「죽은 사람들」 속 젊은 예술가의 초상

The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in "The Dead": Joyce's Meta-Perspectives on Art

This study aims to stipulate how Gabriel in “The Dead” by James Joyce creates the images of the party, females, and himself as a young artist. Above all, Gabriel defines the party in his aunts' house as a form of hospitality, and he goes on to artistically describe the women he sees at the party. For example, he regards the female hosts as the Three Graces, which are historically main objects of art. In addition, Gabriel makes his wife, Gretta, an abstraction of art and colors her mentality with his own imagination. Although he believes that “literature is above politics,” in actuality, the women’s silence in the text reveal that literature is part of politics, and it is difficult to clearly distinguish one from the other. In this way, Joyce shows us what Gabriel thinks, what he says, and what he believes in relation to art. As a young artist, Gabriel is stimulated to mentally create the images of the women surrounding him, and while attacked by them, he tries to arm himself with “generosity,” one of the traditional virtues of the Irish people. Gabriel’s changing perspectives on snow convey his process of mental growth. Snow, as an artistic symbol, which initially represented subconsciousness, death, or mental suppression, later functions as an objective correlative of generosity, love, and tolerance. However, Gabriel’s mental growth is seen as limited and momentary due to his frequent habitual tendency for generosity. Gabriel tries to provide the Irish people with a way to overcome the reality, which is full of conflicts by means of art. However, his efforts tend to be limited due to his repeated hiding behind the mask of generosity. In this way, Gabriel's consciousness carries Joyce's meta-perspectives on art. Thus, we are able to access Joyce's views on art through this portrait of the artist as a young man.