59 pages • 1 hour read
James JoyceA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1916A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: Irish Independence and Charles Parnell
The movement for Irish independence before 1916 was a long, tumultuous journey, marked by several key figures and events that helped shape the political landscape of Ireland and set the stage for the Easter Rising of 1916. Published in 1916 and written in the preceding decades, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man includes many references to the movement for Irish independence.
The 19th century saw the birth of the Irish independence movement, which sought to achieve self-rule for Ireland and to break free from British domination. The movement was born out of a deep sense of resentment and anger toward British rule, which had been imposed on Ireland since the 12th century. One of the movement’s most influential figures was Charles Stewart Parnell. Parnell was born in County Wicklow in 1846 and was educated at Cambridge University. He became involved in Irish politics in the 1870s and soon became a leading figure in the Irish National Land League, which was founded in 1879 to fight for the rights of Irish tenant farmers. Parnell quickly gained a reputation as a skilled orator and organizer. He was elected to the British Parliament in 1875 and he soon began pushing for Irish Home Rule, which would give Ireland a measure of self-government while remaining part of the British Empire.
Parnell’s political career was not without controversy, however. In 1881, he was imprisoned for six months for his involvement in the Land League. Parnell’s political career was cut short by a scandal involving his affair with Kitty O’Shea, the wife of one of his colleagues. The scandal destroyed Parnell’s reputation and led to his downfall, though his legacy lived on and he remained a hero to many Irish nationalists. His death is pivotal in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, occurring when Stephen is still a child. He watches his family argue over Parnell’s legacy and notes his uncle’s disgusted reaction to a woman who insults Parnell by referring to his extramarital affair. When Stephen is a young man, he and his fellow students become interested in Irish independence and argue about many of the same topics, in which Parnell remains a central figure.
In the wake of Parnell’s fall from grace, a new generation of leaders emerged, who were more radical and more willing to use violence to achieve their aims. One of these leaders was Michael Davitt, who had been a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret society that had been formed in the 1850s with the goal of achieving Irish independence through armed struggle. Davitt is briefly referenced by name early in the novel.
Like Parnell, Davitt played a key role in the formation of the Irish National Land League. The Land League’s campaign was marked by acts of violence and intimidation, and it succeeded in winning significant concessions from the British government in the form of the Land Acts of 1881 and 1885. Despite these successes, however, the Land League was ultimately unable to achieve its ultimate goal of Irish independence, and it was superseded by more radical and militant organizations such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Sinn Fein. The latter was founded in 1905 and advocated for a complete break with British rule and the establishment of an independent Irish state. It gained momentum during the early years of the 20th century, and its leaders, including Arthur Griffith and Eamon de Valera, played a key role in the Easter Rising of 1916, which marked a turning point in the struggle for Irish independence.
By the time Stephen Dedalus attends university, the history of Irish Republicanism is already rich and storied. Numerous characters discuss the movement and their varying stances on it. Stephen’s own struggles with religion and faith occur simultaneously with his search for a national identity, particularly in terms of his use (or lack of use) of the Irish language. To Stephen, who is a poet at heart, the matter of national independence is a distant issue; the language of the oppressor, however, is tied directly to his art, which is a matter that deeply affects him.
Literary Context: James Joyce and Modernism
Joyce was an Irish writer who is widely regarded as one of the most important figures of modernist literature. Born in Dublin in 1882, Joyce grew up in a middle-class Catholic family and was educated at Jesuit schools before attending University College Dublin. Joyce’s early literary ambitions were nurtured by his father, who encouraged him to read widely and appreciate the arts. After leaving university, Joyce moved to Paris to study medicine, but he quickly abandoned his studies to pursue a career in writing.
In 1904, Joyce met Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid from Galway, and the couple left for Europe together, settling in Trieste, Italy, where Joyce worked as an English teacher. It was during this time that he began writing his first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The road to publication for the novel was not smooth. Beginning life as a more philosophical exploration of Joyce’s beliefs, the novel was rejected numerous times. Joyce then began writing a more autobiographical novel titled Stephen Hero. This was also rejected by numerous publishers. Eventually, Joyce combined both projects into what would become A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. When he struggled to find a publisher for his short story collection Dubliners, Joyce threw the manuscript for A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man into a fire, whereupon his family rushed to save the unfinished work.
