Hidden Politics: The Impact of Politics in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man By definition, politics is the partisan or functional intrigue within a given group. However, in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce, there is no such concise definition, as politics are perpetually melded with Roman Catholicism and Irish nationality. Politics themselves are presented in three different manners: directly, and through the use of symbols and commentary. The direct and symbolic portrayal of politics in Portrait occurs mostly in the beginning of the novel. However, since the novel itself follows the development of Stephen's though