Stephen, the Satanic Creator

Stephen Dedalus in this work develops independence from his family, friends, and educators, refusing to submit to values that others try to impress upon him. He becomes his own artist who shapes his own destiny, as well as in the more literal sense by involving himself in the creation of works of art. Stephen’s artistic drive could not accord with the Catholic Church, for while the Church encourages the denunciation of emotions and passions, art attempts to appeal to the senses. Stephen, therefore, decides to desert the church and God. By developing himself as an artist, Stephen is replacing the divine in his life. He becomes an independent human creator and chooses not to submit to the divine creator. Only once he feels free from the God above is he able to create himself. He is obsessed with the question of creation and art, for he sees himself as a replacement for God, which he even explicitly states: “The artist, like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails” (189).

As Stephen is experiencing his theological dilemma in chapter IV, he begins to doubt his long-held assumption that priesthood is his destiny. He finds meaning in the fact that his name is a reference to Daedalus, the mythological inventor celebrated in ancient times, and realizes that his calling in life is to follow in the footsteps of his namesake. The text states, “Now, at the name of the fabulous artificer, he seemed to hear the noise of dim waves and to see a winged form flying above the waves and slowly climbing the air” (148). While thinking of his name Dedalus, he recalls the mythical Daedalus who liberates himself from prison by building a labyrinth. Stephen becomes inspired by his resolution to leave Christianity, resolving that “He would create proudly out of the freedom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable” (149). He will no longer passively experience life, but he will fully embrace it and even create more of it through his art, as he makes this mission clear: “…to recreate life out of life!” (150).

If we view this book as autobiographical, not only does Stephen, who is the voice of Joyce, create like a typical artist, but he even creates a new literary technique of stream-of-consciousness. Stephen heartily embraces his namesake as a legendary inventor, which is a way for Joyce to emphasize the novelty of his writing.

Stephen’s decision to opt out of absolute submission to God reminds me of Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Milton’s Satan is full of energy, passion, and dynamism—arguably more so than the “positive” characters in this creation narrative, such as God and Jesus. Joyce and Milton both seem to suggest a positive quality to the Satanic, for it ennobles humans to embrace their own senses of creativity. Hence, Stephen’s decision to leave God for the sake of his own creative spirit presents readers with the inherent tension that stands between human and divine desires to create.