A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Conflicting Desires within a Doctrine In the story, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, written by James Joyce, the main character Stephen Dedalus has many encounters with women. Women and sexuality are major influences on Stephen's adolescent life. Another major factor that has an influence on Stephen's life is the Church. Women and sexuality conflict with the Church and its beliefs, and that is one of Stephen's major problems thus far. Stephen is having a very big identity crisis, from being a God fearing Catholic to a very h