James Joyce Research Paper

James Joyce was born one half of a mile from his mother’s birthplace in Ireland. Young James Joyce was born into a middle class family and was a brilliant student at the Jesuit Schools, Clongowes and Belvedere. This is made incredible because of how bad his home life was. His father was an abusive drink and gambled causing an unstable financial condition at his family. He later got accepted into The University College Dublin, getting a degree in Bachelor of Arts focusing on modern languages.

Adult Life

As an adult, his upbringing and rocky relationship with his abusive father brought about a weird relation with his homeland of Ireland. This caused him to move to Paris in search for a new life. He later returned to Ireland when Joyce heard that

He did not marry Barnacle until 30 years after they met, even though they lived together. Joyce and Barnacle were a mobile couple raising their children. Using his knowledge of 17 languages, Joyce taught English. He taught throughout Europe but primarily in Paris and Rome. He used his teaching jobs to pay for his family and his hobby of writing. He taught to feed his family but his real passion was writing. In 1914 he wrote his first book, Dubliners and in 1916 he released his second book, the novel Portrait of the Artist. His most controversial work, Ulysses, was a difficult read and was too obscene for Paris. Smuggled and bootlegged copies were made available to audiences in Britain and in America. In 1934 Judge John M. Woolsey ruled in favor of Joyce and his publishing company, claiming that Ulysses was not pornographic, allowing it to be sold in America. This gave Joyce publicity and finally ended his days as a struggling author.

When World War I began Joyce and his family moved to Zurich, Switzerland to escape the violence of war. Though they were able to move to a new country, Joyce struggled to make enough to feed his family. His family survived under the generosity of others. English magazine editor, Harriet Weaver, and Barnacle’s Uncle donated to Joyce’s family and helped them stay financially stable throughout the war. They spent the entirety of the war in Zurich before moving back to