Discovering Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray can be defined as a symbolic representation of a dialectic between two aspects of Wilde's personality. Dorian is an archetypal image by which both aspects are fascinated. This suggests that his behaviour symbolizes Wilde's unconscious (i.e. unacknowledged) attitudes. Dorian is characterized by his evasiveness and his obsession with objets d'art. For example, when Basil comes to console him about Sibyl's death, he is unwilling to discuss the matter. He does not want to admit the possibility that his behaviour was reprehensible. He tells his friend: "If one doesn't talk about a thing, it has never happened. It is simply expression, as Harry says, that gives reality to things" (107). Later, after murdering Basil, he again seeks to avoid acknowledging what he has done: "He felt that the secret of the whole thing was not to realize the situation" (159).
Dorian escapes from every unpleasant realization by turning his attention to other things. Unwilling to admit that his actions have moral implications, he seeks refuge in art. On hearing of Sibyl's death, he accepts an invitaton, for that very evening, to go to the opera. He learns to see life only from an aesthetic perspective. He reflects:
Form is absolutely essential to it. It should have the dignity of a ceremony, as well as its unreality, and should combine the insincere character of a romantic play with the wit and beauty that makes such plays delightful to us. (142)
The consequence of this attitude is that he finds himself increasingly "stepping outside" his experiences in order to observe them from a distance. Instead of living his experiences more intensely, he finds himself o...
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...It is worth noting that Wilde wrote of the characters in his only novel: "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be -- in other ages, perhaps" (Letters, 352). Dorian personifies a conflict between Dionysian and Apollonian elements particularly fascinating to his creator. He has a passion for "the colour, the beauty, the joy of life" (40), but avoids becoming involved with any experience for fear of it causing him possible pain. Basil's and Lord Henry's fascination with him represents Wilde's obsession with a young dandy whose evasiveness and pseudo-aestheticism symbolize his own unconscious fears. Works Cited
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Isobel Murray. London: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Wilde, Oscar. The Letters of Oscar Wilde. Ed. R. Hart-Davis. London: Hart-Davis, 1962.
In California in 2000, Gary Ewing stole three golf clubs worth $399 each. The crime itself was not egregious; however, Ewing was on parole for a prior offense and was convicted for felony grand theft (“Ewing v. California”, n.d.). Under the three strikes law, it was discovered that he had previously been convicted for four serious or violent felonies. The court, at their discretion, had the option to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor. Instead, it sentenced Ewing to 25 years to life in prison which felt was “grossly disproportionate” under the Eighth Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The State Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling as did the United States Supreme Court who ruled that the 25 year to life sentence was
Within The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde depicts two characters that follow the philosophy of Walter Pater. These two characters are Dorian Gray and Henry Wotton. They both embody Pater’s ideal of placing as much enjoyment in one’s short life as possible. While Dorian learns of Pater’s philosophy from Henry he soon exceeds his teacher and becomes invested within the philosophy of living life to the fullest. Dorian exceeds Henry in Pater’s philosophy through his active experimentation and desire for beauty, but Dorian fails to live up to all of Pater’s expectations due to his inability to separate morality for art.
Consequently, her vision progressively grew more bleak and stubborn, enabling the structure and discipline into Steph’s life. As she tried to utterly express to Steph, “{…} Just while she is blossoming in puberty, she is dewomanizing herself. I would rather have her be a Moonie or a cocaine addict{….} If she loses the core of being a woman, then she’ll end up playing touch football{…..}” Steph is unaffected by her argument (Apple, 137). In fact, she exclaims her truest feelings by maintaining her position, “ That’s an act, what girls are supposed to be like. You should know better, you helped me start Stepdaughters {…..} I want to throw the shot as far as possible” (Apple, 137). As a growing woman, Steph has an absolute right to choose the path other girls may not going into because that’s what make her different. Defending her stature and her sport, she stands in the way of her mother’s total war conquest against her daughter’s
