A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Chapter One

In many ways, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a typical coming of age novel—or Bildungsroman, to use the formal German word for such books (Bildungsroman translates as “formation novel”). Stephen deals with family strife, with bullying, with the social challenges of public education, with the mysteries of his religious upbringing, with a mean-spirited teacher, and a loving if rather rough family. At the same time, this is a special kind of coming of age novel about the artistic maturation of a budding creative talent (the formal word for such novels is Künstlerroman or “artist’s novel”). By the end of the book, Stephen has committed himself to the path of a writer, dedicating himself to the larger purpose of creating important, lasting works of art.

A young James Joyce

Toward the beginning, Stephen’s story could be almost any young person’s story. True, he is born to an Irish Catholic family living through a tumultuous and impoverished period of his nation’s history, but most of his concerns as a boy—while filtered through the prism of Irish culture in the late nineteenth century—are the typical concerns of any youngster. In the first chapter, really only one quality sets him off as different from a typical kid: his obsession with language. From the beginning, words are nourishment for Stephen in a way that they typically are not for a boy. The pleasure he receives from the mere sound of them is striking, and his attention to the surfaces of words seems unusual for a kid his age. 

At the end of the chapter, when Stephen stands up for himself and his class mates (thus passing his first trial as a human being--the trial of moral decency and personal courage), he does so, importantly, by way of words. It is no dramatic physical fight with one of his classmates, no bold refusal of punishment. Rather, it is an almost lawyer-like assertion of innocence against false accusations (of him being a scurrilous slacker and trickster). A less verbally confident kid would have backed down from the rector’s questions, would have simply acquiesced with the notion that Stephen’s punishment earlier that day had simply been due to an error. But Stephen pursues his case, states his innocence, provides reasons for his grievance, and thus triumphs over adversity—in this case the adversity of the routine injustice of corporal punishment of Irish schoolchildren.

He is rewarded by becoming, briefly, Stephen the boy-hero. His schoolmates, some of whom had previously worked against him, become his comrades. He becomes their champion, and they lift him into the air and celebrate his courage. Stephen conquers injustice with words and proves that words, used truthfully and courageously, can enact a concrete difference in his own life and even in that of those in his immediate community. Thus his future vocation as a writer is anticipated and validated. By conquering his boyish fears and using words to triumph over personal and (admittedly minor) social injustice, Stephen Daedalus begins to define for himself a path forward that will both distinguish himself from the crowd and allow him to quietly become their little champion.

That’s what stood out for me as I reread this first chapter. What about all of you? What did you notice about Stephen in the first chapter? Do my remarks above fit with your reaction, or was your reaction different? Did you find the Irish slang and historical references confusing? Are you looking up words that you don’t understand? Use the thread below to post your thoughts about the first chapter of Joyce’s classic novel.