English 1060 The Picture of Dorian Gray

Fin de Siècle: “End of the age” At the end of the 19th century, Queen Victoria was getting old, and writers and painters tired of Victorian conventions of respectability. A time of fatigue with English society and the decadence of empire Increasingly shocking depictions of love and sexuality Jadedness mixed with optimism for the new century

Fin de Siècle: “End of the age” Influenced by French culture, late Victorian intellectual activity was marked by “stylish” cynicism and by disenchantment with the failure of democracy to spread wealth and benefits from rich to poor. Growing popularity of socialist movements Loose morals and the “hypocrisy” of Victorian standards?

Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 Son of Irish intellectuals; studied at Trinity College, Dublin Involved in English art and “aesthetics”; witty and flamboyant Author of journalism, plays, and novels Lost a libel lawsuit in 1895 and imprisoned for homosexuality Left England in poor health, 1897; died with no money in Paris in 1900

“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” “I can resist everything except temptation.” “Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.” “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” “I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” “This wallpaper is terrible - one of us will have to go!” (Last words?)

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) (left) Salome (1891) (banned in England)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) Algernon: I hope tomorrow will be a fine day, Lane. Lane: It never is, sir. Algernon: Lane, you're a perfect pessimist. Lane: I do my best to give satisfaction, sir.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) A journal version (1890) was censored Called ‘unclean,’ ‘poisonous’; ‘effeminate’ and ‘contaminating’ Condemned for decadence and homoerotic references A Gothic (horror) morality tale Dorian’s “Faustian bargain”

Main Themes Hedonism and pleasure (Aestheticism) vs. “Hebraic” legalism But yet it’s a morality tale! Wilde’s personal beliefs show? Life as an “art” to be observed and enjoyed, vs. one to be lived and with ethical decisions Victorian decadence?

Characters Dorian Gray (handsome, young, selfish) Basil Hallward (painter: moral, loves Dorian) Lord Henry “Harry” Wotton (aristocrat: libertine, amoral, corrupts Dorian) Sibyl Vane (actress: loves Dorian) James Vane, Alan Campbell (Sibyl’s brother; Dorian’s friend)