A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man
by James Joyce
Chapter 3 Presentation
By: Mackenzie Gomes
Joey Prete
Max Schoenberger
Michele Moscatelli
Drew Lussenden
Alex Visser
Monica Eslamian
Austin Baker
Chapter 3 Summary
o
o
Stephen is unable to concentrate on math questions in
his class because he focuses more on what he'd like to
eat and to return to the brothels. Stephen recalls a
phrase by saint James causing to think of all the sins
he's committed and how it had sprouted from his first
sin of lust. Later that day a rector came to announce a
three day retreat from Wednesday through Friday.
Father Arnall starts off by reading a verse from the
book of Ecclesiastes. As he speaks Stephen recalls
moments from Clongowes including his time in the
infirmary. Then Father Arnall explains the purpose of
the retreat. Walking home, Stephen thinks about the
meal he just ate and feels himself becoming a beast.
Chapter 3 Summary (Continued)
o
o
The following day Stephen could only think about the
judgement on on his soul after death while walking to
school. He passed through a square and heard a young
girl's laugh, reminding him of Emma. He is ashamed of
corrupting her innocence and feels farther away from
God. Then he sees Virgin Mary reaching down and
joining him and Emma in loving union. As he hears the
rain on the chapel he senses another biblical flood.
At the service, Father Arnall speaks about all the times
mankind have displeased God. He moves on to the
physical pains and punishments in hell being very
detailed. Afterwards, Stephen walks back to his room
fearing the possibility of dying at any moment and he
envisions his soul in hell.
Chapter 3 Summary (Continued)
o During Stephen's English class a messenger announces that
confessions are being heard. Though he thinks about saving
himself from damnation, he decides not to go. The final day,
Father Arnall talks of the spiritual torments in hell. At the end he
has all the students pray with him. Stephen returns to his room
trying to ignore the voices of the devil's minions, his subconscious.
He visualizes his own personal hell and he knows now in order to
prevent it he must confess.
o In the evening, Stephen goes into the city. He asks an old lady
with an oil lamp about any chapels nearby. She gives him
directions and he notices upon arrival other people confessing
their sins. Fighting the urge to flee from his troubles and hide he
enters the confessional. After confessing all his sins the priest
made him promise not to sin with another again and forgave him
for his sins. Stephen felt he was given another life.
Indications of a Turning Point or
Climax for Stephen
After the second lecture of the sermon Stephen
realizes that there is still time for him to repent
and that he is not already doomed to an eternity
in hell.
"There was still time. ... O Virgin Undefiled, save
him f
rom the gulf of death!"
"...he would repent in his heart and be forgiven;
and then those above ... would see what he
would do to make up for the past..."
"O he would indeed to be free and sinless again."
Indications of a Turning Point or
Climax for Stephen
During Chapter 3 Stephen’s focus changes from
the physical to the non-physical. During the
first two chapters (chapter 1 especially)
Stephen focuses mostly on physical
sensations, such as cold water, being
pandied, or sleeping with hookers. After the
sermon Stephen develops a serious fear of
going to hell. This leads him to become much
more spiritual and focused on salvation. His
spirituality, however, does not last and
Stephen eventually commits himself to art.
Indications of a Turning Point or
Climax for Stephen (Continued)
An example of this change from physical to
non-physical is the encounters Stephen has
with women at the end of chapters 2 and 4.
When Stephen sleeps with a prostitute at
the end of chapter 2 he mainly focuses on
her body, specifically her lips. When he sees
the woman at the end of chapter 4,
although still noting her beauty, the feelings
he has are not sexual but instead trigger the
epiphany Stephen has at the end of chapter
4.
The Function of Chapter 3 in
Joyce's Chiasmic Structure
Chapter 3 is the center of the novel and
acts as a “mirror” between the two
halves. The Stephen that goes into
chapter 3 is not the same Stephen, so
to say, that comes out of chapter 3.
Chapter 3 begins with Stephen as a
sinner and worried about his future and
salvation, but, although certainly afraid
of God, is still not firmly religious.
Stephen comes out of chapter 3, after
confessing, as being strict with his
religious practices, not giving in to his
sinful temptations, and as the most
religious we'll see him during the novel.
The Function of Chapter 3 in
Joyce's Chiasmic Structure
(Continued)
In regards to the mirror aspect of
chapter 3, chapters 1 and 5, and 2
and 4 are both similar and opposite
in some respects. During chapter 2
Stephen is confused about his sexual
urges, and the chapter ends with
him sleeping with a prostitute.
