宗教对斯蒂芬成长的负面影响

摘要：詹姆斯·乔伊斯的《一个青年艺术家的自画像》是一部关于斯蒂芬·迪德勒斯的成长小说。本文通过从三个不同的角度，即家庭宗教环境，学校宗教环境，社会宗教环境，来分析宗教对史蒂芬成长的负面影响。以此，读者可了解到乔伊斯在小说中表现的宗教主题，以及宗教负面影响对史蒂芬性格，生活的扭曲，对他追求艺术自由的阻碍。

关键词：宗教；负面影响；成长

Abstract：James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a bildungsroman about Stephen Dedalus’ growth. This thesis analyzes the negative effects of religion on his growth from three different perspectives which are family religious environment, school religious environment and social religious environment. Through these, readers can understand the religion theme shown by James Joyce in the novel and the negative effects on Stephen’s growth which twisted Stephen’s character, life and blocked his pursuit of freedom of art.

Keywords: Religion Negative Effect Growth

I.Introduction

The Ireland Island was divided into two parts in 1921. One is Northern Ireland which belongs to the United Kingdom, and the other is an independent country, the Republic of Ireland. Most of the people in the Ireland Island believe in Catholicism which has great influence on their lives. Catholicism is a major branch of Christianity. It sets strict rules to its believers. Their major religious activities are seven Sacraments, which are baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders and matrimony. When receives baptism, it mean that he believes in Jesus. And Jesus is the only savior. The water which contains the blood of Jesus can help them out of sins. Penance demands the believers confess their sin to God. This sacrament gives great mental stress to the believers, which makes them always feel guilty. To some degree, Catholicism may have some benefits. However, it indeed confines its believers’ thoughts and leads them to some illusions. Especially, when it is combined with politics and taken advantage by some politicians, the religion will lose its original doctrines and the trust of its believers.

James Joyce was born in Dublin into a middle-class Catholic family, whose social and economic status slowly declined during Joyce’s youth and adolescence. While Joyce’s mother was a devout Catholic, his father was ‘anti-clerical’, a man who fiercely objected to the interference of the Catholic clergy in Irish politics and whose attitudes to the church and politics Joyce himself would inherit. During his youth time in Ireland, he was totally disappointed at the religion he was converted to as soon as he was born. According to Sydney Bolt, the author of A Preface to Joyce, Dublin in his views was a musty sick-room, in which everybody conspired to keep the windows shut, instead of letting in the fresh air of truth. James Joyce chose to betray what he would never trust.