James Joyce (1882-1941) was a celebrated Irish novelist and poet. Considered an emblematic figure of twentieth-century Irish literature, James Joyce was the author of numerous works, including critically acclaimed novels, collections of poems, short stories and essays. James Joyce led a life marked mainly by alcoholism, abuse and lack of money. His writings are, and always will be, a testament to the greatness of his talent.
James Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882. He grew up in a large family, with 11 children and 2 Catholic parents, including an alcoholic father. Her youth was deeply marked by literature: Joyce enjoyed reading from an early age, devouring numerous works.
In 1888, Joyce joined the Jesuits at Clongowes Wood College (Co. Kildare), where he began his studies. His family’s financial difficulties forced him to leave the school in 1892, to join 2 other less expensive Jesuit establishments.
During these years, Joyce discovered the joys of literature, and began to write. In 1891, aged just 10, he penned his first poem (“Et Tu Healy“), dedicated to the death of Charles Stewart Parnell. His parents encouraged him, and had a copy printed and sent to the Vatican.
As the years went by, the Jesuit teaching began to weigh heavily on Joyce. He hated religious instruction, and rejected Catholic authority outright, much to the dismay of his school, where he had been offered a place in the Jesuit order. This decision provoked strong reactions in her family, but her categorical refusal to accept religion went far beyond a simple adolescent whim: Joyce refuted it for the rest of his life.
In 1898, Joyce entered Dublin University. A brilliant student, he studied literature and foreign languages, took an interest in theater and wrote numerous literary reviews. He rubbed shoulders with Dublin’s literary circles, leading an active life marked by intellectual exchanges and readings of works from all horizons.
After graduating, Joyce decided to discover the world and set off to conquer Paris, with the aim of studying medicine.
But Joyce soon gave up teaching and embarked on a dissolute life of drinking and abuse. It was only after a few months that he was forced to return to Ireland, due to his financial difficulties.
There he met his mother, who was dying of cancer, and decided to stay with her until she died. He began to write a wide variety of works, from simple reviews to book reports. In 1904, he decided to write his own autobiography, calling it“Portrait of the Artist“, which was later reworked and renamed ” Dedalus“.
In the months that followed, Joyce met Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid with whom he fell in love. The two decided to leave Ireland, heading for Zurich, Pola and then Trieste. Joyce taught English at the Berlitz School for 11 years, lived from private tuition, had a son and daughter, and was constantly on the move back and forth between Trieste and Dublin. It was during this period that Joyce began to experience health problems, including severe eye problems.
In 1914, Joyce wrote the novel“People of Dublin“, one of the major works that would establish him as a writer.
In 1915, the turmoil of the First World War forced him to flee Tieste for Zurich, where he met publisher Harriet Shaw Weaver, who later became his patron.
After several years marked by severe eye problems (from which he underwent 12 operations), and his daughter’s destructive schizophrenia, Joyce was invited to Paris by Ezra Pound for a week. Charmed by the city, he stayed for 20 years, meeting many literary circles and publishing“Ulysses” (1922) and“Finnegans Wake” (1939), both to great critical acclaim.
It wasn’t until January 11, 1941, that James Joyce was hospitalized in a critical condition, and fell into a coma. Doctors diagnose him with a perforated duodenal ulcer. On January 13, 1941, he managed to wake up and call for his wife, but died a few hours later, before she could join him.
Cremated in Zurich, James Joyce was considered a talented writer who had a profound influence on the 20th century.
