Jan 1, 2010

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Historical Context

Joyce’s Ireland: The Historical and Political Context
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is set in Ireland in the late nineteenth century and at the very beginning of the twentieth century. Joyce does not give precise dates in the narrative, but there is a reference to at least one historical event (the fall of Parnell) that helps to date the action. Moreover, critics agree that the incidents in the life of Stephen Dedalus, the “young man” of the title, closely parallel incidents in the life of Joyce himself. (In 1904, Joyce wrote an autobiographical essay...