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Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray. History and Biography. Oscar Wilde. Born 1854 – Dublin, Ireland Died 1900 – Paris, France 1884: Married Constance Lloyd T wo children together: Cyril and Vyvyan

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Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray

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  1. Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray History and Biography

  2. Oscar Wilde • Born 1854 – Dublin, Ireland • Died 1900 – Paris, France • 1884: Married Constance Lloyd • Two children together: Cyril and Vyvyan • Wrote numerous comic dramas (The Importance of Being Ernest, Lady Windermere’s Fan, etc.) • Only one novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

  3. Oscar Wilde (cont.) • Distinguished as a scholar, poseur, dramatist, and wit • Epigrams • Outlandish and controversial • Languid poses, velvet jacket, knee breeches, black silk stockings • “I have nothing to declare but my genius.”

  4. The Aesthetic Movement • Late 1800s in England • Influenced by French Symbolism and Decadence • 1884: J.K. Huysmans wrote Á Rebours (Against the Grain) • Protagonist estranged from Parisian society and seeks out strange and new experiences • Lord Henry gives this book to Dorian in the novel • Art is fully autonomous • “Art for art’s sake.” • Should not be utilitarian or useful, moral or sentimental • Should provide only beauty and sensuous pleasure • Nature is flawed; only unnatural forms and styles are beautiful • Drugs and depravity

  5. Personal Life • Admitted to writing somewhat about himself and his own reckless pursuit of pleasure • 1891: Befriended Lord Alfred Douglas • Infuriated Marquis of Queensbury, Douglas’ father • The Marquis accused Wilde of being a sodomite and Wilde sued him for criminal libel • 1895: Sentenced to two years hard labor • 1897: Released, and now bankrupt, Wilde moved to Paris, where he died a few years later

  6. Wilde’s Wit • Epigram: Short, witty statement in prose or verse. • Paradox used for comic effect • Gained by a reversal of the expected meaning • “I suppose society is wonderfully delightful. To be in it is merely a bore. But to be out of it simply a tragedy.” • “I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” • “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

  7. The Picture of Dorian Gray • Published in 1890/1891 • Good (Innocence) v. Evil (Sin) • Described as “mawkish and nauseous,” “unclean,” “effeminate,” and “contaminating” • Not a direct autobiography • “Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry what the world thinks me; Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.”

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