A PORTRAIT—JOYCE: SHORT CRITICAL SERIES OF 4 MARKS

24] Comment on how Stephen controlled his five senses.

After hearing the fearful description of torture in Hell, Stephen became terrified.
The powerful words of Father Arnall touched the guilty mind and he immediately
realized the necessity of salvation and repentance. Stephen began to hallow
himself every day before a holy image and strictly followed the discipline of
controlled life. He controlled his sight by avoiding any contact with women,
thwarted any temptation and thereby disappointed his eyes. He avoided the taste
of food by strict palate. He suffered the irritation of sound. He took outdoor odour
so that he became habituated to the foul smell of everyday life. But in respect of
touch he became most innovative. He sat on the most uncomfortable position and
never consciously changed his position. Thus Stephen controlled his senses.

25] Critically comment on Stephen’s experience at seashore./The significance of

the name Dedalus.

Stephen Dedalus has been a spiritual exile from his social

surrounding since his childhood. In the course of the novel he has been presented
as having undergone various experiences until he discards the temptation of
priesthood and feels relieved. Stephen himself is puzzled about the ultimate
vocation, the purpose he is born to serve; though his name is the bearer of martyr,
St Stephen, he finds no meaning in his own sacrifice until he reaches the shore and
realizes his ambition.

For Stephen, his surname is important. The mythical

Daedalus was imprisoned in a labyrinth on the island of Crete, and he escaped by
inventing wings. He is a symbol, therefore, not only of the rebel who breaks out of
the prison, but of the inventor who creates the instrument of his escape. He is
both a man and artist. The full force of the analogy reveals itself at the end of
fourth chapter. Stephen having decided against entering into priesthood goes out
on the seashore and has the vision of his true vocation. He watches the clouds
drifting westward, bound for Europe, and seems to hear “a confused music within
him as of memories and names which he was almost conscious of but could not
capture even for an instant”—the voices of his tradition. The music recedes and he
hears some of his schoolmates calling: “Hello,Stephanos!......Here comes The
Dedalus!”The boys are bantering পরিহাস him, giving him the title “Stephanos”-
“one crowned with wreaths”—and that of the cunning inventor. He recognizes
their mockery, but it flatters him:

Now as never before, his strange name seemed to him a

prophecy………a hawklike man flying sunward above the sea,
a prophecy of the end he had been born to serve and had been
following ………a symbol of the artist forging anew in his work-
shop out of the sluggish matter of the earth a new soaring impal-
pable imperishable being?
The words “soaring” and “radiant” repeat themselves rhythmically throughout the
section. This image of flight is the symbol for the identity of the artist. Stephen’s
whole soul begins to throb with a “desire to cry aloud, the cry of a hawk or eagle
on high, to cry piercingly of his deliverance to the winds”. He realizes that it is the
call of life—not the gross voice of the world of duties, or the pale service of the
altar. He will suffer the agony of mortal world to create the immortal.

26] Comment on Stephen’s realization on seeing a girl on the sea beach.

Just after Stephen’s vision of “the hawklike man flying

sunward above the sea”, he has another epiphanic experience in the figure of a girl
on the beach. The description of the figure invariably suggests all the emotional
associations which radiate বিচ্ছুরিত করা from the glimpse of her.

She seemed like one whom magic had changed into the likeness

of a strange and beautiful seabird.

Stephen has just experienced the certitude of his vocation as artist, and this
strange and beautiful figure is a symbol of this. She is Stephen’s Muse, as it were.
She is mysterious, for all such spiritual revelations rest on mystery. She is birdlike,
for the message has come to him from the sky in the symbol of flight. She is a sea
bird, standing in the flowing waters of life. She is also associated with dove,
bringing to mind the Christian stories of the Annunciation, and the descent of the
Holy Ghost—the gift of tongues. Her blue skirts are Mary’s colour. She is the
mother of Word. But Venus, goddess of beauty, had her doves too, and the Pagan
symbolism of Venus rising from the sea and being welcomed from the air is there
too. The seaweeds, though, making its sign on her flesh, is emerald [a bright green].
She is also Ireland, the emerald isle. She is Stephen’s own race, whose uncreated
conscience he will forge .She is also Woman, ‘mortal beauty’, for it is from the
mortal matter of the earth that the artist creates the immortal word which shall
not die. And suddenly Stephen realizes the truth:

Her image had passed into his soul for ever and no word

Had broken the holy silence of his ecstasy. Her eyes had

Called him and his soul had leaped at the call.

To live,to err,to fall,to triumph,to recreate life out of life!

………on and on and on and on!

This is the radiant image of his inspiration as it appeared to young Stephen as a

romantic adolescent, -----but all that this figure evokes is everything he ever wrote
—the mingling of Christian and Pagan tradition, Ireland, women; the flow of river
and sea as symbols of the water of time and life. These are always the primal
matters to which he gives a “new and radiant body in language”

27] Comment on Stephen’s vision on the steps of the library.

