The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde by Anna Laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b Text analysis by 5A LSU - School year 2019-20 en-us 2020-03-13 09:03:37 UTC 2023-02-11 15:01:07 UTC hello@padlet.com Work in groups of 4 and answer the questions. Then organise your findings in 4 categories and choose a picture to illustrate your ideas: laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/459772089 1) Features of the novel
2) Main themes
3) The double
4) Criticism of Victorian society - Aestheticism
]]> 2020-03-13 09:10:14 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/459772089 ANSWER N 1 https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/472521718 HOW IS THE STORY TOLD (SETTING, NARRATORS, CHARACTERS)? 
(VITTORIA C)
 
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” was written by Oscar Wilde during the Victorian Age. 
The novel is set in London at the end of the 19th century. 

The story has an omniscent narrator, who has access to the thoughts and desires of every character. It is exterior to the action and does not appear as a character in the novel. 

The language style is quite rich and articulate, full of witty paradoxes and aphorisms as typical of Wilde’s style. There are many descriptive scenes full of symbols as well as many direct speeches.

The protagonist is Dorian Gray - an aesthete and a dandy, whose aim in life is to live in full, realising his wishes and dreams. Dorian is initially presented as young and innocent, and as not even aware of his extraordinary beauty. Tempted by Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian will however turn into a narcissistic young man who indulges in every pleasure that life can offer. 

Lord Henry Wotton is a central figure in the novel. He is a charming speaker, a famous wit and a brillant intellect. He is a self-proclaimed hedonist who advocates the equal pursuit of both moral and immoral experiences, he lives a rather idle life and persuades Dorian to follow his philosophy of self-indulgent hedonism. Lord Wotton represents a demoniac figure in the novel because he temps Dorian into a life of debauchery and self realization and  because he does not change while Dorian and Basil do. 

Another important character is Basil Hallaward who paints the picture of Dorian Gray. He is a talented painter and his love for Dorian changes the way he sees art so it defines a new school of expression for him. Dorian will kill Basil, when the latter discovers his secret about the portrait. An important female character is Sybil Vane, a young actress from a poor family  who Dorian seems initially to be in love with. Sybil will become desperate when Dorian cruelly rejects her, and she will kill herself. 
Another important character in the novel is Alan Campbell, a doctor who Dorian blackmails and obliges to complete the crime of getting rid of Basil's dead body. The doctor who is unable to forgive himself for the crime, will commit suicide. 
 
 

]]> 2020-03-24 11:32:19 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/472521718 Plot 3) (BENEDETTA) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/472576710 Who is Sir Henry Wotton? What is his role in the novel?

Lord Henry Wotton is a Victorian aristocrat. He is a friend to painter Basil Hallward, but later becomes more intrigued with Dorian's beauty. 
Sir Henry is a relatively static character as he does not undergo a significant change in the course of the narrative. 
He possesses a dry wit that fascinates Dorian. He tempts Dorian into following his doctrine and will facilitate Dorian's downfall. His role in the novel is that of representing a tempting devil, who persuades Dorian Gray to live a dissolute life full of experiences and sins.

Because he does not change while Dorian and Basil clearly do, his philosophy seems amusing and enticing in the first half of the book, but improbable and shallow in the second. 

Although Sir Henry is a self-proclaimed hedonist who advocates the equal pursuit of both moral and immoral experience, he lives a rather staid life. He participates in polite London society and attends parties and the theater, but he does not indulge in sordid behavior. Unlike Dorian, he does not lead innocent youths to suicide or travels incognito to the city’s most despised and desperate quarters. Sir Henry thus has little notion of the practical effects of his philosophy. His claim that Dorian could never commit a murder because “crime belongs exclusively to the lower orders” demonstrates the limitations of his understanding of the human soul. It is not surprising, then, that he fails to appreciate the profound meaning of Dorian’s downfall.

]]> 2020-03-24 12:08:35 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/472576710 3)(FEDERICA) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/476864748 CONSIDER THE CONCLUSION OF THE NOVEL. IS THIS ENDING CONSISTENT WITH WILDE'S THEORIES OF ART AND LIFE? 

At the end of the novel, Dorian destroys the picture, because he hopes to liberate himself from the evil and from the sense of oppression that he feels.

