- Apr 2017
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www.thebookoflife.org www.thebookoflife.org
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The Best Mother
These awards don't seem to break the current mold society` has for celebrities. Awards like best mother are just as arbitrary as the what make the 'unfit" celebrities of today.
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We therefore shouldn’t complain about or eradicate ‘celebrity culture.’ We need to improve it,
Is improvement possible without some sort of "complaining"? I find it difficult to believe that current celebrities will step aside on their own free will for a different type of celebrity.
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We should take more seriously the task of creating ‘good celebrities’,
Is it even possible to "create" a celebrity? This article goes into detail on why people become celebrities, not how fans make them. Celebrity and by extension fame and fandom are can not be forced into creation.
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lti.hypothesislabs.com lti.hypothesislabs.com
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Within black communities, this process of black authenticity has historically oscillated between the binariesof excess and austerity.
In this paragraph we are given the relationship between the "Afrocentric" and "Ghettocentric'. Those who are fans of hip hop's positive message also shame the more explicit aspects of rap which are historically known to influence negativity in many aspects. Either way both sides are arguing on which s more correct or "authentic" when telling the black mans story. This could help to not only categorize the hip-hop artist we are all writing about but also be another source for the argument between conscious and gangster rap.
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This new black aesthetic offers a new identity outside the workplace byendorsing the consumption of luxury goods. As a form of "dressing up," it also offers a status forsubordinate groups that blurs distinctions between themselves and their oppressors
Shift in the culture the "bling bling" (a term made popular by Lil Wayne ) era.
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microscope andfound...to be the source of all that is wrong with American society" (Diawara, 2). From the right, hip hop isattacked as a practice that started in urban America but is infecting the morals and family values ofsuburban teens. At the same time, sectors of the left and the black middle-class distance themselves fromhip hop because of its misogyny and homophobia.
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why did hip hop become the revolution that failed?
This question I feel can be taken in many directions if you look at hip-hop in a political and social arena? Where did it take a wrong turn? Although "gangsta rap" is very controversial, the group NWA falls in the "gangsta rap" category and was very political in between all of the lyrics about sex, drugs, and violence.
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lti.hypothesislabs.com lti.hypothesislabs.com
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Thischange was intimately tied to the precarious state ofexistence of the romantic poets and men of letters.
This section describes the ideas of intelligence and its importance to describing genius in the time period which I think applies to our subjects.
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take full measure of relevant historical andsociocultural developments and their impact on con-temporary conceptions regarding the nature of creativeindividuals and the creative process as they pertain todifferent areas of artistic and intellectual endeavors.Whatever the connection regarding heredity, creativeendeavor, and mental stability, social definitions in theform of role models must become an integral part ofthe debate
Basically he is saying that you need to take into account the history of the ideas surrounding the link between genius and madness when truely evaluating someone and if they truly are mad or playing the part either partially or wholly.
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redefinitions ofthe nature of genius. In the way that contemporary scien-tists, accountants, and engineers are expected to displayattributes of objectivity, reason, and emotional stability,for poets, writers, and artists the expectations involvemanifestations of intuitiveness, a fanciful imagination,sensitivity, temperament, and emotional expressive-ness, in short, a manifestation of a kind of madness. It isnot at all unreasonable to assume that to the extent thatthese expectations continue to be part of a professionalideology of what it means to be truly creative, even con-temporary writers and artists, far from disavowing thelabel of madness, may actually invite it.
This idea of manufactured 'madness' of creative types may play into some of Bob Dylan's career and how he acted throughout.
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played an integralpart in the past in the determination of the genius as clini-cally afflicted. This tendency to take the gifted at theirword regarding their own condition also applies to con-temporary examinations of the iss
Drawing on the debate about the link between madness and genius coming full circle, but also notes that reports of 'madness' inflcited genius may be unreliable because they usually come from the person themselves
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essentially reliable descriptions of mental ill-ness is that it tends to overlook one critical fact: Thesepronouncements on the part of the creative individualsmay involve self-serving descriptions and projectionsof images that were made in the context of cultural as-sumptions often quite different from those of contem-porary society. In
Good example of how creative and talented people might think and project some 'mad' characteristics because they feel it's how they should be and not necessarily how they are.
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ou-expo.nicklolordo.com ou-expo.nicklolordo.com
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whose people might otherwise fail to understand what the opera wassatirizing
interesting point about his viewership
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Wilde was not a fraud: he was fascinated by beauty from classicism toKeats, he correlated reform in dress and house decoration with beauty and respect inhuman relations, and he saw philistinism as tyranny in taste and politics.
interesting claim
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ou-expo.nicklolordo.com ou-expo.nicklolordo.comTupac Shakur15
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Shakur was released from prison afterserving nine months of a sentence for sexual assault
New York Times states he was sentenced 1.5-4.5 years in prison, so this indicates an early release. I also would not have expected this from him considering his lyrics are to bring attention to world issues.
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Thealbumwascompletelyfinishedinatotalof seven days during the month of August 1996.[59]Thelyrics were written and recorded in three days and mixingtook an additional four days
This is an impressive time frame.
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It is his fourth biggestselling album
If this album is viewed so highly, I would have expected it to be the most sold rather than the fourth.
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The track “HowLong Will They Mourn Me?" appeared later in 1998
This is intense, being released after his death.
