Portrait of dorian gray sparknotes. Chapter 1 2022-11-17
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The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde that was first published in 1890. It tells the story of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who becomes obsessed with his own beauty and youth.
The novel begins with Dorian meeting the artist Basil Hallward, who is painting a portrait of him. Dorian becomes infatuated with the painting and wishes that he could remain young and beautiful forever, while the portrait ages in his place. A friend of Dorian's, Lord Henry Wotton, encourages him to embrace his youth and beauty and to seek pleasure and gratification at all costs.
Dorian decides to follow Lord Henry's advice and embarks on a life of indulgence and hedonism. He becomes increasingly selfish and cruel, and his actions have a corrupting influence on those around him. As he grows older, Dorian remains young and beautiful, while the portrait hidden in his attic becomes increasingly grotesque and ugly.
Despite the consequences of his actions, Dorian remains unwilling to change his ways until it is too late. He finally realizes the error of his ways when he murders Basil, who has discovered the secret of the portrait, and is tormented by guilt and remorse. Dorian ultimately destroys the portrait, which causes his own death and the restoration of the portrait to its original, youthful form.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a cautionary tale about the dangers of vanity and the pursuit of pleasure at the expense of morality. It explores the themes of youth, beauty, and the corrupting influence of power and wealth. Through the character of Dorian Gray, Wilde critiques the shallow and superficial values of Victorian society and the consequences of living a life devoid of meaning and purpose.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Henry becomes aware of Dorian watching him and wants to "fascinate" Dorian. Analysis Chapter 1 introduces two of the major characters of the book, and the reader learns a good deal about them. He overreacts wildly and, when Basil asks to see the earlier portrait, he becomes quite terrified. He keeps thinking about seeing James Van. Dorian has shown himself completely unwilling to learn from experience.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Plot Summary
He is instantly charmed by the tavern owners' daughter, Sibyl Vane Angela Lansbury , who performs a sweet singing routine during the lineup. Gradually white fingers creep through the curtains, and they appear to tremble. She intended to be outstanding, she says, but because Dorian has taught her "what reality really is," she no longer can believe in the fake world of plays. Years pass Dorian indulges himself in sensual and immoral activities. Chapter 1 When visiting his friend Basil Hallward, Lord Henry Wotton praises the portrait Basil is working on and suggests that he. This is the cover of the audiobook I listened to which was published by Author's Republic and narrated by John Gonzalez.
The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis
Basil responds that any painting done with true feeling reveals more of the artist than it does the subject. Henry shares the news that Dorian is engaged. Even that, Henry says, is not his theory but nature's: happiness equals goodness equals being true to oneself. He's full of sympathy over Sibyl's death and doesn't believe what he was told the night before about Dorian going to the opera after Sibyl died. Chapter 7 also introduces an element that will reoccur throughout the story: the changing of the portrait. Terrified, Dorian stays home for three days before joining a group of hunters to shoot game.
Themes exploring shallowness, selfishness, superficiality, hedonism, morality, and flaws of life and being human. The Picture of Dorian Gray Study Guide Plot Summary 11 A week later Dorian faints when he sees James Vane through a window. Basil is painting Dorian Gray's portrait. Dorian wanders the streets until near dawn and then returns home. He always breaks his own. Sibyl is to blame because she disappointed him and made him endure the three painful hours of her terrible performance. They have gone down into the depths.
Dorian definitely is a charming character! However, for purposes of understanding this novel, it is more useful to see the room symbolically. Sibyl is young and poor. Dorian tells his servant Victor to send in Mrs. Seriously, in a 230-page novel, the portrait doesn't even start to change until 100 pages in. This reliance on childlike imaginings supports the themes of appearance versus reality and art versus life—and should serve as a warning to Sibyl and the reader about how badly things will end. It is also a commentary on the widespread social tendency to trust beautiful people more than unattractive people. Hiding the portrait away shows that for Dorian his soul belongs with his unused past.
And can innocence ever be restored? The viscous liquid flowing slowly over the edge. Dorian feels even more guilty and cursed, but wishes to make one final stab at having a good and worthwhile life. Even at his worst he still seems to retain that innocent outlook at things. One of the things that makes this novel so striking is that both men are right. Dorian Gray leaves Sibyl and travels abroad, and when he returns to London, Lord Henry tells him that Sibyl committed suicide for love.
The quality of the prose is nothing short masterful. However, in this section Henry paints quite a different portrait of influence. Lord Henry is a paradigmatic sophist and his epigrams are delightful partly because it's easy to forget that he is more rhetoric than truth. Basil is rightly horrified at Dorian's response, which is cold and distant to the point of being inhuman. Lord Henry and Basil leave, as does half the audience, but Dorian sits through the entire play. They return to the studio.
Passing through his library toward his bedroom, he notices the portrait that Basil painted of him. He vows to use the portrait as his conscience; the danger of hurting the portrait will keep him from committing sins. When he gets home he finds a new line in Basil's portrait: cruelty is now visible in the painted face. Selfish and silly, yes. Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters and a deeply moving story. Because Basil worries that the public will detect his personal and artistic idolatry of Gray, he will not exhibit the portrait.
Grade 12 English Picture of Dorian Gray Study Guide
It occurs to Dorian that every sin he commits will be reflected in the face on the canvas. The dialogue is witty and humorous. Henry praises Dorian's beauty. Its annual exhibition, which has been held every summer without a break since 1769, features the best 1,500 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and engravings from those submitted for judging. There Dorian watched a production of Romeo and Juliet. Dorian hopes Basil hasn't seen him, b. So I read this book and I savoured every sentence, I devoured its wisdom and got lost in its pages! In Chapter 2 he gives a speech to Dorian in Basil's garden that changes Dorian forever by awakening him to the power and importance of his own beauty, saying, among other things, "And beauty is a form of genius—is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation.
It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. Dorian goes to a side show in the Two Turtles in the poor neighborhood of London, and he falls in love with singer Sibyl Vane Dame Angela Lansbury. By the end of the nineteenth century, the formula had changed considerably, but these basic tenets remained intact. Henry finds Dorian intensely beautiful and stays to watch Basil work on the portrait. When Dorian's two friends see Sibyl as Juliet, they immediately agree that she is beautiful.
