Please choose 1-2 quotations that give us insights into the philosophy of Oscar Wilde. Aestheticism. The artist's purpose. Religion. Facts. Beauty. Read your classmates' responses and come up with something fresh. There is a lot of ground to cover, here.
You may also make connections to Defending Your Life.
You may also make connections to Defending Your Life.
I look forward to your responses.
In the first two chapters, the audience is introduced to Lord Henry, his friend Basil, and the famous Dorian Grey. Basil, who is a painter, shows Lord Henry his latest work: a portrait of Mr. Grey. While Lord Henry looks at the painting, he begins to describe the beauty of the subject. Lord Henry notes,“But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face...He is some brainless beautiful creature who should be always here in winter when we have no flowers to look at, and always here in summer when we want something to chill our intelligence.” This idea of beauty, which sacrifices thought to be deemed attractive, is connected to aestheticism. Aestheticism is the act of appreciating art solely based on looks and was principle spread by Wilde. However, as Lord Henry expresses, beauty is temporary. He informs Dorian Grey, “You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you, or have to content yourself with those mean triumphs that the memory of your past will make more bitter than defeats”. Since aestheticism is based on the appeal of an image based on its looks, and the idea of beauty changes, a work of art may no longer be considered so in the future.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde uses uses the first two chapters to introduce a lot of philosophy, especially his thoughts about aestheticism. Quotes such as “The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self.” Are the essence of aestheticism that Oscar Wilde believes in, everyone is a piece of art and that they should strive to embrace that art. An artist’s greatest work of art is their own life. The actual book is a little difficult to get into, it is mostly philosophical and there not much plot. The philosophy can be interesting but if the entire book continues this way it will be quite boring. As the book progresses the philosophy will play out in the characters lives. Quotes such as “There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!" might turn on Lord Henry or one of the other characters. It is such an absolute statement that there is no way that turns out to be true.
ReplyDelete-Conor Walsh
Beauty (between Basil and Lord Henry) is full of contradictory terms; such as Basil and the young Adonis, his rugged features verses Dorian's attractive beauty and captivating allure. Statements such as "Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil. Conscience is the trade-name of the firm. That is all." and at an earlier point, Basil states that which "every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul." It is this as the reason toward beauty, which underneath it all, is also the reason that Basil is fearful to showcase it; because in it's beauty, the unfortunate fact of being revealed in the open, is a truth that Aestheticism's poise toward art is undoubtedly based on outer beauty. Paintings have specific traits that make it a work of the artist, a Picasso, a Da Vinci, a Monet, a Van Gogh- all art (which is based on the image alone) is the essence of Aestheticism and the very heart of Oscar Wilde.
ReplyDelete"I hate the way you talk about your married life, Harry," said Basil Hallward, strolling towards the door that led into the garden. "I believe that you are really a very good husband, but that you are thoroughly ashamed of your own virtues. You are an extraordinary fellow. You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing. Your cynicism is simply a pose."
ReplyDeleteThis gives insight into Mr. Wilde’s marriage. While he was writing this, he was married to his wife, Constance Lloyd, while he was romping with men. His infidelity and absence likely did not make him a very good husband. Additionally, the way he describes being repulsed by his pregnant wife leads me to believe that the relationship was unfulfilling for both of them. It seems that he is justifying his actions through this dialogue.
"An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them. We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography. We have lost the abstract sense of beauty." (1.21)
This presents the idea that art should be made for arts sake. By forcing meaning into art, it is ruined. This philosophy is in contrast to Victorian writing which aims to make art with a moral. A Christmas Carol, has been criticized as lacking in characterization because of Dickens’ focus of rich being mean and the poor being saints.
-Samantha Bozorgzadeh
"I turned half-way round and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with some one whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself."
ReplyDeleteBasil is saying that just by seeing Dorian Gray, his life would be completely changed. This was all just by looking at him and his beauty.
"Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him."
In this quote, Oscar Wilde is indirectly making a statement against religion. He is saying that people who follow a religion can never be who they truly are because they have to follow the ideas of their religion. If they think of anything that contradicts their religion, it is not allowed.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete"The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul." Chapter 1, pg. 6
This quote is a paradox because in a way Oscar is telling everyone that he is gay through his book but at the same time in the book oscar tells us (as Basil) that he is afraid that everyone will find out that he is gay through his art
Chapter 2
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what it's monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful." (Chapter 2, Paragraph 8)
This quote although subtle tells us that Oscar compares the victorian government to the thing that is forbidding him from having his soul’s desire (homosexualism)
- Aadith Arasu
In the first 2 chapters, Oscar Wilde talks a lot about his philosophies, more specifically his philosophies with aestheticism, and how the art that basil painted was more focused on beauty, not a deeper meaning.
ReplyDelete"I suddenly became conscious that some one was looking at me. I turned half-way round and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with some one whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself. I did not want any external influence in my life."
In this quote, Basil is looking at Dorian Grey. Basil is taken back by his beauty.
