“You mustn’t look ... for the old stable ego of character. There is another ego, according to whose action the individual is unrecognizable.” (D. H. Lawrence) How did modernism re‐conceive character?
With the rise of modernism there came a huge change in the way characters were presented in works of literature. Up to this point the realist writers painted their characters in broad strokes, often using clichés and making people act in a different way to how a real person would behave in their situation. Modernists, on the other hand, stuck to psychological realism as closely as possible. The characters that they created were true to their social sphere, occupation and age, and the plot and narrative were dictated by their actions …show more content…
The scene, albeit mundane and trivial, is infused with Stephen’s anxiety for his first one-on-one conversation with an adult who is not a part of his family. The intense emotions of the protagonist can be felt even before the meeting: ‘It was dark and silent and his eyes were weak and tired with tears so that he could not see. But he thought they were the portraits of the saints and great men of the order who were looking down on him silently as he passed: saint Ignatius Loyola holding an open book and pointing to the words Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam in it; saint Francis Xavier pointing to his chest; Lorenzo Ricci with his berretta on his head like one of the prefects of the lines, the three patrons of holy youth – saint Stanislaus Kostka, saint Aloysius Gonzaga, and Blessed John Berchmans’ It is stated in the text that Stephen cannot clearly see the portraits in the darkness and that what he truly sees are images that his mind makes up. The fact that all of the portraits, which he conjures up, are of important saints shows that the protagonist views his upcoming meeting as a very important event and he is worried. The choice of words – ‘looking down on him’ – reveals Stephen’s anxiety and self-deprecation. He feels that he has taken a step too far and entered a too rarefied atmosphere where he does not belong and this contributes to his
With the rise of modernism there came a huge change in the way characters were presented in works of literature. Up to this point the realist writers painted their characters in broad strokes, often using clichés and making people act in a different way to how a real person would behave in their situation. Modernists, on the other hand, stuck to psychological realism as closely as possible. The characters that they created were true to their social sphere, occupation and age, and the plot and narrative were dictated by their actions …show more content…
The scene, albeit mundane and trivial, is infused with Stephen’s anxiety for his first one-on-one conversation with an adult who is not a part of his family. The intense emotions of the protagonist can be felt even before the meeting: ‘It was dark and silent and his eyes were weak and tired with tears so that he could not see. But he thought they were the portraits of the saints and great men of the order who were looking down on him silently as he passed: saint Ignatius Loyola holding an open book and pointing to the words Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam in it; saint Francis Xavier pointing to his chest; Lorenzo Ricci with his berretta on his head like one of the prefects of the lines, the three patrons of holy youth – saint Stanislaus Kostka, saint Aloysius Gonzaga, and Blessed John Berchmans’ It is stated in the text that Stephen cannot clearly see the portraits in the darkness and that what he truly sees are images that his mind makes up. The fact that all of the portraits, which he conjures up, are of important saints shows that the protagonist views his upcoming meeting as a very important event and he is worried. The choice of words – ‘looking down on him’ – reveals Stephen’s anxiety and self-deprecation. He feels that he has taken a step too far and entered a too rarefied atmosphere where he does not belong and this contributes to his