1. Biography of James Joyce (1882-1941)

2. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born in 1882, just south of Dublin James' father, John Joyce, was a fierce Irish Catholic patriot His mother, Mary, also had strong Catholic beliefs He is the eldest of ten surviving children

3. Early on, Joyce’s family enjoyed a middle class existence However, John Joyce's habitual unemployment as well as his drinking and spending habits, made it difficult for the Joyces to retain their previous social standing.

4. Mary’s strong Catholic views influenced how Joyce was educated He attended a Jesuit school where he was taught by priests Joyce was to enter the priesthood, a decision that pleased his parents. As James Joyce made contact with various members of the "Irish Literary Renaissance," his interest in the priesthood waned. In fact, Joyce became increasingly critical of Ireland and its conservative elements, especially the Church.

5. In opposition to his mother's wishes, Joyce left Ireland in 1902 to pursue a medical education in Paris He did not return to Ireland until the following year upon news of his mother's imminent death. After burying his mother, Joyce continued worked as a schoolteacher at a boys' school. He also resumed travelling Though most of his adult life was spent abroad, Joyce's fictional universe does not extend beyond Dublin, and is populated largely by characters who closely resemble family members, enemies and friends from his time there

6. During some frustrating and impoverished years, Joyce heavily relied upon the emotional support of Nora Barnacle, his unmarried Irish lover

7. Like his father before him, Joyce struggled with poverty into middle age and worked hard to maintain the façade of middle class He too became a heavy drinker

8. He eventually married Nora in 1931 Joyce and Barnacle had two children, a son named Giorgio and a daughter named Lucia. His daughter eventually slipped into insanity and Joyce blamed himself This did not help his alcoholism

9. Dubliners – published in 1913 A series of interconnected short stories about people whose lives appear extremely boring but whose actions are symbolically profound Many of the stories surround life as Joyce saw it in Dublin and are depressing, ugly and stagnant They mostly explore recurring themes of maturity and identity as affected by the different stages in one’s life Finnegan’s Wake Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Ulysses (considered the greatest novel ever written)

10. Joyce's eyes and his general health had begun to steadily decline Joyce agreed to surgery for a previously undiagnosed ulcer; he never recovered and died on January 13, 1941. His grave is in Zurich and was decorated with only a green wreath woven in the shape of a lyre, a symbol and emblem of Ireland.