A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce

The novel, published in 1960, is a blending of lyricism, naturalism and dramatic form.

“A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” is a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce that
raises the question of identity at more levels: personal (as inner and social), national and cultural.

Considering the theme of “identity”, the novel is regarded as one of formation, still echoing the
traditional writings, but daring modernism.

The main focus of this book is the protagonist’s journey and his formation as a young artist.
Stephen’s personal identity it’s mainly related to the factors that contributed to his education and
enabled his potential. Time passing and space also define the type of information he receives and the
form in which he gets it. He first spends time only with family and neighbours, then his circle enlarges
when he goes to school. His escape into the labyrinth of Dublin’s streets reveals a new dimension of
the character who eventually has to come to terms with himself as a mixture of body and soul.

Stephen Dedalus is a symbolic name. “Stephen” may be related to a fallen angel (like Lucifer), a
kind of fallen genius held back by a constraining society. Stephen, like Lucifer, rejects his own world
for that in favor of art and freedom. His name may also be a reference to Saint Stephen, a hero
martyr in the Christian religion. His family name, Daedalus, may be associated with the Greek myth of
Icarus, Daedalus’s son.

A subtheme of this writing could be the father-son relationship, that being dominant in a
patriarchal society. As the relation father-son evolves from a biological level to a spiritual one, the
individualization of the hero draws an ascendant line from the concrete to the abstract, from the
exterior to the interior. Throughout the novel, the figure of the father takes different shades, as we
encounter the historical father, the political one and the religious one, in contrast with Stephen’s
character who is a fighter for freedom and liberty. His long cyclic quest for a good father turns out to
be the outcome of his unexpressed quest for himself.

Another subtheme could be the inner identity. Joyce makes the reader embark on a journey
through his protagonist apprehension of events and people, through his feelings, emotions and
dreams, all that in favor of finding his inner identity. Stephen’s individualization can be considered
successful because in the end he seems to be a well-balanced individual, aware of the manifestations
of his unconscious. Yet, considering his deliberate exile/isolation and his need to project the
unconscious element in some external inherited forms called archetypes, the process of
psychological maturation may be perceived as a failure.

Joyce constructs his character in relation with the medium in which he lives (family, school,
Dublin) and suggests that man is a product of his environment and time.
The modern narrative techniques used by James Joyce

All the characteristics of modernism: the desire of breaking away from tradition, the quest for
finding new ways to view man’s position and function in the universe and experiments in form and
style are to be found in James Joyce’s novels.

One of the most relevant techniques is the stream of consciousness, which consists in rendering
the inner life of the characters in a continuous flow of thoughts, impressions, feelings and fantasies,
sometimes independently from the chronological order of events. In “A Portrait of the Artist as a
Young Man”, Joyce‘s style is uninhibited and free-flowing, following Stephen‘s unrestrained
conscious thought. This is an essential technique of modernism as it creates a psychic reality which
has little to do with the true reality. James Joyce preferred to write about individuality, rather than
society.

Another important technique is the theory of epiphany, which Joyce describes it as a sudden
revelation in which any subject of the common life, or a person or an episode becomes “revealing”,
showing the true meaning of life to those who perceive their symbolic value. The novel “A Portrait of
the Artist as a Young Man” shows two examples of epiphany. Stephen Dedalus experienced his first
epiphany when he was 16, in boarding school. Feeling depressed by the sins he committed, he falls
ill and makes a decision to reform himself by becoming a priest. His second epiphany occurs when
life takes another turn and he realizes that he cannot live his life as a priest. He wants to live in the
real world and be creative like an artist.

Another important aspect regarding James Joyce’s works consists in the philosophical influences
that gave his writings a special touch. Joyce’s concern with aesthetics is related to his reading of
Aristotle’s work and Thomas d’Aquinas’ . The aesthetic theory which Joyce develops and uses in “The
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” is the result of an adaptation of Bergson’s philosophy of
duration.

The outer stimulus is a pretext for inner manifestation which may be creative, an alienated memory
or both. The idea of space-time relation appears in “Ulysses” when Stephen steps on the beach in
Mulligan’s boots. The reality that Joyce is trying to portray is that of space perceived in time and time
in space.

