Download or read book Dandies and Their Misogynistic Attitudes in Oscar Wilde s The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Jessica Menz and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2009 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Bayreuth (Lehrstuhl für Englische Literaturwissenschaft), course: 19th Century British Novels, 13 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel of the Victorian 'fin de siécle'. Its protagonists are dandies, who follow the principle of a so-called New Hedonism. Under the influence of the elder Lord Henry, Dorian Gray assumes his way of life, thinking and even his attitude to women. Actually the entire novel is shaped by a certain misogynistic culture that reveals itself in different forms. In this paper I am going to illustrate how the male characters, mainly the dandies Lord Henry and Dorian, use their voice to speak up against women, whereas the female ones remain voiceless most of the time. Apart from its fictional content, the novel is full with concepts that shaped Victorian society. To get a full understanding, I am therefore going to illustrate the novel's historical context and some of the phenomena of the Victorian '90s, for example, New Hedonism, Dandyism etc. I am then going to give a description of the dandies in the novel, Lord Henry Wotton and Dorian Gray, before illustrating their misogynistic attitudes. I will be looking for reasons as well as describing the different types of women that are in the novel, focusing on Sibyl, the most important female character in the novel.
Download or read book Aestheticism in Oscar Wilde s The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Jannis Rudzki-Weise and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2010-12-07 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2.0, University of Kassel, course: Anglo-American Literature, language: English, abstract: Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, can be considered a revolutionary piece of literature not only because it broke out of the traditional value and belief pattern of the Victorian society but also because it replaced the traditional pattern with new concepts coined by Wilde and his former tutors. Several themes such as homoeroticism, an aesthetic lifestyle or influence and corruption, were issues that many had been afraid to address in the time before Wilde. In this research paper, I will place my main focus on the matter of aestheticism, the causes that it has and the consequences that result from an aesthetic lifestyle. In order to analyze these aspects, it is inevitable to have a closer look at Oscar Wilde’s beliefs about art and morality which serve as a basis for understanding the main character’s behavior in the novel. To begin my paper, I will outline Wilde’s thoughts on art and aestheticism as presented in his famous selection, Intentions, which consists of a number of essays and dialogues on aesthetics as well as his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray that has been regarded as Wilde’s personal praise of aestheticism. This background information is essential to understanding the main character’s motivations in the story, which can often be related to Wilde’s life as an artist. I will then make a detailed analysis of the characters Basil Hallward, Lord Henry Wotton, Sibyl Vane and Dorian Gray and will explain how their aesthetic behavior and their moral beliefs can be linked to Wilde’s thoughts. To end, I will attempt to summarize my findings referring to the statement that Wilde also included criticism of aestheticism in his novel. The term ‘aestheticism’ derives from Greek, meaning “perceiving through senses” and is a nineteenth-century European concept that rejects the moral rules and conventions of Victorian society, and focuses instead on beauty and the resulting pleasure in life. Since it is hard to nail down ‘aestheticism’ to one definition and since it has different meanings to different people, I will take a closer look at Oscar Wilde's thoughts about this concept, in order to better understand the correlation between this idea, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. When it was first published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, The Picture of Dorian Gray was attacked fiercely as it suggested a new set of moral beliefs.
Download or read book Is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde a negative Bildungsroman Differences and similarities in relation to the typical British Bildungsroman in the 19th century written by Silvia Schilling and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2017-02-08 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,7, University of Constance, course: Proseminar: The British Bildungsroman, language: English, abstract: This term paper concerns itself in detail with the question if the term "negative Bildungsroman" is appropriate to describe Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. As a first step, the terms "Bildungsroman" and "negative Bildungsroman" are defined and distinguished from another. Then, general differences and similarities between the novel and a typical British Bildungsroman of the 19th century are established, for example looking at narrative perspective and the childhood of the protagonist. Now, a closer look is taken at the novel itself and especially at the development of Dorian Gray. Questions discussed in this chapter include the impact of Sibyl Vane and her suicide on Dorian's development as well as the influence of the characters Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton. After establishing in which ways Dorian's development is a negative one, the conclusion sums up the the tension between this novel and the typical Bildungsroman as well as all the aspects that make this novel "negative".
Download or read book The lasting appeal of The Picture of Dorian Gray Character design main themes and film adaptations written by Frank Hormesch and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2015-01-09 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pre-University Paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, , language: English, abstract: It is the purpose of this paper to sum up the elements which contribute to the novel’s lasting appeal which also reflects itself in a variety of adaptations. This is intended to be done through an examination of the relations among the novel’s main characters and its main themes. The paper also shows a short comparison between the literary source and some selected film adaptations.