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Ijust figured since I lived that life I could do that, I couldrap about that.”
Definitely a valid reason. If you live it and experience, why should you be kept from expressing it?
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Quayle said, “There’s no rea-son for a record like this to be released. It has no placein our society.” Shakur stated that he felt he had beenmisunderstood.
Another example of needing to bring attention to issues in today's society. It is avoided rather than acknowledged.
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Our goal is [to] have people relate to ourraps, making it easier to see what really is happening outthere. Even more important, what we may do to bet-ter our world.”
More attention needs to be brought to this idea. Most things are unspoken or overlooked, but serious situations need to be spoken about.
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Shakur and speculated that the pair most likely celebratedtheir birthdays together.
seems like a funny "speculation" that's weird to mention.
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Makaveli” fromRenaissanceItalian philosopher and strategistNiccolòMachiavelli, whose writings inspired Shakur in prison,but who also preached that a leader could eliminate hisenemies by all means necessary.
strange influence for a rapper but it probably stems from his schooling background and study of classical arts.
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It wascertified5× Platinum after just 2 months in April 1996 and 9×platinum in 1998
didn't realize any of his albums did this well.
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His motherAfeni Shakur(born Alice Faye Williams inNorth Carolina) and his father Billy Garland were ac-tive members of theBlack Panther Partyin New Yorkin the late 1960s and early 1970s
parents probably influenced tupac through their involvement in the Black Panthers
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Shakur’s political and social views
probably influenced from his time involved with his local communist party.
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name was Lesane Parish Crooks, but in 1972, he wasrenamed after the last Incan emperor,[15][16][17]TúpacAmaru II,
I did not know this about him.
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hey then went on to say “his confounding mix-ture of ladies’ man, thug, revolutionary and poet hasforever altered our perception of what a rapper shouldlook like, sound like and act like
Tupac was very diverse in his being and depending on the person judging his work they could come up with multiple words to describe his art, life, and character.
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On December 24, 2015,Demetrius Shipp, Jr.has beencast to star as Shakur in an upcoming biopic titledAll Eyezon Mewhich started filming in Atlanta, GA. with distri-bution from Morgan Creek Productions the film had beenin development since 2013, with producers Randall Em-mett and George Furla having sued Morgan Creek for $10million in October. Emmett/Furla claimed breach-of-contract after the production company allegedly pickeda lead, set a budget, and production schedule withoutEmmett/Furla’s approval. Morgan Creek also sued AfeniShakur for the music rights for the film. The music videodirector Benny Boom will helm “All Eyez on Me”, whichhad been hamstrung by production problems. Multipledirectors were involved with the film before Mr. Boom,including John Singleton
If this biopic is ever released I guarantee it will be criticized brutally. The hologram show did not do well and this could had the same effect whereas his legacy is not is not showcased correctly.
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inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net
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hear, "I love you and I want to always have you back. That's why I need to know why you're illing like this because it hurts me. And it's impossible for me truly to have you back when you're hurting
she is much more concerned about starting a dialogue to get the root of the issue instead of an argument with black men over their misogyny, which is a much harder stance to take.
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The seemingly impenetrable wall of sexism and machismo in rap music is really the mask worn both to hide and to express the pain. Hip hop is the only forum in which young black men, no matter how surreptitiously, are allowed to express their pain at all
interesting take on sexism and masculinity in rap music and ties into why rap music is so important as a forum of expression as the only one that existed for young underprivileged black men.
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- Mar 2017
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ou-expo.nicklolordo.com ou-expo.nicklolordo.com
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Then I feel, Harry, that I have given away my whole soul to some one who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer’s day
It is interesting that Basil can see some of Dorian's faults, yet still holds him up as kind of an infallible innocent that can do no wrong.
Looking Back: I think this is explained later when Basil is talking to Dorian right before he is murdered. He professes that he has heard dreadful rumors about Dorian, but they can't possibly be true, because Dorian is still so beautiful. This goes back to the idea of people unjustly relating inner and outer beauty. (which I don't agree with, by the way, but the novel obviously does).
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I see things differently, I think of them differently. I can now re-create life in a way that was hidden from me before
The way he writes about the effect of Dorian is almost like an encounter with the Divine, as if he has seen some great beauty that has redefined the world. The theme of Beauty being the ultimate power, I think is presented, then challenged throughout the novel.
Looking back: The theme seems to be inner beauty contrasted with outer beauty. Throughout the novel, everyone seems to relate the two, thinking that someone so attractive cannot possibly be evil, and this is what causes Basil's ultimate downfall. So it is that people give power to attractiveness and beauty, not that it has its own power to affect change.
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e always searching for new sensation
This is an interesting idea. here dorian is being told to hold onto his youth because it wont last forever and this idea of searching for new sensations feels like a false sense of youth to me. As you grow up new things become harder and harder to find so new sensations would be like a glimpse of youth. This search would be an attempt to stay young but I don't think it would necessarily achieve that youth because being young isn't about finding new things its about how you perceive new things.
edit: The false sense of youth is spot on. As Dorian grows he doesn't look like he is aging but he is on the inside, his picture represents his actual age. You can't avoid age and youth is fleeting no matter how many new things you discover.