As regards time, linearity is abolished with the presence of memories. In “A portrait…” Stephen keeps
remembering his traumatic experience with the eagle at the beginning of the novel, which makes
him be afraid of birds.

The power of symbols is also an important element regarding Joyce’s works. In “A Portrait..” the
symbol of the bird holds a particularly important significance. The association of flight with Stephen’s
experience stems from his affiliation with Daedalus, which was known for creating wings of feather
and wax; this is the source of the "hawk-like man" image that pops up now and again. Another
important symbol is the “water” , which Joyce presents in both positive(girl sea-bathing) and
negative light(bedwetting).
The 2 forces that influenced Joyce’s career

James Joyce’s biography is very important for him as a writer. He was born in Dublin, in the
presence of a socialist father and a mother endowed with some literary and artistic talents. Although
he was raised up in prosperous and respectable family, he had a rather gloomy background due to 2
important aspects: religion and nationalism.

Being also under the influence of his uncle who was close with the Irish nationalist leader, Charles
Parnell, Joyce grew up close to the political issues. He adopted Christian religion as an escape from
nationalism, but later on he regarded it as limited and frustrating. That is why we may say that all his
life he dedicated himself to the second force: patriotism

These two forces will shape, not only his life, but also his creation. The image of the artist in his
writings is that of a rebel who finds life as a “prison” full of constraints, social and moral difficulties.

“A portrait…” is in fact an autobiographical novel. It is a Blidungsroman, a novel of personality and

consciousness development. In his early period of life Stephan, the main character, was under the
influence of nationalism then he entered the world of the artists, from which he acquired different
perceptions of life and reality, developing a philosophy of life and art.

In “Dubliners” , the portrait of Dublin and its people is not always a flattering one. Joyce never
romanticizes poverty, and explores how need and social entrapment adversely affect character. He
sees his hometown as a city divided, often against itself, and the aura of defeat and decline pervades
every tale. He is often deeply critical of Irish provinciality, the Catholic Church, and the Irish political
climate of the time. But the collection is called Dubliners, not Dublin. Joyce does not merely write
about conditions. The real power of Dubliners is Joyce's depiction of the strong characters who live
and work in this distinctive and bleak city.
Virginia Woolf-symbols in To the Lighthouse

The English novelist, critic, and essayist Virginia Woolf ranks as one of England's most
distinguished writers of the middle part of the twentieth century. Her novels can perhaps be best
described as impressionistic, a literary style which attempts to inspire impressions rather than
recreating a reality.

Woolf’s novels are plot-less and they present life as perceived by different minds, characters and
events. The reality and time are subjective and the focus is on character’s inner feelings and
thoughts.

“To the Lighthouse” is divided in 3 sections: The Window, Time passes and The lighthouse. They
represent strong individualities(characters) but also symbols.

Characters symbolism:

Mrs. Ramsay is the symbol of perfect beauty which every painter/artist wants as a model. She’s
not an individuality in herself and she doesn’t count for the reader.

Lily Briscoe is the symbol of the modern artist who’s art consists in rendering impressions. In her
technique of painting, she is influenced by the impressionist and postimpressionist painters. She is
also the symbol of art that survives death.

Mr. Ramsay is the symbol of a tyrannical father, a superior and intelligent man, as his wife sees
him.

The symbols also differ from one character to another. For example- the lighthouse is seen
differently from one person to another. For Mrs. Ramsay it stands for stability, for Lily Briscoe it
stands for creation.

Another major symbols are “the sea” and “the waves”. They stand for the image of life which in
Woolf’s view is a succession of facts, sensations, feelings,, memories coming up with the force of the
waves.

Another significant symbol is Lily’s painting which symbolizes a woman’s struggle in a patriarchal
society and the fight against gender conventions. (“Women can’t paint or write”). It also portrays a
(repressed) desire to express critique of Mrs. Ramsay’s essence(as an ideal wife and mother).

The physical condition of Ramsay’s summer house represents the psychological condition of the
characters.