Download or read book Oscar Wilde s The Picture of Dorian Gray An analysis with Christopher Booker s Seven Basic Plots written by and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2016-07-13 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, Ruhr-University of Bochum (Philologie), course: Academic skills, language: English, abstract: Christopher Booker argues in his book "The Seven Basic Plots – Why we tell stories" that “there is a number of plots which are fundamental to the way we tell stories” (Booker 6) and that every single storyline is constructed of one of the seven predetermined plot developments. Booker characterizes each of the possible plots roughly and then states that there cannot be any story that differs from one of these patterns. The author then goes even further. He states that every plot actually runs through the same five stages, which he calls “meta-plot” (Booker 157). In other words C. Booker demonstrates how to analyze the plot of a story by classifying it into the category it fits in and then subdividing its different stages. But does his concept really work for any story? Is it possible to categorize a book into one of Booker ́s seven plots and to subdivide its plot into the five stages of Booker ́s meta-plot afterwards? In order to question whether his theory works for different stories this work deals with the analysis of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde according to C. Booker ́s scheme of the Seven Basic Plots.
Download or read book The Act of Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde written by Cristina Pascual Aransáez and published by . This book was released on 2018-11-17 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 1999 in the subject English - Literature, Works, course: Third-Cycle Education / Tercer Ciclo, language: English, abstract: This study analyses the act of reading The Picture of Dorian Gray from the perspective of Reception Theory. In his critical writings, Oscar Wilde asserts that the receiver of a work of art must play a dynamic role in the construction of its meaning, and the analysis of his only novel shows that Wilde encourages the reader to participate actively in its production in order to be able to find out the lesson which is inherent in it. As a result, the research shows that The Picture of Dorian Gray is representative of Wilde's aesthetic principles not only because it promotes the individuality of the reader but also because the moral in it is subordinated to its artistic effects.
Download or read book The Picture of Dorian Gray and Gothicism written by Marlissa Gerken and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2007-10 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,7, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Seminar für Englische Philologie), course: Hauptseminar, 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Today, a Gothic novel is commonly defined as "a story of terror and suspense, usually set in a gloomy old castle or monastery" . This definition is based on the traditional Gothic novel, which was originated by Horace Walpole in 1764 . A number of elements came to be classed as Gothic and by the end of the century, the genre was fully established . However, when examining different Gothic works that have been published since the beginning of the Gothic tradition, one finds that the Gothic cannot be reduced to a scary story with a medieval setting. The Gothic is a genre that changes over time. The traditional elements usually persist, but new features are added to enrich the genre and to catch the spirit of the time. Kelly Hurley made the important observation that the "Gothic is rightly [...] understood as a cyclical genre that re-emerges in times of cultural stress in order to negotiate anxieties for its readership by working through them in displaced (sometimes supernaturalized) form." When a nation is exposed to either internal or external threats, which often cannot be clearly defined, the people begin to feel uncomfortable. The Gothic novel then, according to Hurley, can help these people in distress by giving concrete shapes to their fears. When the Gothic novel first came up at the end of the 18th century, people in Britain were coping with the impact of the French Revolution. The tradition flourished until the 1820s, when Charles Maturin's work Melmoth the Wanderer failed to reach a large readership . In the 1890s then, which is known as the time of the Gothic revival, new Gothic figures emerged with even greater force than at the previous fin de siècle . The Victorian public had undergone great changes, res
Download or read book Lord Arthur Goring Oscar Wilde s Dandy written by Martin Lieb and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2008-05-19 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,5, University of Constance (Literaturwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: The dandy has been one of the most fascinating and impressive phenomena of the 19th century. Even today, he seems to be an influence to some modern men. But what was the dandy, and how is he presented in literature, the place of his creation? Lord Arthur Goring, the dandy in Oscar Wilde ́s An Ideal Husband, is a narcissistic layabout with a colourful and complex personality, full of contradictions: He is at the same time cynical and mild, cold and compassionate, modern and aristocratic.
Download or read book Dorian Gray devil or rebel written by Andrea Hermes and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2005-11-21 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2, University of Paderborn, language: English, abstract: Introduction This essay is a contribution to a seminar in English Literature studies in detail a seminar about novels of the 19th century. It is assumed that the reader of this essay is familiar with the novel “the Picture of Dorian Gray” written by Oscar Wilde and first published in 1891. As basic knowledge the reader should consider the circumstances in Great Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria including the prevailing moral views. Some key words to describe the Victorian Age are prudish, repressed and old-fashioned. However, this age was also the time when reforms, innovations and revolutions took place or were about to begin. “Above all it was an age of paradox and power” In this essay only some chosen aspects are taken into account for answering the topic question such as the character’s position in the Victorian Society, his violation of the code of conduct in that society and his resemblance of Lucifer. There are two main parts in this essay the first deals with Dorian Gray as a rebel and the second and last takes a closer look on Dorian Gray’s develish features. In the end the reader has read many pro and contra arguments and finds a brief conclusion as an answer to the question of the title.
