8/12/2019 Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man Study Guide

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Rahul VazarkarA Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man Study Guide

Plot: Story told in third person with Stephens perspective Stephen is a boy growing up during a socially tumultuous time in Ireland.

He goes to Clongowes Academy, where he feels alienated from others, until he is forcedto withdraw for financial reasons

Moves to Dublin, where he sleeps with a prostitute and turns away from religion,becoming extremely sinful

Stephen, feeling guilty, turns back towards extreme ascetic Catholicism Eventually, Stephen finds a middle ground between himself and societal/religious

constraints and resolves to pursue his own individual interests and art

Characters: Stephen: Main character who is based off of Joyce himself; the story follows his

emotional/mental development as he grows older

Emma: A girl Stephen becomes infatuated with; he acts as somewhat of a catalysts forStephens changes and interest

Themes: Development of identity: The book revolves around the development of Stephens

identity, and by extension, deals with the concept in general. More specifically, Joyce

may be outlining the developmental steps many artists go through

Religion as an oppressive force: In the book, religion often acts as a barrier to Stephenspursuit of his desires, or makes him feel guilty for doing so. In the end, Stephen decides

that he does not want to fully conform to religious doctrine and expectations

The nature of language: Joyce manipulates language sounds and other aspects oflanguage throughout the book as part of demonstration of art

Symbols: Emma: Represents desire and lust The Count of Monte Cristo: Representative of the life Stephen admires

Quotations ...he longed for the play and study and prayers to be over (25)

Sample quote to show the type of isolation and detachment from othersStephen feels

I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, myfatherland or my church (248)

Sums up Stephens final commitment to pursuing his individual desires Suck was a queer word.loudly (23)

Example of exploration of the sound in language, this time with the word suck