The Portrait of Dorian Gray analysis of the work briefly. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” - analysis of the work

The contradictions in Wilde's views are revealed especially clearly in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891). The writer constructs images and plot episodes in accordance with his favorite aesthetic ideas: art is higher than life, pleasure is most important, beauty is higher than morality. However, the system of images and the development of the plot reveal the falsity of these ideas. The dynamics of the plot overcomes the static nature of individual episodes. The objective meaning of the novel contradicts the meaning of individual episodes and, in fact, refutes the entire program of aestheticism and hedonism that appeals to the author.

The idea of ​​“art above life” is contained in the scenes of the handsome Dorian Gray’s acquaintance with the actress Sibyl Vane, who played in Shakespeare’s plays. Dorian fell in love with Sibyl because she could talentedly transform into the images of Juliet and Rosalind and deeply portray their feelings. Dorian Gray loves Shakespearean heroines in an actress. Works of art are more important to him than life. When Sibyl fell in love with Dorian Gray, she could no longer live with the feelings of theatrical heroines. Sybil could portray on stage a passion that she did not feel, but she could no longer play passion after knowing its true essence. Seeing the actress's poor performance, Dorian becomes disappointed in her.

He cannot love a real woman; he loved only the image of art - the Shakespearean heroine. Developing this episode further, Wilde showed that Dorian Gray's aestheticism, his admiration for art and rejection of life lead to cruelty. The aesthetics of Dorian Gray kills Sybil. Upon learning that Dorian does not love her, she commits suicide. The novel discredits the hedonistic position of Lord Henry Wotton and Dorian Gray. Lord Henry charmed Dorian with his elegant but cynical aphorisms. “A new hedonism is what our generation needs. It would be tragic if you didn’t have time to take everything from life, because youth is short.” “People who are not selfish are always colorless.

They lack personality." The path of pleasure that Dorian Gray took is the path of vice. His soul is becoming more and more corrupted. He has a corrupting influence on others. Finally, Dorian commits a crime: he kills the artist Basil Hallward, then forces the chemist Alan Campbell to destroy the corpse. Alan Campbell subsequently commits suicide. The selfish thirst for pleasure turns into inhumanity and crime. The idea of ​​hedonism is debunked in Wilde's novel. The plot of this work, which includes a fantastic element, consistently discredits the worship of beauty, devoid of spirituality and morality.

The portrait of a beautiful young man, created by Basil Hallward, as Dorian Gray was in his youth, is a symbol of the hero’s conscience. The fantastic element in the novel is that Dorian Gray always remains young and handsome, and the portrait, like his double, reflects all the changes in the soul of the real Dorian and his aging. Each new step in Dorian's moral decline is reflected in his portrait. The face depicted by the artist shows features of cruelty and hypocrisy. The thought of the portrait haunts the hero; he considers it the source of all his misfortunes. Dorian sinks deeper into the abyss of evil.

The vicious life finally begins to weigh on him, but he has already gone too far and is unable to break free, unable to leave this path. Hence his last desperate and fatal act: he rushes with a knife at the portrait, but kills himself. Dorian and his portrait have swapped places: on the floor, in front of the portrait, lies a disgusting old man with a knife in his chest, and on the wall hangs a portrait of a beautiful young man. The story of Dorian Gray is a condemnation of individualism, aesthetic lack of spirituality and hedonism. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was written in an impressionistic style. The details are distinguished by sophistication and mannered elegance.

The novel begins with the words: “The thick aroma of roses filled the artist’s studio, and when the summer breeze rose in the garden, flying through the open door, it brought with it either the heady smell of lilacs or the delicate fragrance of scarlet rosehip flowers.” The style of the novel is characterized by paradox. This property distinguishes both plot situations and the speech of characters. The characters in the novel speak in paradoxes. However, many paradoxical judgments in the novel are directed against hypocritical bourgeois morality, against the social phenomena of English life.

Basil Hallward says, for example: “England is bad enough and the whole of English society is no good.” “There is scarcely a single face in the whole House of Commons that would be worth painting, although many of them could use a little whitewashing.” The novel itself defines the relationship of paradox to the truth of life: “The truth of life is revealed to us precisely in the form of paradoxes. To comprehend reality, one must see how it balances on a tightrope. And only after watching all those acrobatic jokes that Truth does, we can correctly judge it.”

1. History of creation: The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's only published novel. First published in July 1890 in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, and later published as a separate book in April 1891, supplemented by a special preface that became a manifesto of aestheticism, some chapters were completely revised. The novel was created at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Refers to the literary movement - aestheticism.

2. Gender: Epic

3. Genre: Novel

4. Features of the genre: philosophical novel, psychological novel, social novel.

5. Plot sources: Literary (The novel tells a story that echoes the fantastic plot of “Shagreen Skin” by Balzac; the novel “Melmoth the Wanderer” by Charles Robert Meturina - the idea of ​​​​a mysterious portrait; “Shagreen Skin” by Balzac; Close in decadent spirit to “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is Huysmans’ novel "Vice versa"); Autobiographical (O. Wilde’s opinions on art).

6. Main theme: beauty theme

7. Subject: the theme of the meaning of life, the theme of responsibility for what one has done, the theme of the meaning of love and the destructive power of sin.

8. Plot:

- Exposition: Basil Hallward's meeting with his friend Lord Henry Wotton. Creating a portrait. The appearance of Dorian Gray.

- The beginning: Basil gives the portrait to Dorian. Dorian Gray attends social events with Henry Wotton. Dorian falls in love with the actress Sibyl Vane.

- Development of action: Portrait aging. Announcement of the birth of Dorian and Sybil.

- Climax: The breakdown of Dorian and Sybil's relationship. Dorian takes drugs. Dorian kills his friend, the artist Basil. Meeting with Sibyla's brother.

- Denouement: The Death of Dorian Gray

9. Features of the composition:

A) Conflict:

Main (Dorian Gray's relationship with reality);

Side (conflict between Dorian and Lord Henry; Between Dorian and Basil; Between Basil and Lord Henry; Dorian and Sybil Vane).

B) System of images: contrast of heroes and inanimate portrait

D) Images:

Dorian Gray:

Dorian Gray loves Shakespearean heroines in an actress. Works of art are more significant to him than life. When Sibyl fell in love with Dorian Gray, she could no longer live with the feelings of theater heroines. Sybil could portray on stage a passion that she did not feel, but she could no longer play passion, having learned its true essence.

Seeing the actress's poor performance, Dorian becomes disappointed in her. He cannot love a real woman; he loved only the image of art - the Shakespearean heroine. Developing this episode further, Wilde showed that Dorian Gray's aestheticism, his admiration for art and rejection of life lead to cruelty. The aesthetics of Dorian Gray kills Sybil. Upon learning that Dorian does not love her, she commits suicide.

The path of pleasure that Dorian Gray took is the path of vice. His soul is becoming more and more corrupted. He has a corrupting influence on others. Finally, Dorian commits a crime: he kills the artist Basil Hallward, then forces the chemist Alan Campbell to destroy the corpse. Subsequently, Alan Campbell commits suicide. The selfish thirst for pleasure turns into inhumanity and crime. The idea of ​​hedonism is debunked in Wilde's novel.

Basil Hallward's image:

Basil Hallward's meeting with young Dorian Gray breathed new life into his work. “Dorian Gray is simply a motif in art for me,” says Basil about the influence of Dorian’s charm. Falling in love with perfect beauty gave him the gift of seeing things in a different light, which allowed Hallward to have a premonition of the discovery of a new style, “a new manner of writing.”

This feeling is all the more valuable for the artist, who sees two important moments in the history of mankind: “The first is the emergence of new means of expression in art, the second is the emergence of a new image in it.” The portrait of Dorian, a young man who miraculously combines innocence, untouched by life and external beauty, is the best thing that was created by the artist, but the artist himself is not going to expose his brilliant creation to the public.

There is only one reason for this: the creator of a beautiful picture “put too much of himself into it,” and exposing his own soul to the curious is not his goal. The “Preface” on behalf of Wilde is further developed in Basil’s words about the essence of art: “An artist should create beautiful works of art without introducing into them anything from his personal life. We have lost the ability to abstractly perceive beauty. I hope one day to show the world what an abstract sense of beauty is.”

The artist's sensitivity reveals the true relationship between him and his model: Basil unmistakably determines Dorian's frivolity, for the same reason he does not want to introduce Lord Henry to his new friend - Henry's ideas, Basil believes, could be disastrous for Dorian's unspoiled soul. This turned out to be true: from the first words of the brilliant sophist lord (playing the role of Mephistopheles), Dorian’s attention was drawn to the philosophical system of a sophisticated esthete.

The artist Hallward, it would seem, violates one of Wilde’s commandments - “an artist is not a moralist”; on the contrary, he continually appeals to the laws of conscience. But no one hears his calls “Let’s pray together!”, and there is no mannerism in the manifestations of his humanity.

Basil Hallward noticed in the young man not only his outer beauty, but also the inner purity that this beauty reflected. And at the beginning of his life’s journey, Dorian was still capable of sincere repentance and could fairly evaluate his own actions.

The portrait painted by the artist actually depicted not only the main character, but at the same time the idea of ​​beauty of Basil Hallward himself, who saw his ideal in the young man. The artist sought to embody in his art the harmony of body and spirit. At the same time, he gave the painting “too much of his own,” which is unacceptable according to the ethics of pure art, which is why Basil was killed - art “hid” the artist.

Image of Henry Wotton:

Henry Wotton appears in the novel in a symbolic setting of aestheticized philosophical contemplation: exquisite fragrances of flowers, an artist's studio, shadows of birds, suggestive of Japanese painting. This atmosphere is isolated from the hustle and bustle: “The dull noise of London came here like the hum of a distant organ.”

The lord's judgments are extremely aestheticized, Beauty is denied spirituality once and for all - intelligence is an “anomaly” that violates harmony; family life is a reason for a competition in lies between spouses; He doesn’t tolerate his relatives because “we can’t stand people with the same shortcomings that we have.” Is Lord Henry a moral man? Basil Hallward answered this question clearly positively: “You are an amazing person! Never say anything moral and never do anything immoral. Your cynicism is just a pose.” This is understandable - the image of Wotton is intended to caricature the mores of English society, from the height of its paradoxes.

Lord Henry is a convinced hedonist, his attitude towards people is the attitude of a spectator towards stage actors, to whom he is in principle indifferent: he chooses friends and enemies based on aesthetic considerations, he “observes” people, finding in this a special interest, intellectual pleasure: “Genius is undoubtedly more durable than Beauty. That’s why we strive to develop our minds beyond all measure.”

Lord Henry's attitude towards the misfortunes of his neighbors is peculiar: human grief is terrible and ugly, Harry Wotton denies people sympathy precisely for this reason, leaving the solution of problems to “Science” without emotions, and behind him - “philosophical contemplation.” Henry Wotton becomes Dorian Gray's mentor - the young man is interesting to him due to the extraordinary combination of beauty and spiritual integrity, and, as a man who idolizes beauty, Lord Henry undertakes to teach Dorian lessons in obtaining the fullest pleasure from life.

“The purpose of life is self-expression,” proclaims Henry Wotton, but fear of public opinion interferes with this. To give free rein to your feelings is to discover a source of extraordinary joy by making your dreams come true. Having clearly revealed to Dorian the transience of youth, Lord Henry encourages the young man to seek new sensations - to feel the fullness of life. Dorian's moral decline occurs under the direct "guidance" of Lord Henry, an extraordinary man, into whose mouth the author puts many of his own paradoxical judgments.

Wilde is primarily interested in the play of the mind, and therefore the cold cynic Lord Henry is engaged in the search for truth, and the desire for irresistibility: “He played with thought and became arrogant. He threw it into the air and turned it over, let it go from his hands and caught it again, decorated it with rainbow colors of fantasy and inspired by paradoxes." All words and all actions of Lord Henry in relation to Dorian Gray are consistent and pursue a specific purpose.

Lord Henry does not intend to corrupt the main character at all, because this will destroy the beautiful appearance of Dorian. On the contrary, he intends to do everything to preserve the beauty of his friend. The first thing Lord Henry does is try to convince Dorian of the value of youth and beauty. And this attempt was crowned with complete success. But even without being immoral in your own actions, you can corrupt other people.

Sybil Vane:

The cheap theater actress forced Dorian to say words of love, striking his imagination as an artist with the genius of transformation on stage. This is not about love for a woman, but about love for her talent. This is precisely what Dorian admires so much - pure art that has nothing to do with life, with poor Sibyl herself. But for Sibyl, he is “the hero of some play,” she calls him “Prince Charming.” Is this why she forgets all her roles in other plays, because she is absorbed in this - the only role for her now - in life?

One way or another, this love was extremely noble on both sides, innocent Sybil surrendered to the power of a new feeling with the entirety of her being, and even Dorian Gray, who had already experienced the poisonous effect of Lord Henry’s words, refuses the instructions he received: “When Sybil is with me, I “I am ashamed of everything that you, Harry, taught me with one touch of her hand; I forget you and your fascinating, but poisonous and incorrect theories.”

However, a cruel dissonance poured into the harmonious beginning: from the moment Sibila lost her gift as an actress. A bad performance on stage was a terrible disappointment for Dorian: he, in love with all of Shakespeare's heroines in the person of Sibyl, was unable to reciprocate the feelings of Sibyl herself, a real girl. The shock was so great that Dorian did not hesitate to express the most cruel words to her, pushing her away with genuine disgust: now Sybil was for him one of the most ordinary women. Left alone with himself, Dorian remains alone with his conscience - this is precisely the role played by the portrait, reflecting from now on all the bad things that Dorian has done and will do.

That night, he notices a line of cruelty in the man's mouth, and this makes him decide to do the morally right thing - Dorian decides to get married. Moreover, with the onset of a fragrant morning, he hears in his heart echoes of past love - and this is no longer just pity. Wilde left Dorian the role of an experimental subject, observed by a preacher of the ideas of pure art - along with Sybil Vane, the hope of resurrecting Dorian's soul died. The actress played her last role in the play of life, giving Harry Wotton the right to say: “This girl, in essence, did not live and, therefore, did not die.

Mourn Ophelia if you wish. Cover your head with ashes, grieving for the strangled Cordelia. Curse the heavens for the death of Brabantio's daughter. But do not shed tears in vain for Sybil Vane. She was even less real than all of them.” The choice has been made - from now on the portrait for Dorian will not be a picture crying out to clear his conscience, but a way to mock fate - let passions and sins from now on be stamped on the image hidden under the veil from everyone, Dorian himself will be free from the fear of losing the charm of youth in search of pleasure - Isn't this everyone's dream?

Love is a unique unity of external and internal beauty. However, Dorian himself destroyed this unity when he rejected Sibyl Vane. This girl offered him what Lord Henry dreamed of: love that would become art in real life. That is why Sibila lost the ability to play on stage. However, this unity turned out to be inaccessible to Dorian Gray; he did not understand the one who loved him.

E) Techniques (“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is written in an impressionistic style. The details are distinguished by sophistication and mannered elegance. The style of the novel is characterized by paradox. This property distinguishes both the plot situations and the speech of the characters. The heroes of the novel speak in paradoxes. However, many paradoxical judgments in the novel are directed against hypocritical bourgeois morality, against the social phenomena of English life).

10. Semantic concept: glorification of love, responsibility for what has been done, condemnation of lies, condemnation of excessive desire to preserve one’s beauty.

Literature of Action" and the works of R. Kipling

The work of Rudyard Kipling belongs to the neo-romantic “literature of action”, which differed from the work of the neo-romantics Stevenson and Conrad in that it was involved in imperialist ideology. The poets E. Henley and G. Newbolt also “belong” to the “literature of action”. In 1907, Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize for “masculinity of style.”

The democratization of content and form in Kipling's talented poetry, on the one hand, opposed the sophistication and refinement of decadent literature, but on the other, it idealized bureaucratic and barracks life. In contrast to the lack of will and anemia of decadent poetry, Kipling creates “literature of action”, glorifying human activity, courage, and perseverance. But at the same time, he subordinates the image of a strong, energetic, courageous person to the idea of ​​​​submissive and resigned service to the British Empire.

Kipling the poet published several collections of poems. Among them the most significant are: “Official Songs and Other Poems”, “Barracks Ballads”, “Seven Seas”. In the poem "Mary Gloucester," Kipling romanticizes the previous generation of energetic seafarers who acquired wealth through robbery and violence, and denounces the modern generation of educated but pathetic people.

Kipling's poems approach the vocabulary and intonation of everyday speech; they contain dialect words and jargon. In Kipling's poems one can feel a simple and pronounced rhythm, close to the rhythm of folklore works: folk ballads, folk songs. His poems are always plot-driven, they talk about everyday, but at the same time, remarkable events.

Kipling published several collections of short stories: Plain Tales from the Mountains, The Three Soldiers, and The Phantom Rickshaw. Many of Kipling's novels take place in India. The plots are connected with the relationship between the British and Indians, with the plight of ordinary people in India. Kipling's most famous works - "The Jungle Book" and "The Second Jungle Book" - used the richest material of Indian folklore, which formed the basis of their poetic content.

