A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Conflicting Desires within a Doctrine
In the story, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, written by James
Joyce, the main character Stephen Dedalus has many encounters with women. Women
and sexuality are major influences on Stephen's adolescent life. Another major
factor that has an influence on Stephen's life is the Church. Women and
sexuality conflict with the Church and its beliefs, and that is one of Stephen's
major problems thus far. Stephen is having a very big identity crisis, from
being a God fearing Catholic to a very hormonal teenager.
As Stephen sits at the "adults" dinner table for the first time, his
father, Mr. Casey and Dante are fighting about religion and politics in Ireland.
As they are arguing, Stephen's train of thought leads him to think about Eileen.
Eileen Vance was the little girl that Stephen wanted to marry when he was
younger. She is described to have ivory hands and golden hair, which......
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Approximate Word Count: 838
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |