In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, how does the woman Stephen meets in the Ballyhoura Hills differ from the various models of Irish women that...

In
The Woman of the Ballyhoura Hills:and the Politics of Creativity, Marian
Eide makes the argument that Stephen Dedalus in is continuously trying to
symbolize Ireland as a nation with the women he meets throughout the course of the novel. Eide
makes the argument that this becomes inherently problematic simply due to the fact that Stephen
is unable to see women as their own autonomous figures, separate from his preconceived
definitions.

For example, at the end of chapter 5, Stephen is completely
unable to understand the dynamics and complexity of the woman he meets in the Ballyhoura Hills.
Through his inability to understand her, Stephen loses his ability to understand his nation and
his own development. Continuous throughout A Portrait is Stephen's
dichotomous notion of morality. His belief is that responsibility equals repression, and
irresponsibility is equal to sexual liberation. The woman he ultimately meets in the Ballyhoura
Hills...