The narrative is anchored in the interior life of a character rather than from the perspective of an objective third-person narrator. Stream of conscious is a narrative technique through which the author attempts to represent the fluid and eruptive nature of human thought. Previous to the publication of Portrait, Joyce had published several stories under the pseudonym 'Stephen Dedalus.'Ī Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of the earlier examples in English literature of a novel that makes extensive use of stream of consciousness. Joyce began working on the stories that formed the foundation of the novel as early as 1903, after the death of is mother. Like Stephen, Joyce left Ireland to pursue the life of a poet and writer.

Like Stephen, Joyce was the eldest of ten children and received his education at Jesuit schools. Like Stephen, Joyce was the son of a religious mother and a financially inept father. Like Stephen, Joyce had early experiences with prostitutes during his teenage years and struggled with questions of faith. Chronicling the life of Stephen Dedalus from early childhood to young adulthood and his life-changing decision to leave Ireland, the novel is profoundly autobiographical. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was first published in serial form in the Egoist in the years 1914-15.

Portrait joyce