The Picture of Dorian Gray: Annotated Bibliography
Introduction
No matter how long it’s been since I’ve read a book in its entirety, I will always consider reading a major hobby of mine. I’ve always enjoyed reading simply since I was able to do so. I’ve noticed how my taste in books has changed throughout the years— from reading Junie B. Jones, to the Twilight Saga, to every John Green book he’s published, to short-stories, memoirs, poetry, etc. What I read is constantly changing. While reflecting upon some of my most recent reads, it does seem that my favorite books follow a similar pattern in terms of its cultural values. I seem to “read for” redemption— my favorite books are those that have a character who experiences struggle or dysfunction and strives to overcome. I’ve found it hard to read in the last few years as the time simply hasn’t been there— between class, work, and a social life (pre-COVID, that is) it seemed I had no time to leisurely read anymore. Fortunately, this course, How Writers Read, has given me the opportunity to read again. Not only was I given the time to read, but I was given the opportunity to read differently. Reflecting upon our very first assignment— our inventory and reflection— I can see how I’ve grown in terms of reading for more now. I notice more, beyond what I may have before. This semester I enjoyed reading four books in my reading group. The book that I proposed was Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Blog 1: Reading for Mimesis and Theme
https://alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/blog-1-beauty-for-a-soul/
I had written the first blog since I chose this book. I’ve read and fallen in love with works written by Oscar Wilde in previous classes, but had never read a full novel of his until I finally got around to reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. The novel not only met my expectations, but exceeded them. This gothic and philosophical novel explores the themes of vanity, morality, and influence.
Upon being introduced to our artist, Basil, we meet Lord Henry through him, who is dying to meet Basil’s newest muse, Dorian Gray. Basil had been boasting about Dorian and the portrait he is making of him to Lord Henry and he insists on staying for Dorian’s next sitting for Basil’s portrait. Once the two met each other, they both became infatuated with one another, much like Basil had when he first encountered Dorian himself. It seemed as if anybody who had met Dorian had nothing but good things to say about him. His beauty was breathtaking and Lord Henry’s aunt had described him as, “very earnest and had a beautiful nature” (Wilde 11).
While meeting for the first time, Lord Henry spoke to Dorian about the significance of his youth and beauty, while he still has it. Lord Henry essentially manipulates Dorian into becoming so self-conscious of his inevitable aging that Dorian wishes to the universe that he would never age and he would simply remain just as beautiful and youthful as he looks in Basil’s portrait of him.
In Robert Mckee’s chapter, “Structure and Meaning,” he explores the purposes of a text and what it is meaning to do. He describes two specifically important aspects as, “Premise, the idea that inspires the writer’s desire to create a story, and Controlling Idea, the story’s ultimate meaning expressed through the action and aesthetic emotion of the last act’s climax.” (McKee 112). The premise and controlling idea almost work as a question and answer in a way. In The Picture of Dorian Gray I believe the premise revolves around Dorian’s wish: What would happen if someone was granted eternal youth and the ability to hide human shame in order to pursue a purely hedonistic lifestyle? Dorian wishes he could remain as beautiful and youthful as he looks in his portrait and in return his portrait will age and bear the shame for himself. Dorian first realizes his wish came true after breaking up with Sybil, the actress he had proposed to after quickly falling in love; however, after a poor acting performance he told her he no longer loved her because of her lack of talent. His words to her were cruel, but he did not have to bear the shame as he realized his portrait self had changed— it was less beautiful than before.
Dorian had now realized that he would never need to live with shame upon his actions, so he began exploiting the opportunity and became a cruel, cruel person. The Doran Gray that was “very earnest and had a beautiful nature,” no longer existed— Basil addressed the changes he saw in Dorian, he said, “Dorian! This is horrible! Something has changed you completely. You look exactly the same wonderful boy who, day after day, used to come down to my studio to sit for his picture. But you were simple, natural, and affectionate then. You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world. Now, I don’t know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry’s influence. I see that” (Wilde 94). Dorian had changed for the worst and now had a new reputation— people no longer spoke highly of such an earnest, beautiful man, but now talked of such cruelties that he had done and what a vile person he has become. Dorian Gray lived a life of vice and cruelty, and hated himself in the end for who he had become— he no longer wishes for eternal youth in return for his portrait to bear his age and shame. On the last page of Wilde’s story police forced themselves into Dorian’s home— “When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was” (Wilde 198).
