a portrait of the artist as a young man review

He is unjustly humiliated and punished by the cruel prefect of studies, but after receiving encouragement from a friend, Stephen bravely (if fearfully) goes to the rector of the school and obtains justice. On returning to school, Stephen accidentally breaks his glasses and is unable to complete his classwork.

Casey, leaving Stephen confused about the issues of religion and politics in the adult world. This extraordinarily happy occasion is marred by a heated political argument between Stephen's old nurse, Dante Riordan, and a dinner guest, Mr. Later, when he is probably six years old, Stephen returns home to celebrate Christmas dinner with his family and is invited, for the first time, to sit with the adults at the dinner table. First, Stephen is pushed into an open cesspool by a bullying classmate, and, subsequently, he develops a fever which confines him to the school infirmary here, he begins to discern that he is 'different,' that he is an outsider. Moving from Stephen's infancy to his early days at Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school for boys, Joyce focuses on three key incidents which significantly affect Stephen's personality. In this opening scene, Joyce is presenting to us the genesis of a future artist's perception and interpretation of the world. The fragmented lines are from a childhood story and a nursery song, and are linked with family associations, sensory perceptions, and pieces of conversation. The novel begins with Stephen Dedalus' first memories, when he was about three years old.

A portrait of the artist as a young man review