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 naiveté 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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