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From the corner of the divan of Persian saddle-bags
I believe that this is foreshadowing that this man (and possibly others) are going on a trip and I think that is what this story will be about.
edit: This could also be showing his personality as a lazy rude man. With his lying on the saddle bags and smoking cigarets. It gives you an image of like a "bad boy".
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I think not.
Whose voice is this??
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As he turned over the pages his eye fell on the poem about the hand of Lacenaire, the cold yellow hand “du supplice encore mal lavée” with its downy red hairs and its “doigts de faune.”1
The phrases that Dorian read are from Gautier’s “Study of Hands: Lacenaire" and translate to “barely cleansed of its horrors”. Lacenaire was known as the Poet Assasin, writing poetry by day and monstrous murderer by night. Lacenaire saw his murders as works of art and fuel to his artistic abilities the same way Dorian views his murder of Basil as a way to preserve his youth.
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Summer followed summer, and the yellow jonquils bloomed and died many times, and nights of horror repeated the story of their shame, but he was unchanged. No winter marred his face or stained his flower-like
This book references flowers frequently and in this particular instance comparing Dorian to a flower. Flowers are at their natural beauty when they bloom and eventually true natural flowers fade. Dorian stays as a constant beauty makes him a fabricated flower lacking the true depth or mortality or purpose.He may have beauty on the outside but is there an incompleteness inside?
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, was lying a note from Lord Henry, and beside it was a book bound in yellow paper, the cover slightly torn and the edges soiled. A copy of the third edition of the St. James’s Gazette had been placed on the tea-tray.
The book Lord Henry left for Dorian is described in great detail. Could the condition of the book be a foreshadowing on how the reading of the book can affect him negatively?
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Georges Petit is going to collect all my best pictures for a special exhibition in the Rue de Sèze,79
The Rue de Seze is the location of the Galerie de Petit where works by many rising stars of the impressionist movement were shown.
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Then came that dreadful night—was it really only last night?—when she played so badly, and my heart almost broke. She explained it all to me. It was terribly pathetic. But I was not moved a bit. I thought her shallow.
Dorian seems to treat people as works of art instead of human only judging them on how they live up to a standard he also uses to evaluate art.
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He is not like other men. He would never bring misery upon any one. His nature is too fine for that.”
It's like Basil thinks he's in an epic battle over Dorian's soul but I think Dorian's too far gone to Lord Henry's side to be changed. Lord Henry thinks Dorian does not have to conform to morality because of his beauty. Basil feel because of Dorian's beauty he should be setting an example for others. Morality vs. Aesthetic [(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aestheticism
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He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time.
To be late or lack in principle means to be late or lack punctuality.
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Sin is the only color-element left in modern life.”
Is he saying that the only thing saving us from boredom in life is sin or sinful acts? Another example of Wilde's dark humor?
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15 handsome, with his finely-curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair.
Beautiful description of Dorian starkly contrast the portrait at the end. This can also reflect his innocent soul at this point.
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. In fact, I don’t want any white ones
In the American culture, white orchids represent innocence, and in Asian cultures, they represent death.
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Every moment was of vital importance.
Every moment is vital, yet Dorian is wasting time by reading a book.
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They say that you corrupt every one whom you become intimate with
Dorian has become exactly like Lord Henry.
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concealed
Yet, Dorian's sins are being concealed in his portrait that he keeps locked away.
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103 damask, decorated with tulips and dolphins and fleurs de lys; altar frontals of crimson velvet and blue linen; and many corporals, chalice-veils, and sudaria. In the mystic offices to which these things were put there was something that quickened his imagination. For these things, and everything that he collected in his lovely house, were to be to him means of forgetfulness, modes by which he could escape, for a season, from the fear that seemed to him at times to be almost too great to be borne
All of Dorian's ever changing interests were just ways to detract himself from the corruption of his own soul.
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always wore a Waterbury watch.
Waterbury watches were created using fewer parts than any other watch on the market at the time. They were very cheap, and described by Mark Twain as "simple sweet, and humble." I think this idea of being common but in a good way was to support how people felt toward Basil, and why he would not have an enemy. -
It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion.
"A lack of compassion can be as vulgar as an excess of tears." (Downton Abbey)
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the whole book seemed to him to contain the story of his own life, written before he had lived it.
Did Lord Henry try to influence Dorian to model the main character of this book?
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You must play Chopin to me. The man with whom my wife ran away played Chopin exquisitely.
I find it interesting that Lord Henry should want to hear something that reminds him of something as unpleasant as his wife leaving him for another man. Maybe he's just filling the void? When he first spoke of his wife I didn't get the feeling he was terribly fond of her to begin with though..
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They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one’s self
This is really interesting because you can interpret this in many ways. This sentence can refer to losing who you really are in an attempt to please others as the paragraph suggests. I believe however that this can also refer to the idea of following a moral compass that you believe in not that others have told you to believe in. This sentence actually reminds me of the movie Mulan 2 when a princess asks mulan for advice because she agreed to an arranged marriage but has fallen in love with someone else. She asks mulan how she was able to make the decision to take her father's place in the army and pretend to be a man. Mulan's response was that she discovered that her duty is to her heart. I think that this is foreshadowing and that dorian or basil may possibly have to to re!member where their duties lie and make a hard decision that may go against what others may deem appropriate.
