A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Analysis of Setting
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" explores the setting as a crucial element in understanding the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, and his journey toward self-identity and artistic expression. Key locations include University College, Dublin, where Stephen engages in intense discussions that mark his intellectual independence and eventual renunciation of his Catholic faith. The backdrop of his childhood homes reflects the family's decline from prosperity to poverty, mirroring Stephen's increasing complexity as an artist. Other significant settings such as Clongowes College and Belvedere College reveal the struggles he faces with bullying and the pressures of religious expectations. Additionally, the bridge near Dublin symbolizes the pivotal moment in which Stephen chooses art over the constraints of the Church, highlighted by his encounter with a beautiful young girl. Throughout the narrative, Dublin serves not only as a physical space but also as a representation of the cultural and social challenges Stephen navigates in his quest for personal and artistic freedom. These varied settings collectively illustrate the tension between societal norms and the pursuit of individual expression.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Analysis of Setting
First published: serial, 1914-1915; book, 1916
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Bildungsroman
Time of work: 1882-1903
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
*University College
*University College. Roman Catholic university in Dublin, as opposed to Trinity College, which was reserved for the Protestant elite. This is the site where Stephen Dedalus and his friends have long, involved discussions and arguments about topics such as art, politics, and the Catholic Church.
As at his earlier schools, Stephen is at odds, intellectually, philosophically, and religiously, with most of his fellows; however, at University College he is much better able to articulate his positions. It is here that Stephen finally renounces his Catholic faith, with his statement that he will refuse to make his Easter duty as his ailing mother has asked. In the physics theater of University College, Stephen and an elderly Jesuit priest discuss the powerful differences in language—particularly differences between English and Gaelic—that are powerful impulses in Stephen’s aspirations and actions. During this conversation, Stephen realizes the great potency words have in his life and senses that the artist who can transform reality through words is equivalent to the priest who can transmute the bread and wine during mass.
Dedalus homes
Dedalus homes. The large family of Simon and May Dedalus occupy a variety of houses and apartments in Dublin during the course of the novel. The steady decline in the richness and quality of these residences charts the descent of the Dedalus family from relative affluence to harsh poverty. In the first home, an elaborate Christmas dinner presented by servants is the scene of a dramatic political argument between Stephen’s father Simon and his aunt, Dante Riordan, over Irish politics, especially the fate of the Nationalist leader, Charles Stewart Parnell. Successive homes and their meals are smaller and less satisfying, until the family is living in less-than-genteel poverty. The decline in material richness is juxtaposed to Stephen’s growing intellectual and artistic richness and resources.
*Clongowes College
*Clongowes College. Exclusive school, run by Jesuits in County Kildare. Simon Dedalus respects the Jesuits for their ability to help their students achieve material and professional success in life. Clongowes combines classrooms, dormitories, playgrounds, and chapel. There, Stephen first experiences his artistic impulses. It is also here that he is the victim of larger, more powerful boys who mock and bully him for his physical weakness and intellectual inclinations.
*Belvedere College
*Belvedere College. More modest Catholic school to which Stephen is sent as the family’s fortunes decline. At Belvedere, Stephen attends a retreat where a visiting priest summons up terrifying visions of the eternal damnation and suffering of the tortured souls in Hell. Following these services, and after a night filled with horrible dreams, Stephen hurries to confession and dedicates himself to the Church, to the point where he seriously wonders if he has a vocation for the priesthood.
Bridge
Bridge. Structure spanning a tidal river on the coast near Dublin. While walking in this vicinity, Stephen watches a company of Christian Brothers, an order of the Catholic Church, march over the bridge. Immediately afterward, he beholds a lovely young girl, birdlike in her appearance, wading in the water. As is often the case in James Joyce’s work, water, especially the sea, symbolizes art and freedom. There, the choice clearly is between the Church and art, and Stephen’s decision to renounce the Church in favor of art is made the moment he responds to the beauty of the girl.
*Dublin
*Dublin. Capital of Ireland, although at the time of the novel the nation was not independent but part of the British Empire. Dublin forms a backdrop for much of Portrait of the Artist, especially in the scene where young Stephen wanders the streets seeking a prostitute, both to release his sexual longings and to “embrace life” in defiance of the Church and Irish morality.
Bibliography
Booth, Wayne. “The Problem of Distance in A Portrait.” In The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. Booth goes beyond the negative appraisal of Hugh Kenner (see below) and suggests that it is impossible to judge whether the portrayal of Stephen is ironical or not because of a failure in the narrative authority.
Brown, Richard. James Joyce and Sexuality. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1985. An analysis of the political implications in Joyce’s works, especially in marriage and other intimate relationships.
Kenner, Hugh. Dublin’s Joyce. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1956. Kenner was the first to suggest that the portrayal of Stephen Dedalus was not directly autobiographical but deeply ironic. He continues to maintain this negative view of Stephen in his recent criticism.
McCabe, Colin. James Joyce and the Revolution of the Word. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1979. A poststructuralist interpretation of the novel that points out the difficulties of establishing any secure critical reading of the book.
Scholes, Robert, and Richard M. Kain, eds. The Workshop of Dedalus: James Joyce and the Raw Materials for “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1965. The best source study available on the novel. Includes notebooks, fragments of the manuscript, and biographical information to help readers understand the contexts in which the novel was created.
Staley, Thomas F., and Bernard Benstock, eds. Approaches to Joyce’s “Portrait”: Ten Essays. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976. A collection of some important essays that demonstrate various ways of reading Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Tindall, William York. A Reader’s Guide to James Joyce. New York: Noonday Press, 1959. A close reading of Joyce’s works that discovers symbol and image patterns within A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.