The symbol of flight echoes in different keys in

Stephen’s life. After the vision of a ‘hawk-like man’ he has another glimpse of
future on the steps of the library. He watches the wheeling swallows and wonders
if they augur ভবিষ্যদ্বাণী করা good or evil for him:

“They were flying high and low but ever round and round in straight and curving
lines and ever flying from left to right, circling about a temple of air”. In Roman
divination the sky was divided into sections, each called a templum. The flight of
birds in the templum was a basis of prophecy. For Stephen, it carries a message-a
new life for the time to come. He himself feels a coming destiny, as people like
Cornelius Agrippa or Swedenborg felt the mystic symbols in their life. As Stephen
understands them “…..the creatures of the air have their knowledge and know their
times and seasons because they, unlike men, are in the order of their life, and have
not perverted that order by reason”
 The sudden spiritual realization, a fear of unknown
seize Stephen—“..a fear of symbol and portents ,of the hawk-like man whose
name he bore……of Thoth, the god of writers”. Stephen has realized the implication
of the flight. The Egyptian God of learning, with an ibis head and crowned with the
horns of the moon---blends both bird and bull----and quickly through the cry of
birds, the moving pattern of their flight and the words of a poem all melt together
in his consciousness. The thought of escape from Ireland and escape into language
flow together into a sense of profound release.

28. Comment on Stephen’s repentance after the vision of Hell.

Stephen’s repentance and humility are closely paralleled with the biblical story of
the disobedient Jonah, who was confined in the belly of a whale. After three days
and a humble repentance, Jonah was cast out of the whale. This duration of three
days also carries the symbolic significance of the three days during which Christ
descended into the depths of Hell and returned with the keys of Hell and Death;
thus he atoned for man's sins and became his Redeemer. Stephen’s three-day
retreat enables him to imaginatively experience Hell, repent his sins, and fly free
(like Daedalus) from damnation, through sincere and contrite confession. It is
worth noting that although the chapter concludes with Stephen's confession and
rededication to a life without sin, the Capuchin priest was chosen by Stephen
because he believed that the Capuchin would be more merciful in his directives
than Stephen’s own priest would have been at Belvedere College. Stephen also
shows his preference for the benignity of Mary, rather than confront the stern
justice of an omnipotent male God. Even the act of confessing to a Capuchin priest
("capuchin" also means a hooded cloak worn by women), rather than a possibly
"tough" priest at Belvedere College, indicates Stephen’s growing tendency toward
creating a softer, more beautiful world to exist in, rather than enduring the harsh,
more realistic one.

29. Comment on Stephen’s futile attempt to follow religious and sinless life.

After his confession to the Capuchin, Stephen overcompensates for his sins of the
past. He becomes a slave, as it were, to the rituals of the Catholic faith. He devotes
all his free time to prayer and meditation. However, by subjecting himself to
continual self-denial and repeated physical discomforts, he seems more a sinner
than a young, zealous Catholic. Moreover, he always devotes his time to any act of
ritual--lest some minor, impulsive "weakness" manifest itself.

In this chapter, Joyce looks back on his own youth, and through Stephen, he
"mocks his own religious revival a little" (Ellman). In particular, Joyce satirizes the
compulsive, repetitive nature of the Roman Catholic faith. Stephen’s obsessive
observances of the mass, the rosaries, and the contemplation of each person of the
Trinity make him melodramatically aware of the "great mystery of love" which God
has for him. But the discovery of this love is not comforting. It causes Stephen to
mortify his flesh increasingly through ever more strict discipline of the senses.

As we have seen on several occasions, Stephen perceives the world through his
senses; therefore, his mortification of his senses is a supreme sacrifice. Stephen is
voluntarily relinquishing both the judgments and pleasures which he once derived
from his sensual perceptions of the world. By shutting his eyes to diversions,
enduring foul smells and harsh sounds, observing all fasts and controlling his
physical movements in bed, he (like the mythical Daedalus) is creating a labyrinth
of prison. It is almost inevitable that he will soon feel the urgency to escape this
prison.

In spite of Stephen’s valiant efforts to suppress his natural instincts, he is aware

that his basic sensual self is reemerging. One by one--beginning with anger--his
former "sinful" tendencies begin to appear. Feeling terrified and defenseless
against growing temptations, Stephen seeks proof of salvation. Instead of proof,
though, Stephen finds only silence, and here is one of the key turning points of this
chapter. Here is the advent of Stephen’s non serviam credo.

30. comment on Stephen’s spiritual temptation/ encounter with director/ religious

order and material realistic disorder.

