An
‘Aesthetic Autobiography’ of James Joyce
A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel about
the education of a young Irishman, Stephen Dedalus, whose background has much
in common with Joyce’s. However, in determining the genre of A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man readers and critics both face a lengthy debate. In terms
of its critical reception A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man has had its
share of detractors and its admirers. As far as its autobiographical elements
are concerned A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man can be seen both as a ‘Bildungsroman’
which describes the youthful development of the central character and as ‘aesthetic
autobiography’ or ‘Kunstler roman’. We will now carry out our
discussions on Joyce’s portrayal of Stephen and see how he keeps varying his
distance from Stephen but never does so drastically.
If Lawrence’s personal experiences
have shaped the material in Sons and Lovers or if we find several facts of the
life of Somerset Mangham with little modification or distortion in Of Human
Bondage, the same approach Lto Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man cannot be reached. The characters in Sons and lovers or Of Human
Bondage seem to enjoy an independent existence; in A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man they figure mainly in the hero’s reveries and resentments. And
the question if Joyce stations himself in relation to his hero Stephen is a
crucial one. Alike Austen in her Emma both attempts at objectivity and
subjectivity; Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man maintains the
same status. Sometimes the two personae, Joyce and Stephen almost merge but
quite often a distance is kept though it is never too great. This kind of
management of distance allows Joyce to bring irony also in play at places but
even that is never allowed to become too hard-hitting.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man is based on a literal transcript of the first twenty years of Joyce’s life.
If anything, it is more candid than other autobiographies. It is distinguished
from them by its emphasis on the emotional and intellectual adventures of its
protagonist. Joyce’s own life had a direct bearing on A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man. Literally A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man covers the
childhood and adolescence of Stephen Dedalus. We see him, over the course of
the novel, grow from a little boy to a young man of eighteen who has decided to
leave his country for Europe, in order to be an artist. This especially the
case with how he reacted to Ireland and to Ireland’s treatment of Parnell. As
we read the opening section the novel we can easily identify how the ‘betrayal’
of Parnell was a part of the Irish psyche of those time. The Parnell and the
Irish situation in general have a direct bearing on the Christmas dinner scene.
Again Joyce had a firm belief that the political subjection had led the Irish
people to have a slavish mentality. Joyce had an attitude of deep distrust
towards the Irish political activities and it is obvious in the closing
sections of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. On the exchanges between
students in the closing stages of the novel Stephen says to Davin with odd
violence:
Except
for the thin incognito of its characters, “Do you know what Ireland is? … Ireland is the old saw that eats her
furrow”. Further there are other
aspects of Joyce’s life that find more or less a direct echo in the novel.
Alike Joyce Stephen too shares a large family. The family’s poverty and its
frequent changes of house both happen in Joyce and Stephen.
But despite of these similarities, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man is not straight autobiography. Joyce was not the weak in health who figures
in the novel. Joyce has drawn it true very largely upon his life and his own
experience, but it is not an autobiography, it is an artistic creation. It is
reshaped for artistic module. In a sense one can say that in offering us the
growth and the development of Stephen Dedalus, Joyce was not exclusively
concerned with getting to the heart of his own young self or an imaginary
equivalent of that, but in getting to the heart of young artist as such. The
destiny we are brought face to face with could be any young man’s destiny in
Catholic Ireland. Especially, if the young man was sensitive and had artistic
ambitions or pretensions!
We may again deal with another
controversial issue – its title. As the phrase ‘Portrait of the Artists’
hints at the self-portraitures of Joyce, the other phrase ‘as a young man’
hints at it universal aspects or generalization. Stephen is young Joyce, “purified
in and projected from the human imagination’ of the developed artist who
must, in the words of Stephen, “try slowly and humbly and constantly to
express, to press out again, from the gross earth or what it brings forth, from
sound and shape and colour which are the prison gates of our soul, an image of
the beauty we have come to understand”.
Thus Joyce uses his personal life
as a framework for his novel but is free to revise his biography for artistic
purposes or remodeled it, which can assert the growth of ‘artist’.