"Too much of yourself in it! Upon my word, Basil, I didn't know you were so vain; and I really can't see any resemblance between you, with your rugged strong face and your coal-black hair, and this young Adonis"
When he said that he feels as if he put too much of himself into it, he didnt mean it in the way that Lord Henry thought. He was talking about how he is scared that people are going to see his homosexuality in this painting.
These first couple chapters have introduced the importance of aestheticism and physical beauty to Oscar Wilde and how impactful it is on his writing. As my classmates have mentioned, the book seems to be centered around this concept and Dorian Gray's physical beauty.
ReplyDelete"There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!"
As Lord Henry is saying, youth and beauty are what matter the most in his mind, an idea which he instills in Mr. Gray. This a reflection of Wilde's ideas about aestheticism and the importance of things being beautiful rather than useful.
"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face."
Another quote by Lord Henry is stating that beauty and intellect are in opposition to one another and therefor one cannot be both as they ruin each other. This relates to the concept of aestheticism as it implies beauty doesn't need a deeper meaning or use, it should just exist as a piece to look at.
- Dominique Devani
Late Response (3/26):
ReplyDeleteThe definition of Aestheticism according to dictionary.com is: the acceptance of artistic beauty and taste as a fundamental standard, ethical and other standards being secondary. Oscar Wilde displays this sentiment in the first chapter when Lord Henry outright states "But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face." This shows that he thinks of intelligence as a secondary quality to beauty. He restates this even more strongly when he says, "beauty is a form of genius—is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or spring-time, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it." The second quote goes beyond what the first one says, and outright states that beauty is the superior force to intellect (in this context presumably about only humans). Oscar Wilde also shows his opinions about art as well in these chapters when Basil says, "I have put too much of myself into it." 'It' being the painting of Dorian Grey, Basil is afraid that he put so much of himself onto the painting that it will let other people know him. This is a reflection of Wilde's ideas about art because not everyone thinks that art describes anything more than what it is perceived as at face value.
-Yuval
It is interesting to read the above responses and see that most to all people focused on either the emotional struggles that Wilde had with his sexual identity as seen through the characters interactions and growth, or just the basic underlying theme of Wilde's thrive to surround himself in beauty, and nothing less. The quote I focused on provides the pivotal conversation in which Dorian's character changes for "the worse" as Basil states, as Lord Harry talks to him with his own philosophies about identity and what it means to truly find oneself.
ReplyDelete"To realize one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self. Of course, they are charitable. They feed the hungry and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked."
Now yes, this indirectly states of Wilde's true thoughts about expressing his true self: both in terms of his homosexual desires, as well as his decadent standards on beauty, but it goes much further than that. This piece of dialogue not only shows the reader Wilde's thoughts about what human meaning is for in a world oppressed by fear, but more importantly, expresses to Dorian how to be his true self, no matter how hideous or beautiful that person may be. This theme of Dorian's beautiful exterior continues to contrast and fight with his negative thoughts and internal feelings/desires as the chapters progress, and as his relationship with Lord Henry continues to grow.
A quote that caught my eye was "You know we poor artists have to show ourselves in society from time to time, just to remind the public that we are not savages. With an evening coat and a white tie, as you told me once, anybody, even a stock-broker, can gain a reputation for being civilized"(1.17). This is where Wilde admits that even artists have to give in to society sometimes. Even with their creative, out of the box minds, creators have to be "civilized" on occasion.
ReplyDeleteIn the first few chapters of Dorian Gray a lot of philosophical ideas are introduced. Oscar Wilde talks about the "aim of self development", he further more explains the "(realization) of ones nature". Oscar Wilde was very concerned with aestheticism and he was also very in touch with his inner self expression. The characters who have been introduced so far are eccentric, between looks, ideas and statements, this adds to Oscar Wilde's philosophical idea of aestheticism. Basil and Lord Hennery have humorous banter about the painting and how much of Basil has been "put into it". Though a little silly, their talk is sophisticated and almost gives lord hennery 'an upper hand' on the conversation. While he tells Basil he is narcissist and jokes about it, the audience realizes he is trying to push Basil to tell him more about the painting, because just asking would not get him very far. Through the characters speech and their personalities, Oscar Wilde adds his ideas of aestheticism and philosophy.
ReplyDeleteThe quote that stood out to me in chapter one was, "An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them. We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography. We have lost the abstract sense of beauty". In this quote Wilde's belief in aestheticism is prominent. The quote is saying how the artist should just focus on making the art look prety rather than put feelings and deeper meanings behind ones art.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes is " It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue". I think that Wilde is trying to day that the only people who argue are those who don't know much about about what they're arguing about. Like, immediately jumping to a conclusion after hearing one small side of the story. It is also considered that Wilde is putting himself in a higher position by ending the argument without Basil giving his opinion. When he uses the phrase "intellectually lost" he is insulting Basil saying that his argument is wrong.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Walsh
The quote in the chapter one "But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid.", Oscar Wild express his own thought about aestheticism, if you going to try to find something in the art it might lose that beauty for you.
ReplyDelete-Roman Shepeliev