The word “epiphany”, which literally means “to show oneself”, is originally a biblical term, referring to the feast commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles , often called the “Magi,” usually celebrated on January 6, or Twelfth Night. On this day there is a Church feast celebrating the coming of the “three Kings of the East” to worship the infant Jesus. The word, however, is adapted by James Joyce to encompass his artistic vision, first expressed in the Preface to “Dubliners”, and then defined in more detail in “Stephen Hero”, his first autobiographical story, which he almost destroyed, and then published as a fragment after his death. In “Stephen Hero,” Stephen, planning a book of epiphanies, tells us that “by epiphany he meant a sudden spiritual manifestation, either in the vulgarity of speech or gesture or in a memorable phase of the mind itself. He believed that it was up to the literary man to record these epiphanies with extreme care, since they themselves are the most delicate and evanescent moments.” An epiphany, therefore, in Joyce's sense, “shows” the full reality of what is seen and observed, but not in a logical and analytical form. Reality appears in the mind in a flash of inspiration, triggered by an ordinary conversation or incident. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay It is believed that all of Joyce's writings, including his early ones such as "Chamber Music" or "Dubliners", consist of a series of epiphanies. What makes “A Portrait of the Artist” different from these is that before “A Portrait” was published, Joyce's works essentially consisted of isolated epiphanies. “A Portrait” is the first work to incorporate within itself a sequence of related epiphanies in the form of a coherent narrative, although nowhere in this novel does it refer to the “epiphany” by name. It only illustrates its use not only as a significant literary technique, but also as an important philosophical concept, which would later become not only the cornerstone of Joyce's mature works, but also of Modernism in general. In Joyce's practice, the term actually has two meanings: one, that the epiphany reveals the truth, the intrinsic essence of a person or something being observed; and second, that it is a state of mind, an intense spiritual ecstasy, which he calls “the memorable phase of the mind itself.” The first places the emphasis on the object, whose reality is revealed by an epiphany; the second places the emphasis on the observer, for whom the epiphany can be a state of elevated consciousness. As such, knowledge becomes something subjective and intuitive, not simply a rational process. Indeed, as Joyce's brother Stanislaus records, epiphanies can also include dreams, since Joyce, taking inspiration from Freud, considered dreams as a subconscious reshaping of everyday reality. Both meanings can be illustrated in the various episodes of "A Portrait". As for the first meaning, the emphasis is on the object, a good example would be that incident in Chapter II, where Stephen's romantic image of cows grazing in a sylvan setting gets a jolt when he visits Stradbrook. The vivid details of the “dirty cow yard,” with its “dirty green puddles and lumps of liquid dung and steaming piles”1, make him understand the distinction between his idealistic vision of cows (symbolizing his country, the Ireland), and the dirt of reality. An epiphany with its second meaning also occurs in the second chapter, when Mr. Dedalus, Stephen's father, reveals what is obviously regarded by Stephen as a kind of betrayal on the part of Stephen.rector of Clongowes, Father Conmee. He had wonderful ideas about his own heroism in going to the rector to complain that he had been unjustly “pardoned” by the prefect of studies, Father Dolan. This exaggerated opinion of himself is abruptly shattered when his father returns home and recounts the episode of the meeting with the rector in Dublin, when the rector spoke of the child Stephen in the following terms: “I told everyone about him at dinner and Father Dolan , I and we all laughed heartily together during It. Ah! Ah! Ah!”2. Epiphanies like these are not only used to bring out a sudden realization of the truth in the hero, but also in the reader. Another epiphany is the ecstasy of spirit that Stephen experiences after retirement, when his soul realizes that it can still be saved. through repentance. An example of a “sudden flash of insight” occurs in the fourth chapter, when Stephen, almost agreeing to the director's offer of the priesthood, suddenly sees a quartet of young men dancing and singing along the street. The very liveliness of their clothes, their lilting music, their dance steps and their simple fun, bring to Stephen's mind in a flash of intuition, their contrast with the colorless, cold and emotionless of the priesthood, and makes him understand in an instant that the priesthood will not be his vocation, even if he had been attracted to that profession since childhood. Often these two meanings coincide in a single moment of intense ecstasy – as in the most beautiful epiphany of the novel in the conclusion of chapter IV – the image of the young girl wading into the sea – “A girl stood before him in the middle of the current, alone and motionless, with his gaze turned towards the sea. She looked like a person who magic had transformed into the appearance of a strange and beautiful sea bird... She was alone and motionless, gazing at the sea; and when she felt his presence and the adoration of his eyes, her eyes turned towards him in calm tolerance of his gaze, without shame or wantonness”3. In a moment the girl becomes for him the embodiment of the beauty of art, and in a flash of intuition Stephen recognizes her artistic calling. His “enchantment of the heart” is clearly expressed in his wild joy and ecstatic language. The two aspects of the epiphany merge to bring the fourth chapter to its rapturous climax. On the other hand, due to its subjective nature, an epiphany can also be unreliable, as we see in Chapter III, when, after the retreat, Father Arnall's expression and lessons manage to convince Stephen that his only correct conduct it is to repent and return to the Church. In Chapter IV this acceptance is rejected and he realizes his madness through an epiphany. The epiphany also has a deeper, more philosophical meaning: the concern for time; and Stephen himself draws attention to this in his diary towards the end of the novel – “The past is consumed in the present, and the present lives only because it generates the future”4. Clearly, Stephen's point of view is that every moment is the cumulative product of past decisions and actions and, through the same process, determines the future. A great example of this is the epiphany in the tram, when, while standing with Emma on the steps of the tram, he recalls his moments spent “in the hotel grounds” with Eileen. This moment also anticipates the future, because not only will she remember this moment later, but also because it will unconsciously influence her later life, when Emma becomes an archetype of female virtue and unattainable sexuality. This is embodied in the present by his inability to kiss her. In "A Portrait of the Artist" Stephen does not directly refer to the word "epiphany", but defines a very similar phenomenon in his theory.231.