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When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.
He aimed to kill his past and the only way to do that was to kill himself
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. It would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free.
He wants to erase his mistakes and he sees his mistakes in others. Thats why he killed basil he felt that basil was the cause of his past sins and if he got rid of basil he would get rid of his sins but he just created more.
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The thing was still loathsome
this picture represents an artist portrayal of dorian and his painting.
edit: the painting of Dorian's soul appears to be by an artist named Ivan Albright, couldn't find a source on the left image.
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The thing was still loathsome,—more loathsome, if possible, than before
running away from his sins and failing to acknowledge them are aging him more
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passed his hand across his forehead
I'm not sure if this is an intentional connection, but in the very first chapter, and the most recent one just before he died, Basil seemed to have a habit of wiping sweat off his forehead, and I wonder if Dorian's adoption of this tick is evidence of some kind of guilt in killing Basil.
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he grew cold with passion.
Passion is usually connected to warmth ?
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t was the portrait that had done everything
He blames everyone and everything but himself
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does not seem to be probable
It is like he is taunting him
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Death is the only thing that ever terrifies me.
For many it is the only thing that terrifies them
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Alan Campbell’s suicid
He is directly and indirectly killing everyone
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I want to be better. I am going to be better
It feels like he is too far gone.
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THERE is no good telling me you are going to be good, Dorian,” cried Lord Henry, dipping his white fingers into a red copper bowl filled with rose-water. “You are quite perfect. Pray don’t change.”
Why is Lord Henry always telling him not to change, not to make himself better? Does he not want him to grow or is there another reason?
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Gradually the events of the preceding night crept with silent blood-stained feet into his brain, and reconstructed themselves there with terrible distinctness.
He uses great imagery here to show the pain that he has when he thinks of his past.
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n exclamation of horror broke from Hallward’s lips as he saw in the dim light the hideous thing on the canvas leering at him.
Why is he choosing now to show it to him?
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answered Hallward,
Why does Wilde switch between first and last names for everyone except Dorian?
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the thing
He can't acknowledge that he killed a person so he calls it a thing.
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stand, with a mirror, in front of the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him, looking now at the evil and aging face on the canvas, and now at the fair young face that laughed back at him from the polished glass. The very sharpness of the contrast used to quicken his sense of pleasure
It sounds like he has an unhealthy obsession over this portrait of himself.
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Poor Basil! what a horrible way for a man to die!
He goes back and forth between his hatred and love for basil the same way he did with sibyl. It is like there are two sides to him the good rational side and the evil corrupt side and he goes back and forth between them. As the novel has progressed he spends more time as the evil corrupt side but every so often he'll switch over.
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He was determined that he would not think about what had happened
He keeps running away from problems that he is creating
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Dorian Gray glanced at the picture, and suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward came over him.
If Basil had never been infatuated with Dorian's beauty non of this would have happened.
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It is the face of my soul
Although he looks young his soul has aged and that is something no one can avoid
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That awful thing, a woman’s memory!
A person is ruined when they take advice from Henry and recall and use it. Its one thing for Henry to have his own notions, but entirely another for someone to be convinced by his arguments.
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This is the face of a satyr
I feel like Lord Henry was also a face of satyr
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You are quite perfect. Pray don’t change.
Henry has a very similar personality to Frank Gallagher in Shameless. The difference is that Frank toys/manipulates people to get ahead and scam them, while Henry does it just because he can and it's fun.
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“It is the face of my soul.” “God! what a thing I must have worshipped! This has the eyes of a devil.” “Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him, Basil,”
In worshipping Dorian up to this point that the has seen the picture, was he worshipping the Dorian that he originally painted, or the new terrible Dorian?
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There was still some gold in the thinning hair and some scarlet on the sensual lips
The thing Dorian feared may still be beautiful
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You are mad, Dorian, or playing a par
Yeah Dorian is going crazy
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Nothing is serious nowadays. At least nothing should be
A little bit of a slip that Dorian doesn't want Basil to bring up the very thing Halward is about to bring up. Simply afraid of facing him.
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And, certainly, to him life itself was the first, the greatest, of the arts, and for it all the other arts seemed to be but a preparation
Is it still art if his life is hideous?
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There was something about Dorian that charmed everybody.
He can charm anyone, but begins to hate himself and finds himself horrible.
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It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion. A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.
This sounds like it came striaght from Lord Henry
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chased silver Louis-Quinze toilet-set
From what I'm getting, he just bought a toilet that looked like the second image that is engraved like the first. I cannot imagine anything more vain -
orian Gray loathed him more than ever. He felt as if he had come to look for Miranda and had been met by Caliban. Lord Henry, upon the other hand, rather liked him.
There a strong split in thoughts and feelings betwen Gray and Henry. Potentially a huge split is coming
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But do you approve of it, Harry
Since when is it his responsibility to approve Dorian's choices?
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Was it really true that one could never change? He felt a wild longing for the unstained purity of his boyhood,—his rose-white boyhood, as Lord Henry had once called it.148 He knew that he had tarnished himself, filled his mind with corruption, and given horror to his fancy; that he had been an evil influence to others, and had experienced a terrible joy in being so; and that of the lives that had crossed his own it had been the fairest and the most full of promise that he had brought to shame. But was it all irretrievable? Was there no hope for him
Dorian hates the idea that after all hes done, he can't change and go back like nothing ever happened. He is still the selfish child he started out as years prior.