The presence of the boar’s skull serves as a disturbing reminder that death is always at hand, even
during life’s most blissful moments.
Virginia Woolf-narrative techniques

In “To the Lighthouse” the plot doesn’t develop traditionally on the axes of time. There’s no plot in
the traditional way and the characters, even if they appear to have names, they are types of
individuals, generally speaking. They are not involved in plot and actions, but in the movement of
their impressions of life along a few years.

Another modern technique could be represented by the fact that the name of the 3 sections are
written in parenthetical insertions because the names and time are relative, it’s only in our mind.
They may be only ideas and illusions.

A modern technique that the writer uses to characterize her characters is that of parallel mirrors.
Each character is defined by his/her impression on the others. This technique is also applied to the
events that happen.

Another modern technique is the stream of consciousness which is enriched with the impressions
of different characters on a single character or event. "Stream of consciousness" refers to a mode of
narration that follows the line of a character’s thoughts as they occur. Woolf’s particular deployment
of stream of consciousness included authorial interjections to guide the reader and shape the
narrative. This type of stream of consciousness, called an indirect interior monologue, occurs in the
third person.

“Mrs. Dalloway” starts like a traditional novel (it has plot) but we encounter 2 modern techniques:
compressed time( the action takes one day; obsession with clocks) and interior monologue through
the revaluation of past events.

“Jacob’s Room” is an experimental in form, it centers on the character of Jacob Flanders, a lonely
young man unable to synthesize his love of Classical culture with the chaotic reality of contemporary
society, notably the turbulence of World War I. The novel is an examination of character
development and the meaning of a life by means of a series of literary devices and conversations,
stream of consciousness, internal monologue, and Jacob’s letters to his mother. In zealous pursuit of
Classicism, Jacob studies the ancients at Cambridge and travels to Greece. He either idealizes or
ignores the women who admire him. At the end of the novel scattered objects in an abandoned
room are all that remains of Jacob’s life.
Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet and prose writer whose work is known for its comic exuberance,
rhapsodic lilt, and pathos.

“Do not go gentle into that good night” is one of his most famous poems. It’s a villanelle, a
pastoral/lyrical poem of 19 lines, with only 2 rhymes throughout and some lines repeated.

The themes of this poem are death, family responsibility for the aged, philosophical ideas about
life and death, resolving issues, old age.

It is believed that the spark for the poem was his father’s approaching blindness. He died a year
later and the author succumbed to illness and died some years later.

This poem is full of passionate intensity from the start. The imperative “do not” sets the tone as
the speaker showcases 4 types of men who “rage” and “do not” and in the final stanza faces his
father, who is at the point of no return.

Light and dark play an important role in this poem, as symbols of life and death. ( “good night”- a
pun/a farewell which may be temporary or permanent; “close of day”- euphemism for death).

In the second stanza “lighting” is used to create a vivid image of vocal energy.

In the third stanza “bright”; “danced” and “green” suggest the season of spring and the surge of
life in nature.

In the fourth and fifth stanza we encounter some alliterations: “sang the sun” and “Blind eyes
could blaze like meteors and be gay”.

“Rage, rage”- this advice is given to all who face the inevitable mystery of death. There is a strong
emotion throughout, from the early and repeated age, to the joy of dance and the idea of blazing
away like a meteor.
W. B. Yeats

W. B. Yeats was a prolific Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He
was mainly attracted to mysticism and occultism. He became familiar with the idea that the world is
full of conflicts and opposite sides and he believed in the idea of the reincarnation of the soul.

One of his most famous poems “The Second Coming” prophesies that Christ’s Second Coming is
due, and that the anarchy that has arisen all around the world( partly because of the events of First
World War) is a sign that this Second Coming cannot be far off.

Because of the stunning, violent imagery and terrifying ritualistic language, it is one of Yeats’ most
anthologized poems and also one of the most thematically obscure and difficult to understand.

The first stanza describes the conditions present in the world( things falling apart, anarchy etc) and
the second surmises from those conditions that a monstrous Second Coming is about to take place,
not of the Jesus we first knew, but of a new messiah, a “rough beast”.

