Quest for Identity in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

<h3 data-fontsize="17" data-lineheight="23">Abstract</h3> <p>Over a period of last hundred years, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as attracted a multiplicity of interpretations. At times, critics have tended to focus primarily on the stylistic distinctions of this novel over the richness of plot and thematic significances. Harry Levin sees ?A Portrait? in the tradition of Kiinstlerroman. Others have attempted to find a close relationship between this novel and Joyce’s attempts to justify his own past. Reflecting this view, Richard Elmann writes, ?To write A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Joyce plunged back into his own past, mainly to justify, but also to expose it?. Partially amplifying a similar view, J.I.M Stewart sees ?A Portrait? as Joyce’s attempts to explain his own break from the Catholic Church. Departing from such critical perspectives, the following analysis of the novel in reference hopes to establish that the central theme of ?A Portrait? is the development and unfolding (assertion) of the identity of Stephen Dedalus, its central protagonist. Further, we hope to establish that this affirmation is not super-imposed by the novelist, rather it is achieved through the experiential technique of narration; not by intellectual analysis alone, but through an active and spontaneous engagements with various aspects of life which enable Stephen to make his final choice.</p&gt