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I can’t bear this, Harry! You mock at everything, and then suggest the most serious tragedie
Dorian still, even after all he's done, projects this innocent version of himself when he talks to Henry.
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Suddenly he remarked that every face that he drew seemed to have an extraordinary likeness to Basil Hallward
Evan though he has done so much bad, the things he does still affect his conscience and haunt him.
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He seized it, and stabbed the canvas with it, ripping the thing right up from top to bottom
This kind of bugs me, that his death comes without him seeing it coming. I feel that he never really grasps the evil of his actions. I suppose that it can work, as he dies following a random impulse, just as random impulses and his inability to restrain them got him in so much trouble in life. I just think that if he was going to die by his own hand, he should know what is happening. Is anyone else displeased with the ending?
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He had no curiosity
Yet Basil did have a "mysterious disappearance" once before, as mentioned in the first chapter. Was that ever explained? I think I missed it if it was.
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Alan Campbell’s suicide
There is another death that Dorian is recently responsible for, yet he doesn't seem affected by it. Dorian seems to have lost all concept for good and evil, despite his talk of wanting redemption.
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I should have thought they had got tired of that by this tim
Dorian speaks about such little acts as not completely ruining a random girl's life as if they are his redemption, yet he still has a murder hanging over his head.
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I want you to lead such a life as will make the world respect you
this reminds me of a quote I annotated in the beginning of the novel. Dorian's duty is to himself not to the public so why should he lead a life that is respected by others if it is not respected by him.
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what a life that is
Everyone else seems to realize the flaws in Dorian's life philosophy, and that in living in such a manner, he is missing out on so much and living in corruption, yet Dorian seems blind to the value of any other method of living, despite his study of the world. Is he incapable of doing good since he made his bargain, or is it simply his choices that drove him down such a dark path?
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Why is your friendship so fateful to young men?
It seems that lord henry corrupted Dorian and now Dorian is corrupting others. Dorian has become Lord Henry
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indifferent
Slightly random comment: indifference also seems to be a theme in the novel- Lord Henry's character is initially more indifferent to what people thought of him and that was what fascinated Dorian. Also, As Dorian became more like Lord Henry, he lost his boyish enthusiasm and became more cynical and indifferent to life in general. Basil, the noble character in the novel, never stopped caring deeply about things and he never lost his moral character, although it didn't seem to do him much good in the end.
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There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful.
This chapter stood apart from the rest to me. it was focused on dorian's obsession with beauty and youth. It highlighted a crazed persona that he has especially with his portrait. Although he may not look like he is aging his soul is aging terribly. I noticed that this chapter made a lot of references and didn't contain much dialogue nor was there much interaction between anyone it was just kind of the mind of Dorian. The way this paragraph stands out lets me know that it is a very important one.
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Ah! I was waiting for you to call me Dorian
Again, the power of the name- this time the power comes in speaking it, not in secrecy, because using his first name denotes familiarity, which means he is more inclined to help. What is the novel trying to say about the value of one's name?
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It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and the highest respectability is of less value in its opinion than the possession of a good chef
It is better to be perceived as good (have good manners) than it is to actually be good (have a sense of moral)
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Curious stories became current about him after he had passed his twenty-fifth year
This reflects Wilde's life in the sense that controversy followed him whether it was out right or only whispered about
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but he was unchanged. No winter marred his face or stained his flower-like
Is he feeling guilty for his youth now? He is obsessed with beautiful things, he loves them, and he notices that they die and age and change. He isn't doing that. Does that mean he is not actually beautiful? Is true beauty the change itself or the process or experiences that causes one to age and change and mature?
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Can’t you see your romance in it
An answer to my earlier question! I wonder if Basil is correct in saying that there was "nothing evil in it, nothing shameful," as it is never truly just to worship someone to such an extent. It always ends up hurting either you or the subject of your affections.
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it was his own picture
At the beginning, Basil stated that he put so much of himself into the painting. I wonder if any of that can still be seen?
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and to such little purpose
Is he struggling with his purpose in life? Is he mistaking his purpose in life for youth.
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You have had more to do with my life than you think.
Basil tried so hard to be a positive influence on Dorian and to keep him pure and innocent, yet in the end, with his painting, he unconsciously ruined him. How much of the events of the book are Basil's fault? Can he take any of the blame? All of it?
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h, if you have discovered that, you have discovered a great dea
This is another sign of him aging. The more he discovers the more he matures. this gives me the idea that Lord Henry is trying to age him
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I don’t know whether it is so or no
Despite all the evidence, Basil is still dubious as to the evil of Dorian's character. Is this his affection for Dorian still lingering, or is it the power of his outward appearance?
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Perhaps he had read it, and had begun to suspect something. And, yet, what did it matter? What had Dorian Gray to do with Sibyl Vane’s death? There was nothing to fear. Dorian Gray had not killed her.
This sentence really gives the impression that Dorian is going crazy. the use of many questions and going from one position to the other makes him seem like he is questioning himself in every way. It gives the feeling that he is struggling with paranoia.