Wrote several novels. Kipling wrote several novels. The novel The Light Out depicts the life of war artist Dick Heldar. His truthful art is contrasted with decadent painting. In his novel Captains Courageous, Kipling described the hard work of fishermen. The author emphasizes the edifying idea that the powers that be should learn courage from ordinary people. The novel "The Stoics and Company" shows the formation of a soldier of the empire. The novel “Kim” is at the origins of “spy literature” of the 20th century. The writer praises espionage carried out in favor of the British Empire.

His best works, which are characterized by the romance of bold actions, fidelity to duty, and the romance of heroism, had a strong influence on the work of Conrad, Stevenson, Jack London, and Maugham. Modernism in literature arose on the eve of the First World War and reached its peak in the twenties simultaneously in all countries of Western Europe and in America. Modernism is an international phenomenon, consisting of different schools (Imagism, Dadaism, Expressionism, Constructivism, Surrealism, etc.). This is a revolution in literature, the participants of which announced a break not only with the tradition of realistic verisimilitude, but also with the Western cultural and literary tradition in general.

The generation of the first modernists acutely felt the exhaustion of the forms of realistic storytelling, their aesthetic fatigue. For modernists, the concept of “realism” meant the absence of effort to independently comprehend the world, the mechanical nature of creativity, superficiality, the boredom of vague descriptions - interest in the button on a character’s coat, and not in his state of mind. Modernists place above all else the value of an individual artistic vision of the world; the artistic worlds they create are uniquely different from each other, each bears the stamp of a bright creative individuality.

They happened to live in a period when the values ​​of traditional humanistic culture collapsed - “freedom” meant very different things in Western democracies and in totalitarian states; the carnage of the First World War, in which weapons of mass destruction were used for the first time, showed the true cost of human life for the modern world; The humanistic ban on pain and physical and spiritual violence was replaced by the practice of mass executions and concentration camps. Modernism is the art of a dehumanized era.

Modernists conceptualize human existence as a short, fragile moment; the subject may or may not be aware of the tragedy, the frailty of our absurd world, and the artist’s job is to show the horror, greatness and beauty contained, despite everything, in the moments of earthly existence. Social issues, which played such an important role in the realism of the 19th century, are given indirectly in modernism, as an inseparable part of the holistic portrait of the individual.

The main area of ​​interest of modernists is the depiction of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious in a person, the mechanisms of his perceptions, and the whimsical work of memory. The modernist hero is taken, as a rule, in the entire integrity of his experiences, his subjective existence, although the very scale of his life may be small and insignificant. The modernists of England include the great D. Joyce, W. Woolf, David Lawrence, Thomas Eliot and others.

O. Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray"- Complete analysis of the work.

The title page is designed independently.

Serves for numbering. Numbering begins with the title page.

The beginning of O. Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" presents a completely peaceful picture. We see a talented artist who paints a beautiful portrait and dreams of keeping it a secret from everyone. In the portrait of Basil Hallward there is a young man - Dorian Gray, the hero of the novel, or its anti-hero. Seeing the artist’s beautiful creation, Dorian exclaims: “Oh, if only it could be the other way around! If this portrait grew old, and I remained young forever! For this... for this I would give everything in the world. Yes, I would not regret anything! I would give my soul for this!" These prophetic words determine the further course of the plot. The portrait begins to age, but Dorian Gray remains young, adversity is not reflected on his face, but his heart hardens.

Dorian plunges into social life, because now nothing has power over him, all the troubles and adversities are reflected not on his beautiful face, but on the portrait of Basil, which becomes more and more uglier. But then Dorian Gray falls in love with a young actress, Sibyl Vane, who plays all the roles in a row in a beggarly theater in the East End. At first glance, the love between two young people is beautiful, and Sybil gives herself completely to it. She can no longer play artificial roles, she now has a different, real role - to love and be loved. That's why the show that Dorian invites his friends to see his bride fails miserably. “I have learned true love,” Sibyla says to Dorian. Art is only a pale reflection of it. Oh, my joy, my Prince Charming! I’m tired of living among the shadows. You are dearer to me than all the art of the world. What do I care about these puppets that surround me in the world? stage? When I came to the theater today, I was simply surprised: everything immediately became so foreign to me! I thought that I would act wonderfully, but it turned out that nothing was working out for me.”

Dorian Gray leaves Sibyl, throwing her a cruel "You have killed my love!" He wanders around the city at night, and at this time the unfortunate Sybil commits suicide. It would seem that Dorian should be crushed, killed, should be tormented and tormented by remorse. Yes, at first he does just that, but his faithful friend, Lord Henry, gives him practical advice: “What, in essence, happened? The girl committed suicide because of love for you. I regret that there was nothing like this in my life.” “I would then believe in love and bow to it forever.”

And Dorian Gray calms down, and a hard crease appears in the portrait.

This is how the life of the beautiful young man continues: he plunges into the abyss of vice, revelry and hatred of everyone around him, which lasts for twenty long years. However, the pains and sorrows of time do not concern him: “Even those who had heard dark rumors about Dorian Gray (and such rumors about his very suspicious lifestyle circulated from time to time throughout London and caused talk in the clubs) could not believe the dishonorable to his gossip: after all, he seemed like a man who was not touched by the dirt of life. People who spoke obscenities fell silent when Dorian Gray entered. The serene clarity of his face was like an embarrassing reproach for them. they were surprised that this charming man managed to avoid the bad influence of our century, the century of immorality and base passions."

But an idle, worthless existence cannot last long. Moreover, Dorian Gray is far from a stupid person, he understands the reasons for his misfortune, he begins to be tormented by remorse: “This beauty ruined him, beauty and eternal youth, which he begged for himself! If not for them, his life would have been pure "Beauty turned out to be only a mask, youth - a mockery. What is youth at best? A time of immaturity, naivety, a time of superficial impressions and unhealthy thoughts. Why did he need to wear her outfit?"

Unbearable pangs of conscience torment Dorian Gray when he decides to destroy the terrible portrait so that the blood dripping from his fingers will not remind him of the crimes he committed. However, the porter is Dorian Gray, and by stabbing the knife, Dorian is actually killing himself. Miraculously, the portrait and its owner change places, and now on the wall the servants see “a magnificent portrait of their master in all the splendor of his wondrous youth and beauty. And on the floor with a knife in his chest lay a dead man in a tailcoat. His face was wrinkled, withered, repulsive." This is how O. Wilde’s novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” ends.

Dostoevsky also wrote about man that “God and the devil fight in him, and the battlefield is the soul.” This is precisely what should be remembered when reflecting on Wilde’s novel. For Wilde, humanity is behavior in an extreme situation, although his entire novel is an extreme situation. He has a human soul - something material, something that can be sold, pawned, poisoned, saved, exchanged (these are the words of the main character of the novel). However, the author does not hide the fact that the whole story with Dorian Gray is fictitious - “the transmission of beautiful fables is the true goal of art,” the more valuable for us is the meaning inherent in the fable, the more carefully we look for the moral in this fable with a portrait.

It is no coincidence that Dorian Gray is in love not so much with the actress Sibyl Vane, but with the roles she plays - Juliet, Rosalind, Imogen. He himself is a musician and passionately loves everything beautiful. Collects objects of ancient art. Beauty destroys personality, because it is not real beauty, but devilish, as shown by the portrait kept by Dorian Gray. You have to pay for your deal with the devil. The whole story that happened with Dorian Gray is a devilish obsession: killed, Gray becomes as ugly as he should be, and the portrait again turns into something material - balance is restored.

In general, from a plot point of view, Wilde's novel uses several myths (or mythical plots). This is, firstly, the myth of Narcissus, who died after seeing his reflection in water. This is also a myth about the possibility of selling your soul to the devil.

Wilde’s devil is played by Lord Henry, cynical and devoid of any moral principles, a man who “always says immoral things, but never does them.” It is in a conversation with him that Dorian says the sacramental phrase: “How sad it is.” ! - Dorian Gray suddenly muttered, still not taking his eyes off his portrait. - How sad! I will grow old, become a nasty freak, and my portrait will be forever young. He will never become older than on this June day... Oh, if only it could be the other way around!” And so it turns out: Dorian becomes the eternally young “spawn of the Devil,” as the prostitute in the port calls him, and the portrait ages disgustingly.

Dorian Gray is in love with his “other self” portrait, looks at it for a long time and even kisses it. At the end of the novel, when the portrait replaces him, Gray falls more and more in love with his beauty and, unable to bear the beauty of his body and, in contrast, the disgustingness of his soul, which the portrait shows him, essentially commits suicide, dies, like Narcissus, from self-love.