 While at the beginning of the story Dorian loved his portrait, at the end he is disgusted by the picture that mirrors his corrupted soul. As he finally stabs the portrait, the spell is broken and truth is restored.
Dorian dies, because he has violated the true creed of Aestheticism, which is the pursuit of beauty;  he must, therefore, be punished, because he is a corrupted man and a sinner. This happens also because the picture is not an autonomous object, but rather the dark, inner side of himself.

Every excess, as well as renunciation, brings its own punishment.
Dorian's actions could be interpreted as excesses in after a life of hedonism, as he was in pursue of extreme sensations and pleasure. His final disillusionment culminates with the destruction of his portrait.

His actions could also be interpreted as a progressive renunciation of conscience and moral responsibility.
In the novel, as Dorian sells his soul to the devil for his eternal beauty in appearance, the portrait bears the signs of his ugliness and vicious soul.
The moral of this novel is that every excess must be punished and reality cannot be escaped.
The portrait, which ages and gets corrupted instead of Dorian, is the symbol of the conflict between life as art and art as life. The border between art and life, which gradually fades away, will make life itself a work of art.
In the conclusion, Wilde's theories of art are evoked, in particular the idea that art goes beyond people, art is eternal and it must be free.

]]> 2020-03-26 16:21:28 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/476864748 4) - Other themes (Giada) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/477000345 Explain the meaning of the famous aphorism “Beauty is a form of genius” in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The aphorism “Beauty is a form of Genius” refers to the concepts of Beauty and Youth which are the main features of Hedonism and Aestheticism. In Wilde’s literary work there is a correspondence between physical appearance and intelligence.

It is Lord Henry who tells Dorian that his beauty is extraordinary and that it is more important to be beautiful than to be intelligent. In his view beauty is higher than genius because it does not need explanations.  Beauty can be immediately perceived as everyone can see it right away, while being smart needs to be proved. The author also creates similes to associate human beauty with other eye appealing scenes in nature to portray the power of beauty within the human brain. In order to support his thesis, Wilde introduces the concept of old age, in which beauty and youth disappear and are supplanted  by physical decay.  

Wilde exalted the ideal of Beauty as a supreme form of the intellect. According to Aestheticism, only the artist can make beautiful things. Those who can find beauty in artworks are the elect. They are spiritually superior because they can go beyond the surface of the material reality and can appreciate beauty in art. For the author Beauty is a superior category of the human spirit as it is detached from the materialism of everyday life. Oscar Wilde's devotion to Beauty is expressed in the novel through Lord Henry, who tries to persuade Dorian Gray that he should abandon the fake moral values of the Victorian Age and pursue the beauty and pleasures of life.

]]> 2020-03-26 17:19:51 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/477000345 QUESTION 2-THE DOUBLE https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/477037889 In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” there are many references to the theme of the double. Explain how this theme is dealt with in the novel?

The theme of the double is represented by the duality between Dorian Gray's beauty and his portrait that mirrors his bad conscience. 
Dorian has made an agreement with the devil: instead of him, the picture will age and become more and more ugly. He will be able to do whatever he desires without losing his beauty and youth, but the signs of his corruption will appear only on his portrait. So he will be free to pursue his only purpose, which is to live a life of pleasures without any moral limitations. 

The theme of the double can be found throughout the whole novel and in particular in the final chapter, in which the story reaches its climax in an unexpected and dramatic way. In the hope of eliminating the ugliness of his soul forever, Dorian decides to destroy the picture, but when he stabs the picture he kills himself. This because the picture is not an automous object but one of the two sides of the same personality.

Wilde shows us that the positive and negative sides of each person are two parts of the same being. If we exceed the moral limits of life in pursue of every pleasure, we are fated to be spiritually corrupted and decadent. We have to find a balance. Dorian's beauty represents the appearance (art) while his picture represents the reality (life).  A the picture becomes hideous to Dorian himself, he decides to hide it in a loft that can be accessed only by him. This symbolizes the contrast between who we are in public and who we are alone. 
]]> 2020-03-26 17:37:00 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/477037889 2. Other themes - (Noemi) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/478025039 In the Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde says that "all art is quite useless". Explain the meaning of this statement with reference to Wilde's aesthetic ideas.

