The Life And Times Of James Joyce

Life and Times of James Joyce

James Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, whose psychological views opened up a whole New World to twentieth century writers. He is still known as one of the most influential writers not only in Ireland, but all throughout Ireland. Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882, into the care of his mother and father, both poverty-stricken. He attended only Jesuit-run schools, first the boarding school, Clongowes, then the day school, Belvedere, and finally the Royal University, which was better known as the University College (Litz 8). While he attended Belvedere he enjoyed writing essays, and won several awards for his phenomenal test scores. Even as a young man, Joyce was destined to be well known and famous for the rest of his life. But by the end of his university years he had rejected Catholicism in favor of literature (Litz 8). His love for writing just had to come first before anything else.

After his years in the university he began experimenting with prostitutes and alcohol, and spent large amounts of money, which he claimed was to study medicine, but instead wasted it on sick pleasures in Paris. He returned shortly from Paris when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. (Litz 15). After his mother died, family life became even tougher for Joyce, he began to drink heavily. He made a little money reviewing books, teaching school, and singing.

In February of 1904 he started writing a long fiction autobiography called Stephen Hero, which he could never find the time to finish or even begin again (Litz 8). In June 1904 he met Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid whose down-to-earth attitude welcomed him more so than any of the girls he met at the university did. They ran off to Europe together in October 1904. James and Nora ended up in Trieste and Pola, Austria, where they spoke Italian, and were desperately poor, so poverty-stricken that his brother, brother Stanislaus ended up paying a lot of their bills (Litz 8).

In 1909 and 1912, James visited Ireland, first trying to arrange publication of Dubliners. Between 1914 and 1920, Joyce's fortunes gradually improved as his writing gained attention and the wealthier readers began to turn their heads in his direction. But his big break which is an irony is when the banning of Ulysses (published 1922) occurred, and turned Joyce into a household name (Chace 25).