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

The Victorian Era, Oscar Wilde and
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Victorian Era
Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901
 Victoria inherited the throne at age 18
 Married her mother’s 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.
 Victoria’s 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.

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 society’s conscience
 Jack the Ripper; some 8,000 prostitutes were
“employed” in London during the mid 1800s

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.

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

Oscar Wilde









Birth name:
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie 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
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
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.”
Dorian Gray





Wilde’s 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.
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
Major Theme:

Hedonism: The
devotion to pleasure as
a way of life; one’s sole
priority is to seek
pleasure/happiness
without regard for
others.
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
Hedonism Handbook
Top Hedonism Mantras
Live and Let Live
 Carpe Diem
 You Can’t Take it With You
 You Only Live Once
 Just Do It
 Never Say Never
 Look Out for Number One

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

“Few
things are harder to put up with than
the annoyance of a good example.”
-Mark Twain
Look who loves Dorian Gray…



Motley Crue,
“New Tattoo”
U2
(chorus)
A picture in grey
Dorian Gray
Just me by the sea
I don’t want to see us fade away
I don’t want to be without you
another day
I could be your dorian gray
I won’t fade away
No, I won’t fade away
“The Ocean”
And I felt like a star
I felt the world could go far
If they listened
To what I said
Washes my feet
Washed the feet
Splashes the soul of my shoes
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
19
You know it’s 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.
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
21
Journal:
Discuss the possible effects this era might have
on the people or fictitious characters that had to
live through this contradictory and changing
Victorian society.
 List several positive effects
 List several negative influences of the time