The Preface to “The Picture of Dorian” was added by Oscar Wilde to the first publication of the novel in book form in official reply to the scandal that the novel had provoked. In the Preface, Wilde does not give any explanations about the book but he presents the characteristics of the Aesthetic Movement and the importance of art in life and society.  He also mentioned topics linked to the role of art and the artist, critics and audience, the importance of beauty and Aestheticism. Following the concept by Gautier of the “Art for Art's Sake”, Oscar Wilde thought that art should be totally independent. Art should have no moral obligations or bring advantages to the artist or the viewer.

Wilde chooses to link the artist and the critics respectively to the author and the reader. The author is “the creator of beautiful things” while the reader is “the critic […] who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things”: in this sense, the artist’s role is to magnify the beauty behind art and to express it towards an audience whose role is to translate it in impressions of beautiful things. This concept is linked with Aesteticism, a movement based on the concept of "art for art's sake". Art should not have any moral function but must exist solely for the sake of its beauty. Art does not serve any political, didactic, or moral purpose. From Wilde's point of view, art on its own has no value: it can acquire relevance only if people decide to give it value. When we appreciate art we give it value because of the meaning that we can find in it. 
Wilde then states that different forms of art are not necessarily "moral" or "immoral", because the artistic expression does not concern morality, although it can become useful as soon as we give it some utility. For example, if you look at something and find it ugly, as art is a reflection of yourself, it means that you are corrupt in some way. Conversely, if you look at something and find beauty in it, even if it is ugly, this is because there is goodness in you. The perception of beauty is the result of the viewer's personal point of view since art is a mirror of the spectator. 
In conclusion, Beauty should be intensively admired only if it is useless. Those who look for utility or moral teaching in art are superficial and materialistic. Art cannot be moral or useful, in fact Wilde rejected the didacticism of the Victorian novels. Therefore, art does not have to teach anything or convey any special message since art lives for itself. Art survives the lives of men and deserves to be admired because it is a source of beauty and pleasure.
]]> 2020-03-27 10:11:21 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/478025039 4. (Vittoria D.) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/478518359 The story of Dorian Gray is profoundly allegorical. Explain.

The story of Dorian Gray is profoundly allegorical. Wilde creates a correspondence between the physical and spiritual realms: beautiful people are moral people; ugly people are immoral people. This is a concept that is totally reversed in the novel. 

The novel reminds also of the myth of Faustus in the 19th century. 
Because Dorian Gray made an agreement with the devil, he remains young and beautiful even if he commits the worst crimes. 
The picture, in particularly, represents Dorian’s soul, the corruption, the dark side of his personality that becomes uglier with every crime he commits, and which he tries to forget by locking it up in a room.

Dorian’s timeless beauty could be seen as a symbol of the Victorian middle and upper classes' hypocrisy, who were more interested in appearance and respectability than in the consequences of their actions. The picture is therefore a symbol of immorality and bad conscience of the Victorian Society. 

]]> 2020-03-27 14:37:46 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/478518359 Plot - 2 (Giorgia) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/479628637 Concentrate on the character of Dorian Gray. How does he change throughout the novel?

At the beginning of the novel, when Dorian first comes to London, he is young, innocent and totally unaware of his beauty. Although his life and his family background were a bit chaotic, he proves to be the typical example of beauty and perfection. 

The portrait that his friend Basil Hallward paints of him, shows Dorian as a young, pure, and stunningly beautiful boy before falling into sin. 
Lord Henry Wotton temps Dorian Gray by persuading him that he is young and beautiful but these qualities will not last forever. He explains that when Dorian is old, he will lose the most important things in life: beauty and the desire to live in full. 
At this point in the novel, Dorian is totally seduced by Lord Henry and his theories about Hedonism and Aestheticism. In fact, when his portrait is revealed, he makes the terrible wish that he would be willing to sell his soul in exchange of eternal youth and beauty. 

When Dorian meets Sibyl Vane, he initially seems willing to sacrifice all social standing for her love. Actually, he is attracted by the artfulness of her acting, but when Lord Wotton criticises her, Dorian suddenly loses interest in her and cruelly rejects her, causing the girl to commit suicide. He refuses to see himself as responsible for her death eve  finds self-gratifying pleasure in her suicide. From that moment onwards, his course is set. 

