Art in a Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man The philosophy of art of Stephen Dedalus, expressed in his discussion with Lynch at chapter five, seems essentially romantic, but yet the novel is written in a very realistic mode typical of the 20th century. This apparent inconsistency can direct us towards a way of interpreting this novel. Dedalus's idea of ​​art may be romantic, but because his world is no longer that of the romantics, he must see art more as a fundamental validation of his own being than as the communication of a particular vision. Two aspects of romanticism appear in this analysis of the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. First, the Romantics' defining belief in a connection between the human spirit and a higher purpose, and their belief in the ability of art to serve as a vehicle for connecting the human with the divine, constitutes the philosophical foundation of aesthetic theory of Dedalus. Secondly, however, the Romantics also believed that they communicated with the words of the people, with the hearts of the people, and Dedalus can't quite believe that he could do that. He feels incoherently that communicating the romantic vision to a modern world is impossible. Therefore, Dedalus's difficult maturity as an artist, and perhaps Joyce's, records the essentially Romantic and Platonic soul, struggling to emerge from the oppressive realities of the ordinary world. world. The Platonic soul must reject this world because it is not divine, just as the Romantics rejected the scientific worldview of the Enlightenment. But while the Romantics of Worth's day may have believed that their role was to communicate this truth to "the people" through poetry, Stephen Dedalus can only withdraw from the world into an abstruse theory, or a middle of paper. .. religion, its politics, its poverty, its people. Conclusion So, when Dedalus finally declares his break with all his education, it is for this reason: his romantic soul does not agree very well with his realistic understanding of the world. Since he cannot believe, as Worth did, that the spiritually hungry masses were awaiting his declaration of a Great Vision, he does the only thing he can - he withdraws: I will not serve that in which I no longer believe in calling it my home, my homeland or my church: and I will try to express myself in a way of life or art as freely as possible and as completely as possible, using in my defense the only weapons that I allow myself to use; silence, exile and trickery. (247) Works Cited: Joyce, James. A portrait of the artist as a young man. New York: New American Library, 1991.