James Joyce is considered a master of the Bildungsroman, the German word for what is essentially

equates to a coming-of-age story. However, when examining A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,
there exists a more specific genre to explain the coming of age of Joyce’s young anti-hero, Stephen
Dedalus: the Künstlerroman. Whereas a Bildungsroman deals more broadly in the coming of age of a
young protagonist, typically ending with some marked character development or critical change, the
Künstlerroman tracks the personal development of an aspiring artist.

A complex novel rich with numerous themes and motifs, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man easily
fits into many other literary genres. The novel is often considered to be semi-autobiographical, where
Joyce has injected some of his own life experiences and struggles as an artist into the character of
Stephen Dedalus. Additionally, many would argue that although often considered as belonging in the
general category of British Literature, the Irish experience is so unique as to necessitate its own,
separate genre.

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“A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce, is considered a Bildungsroman, but to be more
exact, is a certain type of Bildungsroman: a Kunstlerroman novel. “A Portrait…” is the ideal example of
the development of an artist. The protagonist has to overcome obstacles including feministic
admiration, family dilemmas, and religious pressures.

The story begins with the main character, Stephen, thinking through his perspective as a child. Stephen
was an easy target to be bullied when he was young. He was often puzzled about the different rules of
society and felt isolated to his surroundings because of this. For instance, when young Stephen develops
an attraction to a Protestant girl and voices to his Catholic family that he intends to marry her, they
immediately scold him. But Stephen doesn’t notice the religious and political aspects of this, he only
cares about the feelings he has towards this girl. As his family reprimands him, he makes a rhyme out of
one of their scoldings, saying, “Pull out his eyes, Apologize...” Even at such a young age, Stephen uses art
to comfort himself.

But as Stephen matures, he views women as idols, not as regular people. He marvels at their beauty, but
is ashamed of his sexual cravings. Stephen’s first sexual encounter is caused by his failed attempt to
bring his family together. Just like in many Kunstlerroman novels, Stephen’s family has to deal with the
financial struggles and their dropping class in society. Stephen tries to unite his family by spending large
amounts of money on them. As he fails to bring them together, he feels more isolated than ever before.
Looking for an escape, Stephen then gives into his cravings when he wanders the streets and sleeps with
a prostitute. Because of his Catholic upbringings, Stephen worries about the sins he has committed. He
becomes frightened after he hears Father Arnall’s sermon on hell, and decides to confess his sins. This is
when Stephen embraces his religion. He feels liberated from all of his past mistakes. Everything around
him is beautiful when Stephen recalls, “He sat be the fire…life lay all before him.” But even as he
embraces his religion, he realizes that he can never escape from his past sins. And did he confess his sins
because he truly wanted to repent, or because he was scared of the punishments of hell? Was his
embracement towards religion because he actually wants to dedicate his life to religion, or was it
because he felt it was his only hope to escape his shameful past?
Stephen’s lust for the prostitute, his family predicaments, and his worries of hell are all a part of
Stephen’s journey. But he finally knows his destination of his journey when he is asked if he would ever
consider becoming a priest. At first, Stephen thinks priesthood would be a huge honor, but as he mulls it
over, he finds that priesthood would never fit the life he wants to live. Stephen even goes as far as
saying, “The shadow, then…sluggish, turfcoloured water.” Stephen is too swept up in the beauty of his
surroundings to ever live an “ordered and passionless life.” He has his defining epiphany of leaving his
religious views behind and becoming an artist when he sees an attractive girl wading in the water,
looking out to the sea. As Stephen declares, “Her image…and on and on!” he found his true “calling”
wasn’t priesthood, but art. Art had followed him throughout his life, comforting him and secretly guiding
him. As he overcomes the obstacles of his surroundings, he develops into the artist he was meant to
become

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The novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce closely fits the structure of both the
bildungsroman and kunstlerroman by showing the maturation of an individual who struggles with a
defined social order. Stephen Dedalus throughout his early childhood struggles to discover his identity
and shape his own beliefs and ideas on issues concerning religion, family, and society. Stephen’s social
order from an early age restricts him from speaking his mind while also weighing him down with guilt for
everyday acts. Stephen is an exceptional character since instead of reconciling with the social order; he
intently listens to contrasting views that help him to form his own opinions.
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Stephen, similar to the typical bildungsroman and
kunstlerroman, clashes with the social order, but more specifically he clashes with religion, his family,
and society. Religion has a strong influence over Stephen’s childhood; it forbids him from even
fantasizing of certain women and fills him with guilt when he does. On page 4 “The Vances lived…out his
eyes”, Stephen is criticized for making a conjecture that he was going to marry a Protestant girl, because
since Stephen’s family is strongly religious it would be heretical to marry someone who was not Catholic.
Stephen at this age does not fully understand how religion and women coincide and instead of accepting
it he tries to make sense of the relationship by listening to his family’s opinions and pondering them.
Stephen’s religion has suppressed his sexual urges, because to have these urges is a sin. At first, Stephen
accepts the fact that he will go to hell for his sinful behavior of sleeping with prostitutes; but as the story
progresses the weight of Stephen’s guilt becomes too heavy for him, which leads to his devotion toward
God. As Stephen matures and continues his journey toward self-actualization, he realizes that regardless
of his dedication to God, he cannot forcibly shape his identity for God due to his natural urges, which are
sinful based on his religion. On page 150 “A girl stood…on and on”, Stephen comes to this realization
that he cannot fully abide by his religion which is why Stephen feels he cannot become a priest. By
knowing that he cannot join the priesthood, Stephen feels that he should pursue his own personal goal
of being an artist. Stephen, similar to a typical bildungsroman and kunstlerroman, uses some ideas of his
religion to form his own. By living by his own beliefs, Stephen has formed an identity, which as a result
has led him to become a leader yet at the same time a heretic in his society. Stephen who used to be
uncomfortable in his own skin for example on page 4 “He felt his…weak and watery” and who used to
be picked on for being a social pariah at school becomes comfortable speaking his mind without any
regard to the recoil that could occur. Stephen’s way of dealing with clashes with his family, specifically
his father, have changed during Stephen’s maturation. On pages 80-81 “When you kick…and Victoria.
Names”, Stephen feels distant from his father who appears to have had many friends when he was
Stephen’s age whereas Stephen has none. Stephen’s father unconsciously makes Stephen feel like an
outsider and leaves Stephen feeling as if he has not been living up to his potential. In this passage
Stephen who is still self-conscious with himself and his body is left speechless and deals with his father
by holding his thoughts inward. On page 153 “A sound shrill…beyond the wall” Stephen learns to
express his emotions and opinions outward, which helps relieve the stress that his father invokes on
him. Stephen at this time is able to see his father for who he, which is a lazy drunk. It is evident from this
passage that Stephen is coming into his own, and feels comfortable with his body and voicing his
opinions. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is also similar

