2013년 8월 29일 목요일

The Picture of Dorian Gray Journal Chapter 1

The Picture of Dorian Gray Journal
Chapter 1

For me, the most conspicuous characteristic of the first chapter as I began reading was the length of the first two sentences. From the start, the style of the author Oscar Wilde (or at least the style in which he approached this particular novel) became more evident; his abundant elaboration on each figure with details that appeal to our senses and his perhaps-too-frequent  use of imagery was clearly displayeed by the intoduction. The introduction was captivating and effective, as long as I did not get lost in all the meticulous details.

As I read along the first two chapters of the novel, I found that the signficance of the first chapter was the introduction of our main characters- Basil Hallward, Lord Henry, and Dorian Grays- and the connection to the next chapter that would help identify the conflict. In a way, it foreshadows the change that may occur over the next chapter, and the first chapter would be the standard for comparison.

From the first chapter, there is rather a great deal of character introduction. Oscar Wilde doesn't yet bring Dorian Gray directly into the scene but uses Basil Hallward as a mean of establishing the basic characterisitcs of the figure. The characters of Basil and Lord Henry are also extensively displayed-throughout their long discussions, it becomes clear that Basil appreciates a spiritual connection while Lord Henry appreciates the outer apperance of everything. When Basil mentions of how he had put in too much of himself in the painting, Lord Henry interpretted in terms of outer appearance while for Basil, he meant such in a more emotional term. Throughout the first chapter, Lord Henry often uses terms that are used to describe the appearance of something, such as the word 'hideous (p.5)' and the phrase "I choose my friends for their good looks (p.14)."

Of course, now such contrast in values of these two individuals also bring up an important theme of this novel: What is beauty? For Lord Henry, beauty is nothing complicated. It is youth and pleasure itself. As we will find out soon in the next chapter, he is a patron of hedonism. However, for Basil, beauty is something that can be only whispered. Basil understands the evanescence of beauty. Dorian Gray is the embodiment of Basil's belief in beauty and in the concluding sentences of the first chapter, Basil tries to stop Lord Henry from meeting Dorian. He tries to protect epitome of beauty from being influenced by another individual because then the beauty might just fade away. He tries to prevent especially Lord Henry from meeting Dorian because he believes that Lord Henry is not a good influence. And from what I've read in Chapter 2, this was a crucial foreshadowing.

So far, although I've only read the first two chapters, I'm very satisfied with the book. Of course not much has happened yet, but the foundation that has been laid for the characters, and the foreshadowing of their future development in the later chapter is something that I definitely look forward to.

댓글 1개:

  1. Nicely explored and well expressed. I like how you isolated examples of Henry's shallow wit, which illustrates him as a bit selfish and cruel (and indeed a hedonist). As for theories of art and beauty, we can consider Basil as the artist, Henry as the critic, and Dorian as the subject. They interact with one another in a sort of dialectic discourse, and Wilde basically hands us his theories before getting to the actual story. Interesting tactic.

    Good work, despite some minor spelling errors (example: displayeed by the intoduction.) Don't do that when you get to university. They will crucify you.

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