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It cannot be concealed
There seems to be a recurring theme of the power of secrecy. The secrecy of concealing one's name, the mystery of personality, and now concealing sins. Dorian has the unique ability to keep his sins from showing on his face and this gives him the power to instill trust in others and to keep a good name.
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The thing upon the canvas was growing old, hour by hour, and week by week.
I can't tell if this is actually happening or if dorian is going crazy.
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hat was enough
Is his obsession with his youth really just him latching on to something to fill a void. It seems to me that he was better off before lord henry and before he started obsessing over youth. I think it is making him sick.
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ewels
He is most certainly drawn to beauty, as all of his occupations- music, jewels, etc.- share that element in common. Perhaps he is looking for something that can inspire him as he inspired Basil.
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and from time to time strange rumors about his mode of life crept through London and became the chatter of the club
Dorian is beginning to build a celebrity despite not displaying any particular talent. This lends credence to the belief one can be a true celebrity based only on their character and exploits that catch the public's eye.
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key
Lots of talk about the key and locks in this chapter, Now that Dorian is no longer innocent, and has something to hide, secrecy and security now become essential.
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t would be always alive.
It would always be alive, but would Dorian? Did he exchange the chance to live a true life for the facade of eternal youth, where he can experience pleasures, but never truly feel alive?
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even for an hour, in a room to which any of his friends had access.
Hiding the portrait could represent how he now feels that he has sins to hide, something to be ashamed of.
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He was too clever and too cynical to be really fond of
The death of Sibyl seems to have really changed Dorian. Before he seemed to look up to lord Henry as a sort of infallible giver of wisdom. Now, he doesn't even like him that much.
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“They don’t know my name
Again, the connection between keeping your name secret and the power it provides.
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It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution
This is true. The act of confessing takes weight off of one's shoulders and acknowledging that you made a mistake is the first step in overcoming and learning and more importantly maturing. we continuously see signs of Dorian growing as much as he hates it.
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Sibyl dead
Sibyl was the last thing that made him question the poisonous thoughts Lord Henry had planted, and when he rejected her, his last innocence and goodness died. Was this his last chance for redemption?
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It was not too late to make reparation for that.
This is so sad. It is too late... He had to learn that you can't take people for granted because every day could be their last. Thats a lesson that he had to learn and each lesson you learn ages you. The harder he tries to latch on to his youth the more he ages
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of almost scientific interest.
The lack of emotion is somewhat disturbing. Although if he truly lost his soul in the bargain, I suppose it is understandable.
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What have I to do with the puppets of a play
Sibyl, when she finds someone she loves, is willing to give up fantasy and begin living in reality, but Dorian, true to form, refuses to awaken and is instead upset that Sibyl is interrupting his dream. Ever since he stopped aging and denied the realities of life, Dorian stopped truly living and instead moves vainly through the world in search of pleasure.
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She was nothing to him now.
She was never anything to him. She just represented artistry that he wishes he had and he thought that if he married her, she would be "his possession" and therefor her artistry would be his that he was missing.
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During the three terrible hours that the play had lasted, he had lived centuries of pain, aeon upon aeon of torture
earlier when she was crying on the floor he thought that she was being melodramatic and now just because she wasn't as artistic as she once was "he had lived centuries of pain". seems very hypocritical to me.
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She looked charming
Just looking the part is not enough in the play, and in the end, Dorian finds that this is true for real life as well, as his increasingly foul character gets more and more noticed.
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I have known everything,
Socrates would mark Lord Henry a fool for this remark.
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I am changed, and the mere touch of Sibyl Vane’s hand makes me forget you and all your wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories.
Sibyl makes him want to be better, makes him feel young and alive and forget the "poisonous" words of Lord Henry. A comparison between true youth and love and the cynical, self-indulgent view of the world Lord Henry encourages.
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You have killed my love
this is the result of her failure and the response to his realization that his decision to marry her was wrong. This is also what everyone else feared when they questioned his intentions.
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When is she Sibyl Vane?” “Never.
Does Dorian truly love Sibyl if she is never herself? -
She was a complete failure.
It seems to me that this failure is not only referring to her as an actress but to her as a person. It feels like dorian's decision to be engaged to her is starting to backfire on him because it seems he didn't really know what he was getting into
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strange sense of loss came over him
This makes me feel like this friendship was definitely one sided and that Basil cared for dorian far more than dorian cared for basil.
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I love acting. It is so much more real than life.
This is funny because acting is meant to be an imitation of real life but it tends to be an escape.
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When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and
Im not sure what he means by deception in either scenario. The first reminds me of blind love so I suppose one would deceive one's self into thinking that the other is perfect and then deceive others when you know the other isn't perfect but may want to portray a happy or perfect relationship. whether that is the right interpretation or not this is no doubt significant in meaning.
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There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the beginning
I really like this. It's pretty straight forward in its meaning so I wont elaborate on that too much. I think this is a good thing for dorian to hear. I think recently he has been obsessed with youth due to his realization that it is fleeting and I like that this is kind of a reminder that while your not getting younger things get better from here and there is a lot to discover. besides that its just a nice quote in general and gives you fuzzy feelings inside. There's a lot to discover in life and when something really good is only the beginning you just can't help but smile about all the really good things that are to come.
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hat is one of Harry’s views, isn’t it, Mr. Gray
The first view Lord Henry imparted was that man should avoid being influenced by other men, yet Dorian has become a student of Henry to the extent that he has few original views. Yay, irony!