The classic novel by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray inspires beauty, and romance. The main focus of the novel is aesthetics, a philosophical view detailing the nature of creation and appreciation of art and beauty. The tragedy of the young Dorian Gray after becoming misled by his companion, Lord Henry Wotton, is one that causes many to reform ideas on life and purpose. Lord Henry believes in hedonism, a thought stating that pleasure is the only true good; he declares, “The only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfilment of the senses” (Wilde). This outlook is tempting for many persons, including that of the title character, Dorian Gray. In contrast to Lord Henry is an artist named Basil Hallward, whom perceives Dorian to be his muse; serving as inspiration, and purpose. Basil has many moral traits including trust, compassion, and kindness. His infatuation with Dorian causes him to change his art and style, composing an exquisite painting of the young boy. Basil states, “the work I have done, since I met Dorian Gray, is good work, is the best work of my life…his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style. I see things differently.” (Wilde). Dorian becomes so mesmerized by the beauty of the picture and the words of Lord Henry that he wishes for the picture to depict his sins and age, rather than his physical being. To the surprise of the young Dorian, his wish becomes fulfilled. This theme shares similarity to the Faust story, as the title character exchanges his soul for pleasures
In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde introduces Dorian Gray as a mysterious and beautiful young man. He has no opinion and is very similar to a ball of clay, in the sense that he has no opinion and is free to be molded by whoever takes interest in him. Basil and Lord Henry both take interest in the young man. While both praise his physical beauty, Lord Henry wants to turn him into a hedonist minion. He convinces Dorian that he is a perfect candidate to live life according to his pleasure and that Basil is a poor influence upon him. Dorian takes this to heart and lives his life this way. He exchanges the purity of his soul for the beauty of his youth in certain painting. This breaks him down. He becomes less and less welcome by those who once admired him. He gets blackballed from clubs, has promiscuous sex and spends seventy-two hour periods in London’s opium dens. His life of seeking pleasure makes him more and more unhappy. When Basil shows up, he wants some one to sympathize with him and tell him that what he has done is not his fault. During the scene of Basil’s murder, Dorian’s want to be seen as good is apparent, but his unwillingness to accept fault and his corrupt ideology drive him to kill Basil, unveiling a new, malicious side to Dorian Gray.
In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there are three main characters. Dorian Gray, who is a calm, very attractive young man and adored for his good looks, Basil Hallward who is a painter that idolizes Dorian and Lord Henry Wotton, an older man, who becomes a good friend of Dorian's. As Basil is painting a portrait of Dorian Gray, Dorian makes a wish that only the picture would age and he would stay the same. As he later notices, his wish is granted and the picture begins to age. Not only is the portrait aging, but the face is also becoming more devious looking. This is because Dorian had fallen deeply in love with an actress, Sibyl Vane, and one night he had taken Basil and Lord Henry to watch her act. That night Sibyl Vane was acting so badly that people were beginning to leave. Dorian was humiliated so intensely that he went back stage and told her he had fallen out of love with her. She said the reason for her bad acting was because she no longer cared for acting, just for him. Dorian still could not take the humiliation and told he was never to see her again. After he left, Sibyl ended her own life by drinking a cleaning fluid that was in her dressing room.
They have many more things in life going for them that makes their life easier in a lot of ways. These elite ultra rich individuals should be known as the .01%. Everyone agrees it is negative when such few people have such a large control of the wealth. However, they are at another advantage because if we tax them they can take their profit to other countries to better their assets. All of these advantages relate to the bigger picture of one’s socioeconomic status and how influences their success. In order to solve this problem once and for all we must make it easier to move up and down financially by extending opportunity and making the American dream, more than a dream. We can do this by relieving the tax strain on the middle class to help them afford job growth and expansion of their businesses. Furthermore, they will spend more money strengthening and growing our country’s economy. Just like the super wealthy’s investments, our investment in capitalism will take time to
Although this incident could have died down, but tensions ran high. On July 7, a Japanese infantry unit opened fire at Wanping, the city the Marco Polo Bridge was located. Soon, both sides sent troops to fight near the bridge, and soon the city was shelled by July 20. The war began on July 25 when both armies committed to fighting.
Obsession in its nature is toxic; it turns people into gods, and leaves no room for their actual selves. Celebrities are the idols of the modern world, where ever they go, a fan follows them dying to get their attention. Dorian Gray, who was loved by nearly all of London for his charm and beauty, who’s biggest fan, Basil, worship of him lead to bitterness. The theme of obsession in The Picture of Dorian Gray is seen through both those who worship Dorian Gray, and the portrait, which is the object of Dorian's obsession. Although Wilde displays obsession through Basil's worship of Dorian, and even Dorian's obsession with himself and his youth, the modern day celebrity is a parallel to Dorian, who is worshipped by many at first for their beauty, wealth or fame, but the nature of the worship eventually leads to chaos.