In “Structure and Meaning,” Robert McKee says the controlling idea “may be expressed in a single sentence describing how and why life undergoes change from one condition of existence at the beginning to another at the end.”(McKee 115) With this knowledge and examining the novel’s last climax, being Dorian’s suicide, I’d identify the controlling idea of this narrative as something like: If someone is granted eternal youth and the inability to bear shame, that someone will become the worst version of themselves and will literally and figuratively wither away into this version of themselves. Dorian Gray was no longer recognizable when he was given his true appearance in the act of death.
Blog 2: Close-reading for Genre and the Synthetic Register
https://alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/10/29/blog-2-a-mans-shame/
My group member Heather wrote our second blog. Heather wrote about how her preconception of this novel’s genre being a romance wasn’t exactly what it was. She wrote, “It was not about love, like one would naturally assume when first reading this novel casually. It seemed to be more of a mental struggle, between Dorian and what he thought his feelings were being projected into: the portrait.” More so, this novel is considered gothic— gothic horror, even. Dorian had made this wish which altered his reality— he no longer had to endure mortality or shame— his portrait would endure everything he did not want to so he could freely live his hedonistic life.
Dorian’s choices led to a lot of grief around him. We experience suicide and murder among our characters which all resulted because of Dorian. While Dorian has no sense of guilt from this since his portrait simply takes the shame he would feel. However, after some time Dorian could no longer stand who he’s become. He was ready to rid himself of the mistake he had made by wishing for what he did. He stabbed his portrait. Dorian stabbing his portrait really resulted in the stabbing and killing of himself. In his death scene, we realize Dorian’s portrait was the exact same as it looked when it was first painted— it had not aged or turned.
Heather wrapped up her blog perfectly with: “It was saddening to me that Dorian struggled for this long, worrying about the guilt of how he had treated Sybil, causing this eternal youth he believed he had wished for. Knowing that his suicide, which was the last act’s climax, was because of his struggle, he should have known all along that he was indeed feeling shame. It ate away at him until he decided he had had enough; he had withered away to the worst version of himself possible, and he was no longer able to bear it.”
Blog 3: Close-reading for Intertextuality
https://alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/11/03/blog-3-an-exceptional-man/
My group member Rachel wrote our second blog. Rachel made an interesting connection in this third blog in which she connected Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray with F. Scott Fitzgerlad’s novel The Great Gatsby. Dorian Gray is highlighted as a well-respected, attractive, intelligent man. “Indeed, there were many, especially among the very young men, who saw, or fancied that they saw, in Dorian Gray the true realization of a type of which they had often dreamed in Eton or Oxford days, a type that was to combine something of the real culture of the scholar with all the grace and distinction and perfect manner of a citizen of the world,” (Wilde 82). His description similarly parallels that of The Great Gatbsy’s Jay Gatsby. Both characters are well-liked and well-respected but yet both stories result in such character’s downfalls.
Rachel describes Jay Gatsby saying, “He was an enigma. He was everything to Nick Carraway, his new friend. Gatsby ends up dying at the end of his novel as well due to his own downfalls, just as Dorian Gray. Gatsby is killed by a man named George. George’s wife was sleeping with Tom, Daisy’s fiance. Tom tells George that Jay Gatsby killed his wife, even though that was not exactly the case. Gatsby had everything in life except Daisy, and getting that killed him. The two men start as, as some would put it, “exceptional” human beings. They then allow their own downfalls to take the lead which causes their deaths.”
A question we asked ourselves after this reflection was: Was Dorian Gray’s death inevitable? Was his story predestined to end the way it did because of his specific character? Rachel furthered these questions: “Is it inevitable that these two men who had everything ended up with nothing? Dorian Gray had everything until his mental state got the best of him. Is this inevitable? Could that be the universe evening out what was thought of as a highly respected being? Maybe that was Wilde saying that you cannot have everything until you give as well.”
The way we questioned the novel with these thoughts led us to using the hermeneutic code in our reading of. According to Silverman’s The Subject of Semiotics, “The hermeneutic code inscribes the desire for closure and ‘truth,’” (Silverman 258). Wilde’s story of Dorian Gray is truly a mysterious one all around and leaves the reader wondering. What does it mean?
Blog 4: Reading for Rhetorical Dimension of Narrative
https://alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/11/05/do-looks-make-you-beautiful/
My group member Chelsea wrote our final blog for Dorian Gray, blog 4.This blog focuses on the addresser and the addressee. Chelsea says the authorial audience would be for someone who thinks that beauty is everything. Dorian Gray was a humble man for a long time. That is, until Harry, Lord Henry, had boasted Dorian Gray for his beauty and convinced him that it would be a shame to waste his beauty with age. Dorian, manipulated by Lord Henry, had made his wish to never age as long as the portrait could reveal his true self instead— the rest is history.
