THE THEME OF MATURATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN JAMES JOYCE'S A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

The aim of this paper is to explore the theme of the maturation and development of the character of Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I claim that his mental maturation as a person is related to his development as a character, as well as his artistic maturation, and I suggest that his development and the changes he experiences through the work are an attempt to become independent and free from father figures such as the Church, the priest and his own father Simon Dedalus . In the work itself, complications can be seen in situations that at one moment show his self-improvement, while at another moment events regress him and his character loses the maturity and development he has acquired. Stephen's artistic development is mostly influenced by the women in the work. Only when he manages to separate himself from the idealization of femininity and unites a woman as a physical and mental being, then it can be said that he acquires the role of an artist that he has always longed for. I conclude the plot with the point of view that the work A Portrait is simultaneously seen as a Bildungsroman and a Künstelerroman, but there are also elements where the protagonist leaves these frameworks and comes closer to a modern novel.Cilj ovoga rada jeste istražiti temu sazrijevanja i razvoja lika Stephena Dedalusa u djelu James Joycea A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Tvrdim da je njegovo mentalno sazrijevanje kao osobe povezano s njegovim razvojem kao lika, kao i umjetničkim sazrijevanjem te sugeriram da na njegov razvoj i promjene koje doživljava kroz djelo su pokušaj da se osamostali te oslobodi očinskih figura poput Crkve, svećenika te njegova vlastita oca Simona Dedalusa. U samome djelu vide se komplikacije u situacijama koje u jednom trenutku prikazuju njegovo samousavršavanje, dok u drugome trenutku događaji na njega vrše regredaciju te njegov lik gubi zrelost i razvoj koji je stekao. Na Stephenov umjetnički razvoj ponajviše utječu žene u djelu. Tek kada se uspije odvojiti od idealiziranja ženstvenosti te spoji ženu kao tjelesno i misaono biće, tada se može reći kako stječe ulogu umjetnika za kojom je oduvijek žudio. Radnju zaključujem sa stajalištem kako je djelo A Portrait istovremeno gledan kao Bildungsroman i Künstelerroman, no također postoje elementi gdje protagonist izlazi iz tih okvirova te se više približava modernom romanu