The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray

When Wilde published The Picture of Dorian Gray, the book was received with a lot of protest and criticisms. The suggested homosexuality, the amoral nature of the story, the description of luxury and moral indifference shocked 'Victorian' England. The novel is an expression of anti-Victorian aestheticism, but suffers from Wilde's melodramatic manner of describing Dorian's crimes, which become more and more excessive as the plot goes on.

The novel was published with Wilde's celebrated Preface, which represents Wilde's Aesthetic Manifesto.

It is written to shock and to provoke the Victorian Philistine, but still contains various interesting and intelligent reflections on the aims and 'purposes' of Art and the character of the Artist . The plot is a simple description of how a beautiful, tasteful and cultured young man, Dorian Gray, becomes corrupted by his friends to the point of becoming a moral 'monster'. When the painter, Basil Hallward, paints an attractive portrait of Dorian, the latter express the desire to remain as young and beautiful as the figure in the portrait, and from this hedonistic desire the plot starts. Lord Henry Wotton, Wilde's amusing portrait of a Victorian dandy whose cynicism and hedonism dominates his life style, takes Dorian under his wing and the process of corruption begins. The first crime happens when Lord Henry persuades Dorian to abandon his girlfriend, the naive and attractive actress Sybil Vane, who then kills herself. In true Gothic style, the portrait begins to manifest signs of the evil and cruelty of Dorian, while Dorian himself remains untouched. As Dorian realizes what is happening, he abandons himself totally to a life of excess, which after twenty years culminates in the murder of his friend Basil. At last, tired of constantly trying to escape from his own cruelty, he destroys the portrait. This final act of violence destroys the 'curse' of the portrait and kills him. Immediately the body of Dorian assumes the terrible transfiguration of the portrait and the painting resumes its original appearance. The book is an occasion for Oscar Wilde to speak about his aesthetic philosophy and to describe beautiful places, objects and atmospheres. Unfortunately, it sometimes becomes a mixture of styles, lists of expensive objects and furniture mixed with reflections on beauty, Victorian melodrama and commonplace Gothic references. The tone is high, the artist is speaking to the common man from a higher intellectual and aesthetic level. Wilde's belief in the immortality of Art is represented in the final scene of the book, when the painting is miraculously restored to its original beauty while Dorian dies changed by the awful signs of corruption and ageing. The characters who discover the body can only recognize Dorian by the rings he has on his fingers, while the portrait is immediately recognizable. Art is thus more true to life than life itself, and this is certainly the thematic and aesthetic heart of the book. The character of Dorian Gray clearly represents the divided self of psychology or the 'double' of Gothic literature. His attempt to hide the Portrait, the artistic representation of his other self is symbolic of man's attempt to deny and subjugate part of his true personality. The physical transformation of the portrait symbolizes the mental and spiritual transformation of the character. By stabbing the portrait, Dorian stabs himself. The changes that occur to the painting are not autonomous changes, but again symbolic representations of the moral corruption of the untrue self. Much has been said of Dorian's narcissistic self'worship and indeed this theme has been linked with the whole fin de sičcle tradition of Dandyism. Certainly from the first moment we meet Dorian, he appears to be vain and just as Narcissus falls in love with his reflection in the pool, Dorian falls in love with himself when he sees Basil's portrait. Like Faust, he then makes a Devilish pact or bargain, prepared to sell his soul for eternal youth and beauty , as Faust was prepared to sell his for ultimate Knowledge. With this mythical/literary reading, Lord Wotton can be seen as a type of Mephostophilis, encouraging Dorian to continue his wild existence even in moments of doubt.

Dorian Gray is an example of the 'dandy', that was so famous in that period. He physically expresses Wilde's own ideal of beauty and dedicates himself to the artist's life of experience. Like Frankenstein, his portrait becomes his 'monster', his hidden self, or 'id' that is unnaturally separated from the 'ego'. Basil Hallward is the painter who paints the wonderful portrait. He plays the role of the true friend who reproaches Dorian for his cruelty and excesses and censures Lord Wotton. Of course, it is Basil who becomes the last victim of Dorian's uncontrollable evil. Basil also speaks about the new aesthetic ideals, obviously becoming the mouth--piece for Wilde. Lord Henry is the Mephostophilean friend of Dorian; he too is a Dandy and supposed homosexual, who encourages Dorian to transgress against the bourgeoise 'philistine' mentality of Victorian society.

The Importance of Being Earnest.

The play is probably the best loved of all Wilde's dramas, which marks the highest peak in his career as a playwright. It finds its predecessors in the 'comedy of manners' tradition of the 18th century, relying on wit, farce and typical characters to create the humour. It contributed to the rebirth of the English theatre during the Victorian period, attracting enormous audiences and making the theatre fashionable once again. The title is a pun or a play on words, based on the two meanings of the word 'earnest'. Ernest is a man's name in English, but it is also an adjective, 'earnest' meaning 'honest' or 'sincere'. The importance, therefore, of being earnest or being Ernest is the heart of the humour in the play. The plot is based on a series of confusions that have to be resolved, mysteries that have to be explained and cases of mistaken identity that have to be corrected. Jack, who divides his life between his country house and his house in town (London), has invented the existence of a false and dissolute brother, called Ernest, in order to have a reason to escape every now and again to London. When he is in London, he pretends that he is this invented character, Ernest Worthing, so that his London friends do not find out about his other life in the country, where he is known as Jack. In town he falls in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, the cousin of his friend AIgernon. Gwendolen accepts his love, but Lady Bracknell (Gwendolen's mother) does not agree with their relationship, because even though Jack is rich, his family origins are mysterious: he was adopted by Sir Thomas Cardew after being found in a handbag in Victoria Station, London. His friend AIgernon Moncrieff meanwhile discovers Jack's pretence of 'brother Ernest' and decides to go to Jack's country house pretending to be that brother. When he is there he falls in love with Cecily Cardew, Jack's young ward, and is forced to keep pretending he is Ernest because Cecily is in love with this 'character'. The story becomes very amusing as the two girls try to discover the true identities of the men they love. The end reveals that Jack, the orphan found in the handbag, is the elder brother of Algernon, whose real name is not AIgernon at all but is really Ernest. Both Jack and Algernon, by the end of the play, understand how important it is to be honest and sincere, particularly when love is concerned, so they have understood the importance of being earnest. Oscar Wilde amusingly analyses the English social classes and reflects on snobbery and the false values of late Victorian England. Oscar Wilde relies on the development of character and their witty dialogues to create humour in the play.

Algernon Montcrieff is the typical dandy figure, amusing, rich, good-looking and well dressed; he is characterized by his witty dialogue and ability to invent amusing puns.

Jack is also a dandy, but he is always more serious than Algemon.

The secondary characters are the really humourous elements in the play.

Ladv Bracknell, the caricature of the upper-class English snob and Miss Prism, Cecily's nurse, the funny forgetful servant figure, and Lane, Algernon's ironic ser-vant, build up the high comic tone of the play.