way out seems to be to soar above the narrow confines of the prison, as did Daedalus and his son. In Portrait of the Artist, the world presses on Stephen. His own thoughts are melancholy, his proud spirit cannot tolerate the painful burden of reality. In the end, he must rise above it (Farrell 206). At first, Stephen does not understand the significance of his unusual name. He comes to realize, by the fourth chapter, that like Daedalus he is caught in a maze: Every part of his day, divided by what he regarded now as the duties of his station in life, circled about its own centre of spiritual energy. His life seemed to have drawn near to eternity; every thought, word and deed, every instance of consciousness could be made to revibrate radiantly in heaven… (Joyce 142) Throughout the novel, Joyce freely exploits the symbolism of the name (Kenner 231). If he wants to be free, Daedalus must fly high above the obstacles in his path. Like the father Daedalus and the son Icarus, Stephen seeks a way out of his restraints. In Stephen’s case, these are family, country and religion. In a sense, Portrait of the Artist is a search for identity; Stephen searches for the meaning of his strange name (Litz 70). Like Daedalus, he will fashion his own wings — of poetry, not of wax — as a creative artist. But at times Stephen feels like Icarus, the son who, if he does not heed his father’s advice, may die for his stubborn pride (Litz 71). At the end of Portrait of the Artist, he seems to be calling on a substitute, spiritual parent for support, when he refers to Daedalus as “old father, old artificer.”(Joyce 247),(Ellman 16). Even at Stephen’s moment of highest decision, he thinks of himself as a direct descendant of his namesake Daedalus (Litz 71).>