Download or read book Wilde and Petronius The Satyricon as a Template for The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Morgan Crouch and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2010-12-06 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2010 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: It is no secret that the prominent aesthete Oscar Wilde was familiar with the work of Petronius of Rome. In fact, it’s so far from a surreptitious topic that it remains undecided whether Wilde can be held responsible for a translation of Petronius’s The Satyricon. His familiarity becomes quite apparent as well when we see Petronius’s text specifically referenced within Wilde’s work, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde’s texts were often thought to have subtle hints of homoeroticism while Petronius’ The Satyricon demonstrated time and time again the blatant and unmistakably Roman depictions of homoeroticism. Furthermore, Wilde’s texts were eventually condemned for their suggested homosexual connotations, while the homosexual events in The Satyricon were dismissed as standard. However, Wilde’s reference of Petronius goes well beyond a mere scholarly allusion to demonstrate his well-read nature.
Download or read book The Initial Reception of the Novel The Picture of Dorian Gray Through the Victorian Public An Analysis of the Standards of the Literary Critic written by Dominik Wohlfarth and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2008-02 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3 (B), University of Freiburg (English Faculty), course: Oscar Wilde Proseminar, 13 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This paper will be separated into three main parts. The first examines late-Victorian moral values, literary standards as well as Oscar Wilde ́s view of art and its criticism. The second part explores reactions of the audience, especially the press, to Wilde ́s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.. The third part then critically analyses these arguments and explains the role Victorian values and the resulting literary expectation played in the criticism.
Download or read book The Picture of Dorian Gray A Comparison of the two Versions written by Niels Schreiber and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2015-01-26 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,0, University of Paderborn (Institut für Angelistik und Amerikanistik), course: A survey of British Queer Fiction, language: English, abstract: Since I was always interested in “famous” writers such as Shakespeare etc., I decided to write about Oscar Wilde ́s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, for he is one of the best known writers and the title “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is nearly known by everyone. In this essay I will compare the two different versions of his novel, the censored version from 1891 and the uncensored version from 1890 in terms of the theme of homosexuality. I will try to show that there are big differences between these two versions and that they are significant enough to be even noticed by our generation which is fairly open about the topic of homosexuality. In order to do so I will first give a short account about homosexuality in England in the 19th century in the first chapter of the main part and then in the second and third chapter I will compare directly two chapters of the novel and show the changes that are made and analyse their effect on the mood of the scene and therefore on the novel. Lastly I will show that also the adding of a chapter changes a lot of the intention of the novel. After that I will, of course, draw a conclusion. To be able to draw my own conclusion I will only use a few sources about homosexuality in England for the first chapter of the main part such as Jeffrey Weeks “Sex, Politics & Society”, but for the comparison I will only use the Norton Critical Edition of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and my own interpretations and analyses of the scenes. As I said my thesis is, that there are significant changes between the two versions, which may not change the intention of the book completely to the sophisticated reader, but which make the intentions a lot clearer and more obvious even to the unsophisticated reader.
Download or read book The Motif of the Doppelg nger in William Wilson and The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Lucia Vitzthum and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2019-01-04 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,0, University of Duisburg-Essen (Anglistik), language: English, abstract: Poe was a writer of gothic novels and the influences of it can be seen in William Wilson. There are of course many different ways to interpret this story but this term paper focuses on the idea that Wilson’s double functions as his own conscience as well as society’s conscience. In order to have a better understanding of this concept, Freud’s psychoanalysis will be used as a foundation to this analysis. The second chapter focuses on Oscar Wild’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this novel, the double takes on a completely different shape but symbolises the same inner conflict. This novel was written in a time, when the motif of the double was already in decline and it will be interesting to see in how far these two stories differ. In order to compare the novel to Poe’s short story the focus will be similar to William Wilson in so far as the role of the double will be analysed. Does Dorian Gray’s portrait act as a conscience as well? Here again Freud’s psychoanalysis as well as his essay the Uncanny will be regarded as a source. The Picture of Dorian Gray can be analysed in many different ways. There is the topic of Art and aestheticism as well as a “cult of the senses”. It is, however, the topic of the double, realised through a portrait of the Self, which is the focus of this term paper. Other topics will only be discussed in connection to the main focus.
Download or read book The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde A Negative Bildungsroman written by Silvia Schilling and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2014 in the subject English - Literature, Works, University of Constance, course: Proseminar: The British Bildungsroman, language: English, abstract: This essay discusses Oscar Wilde's only novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" as a bildungsroman. The essay gives a brief overview concerning the genre, defines the traditional bildungsroman and analyses how "The Picture of Dorian Gray" agrees with and differs from the traditional genre.
Download or read book The Routledge History of Literature in English written by Ronald Carter and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a guide to the main developments in the history of British and Irish literature, charting some of the main features of literary language development and highlighting key language topics.
Download or read book Lady Windermere s Fan written by Oscar Wilde and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-04 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beautiful, aristocratic, an adored wife and young mother, Lady Windermere is 'a fascinating puritan' whose severe moral code leads her to the brink of social suicide. The only one who can save her is the mysterious Mrs Erlynne whose scandalous relationship with Lord Windermere has prompted her fatal impulse. And Mrs Erlynne has a secret - a secret Lady Windermere must never know if she is to retain her peace of mind.
Download or read book Modernist Idealism written by Michael J. Subialka and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modernist Idealism develops a framework for understanding modernist production as the artistic realization of philosophical concepts elaborated in German idealism.