During chapter 4 Stephen is
confused about whether the
priesthood is right for him, and the
chapter ends with him seeing a girl
on the beach and appreciating her
beauty esthetically instead of
sexually. Chapter 5 Stephen, being
a confident young man, is
practically the opposite of the
insecure Stephen we see at the
beginning of the novel. Chapters 1
and 5 both end with Stephen
requesting something from a father
The Function of Chapter 3 in
Joyce's Chiasmic Structure
(Continued)
In the middle of chapter 3 is the quote: “The preacher
took a chainless watch from a pocket within his soutane
and, having considered its dial for a moment in silence,
placed it silently before him on the table.” Perhaps it is
time that is the center of the chapter since, in addition
to several references to time throughout the chapter,
after the second lecture of the sermon Stephen begins
to realize (especially towards the end of the chapter)
that there is still time and that his life is not yet over,
and therefore there is still time to repent, whereas
before this Stephen felt hopeless.
"And life lay all before him."
What Are the Seven Deadly Sins?
1. Lust- sexual desire
2. Envy- wishing you had something you don't
3. Gluttony-excessive consumption of
something
4. Wrath-wanting to hurt someone
5. Sloth-giving in to the desire to do nothing
6.Pride- thinking you are better than you are
7. Greed- wishing you had more
Seven Deadly Sins Cont...
Stephen thinks that his first sin of getting with a
prostitute has led him to committing the other
6 deadly sins as well. This sin would be
considered lust. Another example of a sin he
violated was that of "envy" when he is kneeling
next to the people at church who he refers to
as "humble followers of Jesus (147)." He wishes
he could say this about himself and is therefore
envious of their devotion to God.
How Did Stephen Commit the Seven
Deadly Sins?
What Stephen says on page 114 exemplifies exactly
why he feels as if he has committed each sin.
"From the evil seed of lust all other deadly sins
had sprung forth: pride in himself and the
contempt of others, covetousness in using money
for the purchase of unlawful pleasure, envy of
those whose vices he could not reach to and
calumnious murmuring against the pious,
gluttonous enjoyment of food, the dull glowering
anger amid which he brooded upon his longing,
the swamp of spiritual and bodily sloth in which
his whole being had sunk."
Seven Deadly Sins Cont...
Stephen begins to see the connection between
each of the seven sins. After committing one
sin it becomes easier to submit to the
others. And once you start, it becomes
harder to control yourself. Over time, if one
doesn't change their ways, the sins begin to
pile up on each other until it feels too
unbearable. Stephen begins to feel such a
burden and is tormented by it throughout
the chapter.
Seven Deadly Sins Cont...
Because of his violation of so many sins,
Stephen believes he is going to hell and has
horrible dreams about this future
experience. His guilt leads him to confess to
the priest; when confessing he mentions
"sins of anger, envy of others, gluttony,
vanity, disobedience (150)," and a few more
of the deadly sins as the priest continues to
ask him if there is "anything else?"
Methods that Stephen Uses to Try to
Avoid Guilt and/or Punishment
In Chapter 3,Stephen experiences and
overwhelming amount of guilt for the sins he
has committed, all of which he believes,
have branched from his sexual escapades
with a prostitute. His guilt becomes even
more profound after he attends the Sermon
led by Father about destination and hell,
which only worries Stephen further, because
he feels he is destined for hell.
Methods that Stephen Uses to Try to
Avoid Guilt and/or Punishment (continued)
Later, when Stephen is back in his room, he
awakes from a nightmare about hell. In
response to his guilt, Stephen prays. "His
eyes were dimmed with tears and, looking
humbly up to heaven, he wept for the
innocence he had lost." (Page 145).
Methods that Stephen Uses to Try to
Avoid Guilt and/or Punishment (continued)
Stephen now awake and prayed, goes outside.
He finds the nearest confessional and
confesses his sins to the priest. He confesses
to his sexual relations and if offered
forgiveness. Overall, Stephen seeks
forgiveness for his sins, and in an effort to
not be sent to hell he begins to pray and
atone for his sins, ultimately taking his
religion much more seriously thus ridding
himself of feelings of guilt and avoiding
punishment.
Who is Thomas Aquinas and how
does he relate to the text?
During Stephen’s conversation with the dean,
he mentions his fondness of St. Thomas
Aquinas. Aquinas is a medieval catholic
theologian who created the three universal
qualities of beauty that Stephen relates to
when explaining his own theories. Stephen
talks about the three things needed for
beauty: wholeness, harmony, and radiance.
Thomas Aquinas Explanation
Wholeness is the way in which a person’s mind
views an object, harmony is the way the mind
takes an object and separates it into individual
components, and radiance is the supreme
quality in which an object is seen for what it is;
unique. These three aspects are what artists
see and use when analyzing their own work.
Stephen bases his theory and steps regarding
beauty on his own esthetic theory as well as the
work of Thomas Aquinas.
Stephen's fall from grace,
repentance, and redemption
Throughout the book there is a common cycle
of Stephen's actions; starting with him
committing a sin, regretting it, and then
seeking and asking for redemption. This
cycle is most demonstrated in this chapter.
