Portrait Of The Artist By Joyce And Religion Essay, Research Paper

Religion is an important and recurring theme in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the

Artist as a Young Man. Through his experiences with religion, Stephen Dedalus

both matures and progressively becomes more individualistic as he grows. Though

reared in a Catholic school, several key events lead Stephen to throw off the

yoke of conformity and choose his own life, the life of an artist. Religion is

central to the life of Stephen Dedalus the child. He was reared in a strict, if

not harmonious, Catholic family. The severity of his parents, trying to raise

him to be a good Catholic man, is evidenced by statements such as, "Pull

out his eyes/ Apologise/ Apologise/ Pull out his eyes." This strict

conformity shapes Stephen’s life early in boarding school. Even as he is

following the precepts of his Catholic school, however, a disillusionment

becomes evident in his thoughts. The priests, originally above criticism or

doubt in Stephen’s mind, become symbols of intolerance. Chief to these thoughts

is Father Dolan, whose statements such as, "Lazy little schemer. I see

schemer in your face," exemplify the type of attitude Stephen begins to

associate with his Catholic teachers. By the end of Chapter One, Stephen’s

individualism and lack of tolerance for disrespect become evident when he

complains to the rector about the actions of Father Dolan. His confused attitude

is clearly displayed by the end of the chapter when he says, "He was happy

and free: but he would not be anyway proud with Father Dolan. He would be very

kind and obedient: and he wished that he could do something kind for him to show

him that he was not proud." Stephen still has respect for his priests, but

he has lost his blind sense of acceptance. As Stephen grows, he slowly but

inexorably distances himself from religion. His life becomes one concerned with

pleasing his friends and family. However, as he matures he begins to feel lost

and hopeless, stating, "He saw clearly too his own futile isolation. He had

not gone one step nearer the lives he had sought to approach nor bridged the

restless shame and rancor that divided him from mother and brother and

sister." It is this very sense of isolation and loneliness that leads to

Stephen’s encounter with the prostitute, where, "He wanted to sin with

another of his kind, to force another being to sin with him and to exult with

her in sin." He wants to be loved, but the nearest thing he can find is

prostitution. In the aftermath of this encounter and the numerous subsequent

encounters, a feeling of guilt and even more pronounced loneliness begins to

invade Stephen’s being. Chapter Three represents the turning point of the novel,

for here Stephen turns his life around. After the sermon on sin and hell,

Stephen examines his soul and sees the shape it is in, wondering, "Why was

he kneeling there like a child saying his evening prayers? To be alone with his

soul, to examine his conscience, to meet his sins face to face, to recall their

times and manners and circumstances, to weep over them." Religion pushes

its way suddenly and unexpectedly back into Stephen’s life. After his confession

at the end of Chapter Three, he begins to lead a life nearly as devout as that

of his Jesuit teachers and mentors. Even as he leads this life, however, shades

of his former self are obliquely evident through statements such as, "This

idea had a perilous attraction for his mind now that he felt his soul beset once

again by the insistent voices of the flesh which began to murmur to him again

during his prayers and meditations." Here it is evident that, even as his

life becomes more and more devout, he can never lead the perfect and sinless

life of the Jesuit. The offer of a position as a priest is met by memories of

his childhood at Clongowes and thoughts such as, "He wondered how he would

pass the first night in the novitiate and with what dismay he would wake the

first morning in the dormitory." Stephen realizes that the clerical collar

would be too tight for him to wear. A walk on the beach confirms this thought in

Stephen’s mind through the statement, "Heavenly God! cried Stephen’s soul

in an outburst of profane joy." The sight of a woman and the knowledge

that, as a priest, he could not even talk to her, finally convinces Stephen to

abandon religion. His running escape from the woman also symbolizes his run from

religion and restriction, a run to freedom, to the life of an artist. The life

of an artist is one of individuality and solitude, both of which Stephen

exhibits in the final chapter. Religion is the last thing on Stephen’s mind as

he formulates his theses on art, aesthetic beauty, ideal pity and ideal terror.

While these theses are important to the continuity of the novel, religion does

not resurface until much later. Near the end of the novel, Cranly sees the folly

of the life Stephen is trying to make for himself. He is surrounding himself

with beautiful thoughts and images, but these images will not hold him later in

life. Realizing such, Cranly gently tries to push religion back into Stephen’s

life, stating, "Do you not fear that those words may be spoken to you on

the day of judgment?" This question, however, is met by the rebuke,

"What is offered me on the other hand?…An eternity of bliss in the

company of the dean of studies?" Stephen’s bitterly sarcastic denunciation

of the religious life represents a final break from all religion. The end of

Stephen’s life in Ireland rings hollow, for this exchange shows the emptiness he

has to show for it. In response to the question of whether he loves his mother,

Stephen says, "I don’t know what your words mean." This statement

shows the lack of love in Stephen’s life that results from the absence of

religion, for without religion there can be no true feeling or outlet for these

feelings. While Stephen eventually turns away from religion, it is an important

facet in his development as an artist. Religion, originally one of the

"nets" by which he flies, leads to the loss of his naivet? and later

to his disillusionment with a conformist society as a whole. Stephen’s thoughts

are too independent and liberal for his contemporaries, and thus it is

inevitable that he will cast away his nets, reject society, and become an

artist. Religion disturbs, shapes, and finally changes Stephen for good. While

religion leads to an artistic and lonely life, Stephen can never totally break

from his family or need for companionship. At the close of the novel he says,

"Old father, old artificer, stand by me now and ever in good stead,"

belying the fact that no matter how independent Stephen becomes, no man can be

an island.

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