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women, the plain and the colored.
I recognize that this may just be the manner of thinking for that time but I can't help but wonder what experiences may have affected this way of thinking. I feel like even if it was common to see women as less than men, if you had interactions with women that were more than just "plain or colored" you wouldn't necessarily think this was true. I also think that having negative or boring experiences with women would have brought out this feeling. or possibly even a lack of attraction to women which is where we can see Wilde hinting through his writing.
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Dorian Gray was reclining in a luxurious arm-chair
We first see Lord Henry reclining in luxury on a divan, waiting for Basil and now, with this time jump, we come to Dorian reclining in luxury waiting for Lord Henry. Already, the similarities are showing.
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Before which Dorian?
Is there a difference yet? Or is this foreshadowing the difference in the future?
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the full reality of the description flashed across him
This is him fully understanding not only that he will grow old but also how much he will lose when he does so. He recognizes his youth and beauty and what that means to him and in the same moment he realizes how damaging it will be to him to lose all of that.
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It is part of myself
Again, the theme of Identity: both Basil and Dorian identify very closely with the painting that is nothing "but canvas and color."
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t is quite finished,
The portrait of Dorian couldn't be finished until he had heard and accepted the words of Lord Henry. As Henry says later when Dorian shows acceptance of Henry's ideas: "It is the real Dorian Gray,—that is all"
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“I was wrong. It has destroyed me.”
I was a little confused by this, when Dorian first saw a change in the picture it prompted him to right his wrongs, and played the function of a conscience. It reminded him that he was destroying himself, I don't see how the picture could've hurt him.
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For every sin that he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck its fairness
The whole idea of Dorian noticing that his portrait has changed reminds me of a scene in BTS's music video for their song, "Blood, Sweat, and Tears." The concept of this video is based on the story of "Demian". In the last shot of the of the video, Jin, who represents Sinclair, is looking at his reflection in a mirror. His reflected face begins to crack, representing the loss of innocence and youth, as well as giving into temptation.
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passed out of the room,
On a more pleasant note, this is where I realized when they use the phrase 'passed out' they don't mean unconscious, they mean someone left the room.
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the man who had painted the portrait that was the origin of all his shame was to be burdened for the rest of his life with the hideous memory of what he had done.
wow Dorian does a great job of taking responsibility for his own actions! (but not really) He's a child who does bad things and then convinces himself that it's somebody else's fault and that he's such a victim. Maybe next time he should be careful what he wishes for.
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Hallward moved in his chair as if he was going to rise. He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man’s head down on the table, and stabbing again and agai
this was one last moment for Dorian to repent and change his ways, but he chose to give in to his darker side.
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I don’t wish to know anything about them. I love scandals about other people, but scandals about myself don’t interest me. They have not got the charm of novelty.
Dorian hates being confronted with his true self.
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he would suddenly leave his guests and rush back to town to see that the door had not been tampered with and that the picture was still there. What if it should be stolen? The mere thought made him cold with horror. Surely the world would know his secret then. Perhaps the world already suspected it.
Dorian's guilt of the status of his soul represented in the painting makes him very ashamed of who he really is.
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es, there was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a new hedonism that was to re-create life, and to save it from that harsh, uncomely puritanism that is having, in our own day, its curious revival
Dorian seems to be almost a disciple of Henry's teachings and likes to parrot his ideas.
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cardinal virtues cannot atone for cold entrées, as Lord Henry remarked once,
For someone who accuses others of being terribly shallow, Lord Henry, as well as Dorian, seem to have placed some of their highest priorities on material things
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The more he knew, the more he desired to know. He had mad hungers that grew more ravenous as he fed them
knowing could possibly mean 'knowing' his new life of sin and selfish desire.
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89 with Lord Henry for having sent him the account. And it was certainly stupid of him to have marked it with red pencil. Victor might have read it. The man knew more than enough English for that. Perhaps he had read it, and had begun to suspect something. And, yet, what did it matter? What had Dorian Gray to do with Sibyl Vane’s death? There was nothing to fear. Dorian Gray had not killed her.
This new change in Dorian is making him go crazy.
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Charles of England had ridden in stirrups hung with three hundred and twenty-one diamonds.
I'm so confused why Wilde felt it was important to include all these details about the jewels and the musical instruments and whatnot, is there some connection between all these details that I'd have to research to find, or were these commonly known references that everyone of the time would understand?
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You know what I mean,—middle-class virtue, and all that kind of thing.
he seems to be parroting something henry told him earlier. His new persona is highly influenced by henry's ideas.
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Dorian, this is horrible! Something has changed you completely. You look exactly the same wonderful boy who used to come down to my studio, day after day, to sit for his picture. But you were simple, natural, and affectionate then. You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world. Now, I don’t know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry’s influence. I see that
Basil sees the change in Dorian's soul but also acknowledge his unchanging and youthful appearance.
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Yes, life had decided that for him,—life, and his own infinite curiosity about life. Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins,—he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame: that was all
seems like a tipping point for Dorian's character
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She would have done that for me. She had no right to kill herself. It was selfish of her
he keeps implying this idea that others owe him something and are terrible when they rob him of it.
