Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray: Literary analysis

1. The Preface: The purpose of Art

The first edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray appeared in 1890 in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. However, it was not well received by the Victorian society, who criticized it as scandalous and immoral. Wilde, disappointed by his novel’s failure, decided to revise it and publish a second edition in 1891. One of the changes he included was the addition of a preface. Read and analyse “The Preface” in The Picture of Dorian Gray and answer the following questions justifying your answers with quotes from the text:

2. Reinterpreting The Picture of Dorian Gray through Psychoanalytic Criticism

The reinterpretation of The Picture of Dorian Gray through the light of Psychoanalytic Criticism gives us a valuable insight into the novel. Freud highlights three parts of the Unconscious, the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is what influences our desires, our libido, the force that drives us to seek pleasure; the Ego deals with reality, it strives to balance the Id and the Superego and, last but not least, the Superego is the area of the Unconscious which houses judgment (of ourselves and others). Taking this theory into account, discuss:

1. Are there specific characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray who represent the three areas of the Unconscious? Which ones? Justify providing quotes from the text. Cardozo
2. Which area of the Unconscious dominates Dorian Gray’s life? How? Provide quotes from the text to justify your answers. Malena Lagrace
3. What does Dorian Gray’s picture represent? What does it remind Dorian of? Provide quotes from the text to justify your answers. Agustina Capuano
4. Which event marks the beginning of Dorian’s downfall? Does he manage to suppress his Superego by performing this act? Justify providing quotes from the text. Daniela Mora
5. Is Dorian able to find a balance between finding pleasure and doing the right thing? Provide quotes from the text to justify your answers. Osso Gabriela

3. Reinterpreting The Picture of Dorian Gray through Gender Studies

Gender Studies explore issues of sexuality, power and marginalized populations (women, as well as others, such as homosexuals, bisexuals, etc.). Let us examine the manner in which gender and sexuality are represented in The Picture of Dorian Gray:

1. How is the institution of marriage portrayed in The Picture of Dorian Gray? Provide quotes. Karen Schvindt
2. Do women play a significant role in the novel? What is Lord Henry’s view on women? Provide quotes. Daniela Badolato
3. Are there any homoerotic bonds between men in the novel? Which one(s)? Daiana Kifer
4. Does Dorian Gray have a happy sexual life all along the novel? Provide quotes to justify your answer. Eve Navarro
5. Can we associate Dorian Gray to the mythological character of Narcissus, always longing to possess the person he sees reflected in the water? How? Provide examples from the text. Micaela Barrios
6. In chapter two, pages 25,26 (my edition) Lord Henry claims:

"I believe that if one man were to live out his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, expression to every thought, reality to every dream -- I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of medievalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal -- to something finer, richer than the Hellenic ideal, it may be. But the bravest man amongst us is afraid of himself. The mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the self-denial that mars our lives. We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regret. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful."

Explain this quote considering Oscar Wilde’s aesthetic values, his own sexual preferences and the context of Victorian England. Camila Fagundez

4. Reinterpreting The Picture of Dorian Gray through the Gothic tradition.

The Picture of Dorian Gray can be analysed as a nineteenth century Gothic novel, since we can find many of the elements that characterize this genre. For example, we can find the presence of:

• The scary atmosphere Gabriela Aleman
• The Crossing of the Threshold Rebeca Jarmel     
• The bargain with the devil María Belén Farías
• The Supernatural María Belén Farías
• The Uncanny Rebeca Jarmel
• The feeling of entrapment Julian Acevedo
• Haunting Lucas Acosta
• Abjection Ingrid Micale
• The Doppelgänger motif Ingrid Micale
• The sudden break-out of violence BIllordo
• “Sinister” science Lucas Acosta
• Magical objects Julian Acevedo

Take two elements each, explain and provide examples, quoting from the text whenever it is appropriate. (Don't repeat items!)

5. Reinterpreting The Picture of Dorian Gray through Postcolonial Studies

Postcolonial studies examine the global impact of the European colonialism, from its beginnings in the fifteenth century up to the present. The book “The Picture of Dorian Gray” was published when Queen Victoria was still the leading monarch in Britain, a time when people were still extremely patriotic. Besides, Britain was the leading empire in the world, owning 25% of the landmass of the world.

Even though Wilde was a colonial author, colonial hints may be collected in his novel. The Picture of Dorian Gray expands on the idea of negative and destructive consequences that are brought about after the influence from/on people, which can be defined in terms of the colonizer and the colonized.

a) To what extend do Lord Henry's colonialist actions and behaviour represent the powerful force of the western civilization?

b) Is Dorian Gray the symbol and representation of the colonized, with its final annihilation? Fernanda garcìa
c) Can Dorian represent the colonizer later on in the novel, leading to the colonization and destruction of other characters? Maira Pérez

d) To what extend do Dorian's actions and behaviour correspond to his devotion to hedonism, beauty and search for pleasure? How can colonial discourse account for this answer? rebeca jarmel

e) Pay special attention to Lord Henry's (colonial)discourse. Can you find instances of eurocentrism in the text? Analia Romero

Provide examples, quoting from the text whenever it is appropriate.