Comment fully on the following passage from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Manby James Joyce: "Then he wondered at the vagueness of his wonder,...

This
passage is extremely important to the book as a whole. It occurs in chapter 4, when Stephen has
been mulling over what path to take in life. Among other things, he has been contemplating
taking holy orders and becoming a priest. This might seem like a natural course for a young man
to take in early twentieth-century Ireland, a country long under the sway of Roman Catholicism.
However, at this juncture, Stephen realizes starkly that the strict religious life is most
emphatically not for him.

Passing a Jesuit house in the street, just prior
to the start of the passage quoted, Stephen first of all wonders which room in the building he
would occupy after joining the Order. But he wonders this only €˜vaguely, which is what prompts
him to wonder €˜at the vagueness of his wonder. Thus begins his critical self-examination as to
what he really wants from life....