The Picture of Dorian Gray Flashcards
Gothic Double
In the Gothic novel, ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ the main character has evil written on his face, the authors understanding of evil is portrayed as a deformity which is ‘hardly human’ in it’s appearance. Wilde
alternatively portrays evil not as sordid, but attractive.‘There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realise his conception of the beautiful.’
Effect of aestheticism on the novel
Within his decadent piece of fiction the relentless
pursuit of beauty gives a permissive gloss to way of life his readers had condemned, adding a daring prettiness to a sordid world of wretched vice and sin his readers would swiftly condemn.
Gothic nature of the attic
Dorian’s attic where he hides his secret is has a ‘damp odour of mildew… covered in dust’ the empty space normally void of life in the sudden necessity of its use confirms the shame of the sins he must hide. The atmosphere of menacing evil is heightened as Dorian ‘creeps’ up the stair, in need of ‘unlocking the door’ to enter the room where his portrait, the mirror of his own malevolence that held the ‘curious secret of his life’ would be hidden ‘from the eyes of men.’ Such an action in hiding the loathsome realities of one’s life took form in one on the Gothic most revered novels, Jane Eyre, where too the story would tell the tale of a furtive character who sought to hide his own secrets from the world as Mr Rochester would lock away the wife whose mind had grown mad.
Urban London Setting
The London setting makes it a “modern Gothic” instead of a focus on events in history that affect the present as the traditional Gothic does, Wilde’s novel focuses on contemporary issues that affect contemporary lives.
The contemporary issues in The Picture of Dorian Gray concern art, and the morality or immorality of art, as is made clear in the preface to the novel, in which Wilde claims “[t]here is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book”.
Duality of a public and private persona
Wilde’s depiction of Dorian Gray as a dual character explore human’s moral hypocrisy, with the presentation of a version of himself that is socially acceptable and the other side of him which sees himself with the lowest rung of society at the opium dens.
Oscar Wilde quote that states his views on sex
“Everything in the world is about sex, but sex is about power” - Oscar Wilde
The novelists outlook on the role of sex in explains how the character of Dorian Gray uses both the naive girls Sybil Vane and Hetty as an expression of his power.