The “gyre” metaphor Yeats employs in the first line (denoting circular motion and repetition) is an
ode to Yeats’ mystical belief that history repeats itself in circles.
T.S.Eliot

T.S. Eliot was an American-English poet, playwright, literary critic, and editor, a leader of the
Modernist movement in poetry in such works as “The Waste Land” and” Four Quartets “.

One of his most known poems “The Love Song of J .Alfred Prufrock”, is seen as a reflection of
Eliot’s readings and personality and is thought to have preserved the realistic confessional tone of
the author’s shyness.

Probably to avoid the attempt to identify similarities between the speaker and the author, T. S.
Eliot chooses the name Prufrock for the protagonist of the poem, and thus he formally detaches from
the ideas and emotions expressed in the first person singular and achieves impersonality.

By making the speaker share his thoughts and ideas with the “you” that accompanies him, the
author creates a slight confusion, as “you” can be either the reader or the speaker’s other
personality.

The lines flow musically, like a song with obsessive repetitions and refrains. The central focus is on
the passing of time and on the change as perceived by a paralysed observer, unable or afraid to act
and react. It starts like an urban poem in which feelings and emotions are transferred to the
surrounding elements which suggest discomfort and insidiousness, shyness and fear.

Prufrock is shaped as an antihero lucidly facing his common conditions and transience, de-
motivated by acute awareness of himself, of the superficiality of people and of the unavoidable
physical deterioration and imperfection.

As the poem unrolls, Prufrock seems to get an even worse image of himself, a ridiculous one. His
awareness of the deterioration of his body in time actually contradicts the obsessively repetead
sentence: “There will be time”. The body-time interrelation leads to a physical representation of time
and of its passing, asserting the time-space interrelatedness.

The device mentioned above is an influence of imagism since abstract notions like time become
visible, palpable expressed through the use of concrete elements.

T. S. Eliot has poetic principles such as: depersonalization reflected in the definite identity of the
speaker, different from the writer’s; inter-textuality resting in allusions to Michelangelo and Hamlet
or echoing contemporary philosophers, psychologists and critics; tradition and value as Prufrock is a
modern variant of Hamlet constructed in accordance with the contemporary contexts.
 T. S. Eliot’s famous essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent” tackles important aspects of
criticism in an extremely dense manner, anticipating directions promoted by later critical schools.

The initial focus on the tradition encompasses two perspectives upon the impact it has on criticism
and art: the contribution of the predecessors to the formation of the young writer who is supposed
to have read their works during a period of apprenticeship, and the turn against tradition to
overcome the emulator’s position and contribute to literature by writing differently.

One of the axes around which the essay spins is predecessors, and this relationship is analyzed
from two perspectives: the readers attempting to find out what makes the writer different from his
ancestors, to identify the particularities of his work; and the readers who simply read the poems
without attempting judgment or identification.

Originality does not rest in the division between past and present, but in their simultaneous and
different expression. Tradition, on the other hand, is complex and implies value, and it can be
reached even in contemporaneity as it implies a historical sense that the poet should have. The critic
establishes a deep connection between writers and the context in which they write, he does not
abolish the ides of determinism, but changes it into an increased interest in the social and political
field which is to be reflected in poetry as the poet redefined as a spokesperson of his generation.
The Theatre of the Absurd

Theatre of the Absurd refers to dramatic works of certain European and American dramatists of
the 1950s and early ’60s who agreed with the Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus’s assessment,
in his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” that the human situation is essentially absurd, devoid of
purpose. The term is also loosely applied to those dramatists and the production of those works.
Though no formal Absurdist movement existed as such, dramatists as diverse as Samuel Beckett,
Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, Harold Pinter, and a few others shared a pessimistic
vision of humanity struggling vainly to find a purpose and to control its fate. Humankind in this view
is left feeling hopeless, bewildered, and anxious.

The Theatre of the Absurd does not argue about the absurdity of the human condition; it merely
presents it in being via concrete stage images and it creates a style of theatre which presented a
world which cannot be logically explained and It uses techniques that seemed to be illogical to the
theatre world. The arbitrary structure of the plays reflects the arbitrary and irrational nature of life.

