A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

Chiltern creates the most beautiful editions of the Worlds finest literature. Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile layers fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man describes Stephen Dedaluss development from a bright young student to a promising clergy student to an artist. Set in Ireland at the turn of the century It begins with his earliest childhood memories and progresses to his grand epiphany in which he announces to his closest companions his decision to pursue art rather than a religious life. Stephens decision results from a combination of factors: the temperament that colors his impressions of the world his interactions with others and his interpretation of social forces. From the start evidence indicates Stephen will be an artist. Readers first meet him as a very young child growing up in a rural community in Ireland and attending Clongowes Preparatory School. He is a timid child who doesnt socialize easily. Stephen has been bullied on the playground because of his small size and shy demeanor; when his glasses are broken following an accident he is excused from writing exercises by his teacher. When one of his masters finds out he beats Stephens hands and heightens the boys belief that his treatment by the universe is unfair. Family and friends at a Christmas dinner represent some of the differing political attitudes pervading Ireland at the time both for and against the Irish nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish independence movement. As Stephen grows older and begins to develop love interests he romanticizes these prominent political figures; he also fantasizes about the nature and landscape of the afterlife encouraged by the fire-and-brimstone sermons of his schoolmasters. Both tendencies show the strong imagination of an artist. As Stephen matures school authorities try to persuade him to join the priesthood. In many ways joining such a large institution makes sense. His family is Catholic and would see a life with the clergy as a fine vocation. The priesthood would offer stability as well; Stephens family changes homes several times during Stephens youth due to his fathers financial irresponsibility so a steady existence might be a relief. However the novel shows a growing conflict between Stephens impulse toward the priesthood and his development as an artist. Joyce offers numerous dialogues between Stephen and his friends about books and vast aesthetic and philosophical issues. These dialogues mirror Stephens inner crisis and give insight into his psychological development. As he gets older Stephen begins to visit prostitutes in Dublin. This habit becomes increasingly hard to reconcile with the priestly calling and his guilt becomes more than he can bear. Gradually Stephen comes to realize he has no zeal for the religious life and decides instead to become an artist. Joyce presents the last episodes in the book as a series of epiphanies and exchanges. Stephen sees a woman on the beach who represents in his creatively inspired state art itself. Later on the streets of Dublin Stephen encounters again a woman he loves and declares his intentions to her. As readers last glimpse the artist he vows to forge the uncreated conscience of [his] race or express to the world his sense of beauty and truth in the way he knows best: through art.