Relating to Dorian Gray..

Dandyism

Firstly to define the word Dandy – ”A man unduly devoted to style, neatness, and fashion in dress and appearance”.

How does this relate to Dorian Gray? 

In ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ there is a character called Lord Henry and he is notably a ‘Dandy’. He seems to believe that good looks and fine clothes are more important in life than morals.

“Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins — he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame: that was all. “

Dorian’s view of life was dramatically changed. However, before listening to Lord Henry’s eloquent persuasion, Dorian thought that “the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him would be a guide to him through life, would be to him what holiness  is to some, and conscience to others, and the fear of God to us all”. Now however, convinced by Lord Henry’s opinion, Dorian now is slowly being transformed to think like Lord Henry and thus become a Dandy caring only for his physical appearance.

The Aesthetic Movement

Around the time of the Victorian Era during which Oscar Wilde was at the peak of his career, the Aesthetic Movement was a very popular social attitude which was formed in opposition to traditional Victorian values. The Aesthetic Movement believed that art in various forms should not seek to convey a moral, sentimental or educational message but should give sensual pleasure. 

In Britain, Oscar Wilde is very famous for one of the best representatives of the aesthetes. Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism can be seen in the preface, themes, plots, conflicts and the symbolic meaning of the characters. He believes that art represents nothing but itself.

At the heart of the aestheticism movement was the belief that art should not have no purpose other than to be beautiful. Throughout the preface in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, Wilde delves even deeper into this stance by stating, ”No artist desires to prove anything,”. In this preface, Wilde wastes no time in making his views and opinions very clear to the readers, and his view continues to be clear throughout the novel and also in the actions and words of the characters.

William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896)

William Morris, the son of a successful businessman, was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian Marxist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and English Arts and Crafts Movement. As an author, illustrator and medievalist, he helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, and was a direct influence on postwar authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien.

Morris wrote and published poetry, fiction, and translations of ancient and medieval texts throughout his life. His best-known works include ‘The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems’, ‘The Earthly Paradise’  and the fantasy romance ‘The Well at the World’s End’.

W. B. Yeats has pointed out: “No man I have ever known was so well loved. He was looked up to as to some worshiped medieval king. People loved him as children are loved. I soon discovered his spontaneity and joy and made him my chief of men.”

Marxism, Post-Colonialism and Feminism.

The homework/research given to us is surely a plot to establish who among the group actually research such topics, as apposed to those who rush off and plague Wikipedia or similar websites, cut and paste text and do not actually know what any of it means.

I have decided to that the hedonist approach and state quite clearly that at this stage in our studies, I was unable to answer the homework in high detail posed due to the simple fact I have little or no knowledge of Marxism, Post-Colonial or Feminist ideology at week 4 of my studies. I would argue that most are/were in a similar position!

I have detailed below a few publications which we should all read.

1. ”The unhappy marriage of Marxism and Feminism”, by Hartman (Heidi).
   Paper can be found on website:  http://www.old.li.suu.edu/library/circulation/Gurung/soc2370sgUnhappyMarriageMarxismFeminismFall10.pdf
2. Marxism and literature, R Williams.
   Brief text can be viewed on:
   http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kFF9pV5FmucC&printsec=frontcover&dq=marxism+and+lite
   rature&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZypTUqEx
3. 6ZvRBc6FgMgJ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=marxism%20and%20literature&f=false
4. Post-Colonialism: A very short introduction, R. Young.
   Brief text can be viewed on:
   http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5prvBIINKBkC&printsec=frontco
   ver&dq=Post-Colonialism:+A+very+short+introduction&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vSpTUtqBJ4OY0AXyp4GADw&re
   dir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Post-Colonialism%3A%20A%20very%20short%20introduction&f=false

The above should give you a better insight into the research posed. I intend to properly research the above and answer the question in more depth throughout the year as I am committed to only submitting well researched quality work. However, despite my methodology which has most probably caused a few ‘raised eyebrows’ I shall give my brief overview of what I have learnt from both my research and my fellow classmates blogs.

 

W.B Yeats

Post-Colonialism: From my very little knowledge on this topic this is what I have come up with. Yeats examining the idea of change throughout his poetry, mostly include the change within Ireland and the people around him. As in ‘September 1913′ Yeats compares contemporary Ireland to the “Romantic Ireland” in which he adored, also in ‘Easter 1916′ Yeats compares the abusive MacBride to the hero he changed into. Moreover, ‘Easter 1916′ and other poems are heavily about change, “all changed” and how the fighting has completely changed the social etiquette of Ireland.

Feminism: From my very little knowledge on this topic this is what I have come up with. Throughout Yeats’ poetry he does not seem to be a feminist. Living in this sexist time he did not help women through his poetry, although some of his poetry seem to suggest that he did worship or admire them. He mainly refers to Maud Gonne throughout his poetry as she was in fact the love of his life, however she did not love him back. Gonne was a strong feminist as she stood up for what she believed in to do with women’s rights. However, he also made many other references to other women such as: Eva Booth and Constance Markiewicz who he also admired.

 

Dorian Gray.

Post-Colonial: This topic seems to mainly revolve around the ‘misuse of power’ and this does strongly relate to the novel as a whole. He tends to misuse his power an awful lot throughout the plot, one of which was misusing his power to control Sybil. 

Feminism: Throughout the novel ‘Dorian Gray’ women are deemed as inferior than men, thus this novel is not feminist at all. The main female character throughout the novel is Sybil, who is noted as being weak and dependent on Dorian. We do not see much of a personality in her at the start just the fact that she participates in the theatre regularly playing the main part in many Shakespearean plays. Later she becomes almost completely dependent on Dorian and once he insults her acting she decides to commit suicide. This shows how unimportant women must have been thought of  and how powerlessness they were during the time the novel was wrote. 

Marxism: Throughout ‘The picture of Dorian Gray’ there are many examples of the class system. This is in fact the very opposite of Marxism. Dorian’s respect and status was based on his youth and wealth, highlighting how the rich were indeed very high ranked in society itself. Overall this novel suggests that both life and society revolve around wealth, money and more important youth, which is initially the total opposite to Marxism.