However, Lord Henry's speeches are not so vicious, in many respects they are true, and sometimes we can even agree with his point of view. His life's path, ultimately, is illuminated by a dream of beauty, of the beauty of Dostoevsky, which was supposed to save the world, but, as if inappropriately, destroyed it. “The purpose of life is self-expression. To manifest our essence in its entirety - that’s what we live for... If every person could live a full life, giving free rein to every feeling and every thought, realizing every dream, the world would again feel such a powerful impulse to joy that has been forgotten if all the diseases of the Middle Ages were gone, we would return to the ideals of Hellenism, and perhaps to something even more valuable and beautiful,” Lord Henry preaches to us, and it is simply impossible to disagree with him. And no one in the novel, except Basil, tries to contradict him! “You are lovely, but a real demon-tempter. Be sure to come and dine with us,” exclaims the venerable duchess. People like Lord Henry were held in high esteem in the society of that time.

Oscar Wilde often refused to call a spade a spade. Literature, in his opinion, should not describe the vices and shortcomings of society. He had little sympathy for the sufferers. He believed that those who care for the suffering show off only ulcers and wounds, refusing to perceive a person’s life as a whole, with its defeats and victories. And in this his point of view is very similar to the position of Lord Henry. The author believes that all living things, no matter how ugly and immoral they may seem, have the right to exist and also have the right to make their own choices. This, in fact, is the essence of the philosophy of Sir Henry, the spiritual provocateur and seducer of Dorian Gray from the novel. Life is just a material, clay in our hands, the hands of artists-experimenters of life. You have to try everything in life. And Dorian, fascinated by this idea, boldly tries it. He experiments with his own life. But not only with my own. And this, apparently, is the difference between the positions of Sir Henry and Dorian. “Every crime is vulgar,” says Sir Henry, “and every vulgarity is criminal.” According to Sir Henry, for vulgar people, unimaginative, crime is what art is for the sophisticated mind, that is, a source of unusual sensations.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray is a portrait of his soul, a list of the crimes of this sinner. Wilde believed that there is Someone in the world who watches over us and writes everything down (or sketches it, as in some portrait in heaven). However, this method of re-educating Dorian Gray is very questionable, because it raises even more questions in us about the ways of possible repentance for the crimes committed. At the first stage, Dorian Gray is not particularly tormented by pangs of conscience. He, however, is still concerned about his reputation (his portrait) in the eyes of others. But gradually he begins to not give a damn about this either - just to remain undetected. The main spiritual flaw (sin) of Dorian as a person is that he, devoid of imagination, needed actions, deeds (good or evil) in order to experience the excitement of contact with life. But actions, unlike mental games, from a certain moment begin to repeat themselves, that is, cause boredom and irritation primarily in the one who performs these actions.

Actually, Dorian Gray is suppressed by the very fact that his inner content (which is the portrait) is embodied in the face of an old man. Thought (like meaningful feeling) ages, that is certain. Dorian Gray does not age because he does not think about his actions, about his portrait. He didn't think about his own crimes because he never really loved his victims (no matter how much he swore it to himself).

Thus, we see that in O. Wilde’s novel everything is built on contradictions. On the one hand, this is the permissibility of crimes (I remember Dostoevsky and his “Crime and Punishment”), on the other hand, there is a ban on them, their rejection. This, in our opinion, is the essence of the creative intent of the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is one of O. Wilde’s most popular works. There are more than thirty adaptations of the novel. The parable component plays an important role in it, so the meaning of the work should be sought between the lines. At school, The Picture of Dorian Gray is taught in high school. The analysis of the work presented in the article will help you quickly prepare for the lesson and refresh your knowledge about the novel before the Unified State Exam. For convenience, the analysis is compiled according to plan.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing - 1891.

History of creation- Researchers believe that the creation of “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde was inspired by the image of Faust, widespread in world literature and the works “Shagreen Skin” by O. Balzac and “On the contrary” by Huysmans.

Subject- The work develops themes of external and internal beauty, the true meaning of life.

Composition- O. Wilde described the life of Dorian Gray from his youth to old age. There are two versions of the novel - in 13 and 20 chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific event. In one of the chapters, the author managed to contain the events that took place in the life of Dorian Gray over the past 20 years. The analyzed work is a weave of events and philosophical reflections.

Genre- Philosophical novel.

Direction- Modernism.

History of creation

Work on the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” lasted only three weeks. He first saw the world in the American Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. However, after some time, O. Wilde made changes to his work: he redid some chapters, added 6 new ones and a preface, which today is considered a manifesto of aestheticism. The second version of the work was published in the spring of 1891 in London as a separate book.

The publication of the novel caused a scandal in society. He was criticized by the political elite. The works were considered immoral. There were demands to ban The Picture of Dorian Gray and to judge its author. However, ordinary readers received it with a bang.

Subject

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the analysis should begin with a description of the motives of the work.

In world literature beauty theme takes pride of place. It is also revealed in Wilde’s novel. In the context of this topic they raise problems of love, human vices, old age and etc.

Main characters works - Dorian Gray and Lord Henry. Also an important role in the implementation of the problem is played by the images of the artist Basil, Sybil and James Vane. At the beginning of the novel, the reader meets Dorian Gray. This is a young, very handsome man from whom the artist Basil copied a portrait. In Basil's workshop the young man met Lord Henry. Here he admitted that he would really like the portrait to age, but for it to always remain beautiful.

Dorian Gray's wish came true. Years passed, but he remained a handsome young man. At the same time, the hero knew how to appreciate only external beauty. This killed his love for Sibyl Vane. The man's pride caused the death of Sybil. This tragedy was only the beginning of Dorian Gray's vicious path. After that, he killed more than one person. With his every action, the portrait changed. Soon the young man depicted on it turned into an ugly old man.

Dorian Gray understood that the portrait was a reflection of his soul, so he hid it from everyone. When Basil discovered a new image, the former sitter killed him.

The main idea of ​​the novel- human vices and an ugly soul cannot be hidden under a beautiful appearance. You need to fight the very essence of your vices, you cannot allow pride to take over your soul, this is what O. Wilde’s novel teaches.

Composition

O. Wilde described the life of Dorian Gray from his youth to old age. There are two versions of the novel - in 13 and 20 chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific event. In one of the chapters, the author managed to contain the events that took place in the life of Dorian Gray over the past 20 years. The plot of the work develops sequentially: from exposition to denouement. The close interweaving of events and philosophical reflections gives the reader the opportunity to delve into the essence of the topic.

Genre

The genre of the work is a philosophical novel, as evidenced by the following features: the main problem remains open, the instructive component plays an important role. The direction of Oscar Wilde's work “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is modernism.

Kabanova I.V. Analysis of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Foreign literature of the 20th century: practical lessons Edited by I.V. Kabanova (second edition), M.: Flinta Nauka, 2009

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) is Wilde's only novel. Here, for the first time, the author’s project was embodied, the implementation of which was devoted to the entire mature work of the writer and which was characterized by Wilde’s biographer Richard Ellmann as “an attempt to anatomize his contemporary society in a highly civilized manner and radically rethink its ethics.” The novel glorifies Beauty, devoid of moral dimensions, Beauty as such, deliberately shocking with a decadent sexual atmosphere. It was not for nothing that an enthusiastic fan of the novel, Andre Gide, called Wilde “the most dangerous product of modern civilization,” and the writer’s wife Constance complained in 1890: “Since Oscar wrote Dorian Gray, no one talks to us.”

The literary roots of the novel are Balzac’s “Shagreen Skin,” from which the idea of ​​a magical talisman was borrowed, and Huysmans’ “On the contrary,” from where the atmosphere of spicy sensuality came into the novel. The fantastic story of the portrait, the image in which ages, while Dorian himself, committing various crimes, remains young and beautiful, unfolds in the author’s contemporary England. The heroes of the novel enjoy all the benefits of civilization, reflect on the state of modern society, but the presence of fantasy in the very heart of the novel poses a challenge to the positivist worldview.

Wilde's novel is distinguished, like all philosophical works, by an increased degree of artistic convention: not only does its plot contain a magical, magical assumption, but the characters are not entirely life-like. The fact is that in a philosophical work, each of the characters illustrates one or another side of the author’s concept, becomes the mouthpiece of the author’s ideas and is partly deprived of independence, acquiring a certain predetermination and design. This is the artistic nature of all three central characters.

