Freedom through Figuration in A Portrait

Abstract

The action of Portrait consists of a process of changing identity that Stephen goes through in each chapter, a sequence of stages that works by reconstituting the linguistic formations that make up the shifting interplay of his volitions. At the start of each chapter, Stephen settles into a new role and believes that he fills the phrase that describes him: “Stephen Dedalus/Class of Elements…” (P 15). But he soon grows aware that he does not fit this phrase, so a threat arises that embodies the limitation of identity as the oppressive authority that defines roles. This paternal threat forces him to be displaced from the phrase that he has occupied and to set out in a new direction.