Key quotes for Dorian Gray characterisation Flashcards
‘If it were I who was to always be young and the picture that was to grow old. For that - for that - I would give everything!’
Pronoun ‘everything’: Foreshadowing the fatal consequences of his hedonism.
Willing to sacrifice his soul for the pursuit of beauty - Faustian Bargain.
Adjectives ‘young’ and ‘old’: Exploration of humanities dual nature - common gothic theme, supernatural threats can hide behind a facade.
Parenthetical dashes:
Highlight’s Dorian’s self-inflicted imprisonment - he is trapped within a narrative that alienates compassion and logic.
Context:
Wilde’s view on aestheticism - dangers of finding morality ion such art forms.
‘What the worm was to the corpse, his sins were to the painted image on the canvas… they would defile it and make it shameful’
Noun ‘worm’:
Links to decay and time - Dorian experiences an internal death as he is so consumed by his hedonism.
Verb ‘defile’:
Links to the impairment of beauty, consequently the damaging of his soul - his sins have apparent consequences that cannot be avoided.
Context:
Wilde shows the consequences of when ones moral identity if moulded by art - leads to moral transgression, thus condemnation in a Victorian society/ its notions of sin.
‘I loved you because you were marvellous’
Adjective ‘marvellous’:
Reveals Dorian’s superficial and shallow nature whereby he wrongfully values beauty over more worthy values, such as emotion.
We begin to see his moral transgression transcend into his relationship with Sibyl.
Verb ‘loved’:
Past tense, ironic as it suggests that he once loved her, yet she has now been fooled by his tendency to sin and idolise beauty.
‘white purity of boyhood’
Adjective ‘white’:
Implies innocence and blankness, foreshadowing why Dorian is so appealing to Lord Henry as he can be easily influenced.
Implies eventual toxication of Dorian’s soul.
Links to the influence of the ‘yellow book’ - intoxication of his soul and sense of self.
‘rich odour of roses’
Contrasts to the ‘white purity’ of Dorian’s boyhood.
Noun ‘roses’:
Symbolic of love and passion - emphasis on the youthful nature of Dorian and how his beauty leads him to passion.
Adjective ‘rich’:
Amplifies the intoxication of Dorian’s fascination of beauty.
Strong force that cannot be contained.
