Analysis of Chapter VPortrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Interpreted by Sarah Allen and Carolyn Caggia

Questions

Can excrement or a child or a louse be a work of art?

If a man hacking in fury at a block of wood make there an image of a cow, is that image a work of art?

James Joyce:  Life

• James Augustine Aloysius Joyce

• February 2nd, 1882 – January 13th, 1941

• Ireland• Ulysses• Stream of Consciousness

 

James Joyce:  Dublin

• Capital of Ireland• Birth city• Clongowes, Belvedere,

and University College Dublin

•  Central theme (unhealthy obsession?)

 

Ireland (1882-1941)

• HOME RULE• Parnell • Catholics vs. Protestants

 

Europe  (1882-1941)

• Aristotle• Aquinas• Lessing• St. Stephen the Martyr • John the Baptist

Chapter V: A Quick Summary

• Years have passed and Stephen is attending university.

• His separation and independence from his family become evident.

• Stephen becomes increasingly interested in Aristotle’s Poetics and the works of St. Thomas Aquinas.

• He meets Emma again. • Stephen decides to leave Ireland, and the novel

closes in first-person as a journal.

Stephen’s all grown up!

• Moved from sensuality and unfocused desire to a methodical, scientific approach to seeing beauty.

• Stephen has changed– Becomes aware that Ireland is a trap– Separated from his family– Grows intellectually at university

• Begins to see women as more than just objects or ideas of beauty which he cannot ever attain.

• Paradoxically, he leaves Ireland for freedom.

Stephen’s Friends

Defying Conformity

Stephen’s Increasing Freedom

Symbols:  Rain

• Turf-colored bath water at Clongowes• The bath Stephen's mom gives him• Rain drives Stephen and Lynch to the

library

Symbols:  Birds

• "When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight.  You talk to me of nationality, language, religion.  I shall try to fly by those nets." -Pg. 220

• At the beginning of 5.3, Stephen sees birds but is unable to identify them (Pg. 243) o These birds leave and then

return

Symbols:  Mythical Allusions

Thoth: • Egyptian god of wisdom• Head of an ibis

Delphi: • Adelphi Hotel• Oracle of Delphi

o Greek mythology

Chiasmic Symmetry

• Mirror • Everything we discussed• Pg. 203:  "...bucket and

lamp and lamp and bucket" 

• Stephen's two meetings with Emma 

• Turpin Hero begins in first person and ends in third person, Portrait of the Artist begins in third person and ends in first person

• Starts young, gets old, ends young

• Birds fly off, come back on

Aesthetics:  Definition

aes·thet·icsnoun (plural) /esˈTHetiks/  1. A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty, esp. in art 2. The branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of beauty and artistic taste

Aesthetics: Pity and Terror

Pity: • "Pity is the feeling which

arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the human sufferer."

Terror: • "Terror is the feeling

which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with a secret cause."  

Pg. 221

Aesthetics:  Static and Kinetic Art

Static: •  Esthetic emotion• The mind is arrested

and raised above desire and loathing

• Ideal pity or ideal terror

Kinetic:• Pornography and didactic

art• Improper arts• Arts that excite kinetic

emotionso Desire: urges to possess or

go to somethingo Loathing: urges to abandon

or go from something

Aesthetics:  Inferior and Superior Art

Inferior: • Does not present the

forms (lyrical, epical, and dramatic) as clearly distinguished from one another 

• Pornographic and  didactic art

Superior: • Literature is the highest

and most spiritual form of art

• Makes you feel stasis

Aesthetics:  Lyrical and Epic Forms

Lyrical: • The simplest verbal

vesture of an instant of emotion

• A rhythmical cry  that might cheer on a man at grueling toil

• Stresses the instant of emotion rather than the feeling of emotion

Epic: • Separates from lyrical

when the artist prolongs and broods upon himself as the center of an epical event

• The narrative is no longer purely personal

Integritas, Consonantia, and Claritas

• Wholeness, Harmony, and Radiance

• Needed for beauty

Elements of Tragedy

Tragedy• A tragic play involves a hero suffering

misfortune.• Considered the opposite of comedy.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

“A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and

pleasurable language;… in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing

pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.”

Basically…

• A tragedy deals with one issue and is serious. Ex. Death. (not breaking a fingernail.)

• Has a chorus which is easy to understand. Greek tragedies had a chorus whose role was to comment on the play. Like little narrators.

• The play is acted out, not told like a story.• The events should make the audience feel sorry for

the main character. The audience should fear for the hero as he or she moves towards a downfall.

• The catharsis occurs when the hero falls flat on his/her face and realizes mistakes when the audience can finally let out their breath.

A History of Theater

• Greek drama started to honor the gods.• Thespis became known as the first actor when

he stepped of a chorus to speak to them. • Sophocles (b. 496 BC)was one of the first great

dramatists. He wrote many plays but only seven survive today. His tragic plays influenced Aristotle’s analysis of tragedy.

So Who is Aristotle?

Aristotle’s Definition of a Tragic Hero

• Comes from nobility• Tragic flaw or hamartia (caused by a simple mistake or

character flaw- such as excessive pride or hubris)• Undergoes a reversal of fortune (falls from high to low).

Most have these elements:– Catastrophe: Change of fortune– Perepiteia: Reversal of intention– Anagnorisis: Recognition of catastrophe after perepiteia

• Has a downfall• Recognizes mistakes (in a catharsis or purging of fear)

Play Structure

• Exposition• Rising Action• Climax• Falling Action• Resolution

Aristotle’s Six Elements of Drama

• Plot (incidents, storyline)• Character (people, ideas, etc. represented in

the play)• Thought/Theme (insights into humanity and

life)• Music (sound)• Spectacle (scenery and other visual elements)• Diction/Language (dialogue or poetry)