He then decides to follow Lord Henry’s amoral aestheticism and will lead a life of pleasures and sins. Dorian's terrible wish works out like a magical spell, which changes his mind and becomes visible through the horrible actions that he will commit, like the painter's murder, the doctor's suicide and seduction of several young girls.
These actions are reflected in the ugliness of the portrait which reflects Dorian's corrupted soul. He holds a slight fascination with the portrait which grows older and uglier with each sin Dorian commits. The picture becomes Dorian's obsession and produces in the character of Dorian a sense of desire for purification. He in fact starts to hate the picture and sees youth and beauty as the main causes of his ruin.
He doesn’t have a developed moral sense, in fact he only regards acts as wrong when he can see their effects on the portrait. One day he drags Basil upstairs to see the portrait. At that moment, he does seem to experience remorse. Here, he shows Basil Hallward the evidence of his bad acts out of a desire to shock and hurt his mentor. When Basil prays for him, he kills the man, unable to accept the kind of love Basil was showing tohim.

When Dorian Gray tries to reform himself after killing Basil, he does so as a way to rid himself of the ugliness of the portrait. For Dorian Gray, redemption means beauty regained. By making small, good actions, he hopes to see the portrait changed, but it doesn’t work. It is then that he recognizes that in order to repent, he has to confess publicly his sins, but that would mean losing the reputation he has cultivated for years. He cannot lose his public face because that is all he is. When Dorian recognizes that repetence is for him a pure illusion, he decides to destroy the painting by stabbing it, but this causes his own death, because Dorian and his picture are two sides of the same personality. The picture is not an autonomous object and by stabbing it, Dorian actually kills himself. 
]]> 2020-03-28 13:40:55 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/479628637 The Double: 1 - (Adreana Lecce) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/479898352 The picture is not only the portrait of a handsome, young boy but also the expression of the artist’s nature. How is this ambivalence dealt with in the novel? What is Basil Halward’s relationship to the portrait he has made?

Basil Hallward is the artist who painted Dorian´s portrait. Basil Halward is an eternal idealist who truly believes in the innate goodness of mankind. He has faith in the possibility of redemption and believes in pure values like Beauty, Truth, and Love. He thinks that all art is “unconscious, ideal, and remote.” His love for Dorian Gray changes the way he sees art and the portrait marks a new phase of his career. 
Basil had painted Dorian many times before dressed as an ancient soldier or as various mythological figures, but this time he paints him as he really is. 
As Basil states when talking about art:
“An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them. We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography. We have lost the abstract sense of beauty.”  

When Basil finishes Dorian´s portrait, he will have discordant emotions about it as he realises that he has put very much of himself into it, thus revealing his own hidden feelings of love for Dorian.
“The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul.” (Basil)

The portrait becomes Basil's masterwork and it will change his life. At the same time the portrait becomes important to Dorian too.The painting reflects the dark side of Dorian's soul. The picture is connected with Dorian because while he remains young and handsome the picture becomes old and ugly as a reflection of Dorian's wrong doing like murder. Dorian continues to be handsome, Basil optimistically thinks that he also will continue to be truthful and loving. Basil refuses to believe that his friend can be really bad. Ultimately, he pays for his optimism and good faith with the highest price – his life.

As Dorian becomes more and more corrupt, selfish and evil, he will finally accuse Basil to be the reason of his ruin. In his opinion if Basil hadn´t painted the portrait, he would never have made that wish of selling his soul in eschange of eternal beauty and he might have remained a good person. When in the scene in which - while standing in front of the portrait - Basil prays Dorian to repent for what he has done, Dorian does not listen to him and kills Basil.

]]> 2020-03-28 19:26:59 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/479898352 7) Other themes - (Elena) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/486236834 Point out a link between the story of Dorian Gray and the myth of Faust

One of the main themes in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde is the temptation of a human being. 
The novel is allegorical and it can be interpreted as a 19th century version of the myth of Faust, the story of a man who sells his soul to devil so that all his desires can be satisfied.

