A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

The novel follows the journey of Stephen Dedalus, a young man grappling with his religious upbringing and cultural constraints in early 20th-century Ireland. As he navigates his intellectual and artistic awakening, Stephen ultimately rejects the Catholic and Irish conventions of his youth, leading to his decision to self-exile to Europe. This Künstlerroman showcases Joyce's innovative narrative techniques, which he further explores in his later masterpieces, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.