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A Portrait...

The document summarizes Stephen Dedalus' aesthetic theory as presented in James Joyce's novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". Stephen believes that beauty and truth are closely related. He defines aesthetic emotion as static, arising the mind above desire and loathing. For Stephen, true art stands alone as non-didactic and non-pornographic. He believes a work must express beauty through wholeness, harmony and radiance in order to appeal to all. Stephen's views conclude that the artist, like God, remains beyond their work.

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135 views1 page

A Portrait...

The document summarizes Stephen Dedalus' aesthetic theory as presented in James Joyce's novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". Stephen believes that beauty and truth are closely related. He defines aesthetic emotion as static, arising the mind above desire and loathing. For Stephen, true art stands alone as non-didactic and non-pornographic. He believes a work must express beauty through wholeness, harmony and radiance in order to appeal to all. Stephen's views conclude that the artist, like God, remains beyond their work.

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Write a note on the aesthetic doctrine that Joyce presents in his novel “A Portrait of the

Artist as a Youngman” .
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Youngman” is an autobiographical novel of James Joyce. It deals
with the growth of an artist Stephan Dedalus, and alter-ego of Joyce and the central character
of the novel . The last chapter of a novel reflects Stephen's concept of aesthetics . According to
him beautiful and the truth are closely interrelated. "Truth is beheld by the intellect which is
appeased by the most satisfying relations of the sensible". He further said that it is not
essential here that a beautiful thing would appear beautiful to everyone . It may not seem
beautiful to any of the beholder .
Stephan began his aesthetic theory with definitions of the
feelings of pity and terror that had been left undefined by Aristotle. He used the word "arrest"
to define his aesthetic theory. To him tragic emotion is static . While pity is associated with the
"human sufferer", terror is with the cause of suffering. Like tragic emotions aesthetic emotion
is also static .The mind is arrested and raised above desire and loathing . For Stephen true art
stands alone . Kinetic art whether it is moral or immoral is not good because it is connected
with something and it excites desire. Stephen's approach to art is formalistic. He believed in
the theory of art for art's sake. His rejection of pornography is as comprehensive as his
rejection of the didactic.
Stephen agreed with the view that art should deal with beauty.
According to him beauty expressed by the artist cannot raise emotion which is kinetic or a
sensation which is purely physical. It must awake an aesthetic senses and ideal pity for an ideal
terror. There is no question against Stephen's view that art should express beauty. He said if
any artistic work contained wholeness, harmony and radiance, it would appeal to everyone as
beautiful. Integritas (Wholeness) is comprehending something as complete or one.
Consonantia (harmony) is understanding something as a thing that is the harmony among all
those that are complex, multiple and divisible. Claritas (Radiance) deals with the "whatness of
something". Stephen thought that all these must be felt by an artist before the creation of any
work.
There is a scene in the novel that is considered to be pornographical and it is while
Stephen meets a prostitute. But Joyce did not leave it as unrestrained treatment of sex as he
presented it as an event that helped him to have uplifting effect in his character.
Stephen's views on aesthetic theory concludes with his saying that
personality of the artist finally refined itself out of existence .According to him the artist like
the God of creation remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork.

PRASUN GHOSH (NSOU ENGLISH TUTOR) call /whatsapp 8371960306

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