This feature of the novel’s poetics deserves special attention as a confirmation of the artificiality inherent in Wilde’s method equally in drama and prose, the artificiality of aestheticism in general: striving for the standard of beauty, the author inevitably introduces a greater measure of order into reality, controls it more strictly and, consequently, distorts it than if he had been guided by a spirit of free, unprejudiced inquiry into life.

The plot combines the attractiveness of science fiction and the entertainment of a psychological thriller, and contains elements of a “black novel.” Unlike the plot of the novel "On the contrary", which, according to the French psychological tradition, is focused on a single image of the central character, the plot of "Portrait" contains many events, an independent love line, the action spans several decades, the ways of creating characters are more diverse, despite the fact that the narrative is told from third party.

All three central characters of the novel are an expression of different sides of the extraordinary personality of their creator. The problem of art in the novel is connected with the image of the artist Basil Hallward: the theme of the artist and creativity, the depiction of the creative act. The voice of Wilde's philosophy in the novel is Lord Henry Wotton, and Dorian Gray experiments with dandyism in practice. Unlike the Frenchman Huysmans, who sought salvation for his hero on the paths of Catholicism, the Irishman Wilde, working in the tradition of the English moralistic novel, ultimately leads his hero to complete collapse. The dead ends of sensuality, the dead ends of hedonism and the philosophy of permissiveness in this novel are clearly indicated both by the plot itself and by the arrangement of images.

Basil Hallward, creator of the portrait of Dorian Gray, is a talented artist in love with Beauty. In his image, the author gives a brilliant study on the psychology of artistic creativity, which, of course, is not subject to moral laws. Talent need not be conscious of its nature, but Basil comes dangerously close to such a realization in the story of his relationship with Dorian: his Victorian conscience is confused by the truths revealed to him about the sensual basis of his work. When his friendship with Dorian is interrupted, he returns to his usual level of painting, but continues to anxiously watch Dorian from afar. Psychologically, it is very convincing that Basil is the only one who undertakes to read morals to Dorian (Chapter XII), admonishes him to abandon his vicious life, he wants to “see the soul” of Dorian, as only the Lord God can. Dorian, in response, shows the artist a portrait (chapter XIII), “corroded from the inside by the leprosy of vice,” Basil, in horror, calls on Dorian to pray together. And this normal reaction of a person for whom conscience and morality are not empty words provokes Dorian to kill the artist, whom he blames for his misfortunes. You can kill the creator of the portrait, but the portrait itself, the symbol of the soul, cannot be destroyed, just as the eternal soul cannot be destroyed. Hallward is the creator of the portrait of Dorian Gray, and the creator of the true Dorian is Lord Henry Wotton.

The plot functions of the image of Lord Henry are to be a mentor, a demon-tempter for the innocent Dorian. Lord Henry penetrates the soul of the young man and takes possession of it; he corrupts the young man with the philosophy of hedonism, the cult of youth and beauty. In his external manifestations, he fully corresponds to the ideal of a dandy; his appearance and manners are impeccable. Lord Henry wears lacquered boots, plays with an ebony cane, strokes his sleek dark beard, gracefully gesticulates, blows intricate puffs of smoke, smoking opium cigarettes, while talking, picks off daisy petals or twirls an olive in his fingers.

But a verbal portrait is not the main way to create the image of Lord Henry. He, like his creator, is a genius of conversation, a genius of conversation, the word for him is a natural way of existence. The author gives the lord a wonderful sonorous voice, sounding like music, sometimes languidly, sometimes energetically. Lord Henry's speech is a collection of bright, memorable paradoxes and aphorisms, apt and evil judgments; he has mastered the art of never being boring. It captivates mature and young minds alike; the lord's social position is based on the possession of his word no less than on his title and wealth. The author never tires of emphasizing the wit and colorfulness of his speeches: “What he said was fascinating, irresponsible, contrary to logic and reason. The listeners laughed, but were involuntarily fascinated and obediently followed the flight of his imagination, like children following the legendary piper.”

Henry Wotton almost always says things that contradict popular opinion. For example, he opposes intelligence, against rationality, whereas since the Enlightenment, rationality has been recognized as the defining, best quality of a person. For Lord Henry, “a highly developed intellect is in itself a kind of anomaly; it disrupts the harmony of the face. As soon as a person begins to think, his nose becomes disproportionately elongated, or his forehead enlarges, or something else spoils his face.” But a person who lives by words cannot be truly anti-intellectual. Therefore, Lord Henry, for whom the whole world is just an excuse to play with words, finds excellent philosophical and logical justifications for this position, unfolding the philosophy of hedonism before the spellbound Dorian and the reader.

Appreciating the fleeting pleasures of youth, extracting maximum pleasure from life is an ethic that is opposite to Victorian ideas about morality, and in discussions about morality (and this word never leaves the lips of Lord Henry) a new level of his reflection is visible:

To be good means to live in harmony with yourself. And whoever is forced to live in harmony with others is at odds with himself. Your life is the most important thing. Philistines or Puritans can, if they please, impose their moral rules on others, but I maintain that it is not our business to interfere in the lives of our neighbors. Moreover, individualism undoubtedly has higher goals. Modern morality requires us to share the generally accepted concepts of our era. I believe that a cultured person should under no circumstances meekly accept the standard of his time - this is the grossest form of immorality (Chapter VI).

Individualism, rejection of philistinism and puritanism - this is what is preserved in Lord Henry’s philosophy from classical dandyism, but what is new with him is the open preaching of beauty and pleasure introduced by aestheticism. In the same scene, Lord Henry expresses his ideal of “the highest pleasure, subtle and sharp, but leaving you unsatisfied”: the cigarette.

Expressing all these paradoxes on which his success in social drawing rooms is based, Lord Wotton himself follows only those aspects of his ideal that fit within the framework of generally accepted morality. He does not compromise his rank in any way, lives on fashionable Curzon Street, is married, and although he rarely sees his wife, they visit their parents together and go out of town, maintaining the appearance of a normal family life in the eyes of others.

Lord Henry is, first of all, a secular man, and throughout the novel he does not commit a single act that confirms his originality, which manifests itself only in words. Oscar Wilde reproached himself for the same thing for a long time, and it was not for nothing that he wrote about the novel: “I am afraid that it is similar to my life - all talk and no action.” In a later conversation with Dorian, Lord Henry emphasizes: “Murder is always a mistake. You should never do anything that you can’t chat with people about after dinner” (Chapter XIX). So, from the point of view of dandyism, Lord Henry reveals duality: in words he defends the elevation of the principles of dandyism to the level of philosophy, but in reality he leads a rather conformist lifestyle.

If Wotton's dandyism is theoretical, purely intellectual in nature, and his challenge to society is limited to words, then Dorian Gray embodies theory in practice. Lord Henry deliberately chooses Dorian Gray as a student, attracted primarily by his appearance: “This young man was truly amazingly handsome, and something in his face immediately inspired confidence. He felt the sincerity and purity of youth, its chaste ardor. It was easy to believe that life had not yet polluted this young soul with anything” (Chapter II). It is this innocence and ardor that attracts Lord Henry when he plans to “pour his soul into another... to convey to another his temperament as the finest fluid or peculiar aroma” (Chapter III). The author conveys the flow of Lord Henry's thoughts: “... something wonderful can be made from him. He has everything - charm, the snow-white purity of youth and beauty, the beauty that the ancient Greeks captured in marble. You can mold it into anything you want, make it into titanium - or into a toy” (ibid.).

And from the first meeting, Dorian falls under the charm of Lord Henry; he feels that this stranger reads in his soul, as if in an open book, and at the same time “reveals to him all the secrets of life.” Dorian's hesitation before he agrees to friendship with Lord Henry is not long at all; the author does not dwell on his fear, on the young man's sense of predetermination of life. Unlike Lord Henry, Dorian is a low-intellectual and non-verbal person; the word is not his preferred way of expressing himself. Already in Basil Hallward's first conversation with Lord Henry about Dorian, we learn that “sometimes he can be terribly insensitive, and he seems to like to torment” (Chapter I) his older friend.

Wotton's great monologue, addressed to Dorian at the moment of their acquaintance, awakens in the young man new thoughts and feelings, which he is “vaguely aware of,” and “it seemed to him that they did not come from the outside, but rose from the depths of his being” (Chapter II). The author emphasizes the mutual attraction between Lord Henry and Dorian: Dorian by nature has those properties that make him especially receptive to Lord Henry's preaching. Half an hour after meeting him, Dorian shocks Basil Hallward with the threat of committing suicide when he notices the first signs of aging, and expresses envy of the newly completed portrait: “If only the portrait could change, and I could always remain as I am now!” Why did you write it? The time will come when he will tease me, mock me constantly!” (Chapter II). He really behaves like a “stupid boy”, and just like a stupid boy he is offended when he is told about it.