Dorian said, “I am less to you than your ivory Hermes or your silver Fuan. You will like them always. How long will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose” (Wilde 9). Is beauty all there is? The Picture of Dorian Gray has many lessons to tell and the evils of vanity is an important one amongst. Dorian Gray was no doubtedly a beautiful man and he wanted to remain that way forever. However, with eternal youth came selfish and evil behavior. Dorian Gray who was once looked up to and respected was no longer liked. He had wanted to remain young so that he would be liked the same as he was— ”How long wi you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I supposed.” Dorian was wrong. It wasn’t about the wrinkles he may have gotten, it was about who he was and what he did. Dorian became someone different once he believed he would no longer age nor need to bear shame as the portrait who did so for him. Dorian became the very worst version of himself. This story is a cautionary tale for those who believe beauty is indeed everything.
Reflection
I wonder how and if my “reading for” influenced my choice to read Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. When I have found the time to read leisurely lately, the books I choose to read are typically pieces of nonfiction, especially memoirs. What’s interesting about The Picture of Dorian Gray is that it is a piece of fiction, but some have touched on the notion that Dorian Gray is almost an autobiography of Wilde. Wilde has touched on this in a letter noting, “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.” I found it especially interesting that he says Dorian is who he’d like to be— the man who kills himself from unbearable shame? Of course everybody reads and interprets differently. I’ve learned especially while writing these four different blogs through the course of the semester how differently we can look at a novel using different lenses and codes we may have not thought to use before. However, I did read this novel the way I typically “read for.” I saw Dorian Gray as a person who struggled with himself and could not bear to live with who he became. Dorian was selfish, narcissistic, and truthfully a bad person. The end of the novel leaves ambiguity in terms of Dorian’s death— he had stabbed “the portrait,” but in essence actually stabbed himself. Was he aware that he was killing himself all along? Was Dorian Gray redeemable in his death? We can’t really say, but I think the ambiguity is for the best.
Works Cited
Chopp, A. “Blog 1: Beauty for a Soul.” A Little Bookish, 27 Oct. 2020, alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/blog-1-beauty-for-a-soul/.
McLean, C. “Blog 4: Do Looks Make You Beautiful?” A Little Bookish, 8 Dec. 2020, alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/11/05/do-looks-make-you-beautiful/.
Moroze, R. “Blog 3: An Exceptional Man.” A Little Bookish, 24 Nov. 2020, alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/11/03/blog-3-an-exceptional-man/.
Rainford, H. “Blog 2: A Man’s Shame.” A Little Bookish, 29 Oct. 2020, alittlebookish672007363.wordpress.com/2020/10/29/blog-2-a-mans-shame/.
Comments:
Book 1 Blog 1: After finishing the novel and then your blog, I couldn’t help but really think about the question you ask in your title: How Can True Freedom Be Achieved by the Animal Farm? This question is kind of daunting to reflect on upon reading this novel and how the system the animals thought would lead them to paradise really lead to dictatorship and ruins; while, their previous reality wasn’t exactly ideal either. Is there a middle-ground? As you said, there’s a very thin line between taking control and abusing power— is it possible to really separate the two and live in harmony? Is it worth it to rebel when an outcome is so uncertain or do we simply comply and live with Mr. Jones despite the hardships? The animals on the farm were clearly much worse off once rebelling, but I wonder if the ideal freedom they sought out is truly plausible, or even possible.
Book 1 Blog 2: Hi, Chelsea! I thought the connection between the novel and BLM was interesting and important to write about as it is such a relevant connection today. The animal’s revolution took a turn for the worse and resulted in inequality amongst the animals and led to animals oppressing their own kind. The slogan “All Lives Matter,” almost feels equivalent to the quote in the book, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” They say all animals are equal, or all lives matter, but it’s contradicted by the power dynamics at play— in the novel’s case, the pig’s dictatorship. This was a great use of symbolism, I’m glad you related the two!
Book 1 Blog 4: Heather, I think you wrote this blog beautifully! Blog 4 is so challenging! You took the challenge and did great with it. I think the way you made the whole thing relate back to the symbolism was great. I love how you said that communism was basically “animalism”. Your blog helped me realize how much this book does relate to communism. Of course I had that idea, but the way you explained it brought so much light to it. And you are right, the reader is open minded. They need an open mind to relate the pigs to communists and such. I think you took the challenge in a great direction! The reader of this book is challenged to open their mind and see all the possibilities of who these animals are.