Structurally, in contrast to a well made play with a beginning, middle and a neatly tied up ending,
the plays by the absurdist playwrights often start at an arbitrary point and end just as arbitrarily. The
plots often deviate from the more traditional episodic structure, and seem to be cyclic, ending the
same way it begins. It rejects narrative continuity and the rigidity of logic.

The scenery is often unrecognizable and the dialogue never seems to make any sense. Language is
seen as a futile attempt to communicate. In short, the communication is impossible. The general
effect is often a nightmare or dreamlike atmosphere in which the protagonist is overwhelmed by the
chaotic or irrational nature of his environment.

Unlike the traditional theatre which attempts to create a photographic representation of life as we
see it, the Theatre of the Absurd aims to create a ritual-like, mythological, archetypal, allegorical
vision, closely related to the world of dreams. The focal point of these dreams is often man's
fundamental bewilderment and confusion, stemming from the fact that he has no answers to the
basic existential questions: why we are alive, why we have to die, why there is injustice and suffering.
Waiting For Godot – As An Absurd Play

Beckett is considered to be an important figure among the French Absurdists. “Waiting for Godot”
is one of the masterpieces of Absurdist literature. Elements of Absurdity for making this play are so
engaging and lively. Beckett combats the traditional notions of Time. It attacks the two main
ingredients of the traditional views of Time: Habit and Memory. We find Estragon in the main story
and Pozzo in the episode, combating the conventional notions of Time and Memory. For Pozzo,
particularly, one day is just like another, the day we are born indistinguishable from the day we shall
die.

It is very clear from the very word “Absurd” that it means nonsensical, opposed to reason,
something silly, foolish, senseless, ridiculous and topsy-turvy. So, a drama having a cock and bull
story would be called an absurd play. Moreover, a play having loosely constructed plot,
unrecognizable characters, metaphysical called an absurd play.

The awareness about the lack of purpose produces a state of metaphysical anguish which is the
central theme of the Absurd Theatre. On an absurd play logical construction, rational ideas and
intellectually viable arguments are abandoned and instead of these the irrationality for experience is
acted out on the stage.

The above mentioned discussion allows us to call “Waiting for Godot” as an absurd play for not
only its plot is loose but its characters are also just mechanical puppets with their incoherent
colloquy. And above than all, its theme is unexplained. “Waiting for Godot” is an absurd play for it is
devoid of characterization and motivation. Though characters are present but are not recognizable
for whatever they do and whatever they present is purposeless. So far as its dialogue technique is
concerned, it is purely absurd as there is no witty repartee and pointed dialogue. What a reader or
spectator hears is simply the incoherent babbling which does not have any clear and meaningful
ideas. So far as the action and theme is concerned, it kisses the level of Absurd Theatre. After the
study of this play we come to know that nothing special happens in the play nor we observe any
significant change in setting. Though a change occurs but it is only that now the tree has sprouted out
four or five leaves. (“Nothing happens, nobody comes … nobody goes, it’s awful!”)

Moreover, “Waiting for Godot” can also be regarded as an absurd play because it is different from
“poetic theatre”. Neither it makes a considerable use of dream and fantasy nor does it employ
conscious poetic language. The situation almost remains unchanged and an enigmatic vein runs
throughout the play. The mixture of comedy and near tragedy proves baffling. In act-I we are not
sure as to what attitude we should adopt towards the different phases of its non-action. The ways, of
which the two tramps pass their time, seems as if they were passing their lives in a transparent
deception. Godot remains a mystery and curiosity still holds a sway. Here we know that their endless
waiting seems to be absurd. Though the fact is that they are conscious of this absurdity, yet is seems
to imply that the rest of the world is waiting for the things, which are more absurd and also
uncertain.

“Waiting for Godot” is an absurd play for there is no female character. Characters are there but
they are devoid of identity. These two Estragon and Vladimir are old acquaintances, but they are not
sure of their identity. Though they breathe, their life is an endless rain of blows. They wait for the
ultimate extinction, but in a frustrated way. This thing produces meaninglessness, thus makes the
play absurd.

Moreover, what makes the play absurd is its ending. We note that the ending of the play is not a
conclusion in the usual sense. The wait continues; the human contacts remain unsolved; the problem
of existence remains meaningless, futile and purposeless.