What happens in A Portrait is that
the autobiographical element, which is otherwise its very significant
ingredient, is consciously and painstakingly recast into a mode of depersonalization,
objectification and presentation of a myth of an artist borne.
As a Psychological Novel
It will
be pointed out some main psychological features of this character that will
further help the reader create and understand the complex teenager that is
Stephen. From the very beginning, Stephen, possessing an undeniably aloof
personality, himself admits that he is in some way different from others. He
notes that is “hardly of the one blood” with his family, indicating that
his life is filled with isolation, a sense of insecurity and growing
independence.
At
first, as suggested by Foley, while indulging his family’s wishes, appeasing
the religious ideals of the community and church and trying to fit in, Stephen
also tries to identify himself as an individual and goes through various stages.“…..constant
voices of his father and of his masters, urging him to be a good catholic above
all things….When the gymnasium had been opened he had heard another voice
urging him to be strong and manly and healthy and when the movement towards the
national revival had begun to be felt in college yet another voice had bidden
him to be true to his country and help to raise up her language and tradition”
The
pressure from expectations gradually becomes a burden and his soul search
finally results in art a mea of breaking the cage. To Stephen art was
nevertheless a way of liberating his soul by fulfilling his hunger for meaning
not with what was imposed upon him by others but by something originating from
inside himself. Stephen‘s path toward becoming an artist is seen at every step
while going through the novel. His first act of courage, independence and
rebellion is when he protests his palm-whipping. Later on, he would also commit
heresy when writing a school essay and reject priesthood. The growing gap
between him and his family, especially his father is ever more obvious as time
passes. “Old father, old article, stand me now and ever in good stead.”
Stephen
has experienced severe traumas in the early course of their lives. Namely
repeated financial troubles which Stephen was a witness of and the deep divide
over the question of religion and patriotism within his own family. It can be
observed that Stephen‘s relations with his siblings are rarely mentioned and
subsided, irrelevant to the overall story and formation of the artist. Stephen
in times of stress and sorrow only occasionally relishes in the memories of his
childhood, such as his friendship with a boy named Aubrey Mills or eating slim
Jim out for his pocket cap. Stephen is experiencing religious, national and
pressure from his family.
An
adolescent individual will always be forced with multiple form of expectations
and regardless of whether they are coming from the family, schools or society,
it is the way these teenagers deal with what is expected of them with their own
strength, mental potency and emotional capacity and deciding whether they are
going to fulfill these expectations or not that will define them as a person
later on, as opposed to the expectations themselves.
Joyce
consumes alcohol; and uses foul language often, depicting some of the negative
sides of adolescence and the temptations it brings along. Stephen, on the other
hand, does not fall under these temptations or the pressure of conformity, but
rather commits sins such as gluttony. Sex represents an important part of lives
of this two teenager- Stephen Dedalus felt that “his childhood was dead or lost
and with it nothing but a cold and cruel loveless lust”
Remained
within his soul. He also believed that out of lust, all other sins originate
easily. Lust and love for aesthetic beauty combined, however, lead him to
numerous encounters with young prostitutes of Dublin. What can be noticed in
Stephen‘s behavior is that through isolated, he is actually trying to protect
himself even through he, like everyone else needs human contact and compassion.
Of course, the boy had that “special someone” present in his live- Stephen on the other hand , also idolizing the image
of Emma , a girl who he has never actually met , through still considered her
to be the temple of beauty and a symbol of femininity finds himself ashamed and
daunted by the thoughts of his own teenage fantasies: “If she knew to what his
mind had subjected her or how brute- like lust had torn and trampled upon her
innocence! Was that boyish love? Was that chivalry? Was that poetry? The sordid
details of his orgies shrank under his very nostrils”
It
must, however, be note that the contradictions of his actions and sins against
his position and role in the society did not seem to bother him at times. It
can be concluded that traumatic experiences, unreasonable expectations and the
lack of support are just some of the burdens halting a normal development of an
individual during his or her teenage years. The result of these factors can
vary from some of the negative, above mentioned perpetual circle of awkwardness
and discomfort.
