A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man contains a range of styles. The first chapter begins with a sing-songy sentence that sounds like the start of a fable:
Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo....
Simple language and repetition create a rhythmic yet nonsensical introduction to the novel. Neologisms like "moocow" and "tuckoo" evoke the babbling voice of a baby. In just a few pages, the narrator conveys the intellectual and sensory wonderments of childhood.
But the style soon shifts. Joyce's artistry (and prosaic complexity) reflects Stephen's maturity. As Stephen develops, so too does the prose. The last chapter stands in stark contrast to the first one, as it contains the novel's most beautiful prose. As Stephen develops his definitions of beauty and art, Joyce's prose becomes increasingly complex and abstract. In Chapter 5, Part 1, the narrator says of Stephen that:
His mind when wearied of its search for the essence of beauty amid the spectral words of Aristotle or Aquinas turned often for its pleasure to the dainty songs of the Elizabethans. His mind, in the vesture of a doubting monk, stood often in shadow under the windows of that age [...]
This paragraph, like many others in Chapter 5, overflows with descriptive adjectives, historical references, and philosophical names. By creating such stark stylistic contrast between the first and last chapters, Joyce crafts a portrait of the artist from youth to young adulthood. He also uses style to emphasize the novel's thematic juxtaposition of innocence and experience.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man contains a range of styles. The first chapter begins with a sing-songy sentence that sounds like the start of a fable:
Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo....
Simple language and repetition create a rhythmic yet nonsensical introduction to the novel. Neologisms like "moocow" and "tuckoo" evoke the babbling voice of a baby. In just a few pages, the narrator conveys the intellectual and sensory wonderments of childhood.
But the style soon shifts. Joyce's artistry (and prosaic complexity) reflects Stephen's maturity. As Stephen develops, so too does the prose. The last chapter stands in stark contrast to the first one, as it contains the novel's most beautiful prose. As Stephen develops his definitions of beauty and art, Joyce's prose becomes increasingly complex and abstract. In Chapter 5, Part 1, the narrator says of Stephen that:
His mind when wearied of its search for the essence of beauty amid the spectral words of Aristotle or Aquinas turned often for its pleasure to the dainty songs of the Elizabethans. His mind, in the vesture of a doubting monk, stood often in shadow under the windows of that age [...]
This paragraph, like many others in Chapter 5, overflows with descriptive adjectives, historical references, and philosophical names. By creating such stark stylistic contrast between the first and last chapters, Joyce crafts a portrait of the artist from youth to young adulthood. He also uses style to emphasize the novel's thematic juxtaposition of innocence and experience.