Dorian Gray and Faustus share many similarities. Wilde made use of the Faustian theme in order to point out the contemporary controversy of art versus life, as well as aestheticism and hedonistic pleasure versus morality. 

The main focus of both works is the downfall of the main character. Dorian loses his innocence the moment he first sees his portrait and is fascinated by the image of himself. Faustus's fall is caused by his thirst for forbidden knowledge that will lead him beyond the limits of what a man can know. 

Both Dorian and Faust possess economic and intellectual freedom. While Faustus  studied philosophy, medicine and theology, Dorian is a beautiful young man who inherited money from his grandfather. Despite that, neither of them is satisfied with what they have. They are both overreachers who desire more than life has to offer. Their desires are so strong that they are willing to sacrifice their souls for the realization of their wishes. Dorian wishes he could have eternal beauty and youth while Faust hopes to gain eternal experience and knowledge. 

Both Faustus and Dorian will follow a way that leads to self-destruction. In “Dorian Gray” the consequences of his Faustian pact with the Devil are evident, but the Devil himself is absent, although there are many similarities between Mephistopheles and Lord Henry. 

Faust makes a deal with Mephistopheles and signs a contract with his own blood, while Dorian’s wish is simply a remark made in front of his friends. Dorian is not aware that he is entering into a deal with the Devil. There are no signs of the realization of his wish until the night he breaks off the engagement to Sybil Vane and he notices changes in the portrait. 

In conclusion, we can certainly understand that both The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust present examples of the eternal battle between good and evil in human existence. 
]]> 2020-04-01 09:59:00 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/486236834 2. (Ludovica) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/486280925 BRIEFLY SUMMARISE THE STORY AND EXPLAIN HOW IT IS TOLD 

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. 

The book is symmetrical and the story is told by a third person narrator. The chapters follow a simple sequence of events up to the last in which Dorian dies. 

The whole story revolves around a portrait that the artist Basil Hallward has made of Dorian. When the young boy first sees his painted picture, while he is still under the influence of Henry Wotton's long panegyric of Beauty and Youth, Dorian makes a wish: he would be willing to give up his soul if only he could remain as young and beautiful as he is in the portrait, while the picture grows old and ugly. This magical spell will later become true.

The first time that Dorian  notices a change on the portrait occurs after he has brutally rejected Sibyl Vane. The young actress, who was desperately in love with Dorian, decided  to kill herself. The sign of his cruel action becomes apparent on the portrait that now shows a cruel expression. 

Later Dorian proceeds in his pursuit of pleasure throughout scandals, sins and crimes. He manipulates many people and leads them into suicide. He will also kill his best friend Basil Halward who discovers his secret. While the portraits continues to bear the signs of his corrupted soul, his face remains young and beautiful.

Throughout the novel Dorian seems to be dominated by a demoniac power, as he doesn’t feel any remorse. When he finally understands that there is no remedy for his sins, he is not willing to take up responsibility for his mistakes. He still remains persuaded that his life was not ruined by his evil actions but blames the portrait as the source of his misfortune. In a fit of anger, he thus  stabs the picture and unconsciously kills himself. 

As the magical spell is broken, the portrait returns to its original form while Dorian becomes old and ugly. When he is found dead in his room, if it wasn’t for his rings, nobody would have recognized him.
]]> 2020-04-01 10:20:45 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/486280925 3. OTHER THEMES (ELEONORA) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/487157310
IN THE PREFACE TO "THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY" OSCAR WILDE STATES THAT "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MORAL OR AN IMMORAL BOOK" WHY? 

In the Preface to "The Picture of Dorian Gray" Wilde wants to convey his view about  Beauty and the importance of Art as symbols in human life.

In the first lines of the Preface Wilde says that "There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all". With this aphorism, Wilde is replying to the scandal that the novel had provoked. He thought that “any moral disgust or vicarious pleasure derived from reading his book reflects more upon us as readers than it does on the novel itself”. The book is a tale, pure and simple. 