Epiphany in A portrait of The
Artist as a Young Man
Critics have variously interpreted the experience of the modern
novelist as tolling the death of story. The words are a proven truth for James
Joyce. His expression of experience took a different turn as also a different
form. The early years of his life were passed in Dublin. Joyce was almost blind
from his childhood, and he lived in the world of sounds; in that glamorous town
of Dublin, Joyce wanted to express the immediate and the present he called it
‘an epiphany’ (Greek epiphaneia, “appearance”). Unlike roust he wanted to
express the immediate consciousness as reality. Joyce’s A Portrait of The
Artist As a Young Man clearly demonstrates such epiphanies to signify the
moment when all of a sudden the personae probes into the heart of things and
experiences a sudden spiritual manifestation. In the present novel it is used
to resolve and resolute a conflict the to be an artist face with.
Stephen’s spiritual manifestation and his aesthetic satisfaction
is presented through the epiphanies which is a sudden revelation of the inner
truth by paralleling a visual moment. The journey of Stephen from his very
tender infancy till he becoming an artist is presented through certain
epiphanies to express the inflow of Stephen’s conscious and its changing
schedules. In the artistry of literary device Stephen’s rejection of
priesthood, his peeling of nationality, his self-search in an artist in exile
are presented through certain revelation meticulously and forcefully.
In fact, at the end of each chapter epiphanies are skillfully
used. In Chapter-I Stephen at in childhood meets certain conflicts that makes
in confusion. With the baffling impressions Stephen perceives the world of
elders. He oscillates and vacillates over the implicit faith on the elders and
his helpless insecurity. He has absolute trust, justice and morale from his
elders yet how they quarrel over political and religious matter he cannot
understand. So, naturally there is marked difference between the expectation
and reality. But ultimately Stephen triumphs when he gets rustic at school and
he is being hailed as hero. Thus at the end the finality of resulting the
conflict and achieving justice is marked by epiphany.
In chapter-II we pass into Stephen’s adolescence where a few of
the family problems disturbs him. In school, his essay is accused of heresy and
his school mate’s unfriendly attitude to him hurts him dearly. But more
distressfully increasing hatred for father on the part of Stephen widens.
Interestingly enough, Stephen’s ideal shed beauty and notice of purity transits
into a vague erotic fantasy of the girl Mercedes who often comes into dreams.
So torn in disputes, ultimately resolving into an epiphany towards a learning
experience. Stephen’s dream of Mercedes is united with the embrace of a whore.
Thought it is an absolute sin, Stephen passes into an emotional learning and
resolution: “Tears of joy and relief shone in his delighted eyes. In hat
arms he felt that he had suddenly become strong and fearless and sure of
himself.”
Extending the same conflict, Stephen in Chapter-III finds himself
frequently in the embrace of whores. Stephen’s moral dilemma and sinned meeting
the world of religion and doing the epiphany provides him immense relief: “He
had confessed and God had pardoned him. His soul was made for and holy once
more, holy and happy. The past was past. The ciborium had come to him.”
The journey of Stephen to be an artist born is narcissism and it
is proving truth by the epiphany of muse at sea beach in chapter-IV. More
complex than any other is the description of the figure of the girl on the
beach after the vision of the hawk like man flying sun ward above the sea, and
the suggestion of all the emotional associations which radiate from the glimpse
of her. The vision of mysterious, birdlike, mythical figure is the certitude of
Stephen’s vocation of an artist. It is the message he receives from the spy,
heavenly yet flow of life. It is religiously ammunition and a voice of
divinity. In romantic ecstasy Stephen learns the truth of beauty and art and an
artist is born.
Finally, in chapter-V Stephen wishes to encounter ‘the reality of
experience’ and invokes the mythical Daedalus to air him in that purpose. To
note further, it is to be mentioned that there are many other epiphanies which
contribute to a certainty in developing Stephen and his journey to an artist.
Such as ‘tower of ivory’, ‘house of gold’, ‘fetus’ etc. are few
examples. So, in conclusion, it is fair to say that epiphany is used to
experience both the world of Stephen and Joyce as an artist in A Portrait of
the Artist as a Young Man.
