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.”

Half-Hanged Mary.

Mary Webster is the protagonist throughout this poem. She is a puritan in the British Colonies, she lives alone and is very attractive. Accused of witchcraft Mary Webster was hanged from a tree – where, she was left all night. She was cut down in the morning where she was found to be alive. Since then she lived on for another fourteen years.

Margaret Atwood presents this poem in the way of a diary; therefore Mary Webster describes both her thoughts and feelings whilst experiencing this tragic event. The poem as a whole portrays a certain sadness as the layout shows us the length of pain that Half-Hanged Mary went through, and also the briefness between when she was sitting at home happily and when she was hanging from a rope.

The first line “Rumour was loose in the air”, this instantly gives off a somewhat eerie atmosphere as it is almost as if a poisonous gas is floating through the air ready to poison the mind of anyone who lets it.  The second line “hunting for some neck to land on.“, gives me the image of the rope travelling around the air testing itself on any neck that will fit

However, Margaret Atwood begins the poem  with Mary at home, and continues as she is dragged out of her house. Just one hour after she is purposefully hanged from an apple tree being “hanged for living alone.”.This along with many other poems Margaret Atwood writes relates to the theme of women being judged. She describes the accusation as “a soft bullet”. The use of the noun “bullet” indicates that words hurt just as much as weapons do. This comparison portrays that if both used incorrectly they can be just as painful. She then suggests how inane people are by stating she could also possibly be hung for her “cure for warts“. During this time period people believed that warts were a natural thing and therefore God must have created them however, if any one cured them they were to be a witch. In today’s society you would be referred to as a doctor and not a witch.

At ‘8pm‘ she describes the rope as an “Improvisation”. To improvise is a dramatic skill which therefore states that her hanging was purely done for entertainment. Next she describes herself as a “blackened apple stuck back onto the tree.”, a ‘blackened apple’ is a rotten apple, therefore this apple does not belong on the tree just as Mary Webster does not belong on the tree either. By the use of the adjective ‘blackened’ it portrays an image of black magic which is what Mary Webster is being accused of.

Moreover, Mary Webster does not die instantly; she has time to over look the crowd. At first she describes the men as “excited by their show of hate”, and then later it talks of “the bonnets”, or her female friends. She tells us about how they used to be her friends yet now they would not even look at her. She shows hatred towards these people when she states “I might rub off on you, like soot or gossip.“. This statement gives a very dark image as both soot and gossip is black as it leaves you either physically black or with a black name.

Mary Webster did not commit any crime, she was the victim of mass hysteria and rumors in her community and should not have been convicted at all. All she wanted was “anything, a hand, a piece of bread, a shawl against the cold.”, this is due to her helping all these people whether it be her curing someone’s baby, or even flushing a baby away. However, all that these people were capable of doing was “pointing a finger“, and staying in “the background” with “mouths closed so tight they’re lipless”. This again shows a Margaret Atwood theme with there being women/people being too scared to speak and thus having no voice.

Feminism.

 Definition: A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.

Feminism first started with a very well known story. A story from the book of Genesis, a Judaic creation story. This story highlights the way in which the world was created, and then him creating man. First he made Adam (Hebrew translation: Man) second he made Eve (Woman), this created many arguments as many people saw a direct divide between Man and Woman. God made man in his image and thus they were immortal. Later, the snake tempts Eve to eat from the Tree of Life. After eating from the tree herself Eve then tempts Adam, God then gets angry, and gets rid of their immortality and privileges as they disobeyed him. Moreover, the fact that Eve got tempted by the snake started the many attitudes of Men being ‘superior’ and Women being ‘inferior’.

However during this time most women were either pregnant, married or too young to bare children. Also women were banned from churches due to the fact they were either pregnant, busy or on a period.

The Industrial Revolution played a huge part in feminism. This was due to during the time of the Revolution it was only Boys who were educated. This was due to the fact that it would be them providing for their families as girls were taught by their mothers as they would only take the task of common household chores.

In class we were also told about Mary Wollstonecraft who produced a book called ‘A vindication of the Rights of Women’ in order to portray that women are not inferior, they are only deemed so due to the many myths that are about during this time. She is deemed as the first feminist and therefore it is her who has inspired many more to follow in her footsteps.

As I found this topic fairly interesting I decided to go and look further into the subject of feminism. 

The modern day feminist movement should surely be attributed to Emily Pankhurst along with her fellow suffragettes who chained themselves to parliament in the bid to win the right to vote alongside their male counterparts thus being equal.

The second trigger point as far as feminism is concerned is the onset of the second world war. At this time women took on the roles that the men could no longer do as they went off to war. Jobs included: engineering; factory work; farming; driving; telecommunications and even supporting the civil powers as police women. In a strange sort of way the second world war was in fact a God send as far as the feminist movement is concerned because after the war women were no longer regarded as second class citizens indeed would not tolerate it and were in no mood to do so.

However, the rights that they had gained to this point still fell short of the rights that men enjoyed. There was still the issue of equal pay in the work place, the right to work full time and lastly the right to abort without their husbands consent.

A major jump towards absolute equal pay was made by the women at the Daghanem ford motor company factory in 1968 where they took on a major company concerning equal pay. They defied both their employer and more importantly the male run union.

In conclusion the issue concerning equal pay over the last century has culminated with the enactment of the ‘Equal Pay and Equality Act 2010’. It is blatantly obvious for the most parts of the United Kingdom, Europe and perhaps the USA are endeavoring to close the gap between men and women’s rights or lack of them. However, the rest of the world especially the middle and far east, Africa and South America the issue of equality for both men and women remains a minor issue as far as political leaders are concerned.