Stephen's Self-Awareness

During class discussion last week, a thought occurred to me about Stephen Dedalus' character in terms of what we read on the page: How self-aware are the statements that are made? In other words, at what level of self-identification are Stephen's thoughts represented in Joyce's writings? In looser terms, what context (within the character of Stephen) do we have for interpreting the writing?

Three examples popped out as candidates for my question. The first is the children's party (p. 71). The narration describes Stephen:

But when he had sung his song and withdrawn into a snug corner of the room he began to taste the joy of his loneliness.

Is he in fact an enigmatic loner, or does he want to be one, merely the odd kid in the corner?

The second is Stephen's first poem and the accompanying mirror-staring (p. 74). Joyce writes:

After this the letters L. D. S. were written at the foot of the page, and, having hidden the book, he went into his mother's bedroom and gazed at his face for a long time in the mirror of her dressing-table. 

Does this represent narcissism in Stephen (as a literal interpretation could support) or is his mind elsewhere, engaging something more innocuous like daydreaming or introspection?

The final instance where I posit self-awareness is Stephen's first prostitute encounter at the conclusion of chapter two (p. 108).

With a sudden movement she bowed his head and joined her lips to his and he read the meaning of her movements in her frank uplifted eyes. It was too much for him.

Is Stephen truly enraptured or does he attach significance to this event artificially, especially in contrast with the beginning of chapter three?

Most of the rest of the book (at least from what we've read) appears to be fairly literal with Stephen's thoughts, so perhaps these isolated cases are me projecting a more modern style of writing onto the text.