meaning to his life by deciding to embrace the nature of an artist and in order to reach this, his experiencing of such concepts, as will be presented in the chapters further on, will prove to be necessary