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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 4, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Epiphany:
The concept of Joycean epiphany appears at crucial moments in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. According to Joyce, an epiphany is a visionary moment of understanding. Epiphanies often change the course of his characters' lives, and Stephen is no exception. In Chapter 4, Part 2, music inspires an epiphany about the connection between Stephen's soul and body:
The music passed in an instant, as the first bars of sudden music always did, over the fantastic fabrics of his mind, dissolving them painlessly and noiselessly as a sudden wave dissolves the sandbuilt turrets of children [...]. At once from every part of his being unrest began to irradiate. A feverish quickening of his pulses followed and a din of meaningless words drove his reasoned thoughts hither and thither confusedly. His lungs dilated and sank as if he were inhaling a warm moist unsustaining air [...]
For some unspecified reason, a few simple bars of music from a passing quartette inspires Stephen's first epiphany. He realizes that "a grave and ordered and passionless life" awaits him at the Jesuit college. His body seems to rebel against the thought of further suppression; he radiates unrest, his pulse quickens, and his lungs dilate. Stephen subsequently decides to refuse the dean's offer and pursue art rather than religion.
In Chapter 4, Part 3, Stephen has an epiphany about Daedalus:
Was [the flying form] a symbol of the artist forging anew in his workshop out of the sluggish matter of the earth a new soaring impalpable being? … His soul was soaring in an air beyond the world and the body he knew was purified in a breath and delivered of incertitude and made radiant and commingled with the element of the spirit.
Here, Stephen sees a flying shape over the city; soon afterward he sees a bird-like girl wading in the sea. Overcome by the beauty of both the flying form and the bird-girl, he experiences a connection between soul and body. His subsequent epiphany about beauty, nature, emotion, intuition, and art allows him to transcend his strict regimen of religious devotion. Stephen's last name is "Dedalus" (after the mythological inventor Daedalus who created wings of wax and feathers to help his son escape King Minos). Words like "soaring," "purified," and "radiant" evoke an ecstatic, quasi-religious experience while calling to mind the initially-ecstatic escape of Daedalus and his son.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4, Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Bridges :
Bridges appear as a recurring motif in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. This motif supports the story's theme of growing up and transitioning or crossing over into new phases of life. When characters cross bridges, they undergo some emotional shift; when they avoid bridges, they seem more sure of themselves. In Chapter 5, Part 1, Stephen and Lynch discuss the meaning of art and seem to deliberately avoid crossing a bridge.
— We are right — he said — and the others are wrong. They had reached the canal bridge and, turning from their course, went on by the trees.
The fact that Lynch and Stephen reach the bridge and "turn from their course" shows that they (and Lynch in particular) believe in the truth of their words; they are no longer crossing over into new discoveries but rather hammering out the definition of beauty and artistry and believing that "[they] are right."
By contrast, in Chapter 4, Part 3, a rickety bridge mirrors Stephen's uncertainty and self-consciousness:
He turned seaward [...] and as he passed on to the thin wooden bridge he felt the planks shaking with the tramp of heavily shod feet. A squad of Christian Brothers was on its way back from the Bull and had begun to pass, two by two, across the bridge. Soon the whole bridge was trembling and resounding. The uncouth faces passed him two by two, stained yellow or red or livid by the sea, and as he strove to look at them with ease and indifference, a faint stain of personal shame and commiseration rose to his own face.
Here, the "trembling" bridge recalls Stephen's faulty façade. He tries to convey "ease and indifference" but begins to take on a look of "shame and commiseration." He struggles to maintain his sense of superiority over other people. Throughout the novel, the motif of bridges reminds the reader of Stephen's journey toward (and partial achievement of) self-discovery or knowledge.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Epiphany:
The concept of Joycean epiphany appears at crucial moments in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. According to Joyce, an epiphany is a visionary moment of understanding. Epiphanies often change the course of his characters' lives, and Stephen is no exception. In Chapter 4, Part 2, music inspires an epiphany about the connection between Stephen's soul and body:
The music passed in an instant, as the first bars of sudden music always did, over the fantastic fabrics of his mind, dissolving them painlessly and noiselessly as a sudden wave dissolves the sandbuilt turrets of children [...]. At once from every part of his being unrest began to irradiate. A feverish quickening of his pulses followed and a din of meaningless words drove his reasoned thoughts hither and thither confusedly. His lungs dilated and sank as if he were inhaling a warm moist unsustaining air [...]
For some unspecified reason, a few simple bars of music from a passing quartette inspires Stephen's first epiphany. He realizes that "a grave and ordered and passionless life" awaits him at the Jesuit college. His body seems to rebel against the thought of further suppression; he radiates unrest, his pulse quickens, and his lungs dilate. Stephen subsequently decides to refuse the dean's offer and pursue art rather than religion.
In Chapter 4, Part 3, Stephen has an epiphany about Daedalus:
Was [the flying form] a symbol of the artist forging anew in his workshop out of the sluggish matter of the earth a new soaring impalpable being? … His soul was soaring in an air beyond the world and the body he knew was purified in a breath and delivered of incertitude and made radiant and commingled with the element of the spirit.