Joyce’s attempts to publish the novel were met with rejection, and he struggled to find a publisher willing to take a chance on his work. When the modernist poet Ezra Pound was introduced to Joyce’s poetry, he wrote to Joyce and helped to find a publisher for A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. From February 1914 through September 1915, the novel was serialized in Pound’s literary magazine, The Egoist. Pound found an American publisher and the novel was released on December 29, 1916.
Joyce achieved wider fame with the publication of his novel Ulysses in 1922. The book, which is set over the course of a single day in Dublin, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of modernist literature, and it cemented Joyce’s reputation as one of the most innovative and influential writers of his time. However, Ulysses was also a highly controversial work. The novel faced significant opposition from censors and critics, who objected to its explicit content and unconventional style. The book was banned in several countries, including the United States and Ireland. Joyce was forced to defend Ulysses in court on multiple occasions. Despite these challenges, Joyce remained committed to his art. He continued to push the boundaries of literature in his later works, including Finnegans Wake, a complex and experimental novel that is widely regarded as one of the most challenging works of fiction ever written.
Joyce’s contributions to modernist literature were significant. His work continues to be studied and admired by scholars and readers alike. His innovative use of stream-of-consciousness narration, his exploration of the inner lives of his characters, and his experimentation with language and form have had a profound influence on the development of the novel as an art form. In addition to his own literary achievements, Joyce was also a key figure in the literary modernism movement, which emerged in the early 20th century as a response to the social and cultural upheavals of the time. Modernist writers sought to break free from traditional forms and styles of writing, and to explore new and often challenging subjects and themes.
Joyce’s work was central to the modernist movement, and he was associated with other key figures such as T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Ezra Pound. He was also part of a larger cultural and artistic movement that included painters, musicians, and other creative thinkers who challenged the status quo and pushed for new forms of expression. Despite the challenges he faced in his career, Joyce remained a passionate and dedicated writer until his death in 1941.
Mythological Context: Daedalus
Daedalus was a skilled craftsman and inventor in Greek mythology, known for his cunning and ingenuity. He was the son of the Athenian king, Eupalamus, and was born in Athens around 900 BCE. Daedalus was best known for his role in the myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur, as well as his tragic relationship with his son, Icarus. According to the myth, King Minos of Crete commissioned Daedalus to design and build a labyrinth in which to imprison the monstrous half man, half bull creature known as the Minotaur. Daedalus succeeded in constructing the labyrinth, which was an elaborate and intricate maze designed to confound and confuse anyone who entered it.
However, when King Minos learned that Daedalus had indirectly helped the Athenian hero Theseus defeat the Minotaur, he became angry and imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus on the island of Crete. Daedalus was determined to escape, and he used his skills to design a pair of wings made from feathers and wax. Daedalus warned his son Icarus not to fly too close to the sun or too close to the sea, as the heat of the sun would melt the wax and the moisture of the sea would weigh down the feathers. However, Icarus became overconfident and flew too close to the sun, causing the wax to melt and his wings to disintegrate. Icarus fell into the sea and drowned, while Daedalus mourned the loss of his beloved son.
The myth of Daedalus is a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris and the importance of humility. It has been a popular subject in literature and art for centuries. The story has been retold and adapted in countless forms, from classical literature such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses to contemporary fiction like Rick Riordan’s The Heroes of Olympus series. In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce names his protagonist with an anglicized version of Daedalus’s name. Stephen is conscious of the mythical allusion, as are his classmates, who mock him by pronouncing his name in Greek. Stephen, however, takes comfort in his name, as he feels connections to both Daedalus and Icarus. He sees himself in the myth, as he feels trapped. He wishes he could navigate a maze like the one Daedalus designed, and he wishes he could break free and fly away from his neuroses. The novel ends with Stephen praying to Daedalus, replacing his conception of God with his mythical namesake.
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