Stephen Dedalus is the main character of the novel, as well as the protagonist. The work starts out when Stephen is about three years of age, and Joyce does an excellent job of describing the experience of growing up to the reader by taking us into the mind of Stephen Dedalus through a literary technique called “stream of consciousness.” Stephen constantly detaches himself from others throughout his childhood. Sexual urges are a large problem for Stephen because he assumes he is the only boy feeling them. This only causes him to feel more distanced and outcast. Because Stephen is so shy and isolated, people believe that he is egotistical and arrogant, a mistake made all too frequently in our society. This makes it e

Stephen has persistent feelings for a girl named Eileen, but the idea of them being together is frowned upon by his family, which upsets Stephen. This obstacle is similar to a situation in another work, Dante’s Inferno, by Dante Alighieri. In Dante’s real life, his love is also out of reach. He is in love with a girl named Beatrice but cannot realize this love due to his betrothal to another woman. Beatrice dies prematurely at the young age of twenty-five, and this inspires Alighieri to write Inferno. Inferno is a story about Dante’s a brief period in his life when he lost sight of his moral principles, and turns to his faith in order to get him back on the correct path. The great poet Virgil guides Dante through hell, as a wish from Beatrice who is currently in heaven, and hopes for Dante to correct his ways so that they can be together again.

This may by why Stephen has his first sexual experience with a prostitute. In the prostitute he saw a multifaceted personality that held many benefits for him. He found the temporary security that she could give him, like his mother. He also saw his childhood love of Eileen in the youthfulness of the prostitute, represented by the stuffed animal lying next to her bed. In this prostitute, he could temporarily escape reality, and become an unconscious child again. This escape from reality into the unconscious is present in The Inferno as well. The Inferno is a three-day trip into the unconscious, through hell. The only difference is that Dante’s subconscious is an awakening or a revelation meant to correct his errors. Stephen’s subconscious is an attempt to escape from his responsibilities.

Virgil relates to both The Inferno, and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. He is a fearless character, who guides Dante through hell. When Dante is hesitant, Virgil reassures him that everything will be all right. Stephen searches for this guidance in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and finds it only in his mother. As a grown man he can no longer look to his mother for reassurance, and must search in himself for it, and finds it in his true vocation as an artist.

Stephen, throughout th

Some topics in this essay:
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