Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Chapters 6-9—Allusions
Research and analyze one of the literary allusions that appear in the novel. Among others, there are allusions in the novel to Ovid's Metomorphoses, St. Thomas Aquinas, the War of the Roses, and so much more. In your post, explain the original work, how it is referenced in Portrait fo the Artist as a Young Man and how your understanding of the allusion deepens your appreciation or understanding of the work. Do not repeat an analysis of the same reference in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. You may, however, discuss a separate reference to the same work if it is referenced multiple times and your analysis of the new reference adds something new to the conversation. In your post, be sure to include specific quotes from the text, with page numbers, to support your conclusions. Use MLA format to cite your sources.
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James Joyce parallels Stephen’s sin with his version of hell in order to solidify the allusion to Dante’s Inferno. At the beginning of the novel, Stephen introduces his aunt Dante when his mother wants him to apologize for something he has done. Dante warns “if not, the eagles will come and pull out his eyes,” (Joyce 6) showing the connection between his sin and the expected repercussion. In Dante’s Inferno, Dante portrays Divine Justice “by making hell a place where everyone is punished according to what they did on Earth” (Doherty). Thus, Stephen’s sins and his hell must equate. When Stephen then commits a much larger sin, Dante’s interpretation of justice holds true. On the “foul laneways” (Joyce 88) and “narrow and dirty streets” (Joyce 88), Stephen commits his greatest sins as he visits brothels and gets involved with prostitutes. In his guilt, he knows he must confess but his pride inhibits him from doing so. Then he has a nightmare. In it, he enters what he describes as “his hell” (Joyce 120) in a “field of stiff weeds and thistles and tufted nettlebunches” (Joyce 120) as goat-like creatures with human faces enclose upon him. The smell of feces, much like the horrid smell of the streets on which he sinned, wafts through his nose. As Stephen’s interpretation of hell in his nightmare reflects his sin, Joyce alludes to Divine Justice as portrayed in Dante’s Inferno, thus displaying Stephen’s sins as much more horrible.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Doherty, Lisa. God's justice in Inferno, by Dante Alighieri. Helium.com. 9 September 2008. Web. 7 August 2011.
Chapter 7 – ...Or the Bible
ReplyDeleteIn his novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster explains, “every writer prior to sometime in the middle of the twentieth century was solidly instructed in religion” (52) so writers often reference Biblical stories. Authors often allude to the Garden of Eden, David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, Job, the Flood, Christ figures, the Apocalypse, and attach Biblical names to their characters. However, James Joyce alludes to Adam and Eve in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Adam and Eve were created by God to populate the earth. They live in the Garden of Eden and are allowed to eat the garden’s fruit except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan spoke through a serpent who tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Eve then tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, and he did knowing God told him not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Sin was then introduced to the world because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and lost their innocence. As a result, God made Adam and Eve experience spiritual and then physical death. Joyce references Adam and Eve when Father Arnall gives a sermon about the creation story. Father Arnall’s reference and explanation of Adam and Eve’s story deeply affects Stephen because he is a devout catholic who believes he and Emma will go to hell for their sinful actions just like Adam and Eve; “The poison tongue of Satan had done its work. They fell” (Joyce 104). Understanding this allusion allows for a better understanding of the work because Stephen believes he will go through what Adam experienced as a result of his actions. Stephen’s reaction proves he takes his religion and the sermons more seriously than anyone else his age which separates him as an individual experiencing the many stages to maturity.
Works Cited:
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. New York: Harper, 2008. 52. Print.
Joyce, James, John Paul. Riquelme, Hans Walter Gabler, and Walter Hettche. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 104. Print.
Chapter 6-9- Allusions
ReplyDeleteAs Descartes and Sunflower11 wrote, James Joyce uses several allusions throughout A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. While the connections to Dante’s Inferno and the Bible are important to the work, the greatest allusion throughout Joyce’s novel concerns the ancient Greek hero his protagonist, Stephen Dedalos, is named after. The Dedalos of Greek myth was an architect and artist, known for building the Labyrinth, a vast underground complex of tunnels, as well as a pair of wings for him to achieve freedom with. Similarly, Stephen is an artist, albeit one who works with words rather than wings. Like the story where Dedalos uses his wings to escape, Stephen must use his writing to find complete freedom from societal restrictions. Not only do the names of the two literary characters correspond, but their individual struggles mirror each other. As compelling a connection as Joyce makes between the two names, he solidifies the allusion by directly writing about the original Dedalos in his novel. At the point of the story where Stephen finally has his revelation and discovers that he is “destined to learn his own wisdom apart from others,” he imagines seeing “a winged form flying above the waves and slowly climbing the air” (Joyce 142-148).
