Mythology Explored in Joyce's Portrait Research Proposal

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In this scene, Stephen is experiencing a conflict because he wants to establish a schoolyard presence but he does not know exactly what to do or what to say. He struggles to find an answer - a correct answer. We read that his body "feels hot and confused" (14) simply because he cannot answer the question. In this scene, we see how he is separating himself from others. Stephen also experiences the bittersweet experience of life when he is allowed to sit with the adults at Christmas. He is excited that will share this experience with the adults - it is a unique experience for him.

It is a first and with that notion, it is accompanied with ideas of some sort of mysterious greatness. However, for the adults, it was almost just another dinner on another day. The adults let Stephen say the blessing but it did not take long for them to launch into a political discussion that got everyone, except Stephen, hot under the collar. Stephen did not understand the conversation, though he tried to make sense of it. He wonders why Mr. Casey was against the priests and that Dante must have been correct in her assertion. These examples serve as the conditions from Stephen wishes to escape. Like the man trapped on an island against his will, Stephen yearns to escape the difficulties of his life. These experiences in early childhood set Stephen up for the inevitable escape he feels he must make in order to survive and find his true self. The encounters with the schoolmates, his family, and even religion present opportunities for Stephen to asks questions not only about life but also about himself. The answers are significant in that they help shape who is to become. He is lucky in that he realizes this and has the courage to think for himself. Joyce prepares us for Stephen's eventual awakening early in the novel.

The Daedalus myth is also significant for what it foreshadows in the rest of the novel.

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Perhaps one of the most powerful scenes involves Stephen and the bird-girl. This scene is important because it brings Stephen to a sense of maturity as the creature serves as a catalyst for Stephen's epiphany. When he sees the creature, he begins to understand himself as a complete individual. The water and the bird are images that are familiar when we consider Icarus. Birds are symbols that Joyce uses throughout the novel to establish the notion of freedom and, in this scene, the bird represents self-discovery. Early in the first chapter, Joyce introduces us to an unpleasant image of a bird when his mother demands an apology or the "eagles will come and pull out his eyes" (8). Joyce reconciles that conflicting image with the bird-girl we see later in the novel. The bird compels Stephen to cry aloud, another compelling image in which Stephen is asserting his newly discovered freedom. He was essentially crying out to life itself - the universe - just as the Daedalus was spreading his wings in flight above the bright ocean. We are told that a wild flight delivers Stephen after he sees the creature. This flight can be compared to the courageous flight that Icarus took and the tremendous freedom he felt while in flight.

James Joyce utilizes mythology in his novel, a Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, to emphasize Stephen's experiences and propel us into a deeper understanding of the character's maturation. By bringing Daedalus' plight into the picture, Joyce is giving Stephen a sense of significance and being. Just like the mythological story, the protagonist in this story must escape the hindrances of family, friends, and life in general through a means of escape that is extraordinary. Joyce parallels Stephen's story with that of Daedalus to focus our attention on the difficulty involved of discovering oneself. The eventual escape and discovery fall in line with the myth that ends with an attempt at freedom rewarded.

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