Books therefore should not prove anything. In the Preface Wilde explained his concept of art and the artist. Art is a refuge from a world of materialism and ugliness. Art has nothing to do with morality or immorality. The Artist is the creator of beautiful things who does not have to justify his artistic choices to anyone. The aim of art is to reveal itself, but also to conceal the artist. Art is quite useless and it doesn’t mirror life but rather its spectator. An artist should never have ethycal sympathies; art doesn’t need to teach rules, but everyone can interpret what they see or hear the way they want. Moreover, the artist should never be morbid because he must be feel free to express any kind of feeling or message. As such, an artist could not write a moral or an immoral book, but only a well or badly written book.


]]> 2020-04-01 16:34:35 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/487157310 PLOT 1 (FRANCESCO) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/488381924 Describe Dorian’s reaction and feelings when he first sees the portrait made by his friend Basil Halward.

The second chapter starts with Dorian's entrance in Basil's studio. Basil Halward is the artist who paints the picture of the young and handsome Dorian Gray. Basil puts a lot of himself in his work of art: it in fact reveals also his secret, homosexual love for this charming boy.

From the very beginning, the reader understands that the artist is worried that Lord Henry might have a bad influence on Dorian and corrupt his innocence and purity:
 "All the candor of youth was there, as well as youth's passionate purity."

While Basil is finishing the portrait, Lord Wotton takes Dorian Gray out in the garden where he makes his long panegyric about beauty and youth. Lord Henry argues that humanitity has lost the courage to pursue the ideals of beauty and hedonism. In his long monologue he tries to persuade Dorian that he must 'seize the moment' and live his life in full, as his youth and beauty will not remain for ever. 

When Dorian and Lord Henry come back to the studio, they can see the marvellous portrait completed by Basil. 

When Dorian first sees the portrait, his reaction is dual: he is quite moved, as if he was seeing himself for the first time. He admires his extraordinary beauty and feels overwhelmed with pleasure as if he were enchanted by his own beauty. 

Then, the memory of the conversation he had with Lord Henry about the fleeting youth, falls upon him suddenly: Dorian realizes the transience of his youth. He becomes aware of his own beauty but at the same time he understands that, as Lord Henry said, the world belonged to him only for one season. 

The terrible warning about the brevity of youth scares the boy. He realizes that there would be a day when his face would be ‘wrinkled and wizen’, his eyes dim and colourless’ and ‘the grace of his figure broken and deformed’. He thus starts to feel ‘a sharp pang of pain’, as if a knife had just pierced him and on his eyes came a mist of tears and he felt as if an icy hand had just been placed on his heart.

He is afraid because he soon becomes aware that he will lose his beauty and that he will become old. He fears that he will lose everything when he loses his good looks. When Basil asks Dorian if he likes the portrait, he answers that it is sad, because his figure in the picture will remain like this forever while he will become ‘horrible and dreadful’. 

So, in the end, he says that he would give his soul to be young forever as he is in the painting. This terrible wish will be his damnation.


]]> 2020-04-02 09:02:15 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/488381924 PLOT 4 (Antonio) https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/490501325 Lord Henry is the typical dandy, Describe his attitude and the way he influences Dorian.

Lord Henry Wotton is a Victorian aristocrat that makes friends with Dorian Gray. 
When we first meet him in Basil's study, he appears as a refined gentleman. He is lazy, spoiled and a cynical materialist. He likes to indulge in all kinds of pleasures and we see him smoking his pipe while sitting on Basil's coach. The way he speaks is full of wit and paradoxes, so that Dorian is fascinated by him.

Lord Henry's refined manners and great wit remind us of Oscar Wilde himself: his ability to enchant the reader through his realistic language and through his sharp and precise thoughts.

Lord Henry is a relatively static character and he is a self-proclaimed hedonist who advocates the equal pursuit of both moral and immoral experience, he lives a rather staid life. He participates in polite London society and attends parties and the theater, but he does not indulge in sordid behavior. Lord Henry persuades Dorian Gray to pursue a life of pleasure with no moral limitations. It is Lord Henry who convinces Dorian that he could do anything because of his innocent looks.

Wotton influences Dorian, when he tells him that he is young and handsome and that, therefore, he must live his life without worries for the future. Wotton believes that youth and beauty last one season so Dorian must have lots of experiences  and enjoy each pleasure in life. 