Here, Stephen sees a flying shape over the city; soon afterward he sees a bird-like girl wading in the sea. Overcome by the beauty of both the flying form and the bird-girl, he experiences a connection between soul and body. His subsequent epiphany about beauty, nature, emotion, intuition, and art allows him to transcend his strict regimen of religious devotion. Stephen's last name is "Dedalus" (after the mythological inventor Daedalus who created wings of wax and feathers to help his son escape King Minos). Words like "soaring," "purified," and "radiant" evoke an ecstatic, quasi-religious experience while calling to mind the initially-ecstatic escape of Daedalus and his son.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5, Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—Bridges :
Bridges appear as a recurring motif in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. This motif supports the story's theme of growing up and transitioning or crossing over into new phases of life. When characters cross bridges, they undergo some emotional shift; when they avoid bridges, they seem more sure of themselves. In Chapter 5, Part 1, Stephen and Lynch discuss the meaning of art and seem to deliberately avoid crossing a bridge.
— We are right — he said — and the others are wrong. They had reached the canal bridge and, turning from their course, went on by the trees.
The fact that Lynch and Stephen reach the bridge and "turn from their course" shows that they (and Lynch in particular) believe in the truth of their words; they are no longer crossing over into new discoveries but rather hammering out the definition of beauty and artistry and believing that "[they] are right."
By contrast, in Chapter 4, Part 3, a rickety bridge mirrors Stephen's uncertainty and self-consciousness:
He turned seaward [...] and as he passed on to the thin wooden bridge he felt the planks shaking with the tramp of heavily shod feet. A squad of Christian Brothers was on its way back from the Bull and had begun to pass, two by two, across the bridge. Soon the whole bridge was trembling and resounding. The uncouth faces passed him two by two, stained yellow or red or livid by the sea, and as he strove to look at them with ease and indifference, a faint stain of personal shame and commiseration rose to his own face.
Here, the "trembling" bridge recalls Stephen's faulty façade. He tries to convey "ease and indifference" but begins to take on a look of "shame and commiseration." He struggles to maintain his sense of superiority over other people. Throughout the novel, the motif of bridges reminds the reader of Stephen's journey toward (and partial achievement of) self-discovery or knowledge.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Music:
The motif of music recurs throughout A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It often symbolizes beauty. Sometimes it serves to remind a character of physical reality. In the context of Stephen's religious devotion in Chapter 5, Part 3, it seems sinful and indulgent:
The soft beauty of the Latin word touched with an enchanting touch the dark of the evening, with a touch fainter and more persuading than the touch of music or of a woman’s hand.
Here, Latin words are compared to music and women. In the context of the novel (or, perhaps, in the context of Stephen's religious upbringing), music and women have the potential to lead people to sin. But music ultimately helps Stephen achieve self-knowledge and a peaceful union between body and soul. In Chapter 5, Part 2, the narrator compares Stephen's soulful bliss to the experience of listening to music:
Towards dawn he awoke. O what sweet music! His soul was all dewy wet. Over his limbs in sleep pale cool waves of light had passed. He lay still, as if his soul lay amid cool waters, conscious of faint sweet music.
This bliss is the culmination of his epiphany at the director's office when he hears a strain of music that reminds him of the beauty of physical reality and the connection of body and soul. The music seems to continue; he hears it even though it is not clear whether it is immediately present. In general, the motif of music serves to remind the reader of beauty, mystery, physicality, and the importance of intuition. In moments of transition, it signifies a relaxation of boundaries between Stephen and the world around him. It also helps him reconnect with his artistic nature.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5, Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Birds:
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, birds are often associated with changes, journeys, or gods. This motif also reminds the reader of Stephen's lofty aspirations. In Chapter 5, Part 3, Stephen observes a flock of birds:
They came back with shrill cries over the jutting shoulder of the house, flying darkly against the fading air. What birds were they? He thought that they must be swallows who had come back from the south. Then he was to go away? For they were birds ever going and coming, building ever an unlasting home under the eaves of men’s houses and ever leaving the homes they had built to wander.
Their "unlasting home" clashes with Stephen's wish to create something everlasting. He does not simply want to "come and go" like a bird; he desires artistic immortality. However, Stephen does resemble a bird in that he also desires freedom. Thus, this motif serves to support a range of themes including evanescence, freedom, and loftiness. It also subtly alludes to the myth of Icarus, who flies on feathered wings before plunging to his death into the sea. In the ancient world, some people believed in augury (divination by the flight patterns of birds). Stephen implicitly references this practice when he searches for meaning in his observation of birds.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Music:
The motif of music recurs throughout A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It often symbolizes beauty. Sometimes it serves to remind a character of physical reality. In the context of Stephen's religious devotion in Chapter 5, Part 3, it seems sinful and indulgent:
The soft beauty of the Latin word touched with an enchanting touch the dark of the evening, with a touch fainter and more persuading than the touch of music or of a woman’s hand.
Here, Latin words are compared to music and women. In the context of the novel (or, perhaps, in the context of Stephen's religious upbringing), music and women have the potential to lead people to sin. But music ultimately helps Stephen achieve self-knowledge and a peaceful union between body and soul. In Chapter 5, Part 2, the narrator compares Stephen's soulful bliss to the experience of listening to music:
Towards dawn he awoke. O what sweet music! His soul was all dewy wet. Over his limbs in sleep pale cool waves of light had passed. He lay still, as if his soul lay amid cool waters, conscious of faint sweet music.
This bliss is the culmination of his epiphany at the director's office when he hears a strain of music that reminds him of the beauty of physical reality and the connection of body and soul. The music seems to continue; he hears it even though it is not clear whether it is immediately present. In general, the motif of music serves to remind the reader of beauty, mystery, physicality, and the importance of intuition. In moments of transition, it signifies a relaxation of boundaries between Stephen and the world around him. It also helps him reconnect with his artistic nature.
Related Themes:
