Just a couple of questions

[LitGeek]

Hi,
I am a confused reader trying to make it through A Portratit of the Artist as a Young Man. So far i have read about 44 pages and i am slightly lost and have some symbolism questions and just general questions. So here it goes:

1. Can anybody tell me the Irish history of what is happening during the first part of the book. Who were Parnell and what was happening with the Catholics and their rivals?

2. Stephen Deadalus's name has symbolism (the martyr and the greek mythology man who made the labrynth and was the father of Icharis the boy who flew too close to the sun) what are the symbolisms of the other names...Dante...and his parents Simon and Mary. Do thier names have symbols too?

I guess that is all for now...I am sure that I will have questions later...but hey it is always helpful to understand what you are reading.

Thanks
LitGeek

[emily655321]

LitGeek, I haven't read this book yet, so I'm afraid I can't help you. But the Forum Book Club is reading Joyce in May, and so far Portrait is leading in the poll. If you'd like to postpone your reading and join us then, perhaps we can all stumble through it together. Right now, for April, we're reading The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner.

[Lambert]

In answer to your first question, Charles Stewart Parnell was one of the most famous Political leader in Irish history. Parnell was leader of the Home Rule party which wanted to give Ireland self-government, not full independence from Britain, but control of all internal Irish affairs. Parnell was very close to obtaining this after years of struggling and bargaining with the British government, but alas it was discovered he was having an affair with a married woman. As you can guess the Catholic church in Ireland was none too pleased and brought about his downfall. He died in Brighton shortly afterwards and his body was brought back to Ireland by ship i.e.:

"Parnell! Parnell! He is dead!"

Parnell was an extremely important figure in Irish history and does come up alot in Joyce's work.

[bre]

Dante was a corruption of Aunty. A woman called Mrs O'Riordan acted something like a governness to the infant JJ & that's what they called her. I don't think Simon is symbolic, but I think Mary or May Goulding was JJ's mother's real name.

[ranita]

hey, we are currently looking at the book this semester i have just read a few pages and i just dont understand anything at all may be i have to reread the sentences over and over again. but finding this web could be a great help for me

ranita

[B-Mental]

Ranita, Joyce is notorious for causing people similar hardships. One thing I truly believe is that the more you read of his style the more easily you can read it. It becomes esssential to read it in order to read other classics from Joyce.