The conversation between Stephen and the director is less pious than Stephen
imagined it would be. Instead of discussing profound matters of faith, the priest
attempts to disarm the youth by speaking of his own school days and ridiculing
the dress and manner of various, less worldly orders of the priesthood. When he
discusses the long-robed Capuchins, he mocks them, referring to them as "Les
jupes" (the skirts). Stephen is startled, even embarrassed, by the director's
inappropriate comment. This moment of insensitive ridicule reminds us of the
time when Stephen’s father laughed heartily with the Jesuit priests about Stephen’s
pandying incident at Clongowes. Here is another instance of Joyce's theme of
betrayal by the father(s). Stephen has been betrayed by his own father (Simon), by
Father Conmee, and Father Dolan. Now, this "father" has seemingly betrayed
Stephen's concept of what a priest should be. Clearly, the director is not a man of
discretion; he has revealed a worldliness that Stephen finds distasteful and
inappropriate. Throughout this scene, we can see a pattern emerging, linking
significant events throughout the novel. Stephen is an unusually sensitive young
man, and he is beginning to realize that anyone who expresses any measure of
passionate concern (such as Parnell, Brother Michael, the Capuchins, and
especially Stephen himself) is destined for betrayal by Ireland's proud and practical
"fathers." This scene, focusing on the theme of betrayal, prepares us for Stephen’s
impending decision to choose a new kind of life for himself. Stephen compares his
childhood perceptions of the priesthood with his present, more discerning
viewpoint: "Lately, some of their judgements had sounded a little childish in his
ears and had made him feel a regret and pity." He leaves the meeting with a feeling
of "unresting doubt" about a religious vocation.

At this point, we have little doubt about Stephen’s final decision regarding a
religious vocation. Joyce's diction reveals the conclusion of the matter. The
novelist describes the "grave and ordered . . . passionless" life from which Stephen
turns as he crosses the bridge over the Tolka and "descend[s]" into the disorder of
the natural world. When Stephen turns on the bridge and looks back, symbolically
he is choosing between his religiously restricted world and his father's
irresponsible and reckless world. For the present, Stephen turns from religion and
enters his father's world, but eventually Stephen will reject the restrictions of both
worlds, preferring to create a new and better life, one which offers more hope for
his future.

31. How does Stephen define Beauty in art?

Stephen bases two main principles of his theory –art as stasis and kinesis. The art
which excites desire and loathing is kinetic or improper art. Beauty is beheld
beyond the level of kinesis. On this foundation Stephen begins to discuss the true
nature of tragedy---“Pity is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of
whatsoever is grave and constant in human suffering and unites it with the human
sufferer. Terror is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever
is grave and constant in human suffering and unites it with secret cause”
Therefore, the tragic emotion is static, an aesthetic beauty. But Stephen’s art is not
didactic, or an escape from life, but a central expression of life. The novel
concludes with his cry “Welcome, O life!...” . Thus, if Stephen is eager to separate
beauty from goodness, he is also determined to associate beauty with truth.

32. How does Stephen define three parts of Beauty?

In stating Aquinas’s definition of three qualities of beauty, Stephen simplifies his

idea. Beauty includes three conditions—integritas or wholeness, consonantia or
harmony and brightness or claritas. In looking at a basket Stephen tells Lynch, the
mind first separates the basket from the rest of things which are not the basket.
We apprehend it as one thing. Having recognized the basket as one thing, one can
notice “its formal lines……you feel the rhythm of its structure….you feel now that it
is a thing” . With claritas, Stephen sharply diverges from the orthodox
interpretation of Aquinas. If Aquinas thinks it to be “a light from some other
world”, Stephen considers it as quidditas or the whatness of a thing. Apparently
Joyce substituted quidditas for claritas in order to avoid the spiritual connotation
of the latter. Joyce wanted to claim the sanction of Aquinas without accepting the
meaning of Aquinas.

33. Comment on Stephen’s friends in university and their part in his life.

In his university Stephen meets different friends who play different roles in his life.

MacCann, who urges Stephen to sign a petition for universal peace, represents the
blind, ineffectual, and traitorous zeal of Irish patriotism. MacCann seems more
concerned that Stephen pay lip service to the cause of world peace than believe in
the cause itself. In contrast to MacCann, Stephen holds fast to his individuality,
preferring his own goals rather than those of the unenlightened masses.

Stephen’s friend Davin is a remnant of Ireland's provincial past. In both his speech
and his actions, Davin represents the naive Irish populace who worship "the
sorrowful legend of Ireland." Deep within Davin’s eyes, Stephen sees the "terror of
soul of a starving village" and perceives Davin’s "rude imagination," which has
been shaped by "the broken lights of Irish myth."
In order to further examine Stephen’s ideas about art and the nature of the artist,
Joyce creates a scene between Stephen and Lynch, using Lynch as a sounding
board against which Stephen can enunciate his philosophy of aesthetics.

Perhaps the most important relationship which Stephen feels compelled to sever--
if he is ever to leave family, faith, and country--is his deep-rooted friendship with
Cranly. Cranly is a character based on Joyce's real-life friend John Byrne. Cranly is
the "priestlike" companion with "womanish eyes," who has proven himself a
faithful and sincere friend of Stephen’s during their years at the university.
Stephen searches for reasons to dissolve their friendship because "if friendship
exists, it impugns the quality of exile and of lonely heroism" (Ellman).