Book 2 Blog 1: Hi Destiny! Your blog was phenomenal and did an outstanding job explaining the underlying themes of the novel as well as how those themes are relevant in our society today. I loved the quote that you pulled out— “There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.” (Kazuo Ishiguro).— and how you connected it to those in our society who are minorities and experience life differently than others. After reading your blog, I found that it actually challenged my own understanding of systematic barriers as well, as I had not made as significant a connection while first reading the book as much as I did after reading your take. Great job!
Book 2 Blog 3: Hey Heather! I loved the connection you made between Never Let Me Go and the novel Unwind— we had briefly discussed this connection during class and you paralleled the two exceptionally. Unwind was a common book read in school so it automatically stood out since the two novels are so similar. You also did a great job summarizing what needed to be summarized for a better understanding of the books and their relatability. Great job!
Book 2 Blog 4: Hey Rachel! I really love how you focus on the end of the novel challenging the inevitable— the characters do essentially accept their fate. This is a different notion than other novels which follow the “happily ever after” storyline. This difference certainly makes a difference in the audiences for the novel and I think you nailed this idea on the head. I hadn’t thought much of this until reading your blog, but it was so thought-provoking and really helped me understand a new perspective. Great job, Rachel!
Book 3 Blog 2: Hey Heather! I love the questions you ask throughout your blog— they make this piece engaging and thought-provoking. One question I especially liked what you do with was, “Did no one really question how someone could go from such a well-admired person to someone not well-liked so quickly?” This question even further connects this novel with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” in which both characters are so well-admired until they aren’t. This is a question that daunts us the entire novel until Dorian’s death, essentially. Great job on your blog, Heather, I really enjoyed reading it!
Book 3 Blog 3: Hi Rachel! Firstly, I thought your blog was phenomenal; I loved reading the side by side comparisons of Dorian Gray and Jay Gatsby. I wouldn’t have automatically thought of the parallel between the two, but the characters are essentially written the same— this perfect, admired man who spirals in the end and both characters were led to their deaths. I also enjoyed reading about the question of “Were their deaths inevitable?” Were their downfalls set up because of the paths they took? I think the idea of looking into if something was inevitable is so interesting and certainly a mystery we can never truly know for sure.
Book 3 Blog 4: Hi Chelsea! Great blog— it flowed well and showed you genuinely had a great understanding of the book. I especially liked the questions you pose in the first two paragraphs; these engaged me as a reader, reading your blog, and were thought-provoking. Additionally, I really enjoyed the quotes you used from the novel— they were all important and significant to the text and work well as textual evidence. “I am less to you than your ivory Hermes or your silver Fuan. You will like them always. How long will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose.” (Wilde 9) is a great quote to highlight the themes of vanity here. Your blog was well put together and informative— great job, Chelsea!
Book 4 Blog 1: Hey Heather! I liked the way your blog flowed and slowly revealed what was exactly happening in this book. I originally struggled while beginning to read this novel, because I did not automatically understand the premise, but you articulated it very well and actually gave me a better understanding of the novel overall. This idea of the two opposing viewpoints of this couple’s mortality is what drives To The Lighthouse. It’s interesting that Virginia Woolf decided to kill off Mrs. Ramsey’s character who was the one who lived life without fear of her own mortality; however, it was an important choice to make in the narrative as death is inevitable and the only control we have is how we choose to live while we can.
Book 4 Blog 2: Hey Rachel! I think you did a great job on the second blog here focusing on the semic code. I would have chosen to analyze it the same way as this novel is so symbolic and is written almost entirely for its latent meaning. These two characters you’re comparing, Mrs. and Mr. Ramsey are so different and represent two different perspectives of living. I also really liked how you went on to compare two similarly opposite characters from a different novel, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. I wouldn’t have thought of such a comparison, but it is so similar in terms of the subject matter both concerning death and these different views on how to live despite the inevitable end. This connection gave me a new perspective in how I thought about the novel and even allowed me to see this pattern better that would fall under the semic code. Great job on your blog, Rachel!
Book 4 Blog 3: Chelsea, your blog was written so well and I love the connection you made between the two novels, To The Lighthouse and A Walk to Remember. As Heather said, both the stories are so different from one another, but yet the message is essentially the same. To The Lighthouse was a difficult read but the overall message is delivered so well and I think you wrote about it exceptionally— I think we all struggled with the texts a little, but it’s evident in your writing that you took away the significance of the novel.
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