A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Focusing on the journey of Stephen Dedalus, this novel explores his religious and intellectual awakening as he grapples with Catholic and Irish conventions. As Joyce's alter ego, Stephen's rebellion against societal norms leads to his self-exile from Ireland to Europe. The narrative employs modernist techniques that Joyce would later refine in his subsequent works, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, making it a foundational text in modern literature.