Friday, April 4, 2008

Psychoanalytical View of Stephen Dedalus

In chapter 3, the priest that Stephen confesses to is an interesting character. He does not preach of fire and brimstone and is not a father figure although he is literally called father. He is forgiving unlike the other father figures [that Stephen encounters]. If anything, his forgiving nature resembles that of his mother. One can psychoanalytically interpret Stephen's obedience toward the priest as his own affection and obedience toward his mother. In a way, this might suggest Stephen's homosexuality and preference to his feminine side. To Stephen, religion is his new comfort zone and, in essence, is his [metaphorical] womb. However, he learns that religion restricts him and he has more opportunity outside of the metaphorical womb than within it.

1 comment:

baoxer said...

This notebook entry in particular was interesting for me because I looked at the story from a completely different perspective, one that I am normally not very used to. However, it brought up some good points that would otherwise be overlooked.