Stephen in the Novel is the
Search of an Artist in Exile.
Escape is the natural complement to the theme
of Entrapment and Constraint. Joyce depicts escape metaphorically by the book's
most important symbol and allusion: the mythical artificer Daedalus is not at
all an Irish name; Joyce took the name from the mythical inventor who escaped
from his island prison by constructing wings and flying to his freedom.
Stephen, too, will eventually escape from the island prison of Ireland.
Truly
speaking in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the hero moves from
childhood to manhood, learning his own destiny as artist and as exile. Again,
of all the characters in the novel, Stephen Dedalus is the only one whose
portrait is fully realized. His most intimate thoughts, memories and sensations
are revealed to us throughout; all the other characters exist for the reader
only insofar as they matter to Stephen. Stephen is tied by family, country and
religion, but one by one he releases himself from those ties to discover his
true vocation on the free and uncommitted life of the artist. Stephen tends to
view his life in terms of a heroic struggle to free himself from the various
confinements he feels his native city imposes upon him—the “nets” of
politics, religion and family. The church was the greatest rival to the world
of art: it, too promised loneliness and power. But he understood at last that “he
was destined to learn his own wisdom apart from others or to learn the wisdom
of others himself wandering among the snares of the world”. And so the
artist is born. The climax of the book comes soon after Stephen’s realization
of his true destiny. He is wandering alone by the shore alone and young and
willful and hardhearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and brackish water and
the sea-harvest of shells and tangle and veiled grey sunlight and gay clad and
light clad figures of children and girls and voices childish and girlish in the
air. He sees a girl standing in mid-stream, “alone and still, gazing out to
sea” and he contemplates her, intently, frankly, without desire or ulterior
motive of any kind he is relishing the artist’s perception of life. And as he
looks, he is overcome by joy: “Heavenly God! Cried Stephen’s soul, in an
outburst of profane joy”. It is profane joy, the artist’s joy in life.
Once Stephen recognizes his
destiny, the shedding of his other loyalties proceeds quickly. He is haunted by
the sea-gulls flying overhead in the evening sky. They symbolize escape for the
artist, escape from the cramping environment where other claims on his loyalty
oppress him. Like the Greek Daedalus who made the labyrinth for king Minos and
afterwards made wings to enable him to escape across the sea from the labyrinth
of life and claims of Dublin. Daedalus, too, was the first craftsman, ‘old
artificer’. As epigraph to the book, Joyce has quoted a line from Ovid’s
description of Daedalus’s construction of the labyrinth: “And he turned his
mind to unknown arts”. So Joyce would turn his mind to enlarge the surname
is that of the Old artificer, his Christian name is that of the first Christian
martyr. Thus, the artist is both crafts man and martyr. However, Stephen
identifies with the classical hero whose name he bears, but he is more like the
son Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and came crashing down into the sea,
than the father Daedalus, whose cunning enabled him to forge the wings that
permitted his escape from Minos’s prison.
So Stephen works out his theory of
the artist as exile. “The artist like the God of creation, remains within or
behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence,
indifferent, paring his fingernails”. Stephen refuses to serve that in
which he no longer believes – home, country, church; he will express himself
freely, using for his defense the weapons of ‘ silence, exile and cunning’.
He is prepared to take the risk of separating himself from others and of having
not even one friend.
As its title suggests, A Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man is a kind of self-portrait, a novel that traces
the development of its central character, Stephen D, from infancy to young
adulthood, as he finds himself drawn into and struggling with the social, religious,
and political currents of late 19th-century Ireland. While Joyce clearly bases
Stephen on his younger self, he maintains an ironic distance from his
character, implying at the end of the novel that his youthful alter ego still
has much to learn about both life and the art that he dreams of making. A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is thus an important document in the
history of the artist as exile. But it is also a remarkable work of art in its
own right. Combining the naturalistic and the symbolist traditions, Joyce finds
a solution to the problems of the literary artist in his time.