]]> 2020-04-03 08:23:04 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/490501325 6) Other themes https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/490525744  Explain the causes of the movement of Aestheticism in Victorian England.

The Aesthetic Movement was the result of political and social problems and was associated with the rebellion of French artists. Aestheticism in Victorian England was deeply influenced by a pessimistic view of the contemporary Victorian society. To some extent it was the result of some new scientific discoveries as well influenced by the German philosopher Schopenhauer. 

The Aesthetic Movement developed in Britain at the end the 19th century in the universities and intellectual circles reserved to the few members of the elité. It was a trend of Decadentism, which originated from Positivist Rationalism and from the artist’s impossible integration in the industrial society.  In Britain, authors like Walter Pater and John Ruskin were among the main founders of the Aesthetic doctrine.

Aestheticism developed as a rejection of utilitarianism and the moral restrictions of the Victorian Society.  Artists started to believe that art was a substitute of the conventional, moral and religious values. They only recognized one ethical value: the creation of beautiful works. In fact the only purpose of art was beauty. Artists also rejected any moral obligation connected to the essence of art. 

Aestheticism was characteristic of the Victorian Age because it developed as a reaction to the ugly industrial city and the hypocrisy typical of this Age. 
Aestheticism was a movement for few cultivated intellectuals and artists, so the Elite. It exalted beauty and art the art's sake, as the ideal on which to base human life. Due to the rigid moral standards of the Victorian society, artists felt the need to redefine the role of art in order to escape from the restrictive morality of the middle classes and their materialism. They tried therefore to escape into the Aesthetic isolation, living their lives like outcasts whose only task was to pursue beauty and pleasure.



]]> 2020-04-03 08:35:42 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/490525744 Plot, Number 5 https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/490576056 "The world Is yours for a season" Lord Henry persuades Dorian to live his life in full, why? 

In the second chapter of “the Picture of Dorian Gray” Lord Henry Wotton makes his famous panegyric about the fugacity of beauty and youth. 

Lord Henry represents in the novel the symbol of the temptator and the concept of evil. He seems to be genuinely caring about Dorian and tries to better Dorian’s life through interjecting his opinions and guiding him. 

Dorian is not conscious of his own charm, so his friend tries to make him understand that he isn’t going to live forever young. Dorian is a really handsome boy who fascinates many people but, as Lord Henry says, he will become wrinkled, old and ugly; for this reason he has to live his life in full, enjoy every moment to the end and forget about scruples or the moral principles in which Victorians believed.

This new Hedonism that Lord Henry proposes is the expression of the Aesthetic theories of Art for art's sake, which saw the cult of beauty as a possible reaction for an elite of intellectuals to the vulgarity and materialism of the Victorian Age.


]]> 2020-04-03 09:01:07 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/490576056 1. (other themes) -Genny https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/493247364 How does O. Wilde embody the movement of Aestheticism?

The Aesthetic Movement developed in the last decades of the 19th century. It reflected the sense of frustration and uncertainty of the artist, his reaction against the materialism and the restrictive moral code of the bourgeoisie. 

Wilde adopted “the aesthetic ideal”. His aestheticism was based on the cult of beauty and pleasure, a new ‘hedonism’ which was to replace the Puritanism of Victorian society. He constantly challenged the conventions of his time and cultivated an extravagant style of living. 

O. Wilde became a celebrity for his extraordinary wit, his refined manners and elegance, which go under the name of ‘dandyism’. He lived in the double role of a rebel and a dandy. The dandy is different from the Bohemian artist, because he is a superior being. Aestheticism was in fact considered to be for few cultivated intellectuals and artists, so only for the Elite. Through Aestheticism O.Wilde searched for a new form of art, in which beauty was simply celebrated with no moral stance. He adopted ‘the Aesthetic ideal’ of seeing ‘life as a work of art’.

The work which best expresses his aesthetic creed is The Picture of Dorian Gray and, in particular, its famous Preface which is considered a manifesto of the British Aesthetic Movement. 
In the Preface, Wilde did not give any explanations about the book but he presented the characteristics of the Aesthetic Movement and the importance of art in our life and society. 
Wilde criticised the hypocrisy of Victorian intellectuals, who on the one hand disliked Romanticism for its sentimentalism since - as Wilde says - they cannot recognize themselves in it; on the other hand they reject Realism because they are forced to see their real face in it. 

