Religious symbols, stories and language play a leading role in A portrait of the artist as a young man and oranges are not the only fruits. In the Portrait, religious symbols and language permeate Stephen's consciousness, such that his spiritual and physical experiences are inextricably linked. As Stephen attempts to deny and distance himself from the dominant discourses provided by the state and religion, his artistic sensibility is ultimately grounded in the language of religion. In Oranges, through the retelling of biblical myths and fairy tales, Jeanette frees herself from the influence of stories that lock her into a system of patriarchy, fundamentalist religion and heterosexuality. In doing so, Jeanette opens the text to a fluidity of interpretations, which results in a destabilization of fairy tale stories and biblical texts. As such, she has succeeded as an artist where Stephen has not yet succeeded, in her use of narratives and language to subvert dominant discourses such as religion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In the Portrait, religious and sacred associations are “reshuffled” (Akoi 301) along with secular and physical associations. Spirituality and physicality become inextricably linked, as demonstrated by his use of sacred language to describe his tryst with the prostitute. His sexual awakening is also an awakening of his spiritual desires; it is a “holy encounter” (106), which allows him to transcend blasphemy, “before which everything else was vain and foreign” (105). He venerates the prostitute with religious intensity, whose “frank and uplifted eyes” move him to “tears of joy and relief”, he “surrenders body and spirit” “conscious of nothing in the world” ( 107-108). . Conversely, the virgin Mary is described in a sensual manner, "the glories of Mary held her soul captive... her soul, returning timidly to her abode... the savior itself with a lewd kiss" (112). This interweaving of the physical and the spiritual culminates in his vocation as priest-artist, “priest of the eternal imagination, transmuting the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of eternal life” (240). Here we can see that Stephen's conception of aesthetics remains interpreted in the language of priesthood and religion. In doing so, it bestows divine and sacred legitimacy on the artist, who holds the power to materialize and capture intangible experiences of desire and excitement. In contrast, "the cold and order" of the Catholic priesthood "repulsed him" (174), an anathema to Stephen's desire and desire for excitement, "to learn his own wisdom independently of others or to learn himself the wisdom of others by wandering in the traps of the world” (175). He accepts his "destiny... of being elusive from the social or religious order", seeking to escape "the grip... of order and obedience" which "threatened to end forever... his freedom » (175). Yet despite Stephen's noble artistic ambitions, his religious influences remain deeply rooted, as warned by his pastor, "once a priest, always a priest" (173), and by Cranly, that his "mind is oversaturated." with the religion in which [he] says [he] does not believe” (261). He nonetheless endorses “the name of the fabulous artisan” (183), “a living being, new, slender and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable” (184). His cry joyfully imparts sacredness to physical reality, “Heavenly God!” », “in a burst of profane joy” (186). His romanticization of nature and beautyis motivated by the intensity of the Catholic resurrection and the transcendence of the soul. “By merging the Catholic and Romantic versions of the soul, Stephen essentially creates his own soul, functioning both as the Catholic god who creates the soul and as the Romantic poet who finds his soul in the experiential life” ( Howell61). Stephen becomes a creator just like Daedalus, who makes wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape their imprisonment. This motif of flight permeates his consciousness, and Stephen desires to “fly through these nets” “of nationality, of language, of religion” (220). Here Joyce gives us a double meaning of "to fly over", as Stephen's ambitions to fly over, beyond social restrictions, neglect the second meaning of "to fly over", the sense of him inevitably using the material of his "to fly over" . nationality, language, religion. Also, if Stephen embraces the namesake of the great craftsman, he notably does not deny the spiritual associations of his first name, Saint Stephen, the first martyr stoned in defense of his faith. Additionally, the myth of Daedalus also warns against the hubris of Icarus, who falls to his death by flying too close to the sun. Ultimately, although Stephen is hopeful about his vocation as an artist, his grand ambitions bring consequences for his art of alienation and suffering, paralleling Icarus and St Stephen, leaving us critical of his ability to “fly over” the nets of art. “nationality, language, religion”, without borrowing them or relying on them to “steal”. In Oranges, religious and fairy tale stories are appropriated and rewritten, to deliberately disrupt the heterosexual and patriarchal binary reading imposed by the traditional and fixed reading of these stories. Furthermore, the autobiographical intertextuality of Winterson's Oranges allows for an integration of the fantasy of Oranges as a story about Jeanette, with the reality of Winterson's own life. It is through his process