Chapters 1 & 2.

2. The aim of the lesson is to teach you to anticipate the development of the novel.

1. Reproduce the information.

In the second half of the 19th century against the background of rapid growth of social
contradictions in England there appeared a new trend in literature, called “aestheticism”. Its
representatives created their own cult of beauty & proclaimed the theory of “pure art”. Anti-
bourgeois, escapist, dandiacal, flamboyant, placing form before content and ever seeking
aesthetic originality, the movement progressively stressed pure sensation & deified the intensity of
the movement. Oscar Wilde was one of the spokesmen for the school of “Art for Art’s Sake”.

2. Knowledge of mythology will prove useful to readers of literature from classical times to the present,
since literature abounds in allusions to mythology. The myth of Narcissus is a myth about a boy of whom it
was foretold that he would have a long life if he never knew himself. The child grew up to be an extremely
beautiful youth. Among his adoring lovers, whom he scorned in his pride, was the nymph Echo. Her
attempts to win his attention were all in vain, because of her inability to start a conversation. She was
doomed to repeat the last words of others’ speeches. She wasted away to a mere voice, unnoticed by
Narcissus. The gods arranged that Narcissus should stop to drink at a certain fountain on the heights of
Mount Helicon. Glancing into the water, the boy saw his own reflection & instantly fell in love with it. Since
he could not embrace the image in the pool, he lay beside it, unable to tear himself away, until he died either
of the same love that had caused Echo to fade away or of simple starvation. His body was transformed into a
flower that bears his name.
What is it that Wilde took from the myth, as far as Chapters 1 & 2 are concerned?

3. You have started reading a novel. You have read only two chapters. Certainly, you can’t say much about
it. But there are questions to which complete answers may be given.
Use the book to support your answer: Does the beginning of the novel create interest? Does the writer give
us an idea what our experience will be like?

4. If we are to make a scheme of the two chapters, it may look like this: Innocence, which is symbolized by
Dorian Gray, is, on the one hand, being guarded by Basil Hallward and, on the other hand, is being
converted by the philosophy of pleasure, which is represented by Lord Henry.
Express agreement or disagreement with the given scheme, taking into consideration that the portrait itself
can be regarded as a modern substitute for a reflection in a pool of water. In this case, can Basil Hallward
be also held responsible for the conversion of Dorian?

5. The characters of the novel, as they are seen in the first two chapters, do not try to conceal anything. They
(even Basil Hallward, who says he is a reticent sort of person) are absolutely outspoken on any problem.
What do we come to know of these characters?

6. Prove that O. Wilde adhered to the theory of Aestheticism: show how things looked, sounded, smelled.
Account for the changes in Dorian’s mood.

7. What is the essence of Lord Henry’s theory of pleasure? Express your agreement or disagreement with it.

8. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a morality depicting the corruption of a beautiful young man by friends &
theories recommending the importance of aesthetic experience as an end in itself.
Find evidence that may support the opinion expressed in this one-sentence summary of the novel. Give an
introduction to the chapters you have read. Your task is to win the interest of your audience.
Chapters 3-9. The aim of the lesson is similar to that of the previous one.

1. Reproduce the verse “Lucifer’s Song” (the song is addressed to Dr. Faustus, who has become young
through magic & his consent to sell his soul to Lucifer).
You have more music in your voice
Than to the spheres is given
And more temptation on your lips
Than angels gave to Heaven.
You have more brightness in your eyes
Than all the stars which burn
More dazzling are you than the throne
We fallen dared to spurn.

2. What else would Lord Henry have said to Dorian if it had been his song addressed to the young man?

3. Knowing mythology, as it was said, proves most useful to readers of fiction from classical times to the
present, since literature abounds in allusions to mythology. What is it that Wilde took from the legend about
Faust, judging by the chapters you’ve read? What traits of character does Faust symbolize? What traits of
character are represented by Mephistopheles? Can both kinds of character go together in one person? What
other features in a man can go with either of the main features of these characters?
The legend of Faust belongs to a long-standing Christian concern over “forbidden knowledge”, going
back to the Biblical story of the Fall. The words of the Bible “Take care lest any man should spoil you
through philosophy & vain deceit” reflect the conviction of the Church that knowledge & piety cannot go
together. Stories about a German scholar, Dr. Georg Faust (1480-1540) inspired a tale of the amazing life &
horrible death of a wicked scholar who had gained magical powers by selling his soul to the devil. This myth
was Marlowe’s source for “Dr. Faustus”, a typical Renaissance tragedy of the searching mind. This theme
was also used by Goethe, with philosophical & psychological depth involving total human destiny.