1. This quote reveals Dorian’s acknowledgement of his double life. On the surface, he must maintain a facade of unadulterated youth and innocence. Internally, he is reeling from murdering Basil Hallward, as we see the after effects of what could be arguably called Dorian’s most nefarious act. Yet he keeps his ebullition from view and greets guests with his beauty. In a way, we can see the extent of Dorian’s corruption, as he performs the very act of the portrait himself. The twisted deed is kept away from view with his beautiful mask, and it is here that Dorian becomes sickeningly delighted with the ease that he can fool the world. He is not a complete villain without any realization of his own sins, yet the fact that he slides into a composure of innocence with a sense of “terrible pleasure” shows how far he has gone into corruption, and how futile it will be to redeem himself (Wilde 128).
Students that receive motivation will have the means financially and globally, which will encourage them, also knowing they are being supported by the government to complete/obtain higher education. If a student is interested in attending college and will work hard while doing so, why should we not pay for their school? Author Thomas Friedman writes, “"Nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid” (314). Thomas is saying that if we give students equal opportunities they will thrive in the globalized world. More of our graduates will be prepared for the work force and be able to compete. According to the research findings by Georgetown University, in 2020, 65% of jobs will require some type of degree or education beyond high school. Thomas Friedman again writes, “What you know today will be out-of-date sooner than you think” (309). We must give this type of information to students to motivate them. The need for education beyond high school is not just something intelligent people can do but instead, by making this dream a reality, something all can do. The combination of all the opportunities that will be placed in front of students will be enough to help inspire them and set them forward in the flat
Occupational therapy (OT) is an interesting discipline which has its roots in just about every other form of therapy and medicine. Many aspects of OT are seen in everyday life, yet are unnoticed because of how common place they are in our society. When I thought of OT I thought of specialized equipment such as a modified spoon to help someone who has suffered a stroke to eat by themselves again. This is one aspect, however there are many more instances that OT assist other medical professionals. Throughout this paper I will discuss more in depth on what it is an occupational therapist does and why this type of therapy is essential to our activities of daily living.
In the beginning of the book, Dorian seems to be an innocent, charming, beautiful young man, and even referred to as “a wonderful creation” (ch 2). Dorian is described as this amazing person, with looks comparable to a God, charm that could swoon any woman, and a mesmerizing persona about him with the ability to draw anyone near, yet he seems to be so imperceptive to himself. His attitude of simplicity causes readers to be fond of him, passing their first judgments that he could not possibly be evil. As the story moves along readers see the first inkling that Dorian may not be so perfect. Dorian comments on “how sad it is…[that he] shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But the picture will remain always young” (ch 2). This statement lets readers inside Dorian’s thoughts, showing how shallow and frivolous Dorian views life to be. He places so much value and esteem on looks alone, forgetting that being painted should be an honor, or at the very least...
Friedman mentions that “we basically allowed each community to organize its own school system, with its own approach to teaching and textbooks, and its own salary structures-as opposed to doing it either on a national level, as most countries do, or on a state level” (359). He explains that our country allowed school systems to develop and apply their own educational approach; essentially schools with poor families received a lower standardized budget for their whole educational path from the beginning. But according to the article Free Community College: State Action, the requirements for this opportunity are reasonable and reachable; “To be eligible students must be a...resident, enroll in a community college within six months of graduating from high school or passing a high school equivalency exam, have a high school grade point average of 2.5 or higher, and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid”(NCSL). Friedman relates to this quote by arguing that “To learn how to learn, you have to love learning- or you have to at least enjoy it- because so much learning is about being motivated to teach yourself.” (310). This quote states that anyone willing to put in the hard hours into their education could and will achieve the goal of a college education. But is all the time spent in college even worth
Dorian Gray's life is dictated by his physical appeal. His beauty lies within his youth. Dorian's perception of beauty allows him to love. He is convinced that his beauty allows him to accomplish anything he desires regardless of the consequences and still be loved by his friends. He uses his beauty to mitigate his evil actions. Dorian says, “I don't wish to know anything about them. I love scandals about other people, but scandals about myself don't interest me. They have not got the charm of novelty.” Youth and beauty are the most precious things to Dorian. In his life, beauty is of utmost importance. Then he sees the picture of himself, painted by Basil, absorb his sins and this changed his view. “I hope it is not about myself. I am tired of myself tonight. I should like to be somebody else,” Dorian said. He aspired to have had a good life rather than one filled with artificial meaning and beauty. The moral beauty of Doran lies within the portrait of himself. The portrait imitated his life. He finally realized that beauty cannot help him escape his evil actions. He deeply lamemted his wish that the portrait bore the burden of his age an...