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Religion is an important and recurring theme in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Through his experiences with religion, Stephen Dedalus both matures and progressively becomes more individualistic. Though reared in a Catholic school, several key events lead Stephen to throw off conformity and choose his own life, that is, the life of an artist. Religion is central to the life of Stephen Dedalus the child. He was reared in …

…convinces Stephen to abandon religion. His running escape from the woman also symboliz! es his run from religion and restriction, a run to freedom, to the life of an artist. The life of an artist is one of individuality and solitude, both of which Stephen exhibits in the final chapter. Religion is the last thing on Stephen's mind as he formulates his theses on art, aesthetic beauty, ideal pity and ideal terror. Whil ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**