]]> 2020-04-05 13:41:20 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/493247364 Features of the novel laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/547373884
  1. How is the story told (setting, narrators, characters)? 
  2. Briefly summarise the story and explain how it is told.
  3. Consider the conclusion of the novel. Is this ending consistent with Wilde’s thories of art and life?
  4. The story of Dorian Gray is profoundly allegorical. Explain.
]]> 2020-05-03 18:37:00 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/547373884 Plot laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/547375791
  1. Describe Dorian’s reaction and feelings when he first sees the portrait made by his friend Basil Halward.
  2. Concentrate on the character of Dorian Gray. How does he change throughout the novel?
  3. Who is Sir Henry Wotton? What is his role in the novel?
  4. Lord Henry is the typical dandy, Describe his attitude and the way he influences Dorian.
  5. “The world is yours for a season!” In his panegyric about the precious value of youth and beauty, Lord Henry persuades Dorian to live his life in full. Why? 
  6. The novel ends with Dorian’s death. Why does he destroy the picture?
]]> 2020-05-03 18:38:20 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/547375791 The Double laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/547398541
  1. The picture is not only the portrait of a handsome, young boy but also the expression of the artist’s nature. How is this ambivalence dealt with in the novel? What is Basil Halward’s relationship to the portrait he has made?
  2. In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” there are many references to the theme of the double. Explain how this theme is dealt with in the novel?
  3. In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” the presence of a mirror is highly symbolical. What interpretation can be given to it?
  4. Why is the horrible, corrupting picture a symbol of the Victorian middle class? What does Dorian’s image symbolize?
]]> 2020-05-03 18:52:27 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/547398541 Other themes laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/548946906
  • Which are the main themes dealt with in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
  • In the Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde says that “all art is quite useless”. Explain the meaning of this statement with reference to Wilde’s aesthetic ideas.
  • In the Preface to the Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde states that “there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book”. Why?
  • Explain the meaning of the famous aphorism “Beauty is a form of genius” in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
  • How does O. Wilde embody the movement of Aestheticism?
  • Explain the causes of the movement of Aestheticism in Victorian England.
  • Point out a link between the story of Dorian Gray and the myth of Faust.
    • ]]>     2020-05-04 11:23:33 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/548946906     3 - The Double by 5LCO - schoolyear 2014/15 laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/548975987 In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” the presence of a mirror is highly symbolical. What interpretation can be given to it?

    After drinking the potion, Dr. Jekyll starts to change both mentally and physically. His body completely changes and the elegant Victorian gentleman turns into a horrible being called Edward Hyde. After the experiment, the doctor rushes into his bedroom to watch himself in a mirror. Besides reflecting Mr Hyde's image, the symbol of the mirror also evokes the theme of the double, so that Mr Hyde is presented as the primitive alter-ego of the refined Victorian doctor. In the mirror Dr Jekyll sees his evil twin. This object is used by Stevenson, to convey the sense of obsessive and horrible setting, the proper place for such a mysterious and ambiguous man. 

    Also in the Picture of Dorian Gray there is a mirror, which the protagonist uses for checking if there have been changes to his beauty after commiting bad actions. The picture is a mirror of Dorian’s soul and of his dark, corrupted soul. He had sold it for having eternal beauty and any time he sees himself in the mirror, he admires his beauty but feels horrified by the loathsome portrait. Later Dorian will become dangerous and suspicious, but when he remains alone he understands that he has made a mistake following Henry Wotton. 

    Both in the novel by Stevenson and the one by Wilde, the mirror is used to introduce the theme of the double, or to create the double effect: the reflection Dr Jekyll sees in the glass is actually the subject’s alter-ego.
    The mirror shows that there is much more under the surface of hypocritical, Victorian society: behind its image of triumph and economic progress, there is ugliness, corruption and moral decay which the symbol of the mirror makes evident.
    ]]>     2020-05-04 11:37:48 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/548975987     laghigna https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/549956509 2020-05-04 16:58:51 UTC https://padlet.com/laghigna/l0ywy7sr650b/wish/549956509