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man can be compared to the Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus. This allusion is very obvious and intentional. In both stories, the main characters are trying to escape, or take “flight”. Daedalus and Icarus are father and son trying to escape from a labyrinth. The two struggle with authority figures and family differences, just as Stephen does. After many trials and errors, Daedalus and Icarus make wings out of wax, which finally allows them to escape. Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly to close to the sun, but Icarus ignores the warning and falls to his death. Afterwards, Daedalus flies to Sicily, just as Stephen goes to France to get away from his problems. Stephen goes through many years of schooling and struggles with religion until her ultimately realizes he wants to become an artist. This is when Stephen finally takes flight. While Daedalus and Stephen both are taking flight, they also have similar names. One might inquire Joyce did this for a reason. In Chapter 5, Stephen notices several birds flying above him. He questions where they are going, how many there are, etc. This leads him to notice that he is like a bird trying to escape. “Symbol of departure or of loneliness?”, Stephen asks himself.
ReplyDeleteAlong with what descartes and sunflower 11 wrote:
ReplyDeleteA Portrait of an Artist as a young Man is full of allusions according to HTRLAP foster. Foster explains the main allusions in literature come from previous works. Those usually are the bible, Shakespeare, Greek mythology and fairytales. James Joyce’s novel has many biblical allusions which are seen repeatedly. One such allusion takes place when Stephen walks along back alleys in search of a sinner. Stephen comes upon a young woman who is a prostitute. Stephen enjoys the woman’s embrace and is soon visiting her and her kind repeatedly, adding sin upon sin into his soul. Stephen is corrupted by the original woman and those who follow. Stephen soon begins to regret his carnal sin and longs to repent but fears that god will not forgive him of his sin. This passage is a direct allusion to Adam and Eve. Eve was tempted by the snake (the devil) such as the reason the prostitute became a prostitute. Eve then sinned and convinced Adam to sin such as the prostitute convinces Stephen to sin with her. Adam and Eve then fell out of God’s grace because of their sin, just as Stephen believes he does. Also Adam could not truly repent and forget his sins, such as Stephen can not even after he repents.
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ReplyDeleteIn his teenage years, it is eminent that Stephen experiences a preoccupation with lust and temptation. When Stephen encounters the prostitutes he feels a “sudden call to his sinloving soul from their soft perfumed flesh” (Joyce 89) alluding to none other than Homer’s Odyssey. In the epic, Odysseus encounters the Sirens, dangerous seductresses who lure nearby sailors with their enchanting music. Odysseus struggles to resist the Sirens but eventually falls into the trap of their alluring voices, just as young Stephen does with the prostitutes. Stephen is aware of the “cold lucid indifference” (Joyce 90) that resides in his soul. However, rather than cleanse his soul, Stephen occupies his universe with the “distant music” (Joyce 90) that accompanies his thoughts. This music represents the Sirens’ songs luring Stephen into temptation, despite his natural instinct that this temptation was a “violent sin” (Joyce 90). Stephen falls into his Sirens’ sinful calls, allowing the women to entice him until he is “conscious of nothing in the world but the dark pressure of her softly parting lips” (Joyce 88-89).
ReplyDeleteIn HTRLAP Foster says most allusions come from works by Shakespeare, the bible, or fairytales. In James Joyce’s “A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man” Joyce alludes to the story of Adam and Eve, their sin and the ultimate forgiveness for their sin. When Adam and Eve committed their sin they were not forgiven right away. They were punished. After their punishment, God gave them the forgiveness they were seeking. Joyce alludes to this by causing Stephen to sin in many ways, the most serious being the sexual relationship between and woman at the age of sixteen. Stephen knew what he did was wrong and was punished by the guilt. Stephen felt he was no longer worthy. Stephen feeling like he is no longer worthy is punishment. Once Stephen cannot handle his guilt he decides he must go to confession and receive God’s forgiveness. The guilt of his sin remained within him just like the guilt Adam and Eve felt after they ate the forbidden fruit. Once Stephen went to confession he was “blinded by his tears and by the light of God’s mercifulness” (Joyce, 126). Stephen was forgiven for all of his sins after he lived through his punishment. He was now worthy of God again. Although Adam and Eve were never allowed back into the Garden of Eden they were not denied God’s grace and his forgiveness. The same applies to Stephen. He lost his innocence but he was not denied God’s grace and forgiveness.
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