Oh, the lust. Stephen is distressed by his lust, and so are we when we think about teaching this book. What most adults would say is normal human development, poor Stephen seems to think is pathological to the point where he's nearly self-abusive, and that makes us not a little uncomfortable.

Regardless, your first challenge is by far the sexuality that A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man presents us with. Stephen really likes girls, even to the point of visiting a prostitute. Now, you might get away with skimming right over this part and enjoying smooth sailing through the end, but if you don't? We recommend being frank about it if students bring it up.