Throughout the novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus's belief and reliance on the Catholic religion slowly deteriorates as he decides to live freely as an artist. At the conclusion of the novel, Stephen's friend Cranly is questioning Stephen's belief in religion. Stephen says, "I neither believe in it or disbelieve in it" (260). When Cranly justifies the normalcies of these doubts Stephen replies, "I do not wish to overcome them" (260).
Since the decline of Stephen's belief is gradual throughout the novel, find any quote supporting his eventual wish to be completely free from the societal restraints of religion.
This will be due on Friday, May 7th
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Throughout the progression of The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, it is evident that Stephen gradually loses faith in Catholicism. Consequently, when he decides to "amend his life" and become completely and fully devoted to the Catholic Church, it is not surprising that he finds dissatisfaction with his new position.
As an artist, he cannot abandon his role as a careful observer of the delicate balance of the world around him, as exemplified here: "His destiny was to be elusive of social or religious orders. The wisdom of the priest's appeal did not touch him to the quick. He was destined to learn his own wisdom apart from others or to learn the wisdom of others himself wandering among the snares of the world" (162). He questions his true place in the religious world, and he wants to find himself through his own methods rather than one that has been prescribed to him from the days of his youth. As Stephen continues to search for his identity and his reason for existence, he realizes that the Church does not for him hold the answers that he desires and his faith experiences a strong decline.
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Stephen's faith in Catholicism declines greatly throughout the novel. At one point in his life, he was an incredibly devout Catholic. Frightened by fiery sermons and the possibility of eternal damnation, he attended mass regularly and lived extremely piously. However, as Stephen begins to understand himself better, he starts to move away from religion, realizing that the teachings of the Church are incompatable with his desire to be an artist and appreciate beauty. When explaining his beliefs to Cranly, he says, "I fear...the chemical action which would be set up in my soul by a false homage to a symbol behind which are massed twenty centuries of authority and veneration" (265). The Catholic Church has always been revered and respected, and Stephen feels societal pressure from those around him to accept the Church's teachings as well. However, Stephen knows that he can only live happily as an artist if he turns away from the Church and lives the way that will best benefit him.
In the following passage, Stephen express his new outlook on who he is, and that he will no longer rely on things such as religion to shape his beliefs. "Look here, Cranly, he said. You have asked me what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms Iallow myself to use – silence, exile, and cunning." This shows a distancing between Stephen and the Catholic church. We are now able to see who he really is: he is defined by his artistic goals and by his idealistic ambition to be true to his beliefs.
Much of his religious doubt is expressed with irony:"His life seemed to have drawn near to eternity; every ... thought, word, and deed, every instance of consciousness could be made to revibrate radiantly in heaven; and at times his sense of such immediate repercussion was so lively that he seemed to feel his soul in devotion pressing like fingers the keyboard of a great cash register and to see the amount of his purchase start forth immediately in heaven, not as a number but as afrail column of incense or as a slender flower."
Stephen can't realize redemption as being something that is tangible. He seems to oly rationalize things with flowery conceits. He isn't cut out for the priesthood. He isn't parish material either.There isn't a place in Catholicism for someone who has no faith.
"His throat ached with a desire to cry aloud, the cry of a hawk or eagle on high, to cry piercingly of his deliverance to the winds. This was the call of life to his soul not the dull gross voice of the world of duties and despair, not the inhuman voice that had called him to the pale service of the altar."
Stephen reaches an epiphany in the novel, where he realizes that he cannot continue living a pious life. His passion does not lie within the realm of Catholicism; it lies in beauty and art. He becomes emotional because this is the moment when he discovers his life's calling. After years of confusion, Stephen finally feels content and whole.
Throughout the novel, Stephan desperately craves for freedom from societal pressures and expectations. He also strives to be free from the burden of religion. The quote, "Yes! Yes! Yes! He would create proudly out of the freedom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable" shows a turning point in Stephan's life. He realizes that being an artist is his true calling, and in order to immerse himself completely into this calling, he must first abandon the restraints of religion. This is when he first seizes his individuality and disregards what is expected of him by others.
At the end of the novel, Stephen fully develops his own views concerning religion. The following quote personifies these final views, "To discover the mode of life or of art whereby [my] spirit could express itself in unfettered freedom." (page 267) Although he slowly loses his faith, Stephen finds within himself what he feels is right. After he understands this, he can finally be free from the strangling grasps of society and religion, and become the man,
and artist, he desires to be.
These are really good ideas everybody!
Meera- "As an artist, he cannot abandon his role as a careful observer of the delicate balance of the world around him"... I love this!
Channing and Andrea- I really like the quotes you picked.
Coleen- "There isn't a place in Catholicism for someone who has no faith"... That's a reslly cool way to put it!
Great job so far!
"But he had been forewarned of the dangers of spiritual exaltation and did not allow himself to desist from even the least of lowliest devotion, striving also by constant mortification to undo the sinful past rather than to achieve a saintliness fraught with peril," (162).
The entire purpose of the Catholic faith is to encourage its followers to be devout Christians and to live their lives in a way that is in accordance with the teachings of the faith. The Catholic church tries to teach worshipers to live the way Jesus Christ lived and how to get to Heaven. Those who are considered to have achieved this the best are often inducted into sainthood. However, by this time, Stephen has decided already that he does not want to pursue such religious devotion in this way, and is beginning to develop a moral code of his own.
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