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A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce is considered a bildungsroman for various reasons.
Stephen, the protagonist has to overcome certain obstacles. These include his religious upbringing,
family expectations, and female interaction. He must overcome these obstacles in order to find his place
within the social order.
Stephen’s problems with his family begin at an early age. He is scolded for wanting to marry a non-
Christian girl, even though he is too young to realize why his family considers this wrong. Suzanne Hader
notes that in a bildungsroman, the protagonist leaves home. Stephen leaves home to attend school.
Along the way Stephen has a difficult time becoming comfortable with his sexuality as his desires are in
contrast with his religious upbringing. He feels ashamed for wanting women, and is constantly running
from his sins. His encounter with a prostitute weighs heavily on his mind until he confesses his sins. In so
doing, Stephen feels that he has freed himself from eternal damnation.
One way this novel deviates from a traditional bildungsroman is that Stephen is more concerned about
freeing himself from hell rather than conforming to Catholicism. This is proven when Stephen is asked to
become a priest. He truly starts his transformation into an artist when he denies this offer because he
knows he could not live a life without passion. At the end of chapter four, he realizes that he is meant to
be an artist when he sees a beautiful woman in the water.
Another way in which this novel is like a bildungsroman is shown through Stephen’s journals at the end
of the novel. He reflects on his accomplishments and his journey which is what a protagonist typically
does at the end of a bildungsroman. In the end, Stephen is able to find a way to channel his passion into
his art and not to let things such as religion and women have a power over him.

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A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is clearly defined as a bildungsroman by the guidelines of

Harder/Hirsh. Throughout the book Stephen is struggling to find his individuality of whether or not he
will follow his own beliefs or what he has been taught to believe. His family is strong believers of their
faith and political views. “When they were grown up, he was going to marry Eileen. He hid under the
table his mother said: O, Stephen will apologize.” This shows that his family does not accept anything
that is outside of their own viewpoints. He is trying to grow, but unfortunately his family has a way of
stopping this. “The memory of his childhood suddenly grew dim. He tried to call forth some of its vivid
moments but could not. He recalled only names. Dante, Parnell, Clane, Clongowes. A little boy had been
taught geography by an old woman who kept two brushed in her wardrobe.” (pg 81) The things that
were so important at the time are no longer memorable to him. Stephen ends up going to school and
seeing the world differently. Although he has always thought differently than his family, Stephen gets a
feel for the world other than the way they tried to contain him. For example, Stephen used to go to
church with his uncle, but he realized he did not feel the same as his uncle toward the church and
religion. Stephen tries to follow the path of what he is taught but as he is away from his family the urges
are harder to resist and he ends up sinning. As for his needs and desires, I would categorize Stephen’s
needs as being exactly what he is “supposed to be” and his wants as in being an artist and leading his
own life. In the beginning of the novel when he likes Elieen this is a want – while the need is for him to
see that this is not okay because the social order he is supposed to be part of does not approve it. Since
his values do not fit in the social order that his family follows, he is forced to change since he is young
and naive to what they are saying. By the end, Stephen opens his eyes to the life HE wants to live. He
leaves the university and goes off to be an artist. When he sees Emma in chapter 5, “She asked me why I
never came, she said she heard all sorts of stories about me. This was only to gain time. Asked me, was I
writing poems? About whom?” Stephen finally gains an appreciation of himself and what he wants for
himself. His values have changed from when he was younger. Now that he has found himself and
formed his character, he is not worried about his religious punishment. Now, he is not so petrified about
what will happen if he sleeps with a prostitute. On his journey of becoming the artist he is, Stephen goes
through many obstacles and has to object a lot of grief he is given by his family, even when he tries to
help and bring them together by accepting something that he does not agree with. When Stephen wins
money and takes his family out and understands he will never be able to please them and also realizes
that being a priest will eliminate all the passion in his life, he finally becomes and has exactly what he
has been trying to find.