The Prey of Restless Foolish Impulses

“He did not want to play. He wanted to meet in the real world the
unsubstantial image which his soul so constantly beheld” (65).

Points for Reflection

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Chp. 2

1. does Stephen’s affection and respect for his father follow the dive taken by his father’s fortunes?
2. Stephen’s father urges him to be a “gentleman above all things” and “a good catholic [sic] above all things” (83).  Does Mr. Dedalus himself appear to be both these things, and does Stephen appear to be achieving either goal amidst his teenage years?
3. does Stephen remain aloof always, or does he build meaningful relationships with his peers?
4. does Stephen highly value his country of origin?
5. what role do financial considerations play in Stephen’s ambitions?
6. why did Stephen spend his prize money so freely on his family (97-98)?  What was he trying to accomplish?
7. is the teenage Stephen correct when he observes that he has “known neither the pleasure of companionship with others nor the vigour of rude male health nor filial piety” (96)?
8. how does Stephen’s attitude towards Irish Catholicism shift and change during chapter two?
9. do Irish boys and men hold themselves to rigid, traditional constructions of masculinity?
10. what might Stephen be thinking as he gazes at himself in his mother’s mirror (71)?
11. what various functionis does Dumas's The Counte of Monte Cristo serve him?
12. is the feminine ideal longed for by Stephen grounded in reality, or evanescent as a dream?
13. can we explain Stephen’s odd, mixed behavior towards Emma Clery (E. C.)?
14. does the novel explain why the nature of Stephen’s desire for females shifts so fundamentally?
15. does the shame stoked by Stephen’s sexual desires have a palpable impact on his relationships with others?
16. does Stephen’s encounter at the conclusion of chapter two constitute a discarding of that isolation with which he has so long surrounded himself?
17. does Stephen find solace or discomfort in darkness?
18. does chapter two suggest that Stephen’s eyesight has improved or worsened?
19. how well does Stephen know himself?
20. does Stephen gravitate towards similes which suggest freedom and escape, or entrapment?
21. do words function as springboard or anchor, do they grant flight to Stephen’s imaginations, or weigh him down?  Consider not only language, generally, but specific, heavily laden words.
22. does Stephen despise or revel in acting?
23. does Stephen accomplish great creative acts when he sets pen to paper?
24. does Stephen’s love of music in any way shape his skill with language?
25. Stephen attributes to himself a special intellectual power that grants him, among other things, occasional prescience and a marked detachment from emotional situations. Is this an enviable super power, or a handicap?
26. what do you imagine Stephen’s “foreknowledge of the future” (66) amounts to—what does he assume the future holds, and is he an accurate prognosticator?
27. which does Stephen find more aesthetically pleasing, happiness or sadness?
28. does young Stephen adore Dublin?

Sur le Bord de la Foret [figure with shell] (1961)
Mary Swanzy

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu