1. Autobiographical elements in the poem.
Answers
Answer:
Autobiographical poetry can be defined as one in which the poet gives an account of his/her life, as well as self-revelation, self-exploration and “thoughtful and analytical excursions into the self” (Penguin 63-64).
Answer:
Autobiographical Elements in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Explanation:
Introduction: In some novels the author or narrator records or narrates his own experiences of life by adding fictional elements. These are known as autobiographical novel. There are some elements of an autobiographical novel. They are characters, setting, details, chronological order, point of view, author’s purpose etc. In this type of novel the characters, themes and incidents are taken from the author’s real life, but they are presented in an imaginary way. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is an autobiographical novel. Start with the name. The name of the novel carries a sign. The phrase “A Portrait of the Artist” seems a symbol of the self-portraiture of James Joyce. Stephen Dedalus is the protagonist of the novel. He is a young Irishman. The description of education of Stephen Dedalus is quite similar to that of James Joyce’s. His background has much similarity with Joyce’s. The novel covers the first twenty years of Joyce’s life through Stephen. The characteristics of the protagonist are similar to the life of Joyce. But it is a bit artistic or fictional than the biography of the author. The autobiographical elements in this novel are as follows:
1. Characters: Some major characters of this novel are Stephen Dedalus, his father who has failed in various works and barely can support his family financially, his mother who is dominated by the Catholic church, siblings of Stephen, Mr. Casey, aunt Dante, Parnel etc. We know that Stephen is a portrait of Joyce. From the reading of biography of Joyce we know that father of Joyce was just like that of Stephen in the novel. Joyce’s mother was also very loyal to the Catholic church. There are some other characters which are similar to the novel. Now if we focus on the central character of the novel, we see Stephen with the same intellectuality what is seen in Joyce. Stephen’s thoughts, associations, feelings and language serve as the primary medium by which the readers can discover Stephen’s pain, pleasure, experiences of intellectual, sexual and spiritual elements which actually portray Joyce’s feelings at his time.
2. Setting: The novel starts in Dublin which can be considered as the backdrop of the novel. It is also a symbol of discontentment of Stephen. The time is nearly the last part of the nineteenth century. We see the sufferings from poverty and frequent changes of houses of Dedalus family. The rule of Irish Catholicism and Irish nationalist movement is also included in the settings of the novel. All the things are just similar to the reading of Joyce’s biography. As Stephen, Joyce also was born and brought up in Dublin, suffered from poverty and changed their houses for several times. Not different from Stephen, Dublin was a place of discontentment to Joyce and the streets of Dublin seemed maze to him from where he wanted to fly away.
3. Details: This element of an autobiographical novel is interesting. Writers of this type of novel generally use objective and subjective details and fictions to illustrate their life stories. Objective details can be proved. In this novel objective details are – birth details, education, religious views, family, love, emotions, intellectual etc of Stephen. These details are real and are similar to that of James Joyce. Fictional description is also present there. The name of the protagonist Stephen Dedalus has a mythical value. The last name Dedalus was taken from a Latin myth. The myth was about Icarus and his father. Dedalus was taken from their name. They were jailed and they flew away from there. Stephen in the novel and Joyce in his real life flew away from their birth place to fulfill their dream. That is why Joyce used this name of the central character of his autobiographical novel.
4. Chronological Order: It is the order in which the life events of the protagonist occur in which the writers tell their stories. Often events are arranged from childhood to adulthood. In the novel, through the life events of Stephen, Joyce actually told his story. He arranged the novel from childhood to adulthood. The novel tells the story of Stephen Dedalus from his childhood to his young age. Here we see him to study in the school, his study in the college, see the development of his character, development of his thought, his intellectual development etc. All the things are well arranged. So, chronological order an element of an autobiographical novel is also present in the novel.