In the story, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, written by
James Joyce, the main character Stephen Dedalus has many encounters with
women. Women and sexuality are major influences on Stephen's adolescent
life. Another major factor that has an influence on Stephen's life is the
Church. Women and sexuality conflict with the Church and its beliefs, and
that is one of Stephen's major problems thus far. Stephen is having a very
big identity crisis, from being a God fearing Catholic to a very hormonal
teenager.
As Stephen sits at the "adults" dinner table for the first time,
his father, Mr. Casey and Dante are fighting about religion and politics in
Ireland. As they are arguing, Stephen's train of thought leads him to think
about Eileen. Eileen Vance was the little girl that Stephen wanted to marry
when he was younger. She is described to have ivory hands and golden hair,
which confuses Stephen with the phrases, "Tower of Ivory" and "House of
Gold" which is part of the Roman Catholic Litany of Our Lady.
Private Stephen Wallace and others of Princess Pat...
Stephen Fry - Rehearsals at NorCaT
Stephen Marley @ Catalyst (Feb 19, 2009)Later when
Stephen is at school, he again thinks about Eileen. Stephen gets his first
sensual experience from Eileen when she puts her hand into his pocket and
touches his hand. Stephen gets quite confused with the terms of the Litany
of Our Lady so he starts to associate the "Tower of Ivory" and "House of
Gold" to Eileen. The way James Joyce describes the scene, "She had put her
hand into his pocket where his hand was and he had felt how cool and thina
and soft her hand was."(43) gives the reader the idea that Stephen enjoyed
the feeling. The only problem with Eileen was that she was a Protestant and
Stephen was a Catholic. Stephen also associates women with...