One character trait that has appeared again and again in Stephen is
his arrogance. Though present throughout what we have read so far, Stephen’s
sense of superiority has seemed to build throughout the novel. In Chapter One,
we barely see this side of Stephen. Though we do see moments where he sees
himself as above his peers and the school system, he is so overwhelmed and
isolated in nearly every scene that on the whole he comes across as innocent
and meek.
Stephen’s arrogance and sense of superiority build and become more
evident in chapters two and three. Over the course of Chapter Two, Stephen’s
sense of self-importance increases as he begins to see his life through the
lens of The Count of Monte Cristo with himself as the hero. Stephen
builds up a brooding, mysterious persona, spends hours wandering the streets in
search of a romantic encounter intended especially for him, and sees himself as
far more sophisticated and intellectually advanced than his classmates.
In Chapter Three, Stephen’s arrogance becomes deeply intertwined
with his feeling of having sinned beyond redemption. He sees himself as the
worst sinner that ever lived, and takes a kind of pride in this. In his mind,
he is superior for his act of rebellion (sinning and acknowledging his sin
without taking action to stop and ask for forgiveness) than those who truly
are, or pretend to be, virtuous.
A certain
pride, a certain awe, withheld him from offering to God even one prayer at
night though he knew it was in God’s power to take away his life while he slept
and hurl his soul hellward ere he could beg for mercy . . . on Sunday mornings
he glanced coldly at the worshippers who stood bareheaded, four deep, outside
the church, morally present at the mass which they could neither see nor hear.
(111)
To me, the most interesting thing about Stephen’s arrogance is the
possible implications it might have in light of his name. Though Dedalus,
Stephen’s last name, could be in reference to his developing identity as an
artist, the fact that his father shares the same name makes it possible to
think of Stephen in terms of Dedalus’s son Icarus. In Greek mythology, Dedalus
invented wings out of feathers and wax to allow himself and his son to escape
from the labyrinth containing the minotaur. Dedalus warned his son to be
careful not to fly to close to the sun, but Icarus dismissed his father’s
warnings, and flew increasingly higher. Eventually the wax holding his wings
together began to melt and, no longer able to fly, he plummeted into the ocean.
Stephen’s pride and arrogance reflects Icarus flying higher and
higher despite his father’s warnings, and throughout the first 3 chapters I
have been waiting for Stephen too to figuratively fall out of the sky. So far,
however, everything seems to be working out more-or-less ok for him. As we move
forward in the novel, I am curious to see if this connection will continue to
play out, and whether or not Stephen will meet a fate similar to that of
Icarus.
This was super interesting to read, considering that we are contemplating (tomorrow) whether Stephen aligns more with Icarus or Daedalus himself. I never really considered that hints concerning Stephen's connection to the myth would appear so early in the book. After reading the quote you included, however, I can definitely see how Stephen's arrogance translates into rebellion and thus fits in with Icarus. I'm kind of curious what you think now that we've reached the 'climax' of the book. Has he fallen out of the sky?
ReplyDeleteI agree that from early on Stephen seems to be following the path of either Icarus or Daedalus, especially as we get deeper into chapter five and Stephen himself realizes what his name could mean. I think as Stephen is going through that realization, it also becomes clear that though he aspires be like Daedalus, he has the same ambition that Icarus had. Though we haven't finished yet, given how chapter five has started I think Icarus seems like the more likely option even if the qualities of Icarus are not the ones that Stephen sees in himself.
ReplyDeleteI've just come from Jack's blog, where he had a similar post. I think your quite really solidifies your idea; Stephen seems quite a bit more like Icarus to me than Daedalus. His arrogance makes him prideful, and his arrogance could also be what's blinding him of the fact that he might actually be more of an Icarus figure than Daedalus.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Stephen is following the path of his name, and I think that Joyce definitely picked that name on purpose to give the reader a hint of that early on.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that it seems that Icarus is probably who we are supposed to be connecting Stephen with, more than Daedalus. I can imagine Joyce expecting us all to have deep knowledge of this specific mythology, because he doesn't seem to be too kind in giving away al the different culture references and literature allusions in the rest of the book. I'm looking at this post after we finished the novel, and I wonder now what moment it would be that he would fall out of the sky. Every epiphany was undermined, so wouldn't the big moment be him falling out of Dublin? the one time it wasn't undermined is when he flew away. Maybe he falls out of the sky over and over again and his final coming of age moment is when he finally got out of Dublin and established himself beyond his religion and country.
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