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The Victorian Era, Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray

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Title: The Victorian Era, Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray


1
The Victorian Era, Oscar Wilde and The Picture of
Dorian Gray
  • Julie Zahara
  • Mountain Pointe High School
  • 2006

2
The Victorian Era
  • Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901
  • Victoria inherited the throne at age 18
  • Married her mothers nephew, Albert
  • Bore him 9 children
  • Victoria and Albert ruled in the midst of the
    potato famine of 1845, in which they continued
    to permit the export of grain and cattle from
    Ireland to England while over a million Irish
    peasants starved to death.
  • Victorias obsessive mourning (10 years)
    influenced what would become the Victorian
    mentality
  • Her influence was so great that both a political
    era and a literary epoch was named after her.

3
Contrasts
  • An age of great conflicts
  • Although Christianity also reigned, this was the
    first time that institutional Christianity was
    truly called into question
  • Darwin, Marx, and Freud emerged during this time
  • Prudish, Prim and proper, repressed and
    old fashioned are often used to describe this
    era
  • Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens
  • Regarded artists as societys conscience
  • Jack the Ripper some 8,000 prostitutes were
    employed in London during the mid 1800s

4
Time of Progress and Prosperity
  • Great strides in science and technology
  • Rapid growth of the middle class
  • Middle class valued hard work, strict morality,
    and pragmatism (practicality over idealism)
  • Victoria and Albert fostered moral earnestness
    and strait laced propriety
  • Distinct social classes. Middle and lower
    classes could never attain the wealth, luxury,
    and privilege of the upper class.

5
Victorian Gentlemen
  • Elite status, aristocratic, social class
  • Debonair, dandy/metrosexual, well-groomed
  • Sophisticated- calling cards, tobacco pouches,
    high tea
  • Inflicted harm on no one, avoided slander and
    gossip
  • Philosophical, well educated
  • Recognized by virtue of their occupation

6
(No Transcript)
7
Oscar Wilde
  • Birth name
  • Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde
  • Birth date October 16, 1854 Ireland
  • Mother was a poet/journalist
  • Father was a doctor
  • Mother wanted a girl
  • Death date November 30, 1900
  • Died penniless and alone of meningitis in Paris
  • Married with two children

8
Style
Known For
  • Sharp wit
  • Outrageous and eccentric clothing
  • Irreverent attitude
  • Aphorisms/epigrams A concise expression often
    satirical with an ingenious turn of thought
    sage witty
  • Cynicism faultfinding contemptuous
    distrustful view of society
  • Flamboyant lifestyle
  • Loved to stir the pot!

9
9
10
Famous Quotes
  • "One should always be in love. That is why one
    should never marry."
  • Arguments are to be avoided they are always
    vulgar and often convincing.
  • I choose my friends for their good looks, my
    acquaintances for their good characters, and my
    enemies for their good intellects. A man cannot
    be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
  • Don't be misled into the paths of virtue.
  • Women never have anything to say, but they say
    it charmingly.
  • There are only two kinds of people who are
    really fascinating- people who know absolutely
    everything and people that know absolutely
    nothing.

11
Dorian Gray
  • Wildes first and only novel. Written over 100
    years ago (1891)
  • Opened to much criticism
  • Ultimately, was very successful
  • So many current themes
  • sin and redemption
  • hedonism
  • love and marriage
  • friendship
  • youth and beauty
  • Gossip
  • influence/manipulation
  • art(then- paintings, opera now- films, music,
    etc.)
  • Based on revelations about evil in humanity,
    pleasures of evil and destructiveness of evil.

12
Basic Synopsis
  • The story of three friends Basil, Lord Henry,
    and Dorian Gray
  • The soul is a blank canvas
  • Basil-angel
  • Lord Henry- Devil
  • Dorian Gray- a clean slate
  • Id, ego, superego
  • Semi-autobiographical

13
Major Theme
  • Hedonism The devotion to pleasure as a way of
    life ones sole priority is to seek
    pleasure/happiness without regard for others.

14
Id, Ego, Superego
  • Freud believed that the id is based on our
    pleasure principle.  In other words, the id wants
    whatever feels good at the time, with no
    consideration for the reality of the situation.
  • The ego is based on the reality principle.  The
    ego understands that other people have needs and
    desires and that sometimes being impulsive or
    selfish can hurt us in the long run
  • The Superego is the moral part of us and develops
    due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on
    us by our caregivers.  Many equate the superego
    with the conscience as it dictates our belief of
    right and wrong.

www.allpsych.com
15
Hedonism HandbookTop Hedonism Mantras
  • Live and Let Live
  • Carpe Diem
  • You Cant Take it With You
  • You Only Live Once
  • Just Do It
  • Never Say Never
  • Look Out for Number One

16
The Perils of Structured Living(according to
Hedonists)
  • You will be unpopular at parties
  • You will become hardened and bitter
  • You will age prematurely
  • You will experience greater stress
  • You will spend your life struggling
  • You will feel cheated
  • You will feel left out
  • You have serious regrets in the end
  • You will not be happy

17
  • Few things are harder to put up with than the
    annoyance of a good example.
  • -Mark Twain

18
Look who loves Dorian Gray
  • Motley Crue,
  • New Tattoo
  • (chorus)I dont want to see us fade awayI
    dont want to be without you another dayI could
    be your dorian grayI wont fade awayNo, I wont
    fade away
  • U2
  • The Ocean 
  • A picture in greyDorian GrayJust me by the
    seaAnd I felt like a starI felt the world
    could go farIf they listenedTo what I
    saidWashes my feetWashed the feetSplashes the
    soul of my shoes

19
More Musical References
  • Styx mentions Dorian Gray in their song Sing for
    the Day from their Pieces of Eight (1978) album.
  • Dorian Gray is mentioned in Liz Phair's song
    H.W.C. (2003) from her eponymously titled
    album.
  • James Blunt refers to Dorian Gray in the song,
    Tears and Rain from the album Back to Bedlam
    (2005) with a line in the chorus "Hides my true
    shape, like Dorian Gray."
  • Dorian Gray is mentioned by British rock group
    The Libertines in the song Narcissist, playing on
    the theme of youth and good looks, an idea that
    is central to the story. It features the
    line"Wouldn't it be nice to be Dorian Gray?"
  • 2006- English - garage punk / indie band, The
    Horrors, list Dorian Grey as one of their heroes
    on their myspace page

19
20
You know its gotta be good... when Family Guy
references it!
  • When Meg asks Stewie how she looks in her new
    glasses, Stewie replies "How should I put this,
    in an attic somewhere there's a picture of you
    getting prettier." This is a play on the book
    Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (frequently
    referenced). So through an obscure literature
    reference, Stewie says that Meg got uglier. Then,
    when Lois shrugs it off, Stewie is disgusted that
    nobody got the joke.

21
And...
In the American sitcom Scrubs, the hospital's
chief of medicine, Bob Kelso, is named after Lord
Kelso. The sitcom's protagonist is called John
Dorian. In Alan Moore and Kevin O' Neill's
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Dorian makes
several cameo appearances, most notably in volume
2, where it would appear he is alive and well, as
his portrait appears in the British Museum, grown
more hideous than ever. The character also has a
central part in the film of the same name.
21
22
Journal
  • Discuss the positive and negative aspects of the
    hedonistic way of life in both personal and
    public spheres. How might this be an appealing
    way to live? How might this way of thinking be
    exemplified in the arts (Hollywood, actors,
    singers, models, comedians, as well as,
    sculptors, painters, etc.)? How does
    society/media perpetuate this idea? Do you
    believe our society is more hedonistic than
    others? Why or Why not?
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