Examining Stephen's Epiphany

The epiphany Stephen has at the end of chapter 4 is important since it kickstarts Stephen's development as an artist and leads to the Stephen we see in chapter 5. Therefore, I thought it would be useful to carefully analyze the moment Stephen's see the woman at the beach, especially with the knowledge we have from finishing the book. Just before Stephen sees the woman he notes how alone and free Stephen feels. "He was alone and young and wilful and wildhearted" (185). I didn't notice it at first, but this is the ideal state Stephen believes the artist should be -- detached and free from soceity's constraints. 

And then Stephen see the woman. He notes that she was "alone and still, gazing out to the sea" (185). I think part of the reason the woman drew Stephen's attention was because she was alone. Throughout, Portrait, Stephen has always been a little detached from others whether that be through his desire to cultivate a brooding persona or because he's at a new school. I think that perhaps, Stephen views the woman as a model which he should strive to be. Stephen doesn't want to be like his childish friends who play around on the beach but rather wants to be like the lone woman wading in the water. Also, the fact that the woman is looking at the sea instead of into Dublin could symbolized Stephen's desire to get out from the constraints of Ireland. In addition, the woman is described as a "strange and beautiful seabird" and Joyce evokes other bird references, such as the "dovetailed" skirts. The bird imagery fits with the idea of escape and flight. According to Stephen, he wants to escape the cultural constraints of Dublin and his religion which fits with the bird imagery. In addition, birds when they're flying, are detached from the land but, as a result, gain a larger and more cohesive view of the world from their position. In that sense, the imagery of the bird meshes perfectly with Stephen's theory that by being detached the artist becomes better at representing people. 

Also, when Stephen's refers to Emma on page 235 he asks, "Her heart simple and wilful as a bird's heart?" which might connect the birdlike woman on the beach with Emma. Indeed, the encounter with the woman at the beach seems like something straight out of teenage Stephen's dreams. Stephen literally runs into a girl at the beach and he passively has an epiphany. Perhaps, that connection to Stephen's past makes this encounter even more personal and meaningful to Stephen. I'm a little unsure if there's any connection to Emma and what that connection would be (Other than that both women are treated by Stephen more as a concept or symbol than as a person. Also, just a thought, but perhaps the woman at the beach works as a "better" symbol because Stephen doesn't know her and is detached from her, whereas Stephen is directly effected by Emma's actions which doesn't allow him to be perfectly unbiased toward her). 

Stephen then begins to to describe his epiphany in more religious terms. He described the woman as "a wild angel" and Stephen describes how his soul reacts (186). The religious terms could be a reference to how although Stephen may be detached from his culture it still influences him through his language and world view. He's still Irish and Stephen's religious background doesn't just disappear. Also, when the woman is described as an angel, the entire encounter feels a lot more biblical. An angel appears to Stephen and as a result Stephen gets an epiphany and a calling to the vocation of being an artist. Perhaps, this is another way Stephen's religious background never leaves him. I'm still a little unsure about the meaning of biblical atmosphere of this scene however. I feel like it adds a bit of drama to the scene which you could regard as ironic depending on your view on how legitimate Stephen's epiphany is. After rereading the paragraph, I noted Joyce's word choice. The woman's eyes called Stephen "to live, to err, to fall, to triumph" (185). The woman is a "wild" angel. She would "throw open before him in an instant of ecstasy the gates of all the ways of error and glory" (185). I found it interesting how even though the woman is called an angel she doesn't represent how Stephen should be holy and never sin. In fact, the angel represents how Stephen would fall and succeed. I thought there also might have been something Milton like in the description of the woman as an angel. "error and glory" are two things I associate with Satan and the fall in "to live, to err, to fall, to triumph" evokes Milton. Perhaps, this is another way that Stephen steps beyond the restrictions of the church and religion in Ireland, and because of his detachment is able to portray religion in a different light.