Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Stephen Dedalus is born of a woman, created of the earth; pure in his childhood innocence. From this beginning stems the birth of an artist, and from this the novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce recounts Stephen's story. His journey is followed from childhood to maturity, and thus his transformation from secular to saintly to an awakening of what he truly …

…earth is not a prison, it does not stifle, but instead it creates. It is the ultimate mother, the purest woman there is. "A world, a glimmer or a flower?" (205) He had long though of it as a glimmer, to be ignored, he now sees it in its bloom, its wonder and its beauty, the mother of all that is pure and good and beautiful. It is the ultimate creation and yields the greatest beauty.