On page 75 Stephen realizes the meaning
behind a Saint James sentence stating once
one deadly sin is committed, you become
guilty of all which he confessing in the quote
stated in the earlier slide on the 7 deadly
sins.
Stephen's fall from grace,
repentance, and redemption cont...
From the quote, it is clear that Stephen has
identified with his wrong doings but when it
came time to revisit them, he no desire to
remember anything.
"He could not summon them to his memory.
He felt only an ache of soul and body, his
whole being, memory, will, understanding,
flesh, benumbed and weary" (97).
This quote is one example of Stephen's regret
he holds towards his previous actions.
Stephen's fall from grace,
repentance, and redemption cont...
The final stage on Stephen's cycle is his
redemption. After his vision of hell Stephen
is driven to go to confession and tell
everything he has done.
He starts: "Sorry! Sorry! O Sorry!," and upon
finishing he feels his "soul was made fair and
holy once more, holy and happy."
Stephen's fall from grace,
repentance, and redemption cont...
The significance of Stephen's redemption is
that, in a way, he took the easy way out.
Rather than staying with his priest he goes
into the city and finds a local church and
confesses to an older priest. Though Stephen
feels like he has been given a new life, he
made a commitment to the church that he
has never really had before which signifies
his naive understanding of the religion, but
also signals a change.
Dante’s Inferno and Stephen
Dedalus
Dante and Stephen both took trips descending into
“Hell”. Each trip was three days in length. Dante
descended into real Hell, whereas Stephens Hell was
the three trip he took with his school. Each had to
venture to the deepest sections of Hell to be able to
return pure. At the beginning of the chapter Stephen
had conceded to being a sinner and felt no return to
holiness was possible. “What did it avail to pray when
he knew that his soul lusted after its own destruction?”
he had committed all the sins of incontinence (lust,
gluttony, avarice, prodigal, and being wrathful and
sullen) He lusted after whores and ate too much. He
had contempt for his fellow man, believing he was
superior. His pride in himself developed into hubris.
Dante’s Inferno and Stephen Dedalus
cont.
The descent into Hell for Stephen begins when Father
Arnall describes Hell in great detail evoking much fear
into Stephen. “The fire in Hell is boundless”, and is
filled with the stench of rotting bodies. This newfound
fear begins to torture Stephens conscience "His flesh
shrank together as if it felt the approach of the
ravenous tongues of flames." The torture is occurring
inside Stephen; this drives him to accept god as the
almighty from which he can reach paradise just like
Dante. He is granted “Another life! A life of grace and
virtue and happiness!”
Sensory descriptions
The way Stephen uses description in chapter 3 helps
to convey his views and feelings. The words “dull” and
“pale” are repeated many times throughout section.
His perception of what is around him currently is never
colorful. He finds the world around him boring and is
miserable. “The light laughter of a girl reached his
burning ear” depicts his struggle between lust and
holiness. As the voice of the father spoke his “voice
fell like sweet rain upon his quaking parching heart.”
Now that Stephen has been purified his outlook of the
world around him is not with contempt but with
revelry.
The Biblical story of Jonah
Stephen goes to a three-day retreat where he hears
sermons about Hell, he imagines what Hell would
sound, smell, taste, and feel like. During these three
days, Stephen views himself in his own personal
version of Hell, undergoing physical, spiritual, and
mental anguish. This chapter parallels the story of
Jonah in the Bible, who was stuck within the belly of a
whale for three days until he repented of his
disobedience and was then freed. Stephen is trapped
in Hell until he repents of his sins after three days of
suffering, and through confession he begins to fly free
from condemnation.
The descent of Christ into Hell
After Stephen's three day retreat to his
own personal Hell, he confesses his sins and
in a sense is rebirthed. In the Bible, when
Christ was crucified, he took on the sins of
humans and went to Hell for it. After three
says he was resurrected and reborn.
Quiz
1. What was the old lady holding when
Stephen asked for directions at the end of
the chapter?
a) a watch
b) an oil lamp
c) a bible
d) a journal
2. True/False: Stephen Confessed with Father
Arnall.
3. What was the biggest emphasis on in the
chapter?
a) time
b) heaven
c) women
d) childhood
4. Which of the deadly sins did Stephen
commit first?
5.
Which of the 7 deadly sins does this
picture portray?
6. What ultimately drives Stephen to go
confess?
a) a talk with a prostitute
b) a dream of Hell
c) a car
d) a meeting with Father Arnall
7. Fill in the blank: "The preacher took a
___________ ______ from a pocket within
his soutane..."
8. What are Thomas Aqunias' three universal
qualities?
9. According to the chapter how many days
was Stephen in Hell?
10. What was Stephen's biggest realization in
the chapter?
Key
1. b
2. False
3. a
4. lust
5. gluttony
6. b
7. chainless watch
8. wholeness, harmony, and radiance
9. 3
10. he still had time to repent