Joyce's Use of Imagery
Although
Joyce is frequently praised for his mastery of the "stream-of-consciousness"
narrative technique, his distinctive use of imagery has contributed much to the
artistic development of the twentieth-century novel. Specifically, in A
Portrait, he uses imagery to establish motifs, identify symbols, and
provide thematic unity throughout the work.
Perhaps
the most obvious use of imagery in the novel occurs during the novel's first
few pages, with the introduction of the sensory details which shape Stephen's
early life: wet versus dry; hot versus cold; and light versus dark — all images
of dichotomy which reveal the forces which will affect Stephen's life as he
matures. If we can understand this imagery, then we can better understand
Stephen's reasons for deciding to leave Ireland.
The
wet/dry imagery, for example, is symbolic of Stephen's natural
response to the world versus a learned response. As a
small child, Stephen learns that any expression of a natural inclination (such
as wetting the bed) is labeled "wrong"; the wet sheets will be
replaced by a dry, reinforcing "oilsheet" — and a swift,
unpleasant correction for inappropriate behavior. Thus, wet things relate to
natural responses and dry things relate to learned behavior.
Other
examples of this wet/dry imagery include the wetness of the cesspool (the
square ditch) that Stephen is shoved into and the illness which follows;
likewise, the "flood" of adolescent sexual feelings which
engulf Stephen in "wavelet[s]," causing him guilt and shame.
Seemingly, "wet" is bad; "dry" is good.
A
turning point in this pattern occurs when Stephen crosses the "trembling
bridge" over the river Tolka. He leaves behind his dry, "withered"
heart, as well as most of the remnants of his Catholicism. As he wades through "a
long rivulet in the strand," he encounters a young girl, described as
a "strange and beautiful seabird." She gazes at Stephen from
the sea, and her invitation to the "wet" (natural) life
enables Stephen to make a climactic choice concerning his destiny as an artist.
Later, after Stephen has explained his aesthetic philosophy to Lynch, rain
begins to fall; seemingly, the heavens approve of Stephen's theories about art,
as well as his choice of art as a career.
The
hot/cold imagery similarly affects Stephen. At the beginning of the novel,
Stephen clearly prefers his mother's warm smell to that of his father. For
Stephen, "hot" is symbolic of the intensity of physical
affection (and, in some cases, sin); "cold," on the other
hand, is symbolic of propriety, order, and chastity. Specific examples of this
symbolism can be found in Stephen's memories: resting in his mother's warm lap,
being cared for by the kindly Brother Michael (when Stephen is recovering from
a fever), and receiving a heated embrace from the Dublin prostitute during his
first sexual encounter.
In
contrast, the cold, slimy water of the square ditch is evidence of the cruel
reality of his changing life at school; in addition, Stephen initially
experiences a "cold . . . indifference" when he thinks about
the Belvedere retreat, and his vision-like worship of Eileen (the young Protestant
girl) has coldly symbolic, touch-me-not overtones; her hands, pure and white,
enable him to understand the references to the Tower of Ivory in an
oft-repeated Church litany.
The
last of this set of opposites is concerned with the light/dark dichotomy: light
symbolizes knowledge (confidence), and dark symbolizes ignorance (terror).
Numerous examples of this conflict pervade the novel. In an early scene, when
Stephen says that he will marry a Protestant, he is threatened with blindness:
"Put out his eyes / Apologise." Stephen is terrorized without
knowing why; seemingly, a good Catholic boy should remain ignorant about other
faiths — and perhaps even of women. Stephen's natural fondness for Eileen is
condemned. Stephen is only a boy, but his sensitive artist's nature realizes
that he is going to grow up in a world where he will be forced to suppress his
true feelings and conform to society's rules and threats.