Dorian takes Lord Henry's maxim as a guide to action: “The true secret of happiness is in the search for beauty” (Chapter IV). The author does not hesitate to send him his first test of love for Sybil Vane. When he is with her, he is ashamed of everything that Lord Henry taught him: “with one touch of her hand I forget you and your fascinating, but poisonous and untrue theories” (Chapter VI). Wilde the moralist recognizes the superiority of pure love over “poisonous” theories, but at the same time shows that evil has already been accomplished, these theories have penetrated Dorian’s flesh and blood. Sibylla is completely incomprehensible to the motives for his refusal to marry - she cannot come to terms with the fact that he loved only her talent as an actress, only the Shakespearean heroines she embodied, and not a living girl. After Sybil’s suicide, the first cruel fold at the mouth appears in the portrait, the true mirror of his soul, and the same Lord Henry helps Dorian cope with remorse.

From this moment on, Dorian begins to lead a double life: a shiny secular surface hides a criminal essence. The author does not decipher silent hints and unclear gossip about Dorian; exactly what vices he indulges in in the slums of the East End and during his absences are not directly stated, and this leads the reader to suspect the worst. As the proportion of these unnameable crimes increases in Dorian's life, as the shadows around his name thicken, the author devotes more and more space to describing the luxury of useless and priceless objects with which the hero surrounds himself. Like Huysmans, Wilde devotes entire pages to descriptions of collections of embroidery, fabrics, tapestries, incense, musical instruments, and precious stones, but these descriptions are not an end in themselves. Their meaning is not so much to illustrate the sophistication of the hero’s tastes, but to paradoxically emphasize his moral inferiority - “these treasures, like everything that Dorian Gray collected in his superbly decorated house, helped him forget at least for a while, to escape from fear, which at times became unbearable.”

Evil becomes for him one of the means of realizing what he considers the beauty of life. The process of moral decline ends with the murder of Basil Hallward - poor Dorian is completely confused between the demands of morality, which his conscience-portrait tells him, and his “poisoned theories.”

Dorian plunges into the sensual life for which he was created and prepared by communication with Lord Henry. The author attributes the achievement of his own ideal to Dorian: “...for Dorian, Life itself was the first and greatest of the arts, and all other arts were only the threshold to it. Of course, he paid tribute to both Fashion and Dandyism, as a kind of desire to prove the absoluteness of the conventional concept of beauty” (Chapter XI).

He is characterized by a desire to play a role more significant than the role of just a trendsetter; he is tormented by the desire to follow Lord Henry to become a spiritual leader, for which objectively he has no qualities. And yet, “in the depths of his soul he wanted to play a role more significant than the simple “arbiter elegantiarum” who is asked for advice on what jewelry to wear, how to tie a tie or how to carry a cane. He dreamed of creating a new philosophy of life, which would have its own rational basis, its own consistent principles, and he saw the highest meaning of life in the spiritualization of feelings and sensations.” The new hedonism, according to Wilde, “will resort to the services of the intellect, but will not replace the diverse experience of passions with any theories or teachings. The goal of hedonism is precisely this experience in itself, and not its fruits, bitter or sweet” (Chapter XI).

Accordingly, in the image of Dorian, the author emphasizes the spontaneity of his emotional life. Dorian lives a stormy, intense life, without reflecting or particularly disguising his sinful aspirations, but still he is not recklessly frivolous, does not disdain the opinion of the world and generally observes decency. But the main thing is that the magic of eternal youth allows him to maintain the impression of charming purity in the eyes of society. In love only with himself, he finds perverse pleasure in constantly comparing his reflection in the mirror with an increasingly repulsive portrait: “The more striking the contrast between one and the other became, the more acutely Dorian enjoyed it. He fell more and more in love with his own beauty and watched with greater interest the decomposition of his soul” (Chapter XI). He is tormented by a “wolf hunger” for life, an insatiable curiosity about it, awakened by Lord Henry. And life in all its fullness is not only beautiful, but also furious; stupidity, low passions, and violence are part of the beauty of life, so the ardent Dorian easily commits cruel acts.

After separation from Sibylla, “that crimson spot appeared in his brain that makes a person mad.” In response to the reproaches of Basil Hodleward, who penetrated into the secret of the portrait, Dorian “awakened the rage of a hunted beast,” pushing him to kill. Dorian is guilty of many other deaths and human tragedies, and no hedonistic reasoning can drown out this burden of guilt on his conscience. He, like a “stupid boy,” splashes out his anger on the portrait, and at the end of the novel, Wilde the moralist triumphs.

The purely moralistic ending of the novel - the punishment of licentiousness, permissiveness, the collapse of the philosophy of hedonism - can be interpreted both as the author’s concession to the conventions of the 19th century novel, which implied the mandatory debunking of vice, and as a statement of the main principle of aestheticism about the superiority of art over life. Tormented by remorse, Dorian, standing in front of the disgustingly grinning portrait, decides to “put an end to the supernatural life of the soul in the portrait, and when these ominous warnings cease, he will again find peace. Dorian grabbed a knife and plunged it into the portrait.”

The word retreats before the image of the supernatural. What exactly happens at this moment of denouement, the author is silent. He abruptly changes his point of view - through the eyes of the servants who have come running to the “cry of mortal torment,” the reader sees on the wall of the forbidden room a magnificent portrait of Dorian Gray “in all the splendor of his wondrous youth and beauty. And on the floor with a knife in his hand lay a dead man in a tailcoat. His face was wrinkled, withered, and repulsive. And only by the rings on their hands did the servants recognize who it was,” these are the final words of the last, XX chapter of the novel. The glow of the portrait over the corpse in this final scene embodies the romantic idea of ​​eternity, the imperishability of art, and its ability to reflect life more deeply than it is often capable of knowing itself.

Thus, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel that embodies the basic principle of aestheticism, the cult of youth and beauty, and raises the question of the price that has to be paid for eternal Beauty. The portrait takes on its original appearance, showing that beauty can only be incorruptible in the sphere of art; Dorian has to give his soul and life for beauty. But the society depicted in the novel is not interested in souls; it readily judges people by their appearance. Since Dorian is invariably handsome and young, his face expresses innocence and purity, society, which does not see the difference between the external and ethical side of life, does not want to hear dark rumors about Dorian. As Lady Narborough says to Dorian in Chapter XV of the novel, “You cannot be bad - it shows in your face.”

In terms of form, the novel is quite traditional for 19th-century literature, including its manner of discussing ideological and ethical issues. It is ideology and ethics that contain those features of the novel that made it so popular among readers and critics of the 20th century with their interest in the problems of subjectivity, sexuality, and marginality in literature.

Stylistic analysis of Oscar Wilde's novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

The writing style and features of visual techniques of the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

The Picture of Dorian Gray is written in an aesthetic style. The details are distinguished by sophistication and mannered elegance. The novel begins with the words: “The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or more delicate perfume of the pink- flowering thorn". Three types of flowers: roses, lilac and pink-flouring thorn; and three synonyms for the word “smell”, “aroma”: “odour”, “scent”, “perfume” - from the very first lines they give an idea of ​​the elegance of the author’s style and his craving for everything refined and beautiful. But the point is not in the three smells, but in the elegant simplicity with which they are presented - the author uses the technique of gradation, a chain of members with a gradual increase or decrease in significance - first “rich odour”, then “heavy scent”, and finally “more” delicate perfume" is a gradation from strong to weak.

Dorian Gray's passion for precious stones is depicted as follows: "He loved the red gold of the sunstone, and the moonstone`s pearly whiteness, and the broken rainbow of the milky opal." - the author uses a triple construction in the enumeration, uses colorful metaphors “pearly whiteness”, “broken rainbow”, “milky opal”.

Very often in the novel there is a detailed, elegant description of costumes. This is how, for example, Dorian Gray describes Sibyl Vane: “When she came on in her boy's clothes she was perfectly wonderful. She wore a moss-coloured velvet jerkin with cinnamon sleeves, slim brown crossgartered hose, a dainty little green cap with a hawk`s feather caught in a jewel, and a hooded cloak lined with dull red. She had never seemed to be more exquisite.” In this example, the features of dandyism, the equalization of the concepts of “to be” and “to appear,” are clearly visible.

There are very frequent mentions of luxurious things in the everyday life of the characters - this is also a tribute to elegant style, dandyism and aestheticism.

“She had all the delicate grace of that Tanagra figurine that you have in your studio,” the author uses a comparison, equating Sibyl Vane to an exquisite figurine, uses the epithet “delicate” in order to give the reader an idea of ​​the impression she made on Doriana girl.

