A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: James Joyce
- First Published: 1914
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Bildungsroman
- Time of Work: 1883-1903
- Setting: Ireland
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Culture, Language or languages, Values, Family or family life, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Art or artists, Sin or Original sin, Friendship, Schools or school life, Writing, Creative process, Catholics or Catholic Church, Boys, Students or student life, Ireland or Irish people, Naivete
- Locales: Dublin, Ireland
Characters Discussed
Stephen Dedalus, a young man who is, like his creator, sensitive, proud, and highly intelligent, but often confused in his attempts to understand the Irish national temperament. He is bewildered and buffeted about in a world of political unrest, theological discord, and economic decline. In this environment, he attempts to resolve for himself the problems of faith, morality, and art. At the end, feeling himself cut off from nation, religion, and family, he decides to leave Ireland in order to seek his own fulfillment as an artist, the artificer that his...
[The entire page is 997 words long]
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