Stephen's
broken glasses are also part of this light/dark imagery. Without his glasses,
Stephen sees the world as if it were a dark blur; figuratively blinded, he
cannot learn. And yet he is unjustly punished for telling the truth about the
reason for his "blindness." He quickly realizes the potential,
dark (irrational) cruelty of the clergy. Further on in the novel, there are
recurrent images of darkness in the streets of Dublin — for example, when
Stephen makes his way to the brothel district. Here, we also see the darkness
within Stephen's heart as he wanders willfully toward sin. Later on, the
philosophical discussion about the lamp with the Dean of Studies (Chapter V)
reveals the "blindness" of this cleric, compared with the
illumination of Stephen's aesthetic thoughts.
A close
reading of the novel will produce many more images within these patterns.
Joyce's use of them is essential as he constructs his intricate thematic
structure.
Another
kind of imagery in the novel is made up of references to colors and names.
Colors, as Joyce uses them, often indicate the political and religious forces
which affect Stephen's life. Similarly, Joyce uses names to evoke various
images — specifically those which imply animal qualities, providing clues to
Stephen's relationships with people.
For an
example of color imagery, note that Dante owns two velvet-backed brushes — one
maroon, one green. The maroon brush symbolizes Michael Davitt, the pro-Catholic
activist of the Irish Land League; the green-backed brush symbolizes Charles
Stewart Parnell. Once, Parnell was Dante's political hero par
excellence, but after the Church denounced him, she ripped the green
cloth from the back of her brush. Other references to color include Stephen's
desire to have a "green rose" (an expression of his creative
nature) instead of a white one or a red one, symbols of his class' scholastic
teams.
Another
reference to color imagery can be seen in Lynch's use of the term "yellow
insolence"; instead of using the word "bloody," Lynch
uses the word "yellow," indicating a sickly, cowardly attitude
toward life. The idea of a "bloody" natural lust for living
would be appalling to Lynch. Lynch's name, literally, means "to
hang"; he has a "long slender flattened skull . . . like a
hooded reptile . . . with a reptilelike . . . gaze and a self-embittered . . .
soul."
Like
Lynch, Temple is also representative of his name. Temple considers himself "a
believer in the power of the mind." He admires Stephen greatly for his
"independent thinking," and he himself tries to "think"
about the problems of the world.
Cranly,
like his name (cranium, meaning "skull"), is Stephen's "priestlike"
companion, to whom he confesses his deepest feelings. Note that several of
Joyce's references also focus on Stephen's image of Cranly's "severed
head"; Cranly's symbolic significance to Stephen is similar to that of
John the Baptist (the "martyred Christ"). The name
"Cranly" also reminds us of the skull on the rector's desk and
Joyce's emphasis on the shadowy skull of the Jesuit director who queries
Stephen about a religious vocation.
Concerning
the other imagery in the novel, perhaps the most pervasive is the imagery that
pertains to Stephen's exile, or, specifically, his "flight"
from Ireland. The flight imagery begins as early as his first days at
Clongowes, when Stephen's oppressed feelings are symbolized by "a heavy
bird flying low through the grey light." Later, a greasy football
soars "like a heavy bird" through the sky. At that time,
flight from unhappiness seemed impossible for Stephen, but as the novel
progresses and Stephen begins to formulate his artistic ideals, the notion of
flight seems possible.
For
example, in Chapter IV, after Stephen renounces the possibility of a religious
vocation, he feels a "proud sovereignty" as he crosses over
the Tolka and his name is called out by his classmates; this incident is followed
by another allusion to flight. Later, the girl wading in the sea is described
as "delicate as a crane," with the fringes of her "drawers
. . . like the featherings of soft white down"; her bosom is described
as "the breast of some dark plumaged dove." Her presence in
this moment of epiphany enables Stephen to choose art as his vocation.
Finally,
note that when Stephen's friends call him, his name seems to carry a "prophecy";
he sees a "winged form flying above the waves and . . . climbing in the
air." The image of this "hawk like man flying sunward"
is at the heart of the flight motif. As Stephen realizes his life's purpose, he
sees his "soul . . . soaring in the air." He yearns to cry out
like an "eagle on high." He experiences "an instant of
wild flight" and is "delivered" free from the bondage
of his past. At the end of the novel, Stephen cries out to Daedalus, his
"old father, old artificer," and prepares for his own flight to
artistic freedom.