4. To have something to say, the writer must know precisely what he wants to accomplish in his writing. In
the given chapters, Wilde quite definitely has more than one purpose.
a) Into how many episodes can these chapters be divided? Justify your division.
b) What are the purposes Wilde wants to achieve? What is it that he wants to tell us?

5. Reproduce the given information & conclude it with a one-sentence summary of the Sybil Vane episode:
When a story is told, we assume that the action of the story is complete. The narrator & the reader recall
and reconstruct past events, viewing them with the hindsight of retrospective knowledge. The fairy-tale
formula of “Once upon a time…” neatly encapsulates the action of the story, placing it in a detached
perspective: it exists in an ordered sequence, with irrelevancies eliminated, ready for judgement by the
reader… The Sybil Vane episode in the book has the same fairy-tale structure but instead of the usual
ending “And then they lived happily ever after” it gives us a sentimental one of anguish & death which is
also too familiar.

6. A work of fiction deals with interaction of characters. In real situations there are as many interpretations
of an affair as there are people concerned, since for each person the situation is coloured and defined by his
own role within it.
Give a short summary of the episode as told by Dorian Gray, either full of remorse & regret or being under
the influence of Lord Henry’s theories.

7. What further influence will the Sybil Vane episode have on Dorian Gray’s life?

8. In the chapters you have read the novel may remind one of a crime story. Every clue counts. We have to
take it on trust that some logic of events does consist. A basic rule of the detective story is that the germ of
resolution must be in the tale from the very beginning! We may not have noticed the vital clue – but it is
there!
Have you found the vital clue(s)? What is the development of the story, to your mind? What are the details
that may count?

9. In the given chapters, O. Wilde too often reminds us of the fact that Sybil Vane was an actress. He does it
for several reasons. It enables Dorian Gray to pronounce a most pathetic monologue. It gives Lord Henry a
chance to utter one of his finest speeches in which he tries to console Dorian Gray. It helps Dorian to justify
himself before Basil Hallward.
Characterise one of the episodes mentioned above. Say how the speaker achieves his aim. What arguments
does he bring forward? What devices does he use to make his speech more convincing – paradoxes, epithets,
analogy, parallel constructions, rhythm, periphrasis, etc?

10. What is the impression the chapters have produced on you?

Chapters 10 – up to the end.end. The aim of the lesson is to teach you to analyse fiction investigating the
author’s attitude to his subject matter & to his characters. You are also to formulate your opinion of a work
of art as a complete piece of writing.

1. “An artist has no ethical sympathies at all. Virtue and wickedness are to him simply what the colours on
the palette are to the painter. They are no more and no less. He sees that by their means a certain artistic
effect can be produced & he produces it. It was necessary for the dramatic development of this story to
surround Dorian Gray with an atmosphere of moral corruption. Otherwise the story would have no meaning
& the plot no issue. To keep this atmosphere vague and indeterminate and wonderful was the aim of the
artist who wrote the story. I claim that he has succeeded.” (O. Wilde)
Sum up the information in a sentence or two. Offer a few words of comment: does the author succeed in
keeping the atmosphere of corruption “vague, indeterminate & wonderful”? can one feel, judging by these
chapters, that the artist has no ethical sympathies?

2. Change the following passage from O. Wilde’s letter to the editor so as to give a laconic summary of the
closing chapters. (Leave out the argumentation & add the necessary facts).
Your critic falls into error when he says that Dorian Gray, having “a cool, calculating, conscienceless character”, was
inconsistent when he destroyed the picture of his own soul on the ground that the picture didn’t become less hideous
after he had done what in his vanity he had considered his first good action. Dorian Gray hasn’t got a cool, calculating,
conscienceless character at all. On the contrary, he is extremely impulsive, absurdly romantic, and he is haunted all
through his life by an exaggerated sense of conscience that mars his pleasure for him & warns him that youth and
enjoyment are not everything in the world. It’s finally to get rid of the conscience that had dogged his steps from year to
year that he destroys the picture, and thus in his attempt to kill conscience Dorian Gray kills himself.