Instead of writing “...the (...) ticking of the clock...”, the author certainly inserts “... the (...) ticking of the Louis Quatorze clock...”, instead of “... placed the book on the little table...” he writes “ …placed the book on the little Florentine table.” The author inserts details that are unimportant for the plot of the novel, but absolutely necessary for his style, without which he would lose his grace and sophistication. It is with the help of these details that the author does not let us forget for a second that everything around his characters is elegant and beautiful. All this has a very specific purpose: to describe the sophistication of the environment in which his hero is placed, and his dandyish tastes.

In addition, the objective world becomes one of the ways of conveying the aesthetic assessment of reality by the narrator. The epithet “exquisite” appears dozens of times in the novel and is one of the most frequent. In all the descriptions, strictly speaking, there is nothing incredible, but the exoticism of the objects and phenomena described is obvious and, moreover, amazing, just as amazing is the variability of this exoticism and the place it occupies in the text of the book. For example, the word “beauty” (beauty) and its derivative “beautiful” (wonderful) appear 98 times in the text, words of the synonymous series “delightful”, “marvellous”, “fascinating”, “wonderful”, “charming”, “ subtle", "refined", "picturesque" - a total of 258 times; in the book we find 39 names of precious stones, 23 names of musical instruments, including very rare ones.

The exoticism of visual techniques is obvious in the book; It is in this that both the originality of aestheticism as a literary movement and Wilde’s individuality as an artist of words are manifested. This kind of exoticism is noticeable in descriptions that are quite, it would seem, realistic, devoid of any signs of fantasy; this is, one might say, the exoticism of the non-fictional.

It manifests itself in the use of names of exquisite flowers, scents, jewelry, etc.; The reader has already encountered such “refinement” in Wilde’s short stories of the late 1880s; in the novel its proportion increases sharply. Already in the first paragraphs of the first chapter of “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” the author’s desire to convey a variety of smells, colors and sounds makes itself felt; at the same time, a conscious attraction to an exquisite image forces the prose writer to carefully verify the meanings of various words belonging to the same synonymous series.

Here, for example, are some micro-images that give an idea of ​​the exoticism of visual techniques. “..the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flame-like as theirs; and now and then the fantastic shadows of birds in flight flitted across the long tussore-silk curtains that were stretched in front of the huge window, producing a kind of momentary Japanese effect... The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmoun grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive.” A combination in one passage of such expressions as “gleam”, “honey-sweet”, “honey-coloured”, “tremulous branches”, “burden of a beauty”, “flame-like”, “fantastic shadows”, “in flight” , “flitted across”, “momentary Japanese effect”, “murmur of the bees”, “circling with monotonous insistence”, “dusty gilt horns”, “straggling woodbine” creates the effect of graceful beauty and movement in stillness, in stillness grass (long unmounted grass). The author carefully depicts images of flowers, bees, birds - moving against a motionless background.

"The wind shook some blossoms from the trees, and the heavy lilac-blooms, with their clustering stars, moved to and fro in the languid air." - the author metaphorically calls lilac flowers stars.

The depiction of flowers is a distinctive feature of Wilde’s work, which thus expressed his craving for beauty.

The exoticism of the non-fictional reminds itself in the depiction of the interior, be it a living room, a library or a greenhouse.

For example, the description of Lord Henry’s library includes “a luxurious armchair”, “a charming room”, “panelled wainscotting of olive-stained oak”, “cream-coloured frieze”, “silk long-fringed Person rugs”, “a statuette by Clodion”, “a copy of “Les Cent Nouvelles”, bound for Margaret of Valois by Clovis Eve”, “large blue china jars” - attributes of luxury and grace.

The eleventh chapter of the novel is especially rich in exotic descriptions, which tells about a rather long period of the hero’s life. This exoticism begins already in the first paragraph.

“He procured from Paris no less than nine large-paper copies of the first edition, and had them bound in different colorous, so that they might suit his various moods and the changing fancies of the nature over which he seemed, at times, to have almost entirely lost control."

The following describes how Dorian studied the effects of various odors and the secrets of making the most exquisite aromas. The hero’s sophisticated musical hobbies and his collection of unique musical instruments, his passion for rare precious stones and the most interesting legends about them fall into the same category.

As for Wilde’s narrative style as a novelist, it is very traditional and widespread in the literature of the 19th century: the author tells his story in the third person and, if you do not take into account the short preface, he is objectified in the novel. “To reveal art and conceal the artist is art`s aim.” This thesis, stated in the preface, is embodied in the novel itself. However, here Wilde is by no means original; in this requirement he is close to his antipodes in aesthetics - the naturalists. In a word, neither the spatio-temporal organization nor the method of narration by themselves conveys the originality of Wilde’s aestheticism.

Wilde skillfully uses various stylistic techniques that give his style elegance and his narrative figurativeness and metaphor.

For example, very often the author uses the technique of comparison in order to more accurately characterize an object or phenomenon: “The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ" “Talking to him was like playing upon an exquisite violin" “Then it became louder, and sounded like a flute or a distant hautbois" “ She makes them as responsive as a violin" In the above expressions, Wilde resorts to comparison with musical instruments. The following are examples of comparisons with flowers and comparisons of the flowers themselves, which is especially characteristic of Oscar Wilde. “The tulip-beds across the road flamed like throbbing rings of fire.” “His nature had developed like a flower, had borne blossoms of scarlet flame.” “Her hair clustered round her face like dark lives round a pale rose" “The huge sunlight flamed like a monstrous dahlia with petails of yellow fire" “A faint blush, like the shadow of a rose in a mirror silver, came to her cheeks.” “Her body swayed, while she danced, as a plant sways in the water" “The curves of her throat were the curves of a white lily" “She trembled all over, and shook like a white narcissus" “She flung herself at his feet, and lay there like a trampled flower.”

The work is permeated with metaphors using precious metals, stones, flowers, birds and animals. An example of some of them: “Don`t squander the gold of your days...” - “gold” is associated with wealth, which equates the remaining days of youth to wealth. “...as though it were sweeter than honey to the red petals of her mouth...” - “sweeter” is used metaphorically in the sense of “pleasant”, the metaphor “the red petals of her mouth” means “lips”, it gives expression expressiveness and colorfulness, creates a vivid image. The metaphor also gives volume and expressiveness to the following description: “...lights were still burning from three flickering jets: thin blue petals of flame they seemed, rimmed with white fire.” - here “petals” are used in the meaning of “tongues of flame”; the use of the oxymoron “rimmed with white fire” allows the writer to give a more accurate description. In the following sentences, the author uses words in their metaphorical meaning. “Gold” means “golden hair color,” “red and white roses” mean “blush and whiteness of the skin.” “My heart shall never be put under thier microscope.” - this metaphor is based on the association of the microscope with close and careful study and the heart with the secret feelings and thoughts of a person. In other words, Basil Hallward wanted to say that his feelings should not become a subject for general consideration and study. The modal verb “shall” makes the statement categorical. An example of an extended metaphor in a dialogue from chapter three:

“I`ll back English women against the world, Harry,” said Lord Fermor, striking the table with his fist.

"The betting is on the Americans."

“They don`t last, I am told,” muttered his uncle.

“A long engagement exhausts them, but they are capital at a steeplechase. They take things flying. I don`t think Dartmoor has a chance."

“They don`t last” - (they are not hardy) - in this sentence and in the following: “A long engagement exhausts them, but they are capital at a steeplechase.” (over long distances they soon run out of steam, but over short distances, with obstacles, they have no equal) expressions taken from a sports dictionary (horse racing). This gives the impression that the conversation is being conducted in a rather relaxed manner. The argument about women as racehorses is based on the association of marriage with racing, just as not every horse can participate in races, so not every woman can survive marriage. The dialogue produces a general cynical and ironic impression; it is witty and imaginative.

The writer’s well-known judgment that he invested his genius in the art of conversation, and only his talent in his works, is often remembered when reading the novel. Along with purely narrative fragments (such as, for example, the entire eleventh chapter), dialogue also occupies a prominent place in the text.

For a linguistic specialist, the dialogue in Wilde’s novel can probably be of special interest in several aspects, including typological ones: using the material from The Picture of Dorian Gray, one can try to classify the types of dialogue included in the prose text. There is a dialogue consisting of lengthy tirades of its participants, such as the dialogue between Lord Henry, Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward from the sixth chapter, where Lord Henry formulates the theory of hedonism, of which Wilde was an adherent.

“Pleasure is the only thing worth having a theory about,” he answered, in his slow, melodious voice. “But I am afraid I cannot claim my theory as my own. It belongs to Nature, not to me. Pleasure is Nature`s test, her sign of approval. When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." Wilde uses the technique of personification, speaking about the nature of “Nature”, as a living being that can own something, test a person and approve or disapprove of him.

