Dorian context Flashcards
When was Wilde born ?
1854 in Dublin
How many novels did Wilde publish ?
one
Who was Wilde in a relationship with ?
Lord Alfred Douglas
When was Wilde convicted for “gross indecency”?
1895 he was sentences to two years of hard labour
When did Wilde die ?
in Paris in 1900
What was later added after the book was published ?
the character of James Vane
What was the reception to it when it was published ?
negative the homosexual undertones and seeming embrace of hedonism was criticised
What was written in response to criticism ?
the preface and reduced references to more obvious affections between Dorian and LH and Dorian and Basil
What happened after the trial ?
his literary career never recovered
he moved to european mainland and lived under a assumed name until his death
What does Dorian Gray examine ?
the complex relationship between life, art, beauty and sin, while presenting a compelling cynical portrait of high society life in Victorian-era London
Drugs in the 19th century - opium dens :
crucial period in development of potency and plurality - no just alcohol and opium but cannibis, morphine and heroin - also saw the medicalisation of addiction to these substances
opium dens also show how imports where widely used and the connectedness of the British empire and the power of it
Who did opium dens cater for?
mainly seamen who had become addicted when overseas