of integrating stories and reality that Winterson breaks down the "walls" of stories to model a more fluid narrative that accommodates his own personal narrative, ultimately allowing him to "fly over" the stories which traditionally oppress one's identity. appropriates the religious narrative to construct its identity. Her experimentation with story and storytelling began in her childhood, where she rewrote Daniel Getting Eaten by Lions. The Fuzzy-Felt episode is one of the first instances in Jeanette's childhood where the biblical stories are shown to be open to interpretation, a "place where shifts occur so that Jeanette can see that meaning is in motion , that narrative revision is possible and that the authority to restructure the story and its embodied power relations rests with the storyteller” (Reisman 14). When confronted by Pastor Finch, she tries to cover up the story by saying that it depicted Jonah and the whales, "but they don't do whales in Fuzzy Felt" (13). The interchangeability of signifiers, as proposed by Jeanette in her story, presents a threat to the authoritarian and exclusive reading of the Church. In response, Pastor Finch seeks to “put things right” (13), suggesting that “in his view, there is only one correct version of a story” (Reisman 14). Through the narration of the scene which is possible thanks to "the medium and the imagination of Jeanette" (Reisman 14), Jeanette discovers the possibilities of interpretation and the rigidity of the singular interpretation provided by the church, at the comfortable in its static signifiers with the aim of maintaining absolute truth. People like Jeanette's mother and Pastor Finch cling to the certainty and order that a single authoritative reading of a text provides, conveniently insisting on their correct interpretation of the text, while rejecting thevalidity of all other interpretations. Jeanette argues that clinging to a single authoritative reading establishes "order" and "security," but it is a reading that "does not exist" and "cannot exist" (96). . At first, Jeanette tries to reconcile her love for Mélanie. with her love of the Lord, but she is unable to convey the meaning she hears to the priest. She first sees “Mélanie as a gift from the Lord”, that “it would be ungrateful not to appreciate her” (104). However, she is unable to convey the mutually inclusive nature of her love for the Lord and for Melanie because the pastor constantly bombards her with loaded questions. He first asks her: “Do you deny that you love this woman with a love reserved for a man and a woman? (105), to which she replies: “No, yes, I mean, of course, I love him. » (105) What appears superficially as confusion resulting from inconsistency and guilt, is better explained as a calm, collected and rational attempt to explain his homosexual love to the Church. Her first “no” in response is a denial that she loves Melanie with the intensity and quality of a romantic love, like that of a heterosexual romance. She then responds with a "yes", intending to explain that her love is a different type of romantic love, and that it is certainly not a love "reserved for man and the woman” (105). Although she earnestly attempts to validate and affirm her homosexual romance, it is the very construction of the question that is informed by the unquestioned morality of the religious narrative, which is the source of its superficial inarticulability. Religious language is simply incapable of adequately adapting to his position. Ultimately, it is the unquestioning deference to the authority of the biblical narrative that promotes this exclusive, binary conception of romantic love and denies the validity of Jeanette's defense. Through the appropriation of religious stories and symbols, Jeanette is ultimately able to transcend constraint. biblical stories. Like walls that “protect” and “limit,” Jeanette recognizes the comfort and security offered by these stories, but also believes that “it is in the nature of walls that they fall. The fall of the walls is the consequence of blowing one's own trumpet” (113). “At some point there will be a choice: you or the wall…The City of Lost Chances is full of those who chose the wall” (114). Here, Jeanette appropriates the story of the Battle of Jericho. Like the prophet Joshua, Jeanette trusts in the power of the trumpet, a sounding horn, to tear down and conquer these walls. However, unlike Joshua who received prophecy from God, she is a prophet who “has no book” and “is full of sounds that do not always make sense” (164). On the other hand, she is a prophet who cries out because she is “troubled by demons” (164), who are “not entirely” “bad,” “just different and difficult” (109). While her church believes that demons are inherently evil and must be cleansed and "cast out" (109), Jeanette portrays the demon favorably, as an integral inner voice, "here to keep her in one piece" (109). Jeanette accepts the unstable fluidity of all narratives and chooses only to listen to her inner voice, and it is the strength of her personality that allows her to resist the easy comfort and security of these narratives, while consciously appropriating the material and symbols of these stories. build your own. She confidently assumes the position of “prophet”, like Stephen, who abandons the order of “priesthood” to become a priest-artist. However, even if both characters reject dominant discourses on religion, only Jeanette is realistic in.. 11-35.