“Ah! But what do you mean by good?” cried Basil Hallward.

“Yes,” echoed Dorian(…), “what do you mean by good, Harry?”

“To be good is to be in harmony with oneself,” he replied (...). “Discord is to be forced to be in harmony with others. One`s own life - that is the important thing. As for the lives of one`s neighbors, if one wishes to be a prig or a Puritan, one can flaunt one`s moral views about them, but they are not one`s concern. Besides, Individualism has really the higher aim. Modern morality consists in accepting the standard of one's age. I consider that for any man of culture to accept the standard of his age is a form of the grossest immorality." Here the author also uses the technique of personification - individualism “Individualism” is used in the role of a living being pursuing a goal.

There is a dialogue - an exchange of brief remarks with very laconic author's explanations. Such, for example, is the dialogue from the third chapter that took place at Lady Agatha’s breakfast.

“Perhaps, after all, America has never been discovered,” said Mr. Erskine; “I myself would say that it had merely been detected.” The phrase is interesting because Wilde uses the difference in the lexical meanings of the two verbs “discover” (discover, open, find out) and “detect” (discover, notice). By this he emphasizes how incomprehensible and alien America is to English society; it was found, but was not revealed.

“Oh! But I have seen specimens of the inhabitants (using the technique of periphrasis, a description of what can be said in one word - instead of “ladies” the Duchess says “specimens of the inhabitants”, which allows us to emphasize her contempt for the subject of conversation),” answered the Dushess , vaguely. “I must confess that most of them are extremely pretty. And they dress well, too. They get all their dresses in Paris. I wish I could afford to do the same.”

“They say that when good Americans die they go to Paris,” chuckled Sir Thomas, who had a large wardrobe of Humor`s cast-off clothes. Wilde uses the device of metaphor. The word “wardrobe” evokes a number of associations, including the storage of a supply of clothing, from where one or another item of clothing is obtained as needed. “Cast-off clothes” - cast-off clothes evoke associations of irrelevance, cliché, and old age. Thus, the expression “...a large wardrobe of Humor`s cast-off clothes” suggests that Sir Thomas’s jokes are outdated and always the same, and he uses them as needed, as if he takes them out of the closet.

“Really! And where do bad Americans go to when they die?” inquired by the Dushes.

"They are going to America," murmured Lord Henry."

There is also dialogue with minimal inclusion of the author's speech, approaching dramatic. For example, take the dialogue between Lord Henry, the Duchess of Monmouth and Dorian in the seventeenth chapter.

“You don`t like your country, then?” she asked.

"That you may censor it the better."

“Would you have me take the verdict of Europe on it?” he inquired.

"What do they say of us?"

"That Tartuffe has emigrated to England and opened a shop." - the use of allusion (a reference in the work to other literary, historical or mythological facts) when mentioning the name of Tartuffe, a famous character of Moliere. By Tartuffe, the author means a two-faced man who covers up his vices with talk of piety. The statement uses a metaphor. The expression “...opened a shop...” evokes associations with the distribution of a product; in combination with the name Tartuffe, this expression speaks of the spread of hypocritical virtue.

“Is it yours, Harry?”

"I give it to you."

“I couldn't use it. It is too true."

“You need not be afraid. Our countrymen never recognize a description.”

"They are practical."

"They are more cunning than practical. When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy." - the author uses epithets expressing assessment and subjective attitude towards society - “cunning”, “stupidity”, “vice”, “hypocrisy”.

Even if in a chapter (for example, in the eleventh) there is absolutely no dialogue, then this phenomenon is perceived as a technique, or more precisely, “minus a technique.”

The witty dialogues in the book are by no means self-sufficient; both in their totality and in correlation with the plot of the novel, they perform the most important semantic and artistic functions.

Dialogue in Wilde's prose does not break down into separate aphorisms - thoughts expressed in an extremely concise and stylistically perfect form - but is an organic component of the artistic whole, extremely important for clarifying the pathos of the work and the ideological positions of its author.

Often in the work there is a device of allusion - a special type of metaphor. An allusion is a brief reference to some well-known literary, historical or mythological fact. The author does not need to explain what he means; it is assumed that the reader is educated enough to understand the analogy between the topic discussed in the work and the fact mentioned.

Here are examples of some allusions from the work. “Ah! Here is the Dushes, looking like Artemis in a tailor-made gown.” Artemis in Greek mythology is the patron goddess of animals and hunting. With this allusion, it can be assumed that the duchess was dressed for hunting and looked majestic like a proud goddess. “I must keep an opportunity for retreat.” - “In the Parthian manner?” Parthian arrow - a remark, phrase, etc., reserved for the moment of departure. Lord Henry compares the Duchess's intentions to the Parthian tactics. “Greek meets Greek” - an allusion meaning a battle of equal opponents, said by Lord Henry in relation to the verbal battle between the Duchess and her husband.

The style of the novel is characterized by paradox. Paradox - (Greek paradoxos - unexpected) - a judgment that diverges from generally accepted, traditional opinion. This property distinguishes both plot situations and the speech of characters. Heroes speak in paradoxes. Many paradoxical judgments in the novel are directed against hypocritical morality and other social phenomena of English life. Basil Hallward says, for example: “Ther is hardly a single person in the House of Common worth painting; though many of them would be the better for a little whitewashing." - the author uses the effect of polysemy, because The word “whitewashing” has, in addition to the main meaning (to whiten, cover up), also an additional figurative meaning (to whitewash, “to cover up”), which means that members of the House of Commons are not only unpicturesque in appearance, but also often have a tarnished reputation.

The novel itself defines the relationship of paradox to the truth of life: “The way of paradoxes is the way of truth. To test Reality we must see it on the tight-rope. When the Verities become acrobats we can judge them." Here Wilde again uses the device of personification, endowing the reality of “Reality” and the virtues of “Verities” with the abilities of acrobats. The device of metaphor is also used here, when the author, in paradoxes, sees reality balancing on a tightrope. The principle of transfer by similarity is based on comparing the acrobat with reality. Just as an acrobat is flexible enough to walk on a tightrope, so reality is flexible enough to be paradoxical, i.e. controversial. It would be a futile undertaking to deduce from this phrase the innermost views of Mr. Erskine, a figure who is completely insignificant for understanding the novel. The author puts his thought into the mouth of an episodic character: a paradox is a specific form of presentation and justification of one’s positions.

The word “paradox” is used for the first time in the novel in the second chapter: Dorian understands that Lord Henry’s speeches are deliberately paradoxical and his aphorisms are cynical. Here are some examples: “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.” “I can sympathize with everything, exept suffering.” “Being natural is simply a pose.” “The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer.” “Conscience and cowardice are really the same things... Conscience is the trade-name of the firm.” “One should never make one`s debut with a scandal. One should reserve that to give an interest to one`s old age". “The body sins onse, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification... The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.” - metonymy (mentioning a part instead of the whole) in the expression “...the body sins...” the word “body” implies a person. “The only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.” “Nowadays people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” Here the author uses the difference in lexical meanings of two synonymous words “price” and “value” in order to elegantly emphasize the superficiality of the views of English society. "Dorian is far too wise not to do foolish things now and then."

The novel also contains several paradoxical remarks about Lord Henry himself. This is what Basil Hallward says to Lord Henry: “You are an extraordinary fellow. You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing. Your cynism is simply a pose." “You like everyone; that is to say you are indifferent to everyone.” "You are much better than you pretend to be."

The elements of criticism contained in Wilde’s paradoxes were noted by M. Gorky in a letter to K. Chukovsky: “You are undeniably right when you say that Wilde’s paradoxes are “commonplaces inside out,” but don’t you admit that behind this desire to turn all “commonplaces inside out” "A more or less conscious desire to annoy Mrs. Gradys, to shake English Puritanism? I think that such phenomena as Wilde and B. Shaw are too unexpected for England at the end of the 19th century, and at the same time they are quite natural - English hypocrisy is the best organized hypocrisy, and I believe that paradox in the field of morality is very a legitimate weapon in the fight against Puritanism." Oscar Wilde led aestheticism as a literary movement in England. The writer distanced himself from everyday life, where injustice reigns, and went into the abode of beauty, absolutized by him. Wilde discovered in his work a reluctance to follow realism. He claims that reality imitates art. Thus, he puts art above life, prefers the beauty of works of art to life.

Wilde's paradoxical statement that creativity is the art of lying expresses the essence of his aesthetic hedonistic poetry.

literary image of Wilde Gray