3. Read the two monologues of famous English writers & according to the structure of any one or both of
them, make up a monologue of Dorian Gray after his having killed Basil Hallward.
 I don’t know what to do – not I! God forgive me but I’m very impatient. I wish – but I don’t know what
to wish without a sin. What a world is this! What is there in it desirable? The good we hope for so
strangely mixed that one knows not what to wish for! And one half of mankind tormenting the other &
being tormented in tormenting! (S. Richardson, 18th century)
 What I hate is myself. When I think that one has to take so much, to be happy, out of the lives of others,
and that one isn’t happy even then! One does it to cheat one’s self – but that is only, at the best, for a
little. The wretched self is always there. What it comes to is that it’s never a happiness, any happiness at
all, to take. The only safe thing is to give. (Henry James, O. Wilde’s contemporary)
The structure of the monologues:
a) An attempt to justify oneself – one’s state of mind (or character) – circumstances that influenced (or
caused) the action – a generalisation: many people do the same and if they don’t they get proud and start
teaching others.
b) Accusing oneself (or smb else) – explaining why: giving reasons, qualities or circumstances – useless to
try and resist it – reasons – conclusion: what should be done.

E.g.: “What I hate is prying (or moralising). When I think that one has to take so much effort to keep one’s
secret, and that one isn’t safe even then! One does it to calm one’s self – but that is only, at the best, for a
little. The wretched self is always on its guard. What it comes to is it is never safe enough to place bars on
the door or try to persuade people to keep silent. The only safe thing is to kill.”

4. The return of James Vane, which causes Dorian to faint, fills the following few days with the sickness of
apprehension (chapter 18). Follow his emotions, placing the given points in their proper order & supplying
them with details from the book.
 Dorian goes back to every detail of the murder he committed.
 He is filled with a wild terror of dying.
 He is deeply depressed & feels his own personality a burden.
 He nearly ceases to believe in the reality of his enemy.
 He recovers his joyousness and his ardour for life.
 A sense of infinite relief comes over him.
 He is dominated by the consciousness of being hunted and tracked down.
Does the chapter prove that Dorian “is haunted all through his life by an exaggerated sense of
conscience”? Or is there nothing more than the fear of death in his soul?

5. “Character gives us qualities, but it is in actions that we do that we are happy or the
reverse.” (Aristotle)
We may agree or disagree with Aristotle, but it is evident that Dorian’s qualities & his actions are described
as an independent system…
What can we guess about Dorian’s qualities from the outset of the novel? Is there anything about his
behaviour that may suggest his further development as a scoundrel or is it sheer influence that made him be
one?

6. All fiction demands curiosity for the story. It may also demand intelligence and memory. But fiction also
demands fantasy. You may say, “Here is something that could not occur.” But the general tone of the novel
should be so literal that when the fantastic is introduced it produces a specific effect: some readers are
thrilled, others are disgusted.
What were your feelings when the fantastic element was introduced in the novel?

7. Every writer promises something. He has a vision, and he wants to project it into the world. Sometimes he
writes with what we may call a purpose. This makes him impose his ideas & views on the reader.
Sometimes he imposes his ideas and views on himself, and his work may either be consistent with his views
or contradict them in more than one respect.
Which is the case with O. Wilde and his novel?

8. Responding to a critic’s assertion that the book was tedious and dull, O. Wilde wrote, “I would consider it
my duty to point out that it is far too crowded with sensational incident & far too paradoxical in style, as far,
at any rate, as the dialogue goes. But tedious and dull the book is not.”
Express your agreement or disagreement with the author.

9. “A story can have only one merit: that of making the audience want to know what happens next. And, on
the contrary, it may have only one fault – that of making the audience NOT want to know what happens
next.”
Give an introduction to the novel, making it clear what it is all about, and say whether it possesses or lacks
this merit.