In James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," the essence of an artist's purpose is highlighted as the pursuit of beauty. This suggests that artists are driven by a fundamental desire to create works that resonate aesthetically and provoke thought about the notion of beauty itself.
The quote points to a deeper philosophical inquiry about what constitutes beauty. While artists aim to create beauty, their interpretations and the standards of beauty can differ widely, leading to varied reflections on this complex and subjective concept throughout the narrative.