Essay on the Soul of the Artist in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young

sense of the artist in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man As James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man unfolds, protagonist Stephen Dedalus personal imagery grows closer and closer to that of an artist. Stephen attempts throughout the story to understand the inspiration he receives while being tormented by influences that seem to distract him. Stephens paying attention approach to his experiences, brings him through his tormented youth to a refined agreement of his feelings about art. After explicitly stating his aesthetic theories, Stephen composes a villanelle whose structure and classically Joycean crafted diction implicitly represent Stephens entire story. Once the parallel is established, it becomes acquire that the poem -- and especially its recurring lines -- represent the epiphany for Stephen in terms of his self-discovery. In composing the villanelle, Stephen -- at this point a raw, untested visionary -- throws sour the distractions of religion and s exuality to begin to grow specifically into his perceived purpose as creator of his races conscience. *** The structure of Stephens villanelle as a whole -- from its stanza complex body part to its length -- is the first step toward a sense of to A Portraits overall purpose. Let us first consider why Joyce chose the villanelle as Stephens manner of communication. The aba rhyme scheme of this type of poem, with not only ending vowel sounds but entire lines recurring, forces the composer into a very confined, ordered narrative space. Stephens definition of art includes a cadence and a sense of fluidity (483). From this it is sound to conclude that this piece, with a definite rhythm and a flowing style, is the protagonist... ...adder from stanza to stanza in the villanelle is, therefore, a representation of his growth throughout the novel moments of brilliant discernment peppered throughout a slow (and still continuing) growth process -- as at the end of the villanelle, Step hen reverts into the first-person lyrical style in his diary in the final section. Stephens villanelle, as evidenced especially by its repeated rejection of zeal and enchantment, allows the protagonist to remove from his imagination two nagging distractions as he begins to work toward the religionless, asexual soul of an artist refined out of existence, indifferent, shave his fingernails (483). Nores 1-4 Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Merriam-Webster, 1994. All other citations from Joyce, James. The Portable James Joyce, ed. enkindle Levin. New York Penguin Books, 1976.