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Oscar Wilde 1854-1900

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Oscar Wilde 1854-1900

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Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. His father, William Wilde, was a doctor

and his mother was a writer.

Wilde studied at Oxford and was a brilliantstudent. He got a degree in Classics.

He travelled to New York City where he

delivered 140 lectures.

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Wilde returned home and became a

disciple of Walter Pater, the theoristof Aestheticism, and became theleader of the Aesthetic movement.

He was a witty talker and hisaphorisms became famous.

Wilde married Constance Lloyd and

had two sons.

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CONSTANCE

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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

He had a relationship with a young mannamed Lord Alfred Douglas(nicknamed Bosie). Douglas's father,the Marquis of Queensberry, denouncedhim .

Wilde was tried and sentenced to two

years hard labour .

In prison he wrote DE PROFUNDIS, along letter to Alfred.

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When he was released, he went into exilein France, where he changed his name

and continued his relationship with Alfred.

Wilde wrote very little during these lastyears; his only notable work was a poem

about his experience in prison, "TheBallad of Reading Gaol.

Wilde died of meningitis in 1900.

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WILDE and Alfred Douglas

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THE DANDY

Wilde was a dandy, which was a way todistinguish himself from ordinary men.Indeed his elegance was a symbol of the

superiority of his spirit. Wilde wore velvet jackets, silk shirts,

knee-breeches, buckled shoes and used

to hold a sunflower in his hands whilewalking.

He launched the fashion of putting a lily inthe jacket buttonhole.

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WILDE

THE DANDY

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WILDE

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WORKS

Poetry: Poems,1891The Ballad of Reading Gaol, 1898

Fairiy tales: The Happy Prince and other Tales

Short stories: The Canterville Ghost

Novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

Plays: Lady Windermeres Fan, 1892A Woman of no Importance,1893The Importance of Being Earnest,1895

Salom,1893

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THE AESTHETE

He said My life is a work of art. He loved beauty (beautiful clothes,

beautiful talks, beautiful objects, physical

beauty, art) and pleasure.

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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

PLOT: vedi fotocopia

The novel has a Preface with someaphorisms about art, life and the artist,which became the manifesto of

Aestheticism. (read the photocopy)

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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

NARRATION: third-person narrationNARRATOR: unobtrusive

POINT OF VIEW: The narrators.

The narrator chronicles both the externalworld and the internal thoughts andfeelings of the characters. There is only

one short paragraph where Wilde himselfbecomes the narrator, giving a first-personpoint of view.

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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

SETTING:

PLACE: London, England.

The setting is vividly described with wordsappealing to the senses.

TIME: 1890s

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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

CHARACTERS

The characters reveal themselves through whatthey say or what other people say about them.

LORD HENRY WATTON

BASIL HALLWARD

DORIAN GRAY

SIBYL VANE

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LORD HENRY WATTON

His charm, wit, and intellect influence Dorian. Thisinfluence is negative. If Dorian is like Faust, the fictionalcharacter who sells his soul for knowledge, then LordHenry is like Mephistopheles, the devil who tempts

Faust.

Lord Henry is a cynical aesthete, a lover of beauty whocriticizes the moralism and hypocrisy of Victorian society.He views Dorian as a disciple who can apply his

hedonistic philosophy to his own life.

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DORIAN GRAYA handsome, impressionable and wealthy younggentleman. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton,Dorian becomes extremely concerned with thetransience of his beauty and begins to pursuepleasure, having as many experiences as possible.Dorian willingly becomes Henrys disciple.Following Lord Henrys advice and influenced by thereading of the Yellow Book that Lord Henry has givenhim, Dorian gradually falls deep into a life of sin, in the

name of pursuing pleasure.He is a dandy (he wears elegant clothes) andanaesthete : he surrounds himself with beautiful thingsand lives a hedonistic life .

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The Yellow Book

Lord Henry gives Dorian a copy of theYellowBook as a gift. Although the real title of thebook is never mentioned, Wilde describes thebook as a French novel which talks about the

experiences of a pleasure-seeking man. (We canfairly assume that the book in question is Joris-Karl Huysmanss decadent nineteenth-centurynovel Rebours).So Dorian leads his life following the example of

the protagonist of this novel, Des Esseintes.

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Rebours Huysmanss novelRebours(Controcorrente): The protagonist Des Esseintes, is the

prototype of all aesthetes . He retires fromthe world and leads a solitary life, insearch of rare sensations. He fills hishouse with his eclectic art collection .

He inspired Dannunziosnovel Il PIACERE,whose protagonist isAndrea Sperelli, andWildesDorian Gray.

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THEMES

THE DOUBLE:APPEARANCE and REALITY the picture represents Dorians soul,

corruption, his private life;

Dorians pureand innocent facerepresentspublic life, appearances.

So the horrible, corrupted picture symbolizes

the immoralityof the Victorian middle-class,while Dorians face symbolizes the middle-classs hypocrisy.

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THEMES

THE ETERNITY OF ART When Dorian stabs the picture, he dies

while the picture is restored to its original

beauty. So art triumphs over life, itsurvives man, art is eternal.

HEDONISM Hedonism is another theme because

Dorian devotes his life to the search forpleasure.

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THEMES: The Supremacy of Youth and Beauty

The first principle of aestheticism is that art serves noother purpose than to offer beauty. Throughout ThePicture of Dorian Graybeauty reigns. It is a means torevitalize the senses, it is also a means of escaping the

brutality of the world: Dorian distances himself from thehorrors of his actions by devoting himself to the study ofbeautiful thingsmusic, jewels, rare tapestries.

Although beauty and youth remain the main values at

the end of the novelthe portrait is, after all, restoredto its original form the novel suggests that the priceone must pay for them is very high. Indeed, Doriangives his soul in exchange of eternal beauty.

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Has the novel a moral?

We can find a moral in The Picture ofDorian Gray. In the end Dorian ispunished with death (he dies when he

stabs the picture), so for his Hedonismtaken to extremes, which led him tocommit a lot of crimes.