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A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man: Conflicting Desires Within A Doctrine - Term Papers

A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man: Conflicting Desires Within A Doctrine

In the story, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, written by James
Joyce, the main character Stephen Dedalus has many encounters with women. Women
and sexuality are major influences on Stephen's adolescent life. Another major
factor that has an influence on Stephen's life is the Church. Women and
sexuality conflict with the Church and its beliefs, and that is one of Stephen's
major problems thus far. Stephen is having a very big identity crisis, from
being a God fearing Catholic to a very hormonal teenager.
As Stephen sits at the "adults" dinner table for the first time, his
father, Mr. Casey and Dante are fighting about religion and politics in Ireland.
As they are arguing, ...

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hand. Stephen gets quite
confused with the terms of the Litany of Our Lady so he starts to associate the
"Tower of Ivory" and "House of Gold" to Eileen. The way James Joyce describes
the scene, "She had put her hand into his pocket where his hand was and he had
felt how cool and thin and soft her hand was."(43) gives the reader the idea
that Stephen enjoyed the feeling. The only problem with Eileen was that she was
a Protestant and Stephen was a Catholic. Stephen also associates women with the
Virgin Mary, who was the mother of Jesus Christ. He thinks women as pure, just
as Mary was and since he already associated the "Tower of Ivory" and "House of
Gold" with Eileen, he assumes her to be like the Virgin.
Another influence of women in Stephen's life comes from the story "The
Count of Monte Cristo" while reading this story, Stephen starts to fantasize
about Mercedes. As he fantasizes, he tries to bring her to life through another
girl, known as E.C.. He has many sexual ...

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A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man: Conflicting Desires Within A Doctrine. (2004, December 14). Retrieved January 1, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Portrait-Artist-Young-Man-Conflicting-Desires/18966

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"A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man: Conflicting Desires Within A Doctrine." Essayworld.com. December 14, 2004. Accessed January 1, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Portrait-Artist-Young-Man-Conflicting-Desires/18966.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 12/14/2004 03:17:01 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 852
Pages: 4

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