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You taught me what reality really is
This reminds me of when Dorian first saw his portrait.
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with wilful paradox in them
Dorian realizes that Lord Henry is speaking nonsense, so why do they affect him so much?
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You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were wonderful, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all awa
Dorian is selfish and wants to use people and only sees there value in what they can do for him.
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the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy
Self-contradiction- If the influence of others is bad, shouldn't this man's influence bring others further from their own self realization?
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I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life
Henry seems like he is making excuses to not have to really critically think about things past his own interpretation.
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The sky above was like a faded rose. He thought of Dorian Gray’s young fiery-colored life, and wondered how it was all going to end
mentions a faded rose in the line before he wonders how Dorian Gray's life will end. Dorian fears his fading beauty and had mentioned in the first or second chapter that he wished to end his life when his beauty fades.
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he reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves
Is this why celebrities are such a huge phenomenon?
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My dear boy, no woman is a genius: women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. They represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as we men represent the triumph of mind over morals.
Henry is always lecturing people about every idea that comes up in a conversation with his own polarizing opinions.
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Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the sou
curious
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we tell each other the most absurd stories with the most serious faces. My wife is very good at it,—much better, in fact, than I am. She never gets confused over her dates, and I always do. But when she does find me out, she makes no row at all. I sometimes wish she would; but she merely laughs at me
he recognizes his fault and apparently so does his wife. They seem very apathetic to their relationship from this description including lines above.
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All the candor of youth was there, as well as all youth’s passionate purity.
Youth seems to not only be associated with the vitality of young age, but also with innocence and good character. Dorian seems to act very much like a child in the way he talks to Basil and the reverence and respect for his elders and this is the personality that Basil so reverences.
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personality of Dorian Gray
Why does Basil keep referring to Dorian's "personality" as his motivation when all his evidences point to him to be merely entranced by his beauty?
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You like every one; that is to say, you are indifferent to every one
Wise words from Basil finally challenging Lord Henry's snarky remarks.
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mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself
Yet Dorian's whole personality and outlook on life is able to be changed with in one evening conversation with Lord Henry. This makes me doubt that it was very strong to begin with.
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I believe
I would be more inclined to trust Basil's beliefs if he was not proved wrong so drastically in his beliefs about Dorian.
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It is better not to be different from one’s fellows.
Basil really seems to believe this philosophy, as evidenced by his not wanting to display his "best work" as Lord Henry put it so as not to draw attention to himself. While Basil himself may enjoy painting, he doesn't want his skill to be known to distinguish him from others.
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It was a poisonous book.
I wonder if Lord Henry is trying to corrupt Dorian for his own amusement, or is blind to the damage he is inflicting? In the first chapter he promised Basil he would lay off, but he clearly is not, and that's causing me to question the kind of friendship Lord Henry and Basil have.
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I have not been wounded.
When he claims to be unharmed by this tragedy, is he considering only his physical, or his conscience as well? Just recently he was grieving over the fact that he 'killed' her, is the feeling of regret not a kind of wound?
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It seemed to him that as the man left the room he peered in the direction of the screen. Or was that only his fancy?
Could the death of her be making him delusional?
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“I called last night, and they told me you were at the Opera. Of course I knew that was impossible. But I wish you had left word where you had really gone to. I passed a dreadful evening, half afraid that one tragedy might be followed by another
It is almost like Basil and Lord Henry are two sides of Dorian's personalty.
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How little you can know of love, if you say it mars your art
While I'm super upset that Dorian is so shallow to throw her over after one bad performance, he does make a good point in that experiencing life and people should be education for an artist, and should help Sybil in understanding her craft.
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This marriage is quite right. I did not think so at first, but I admit it now. God made Sibyl Vane for you. Without her you would have been incomplete.”
Is he trying to convince Dorian of this, or himself?
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But then the middle classes are not modern.”
From a current perspective, I'd argue that the middle class is more modern than the upper class. The upper class is fighting to keep things the same, as they're on top and wouldn't want that to change, while the middle classes are looking for newness and change, so they may have a chance to rise in wealth and society.
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“Oh, she is more than good,—she is beautiful,
I wonder what Wilde believed in the respect of the value of beauty over intellect or goodness.He has compared himself to Lord Henry and Basil in the quote from the letter, so I wonder how much he identifies with what the characters say/believe.
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Would you think it awfully rude of me if I asked you to go away?
yeah..... to finish the picture..... riiiiiiiiiiight. He would like one on one time with Mr. Gray. Basil is being jealous of Dorian splitting his attention between the two of them
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ate the way you talk about your married lif
in contrast to my previous comment, Basil is an optimist who is good and sees the good in others, like the beauty in Dorian and the worth in Basil
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did not realize that we live in an age when only unnecessary things are absolutely necessary to us;
Could this be an opinion that he picked up from Lord Henry? Because people usually wind up acting like those they hang out with. "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future" - Anonymous
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These common people here, with their coarse faces and brutal gestures, become quite different when she is on the stage. They sit silently and watch her. They weep and laugh as she wills them to do. She makes them as responsive as a violin. She spiritualizes them, and one feels that they are of the same flesh and blood as one’s self.”
Could he just think she is that good because he is in love with her and in reality they are reacting to the work it self?
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I SUPPOSE you have heard the news, Basil?” said Lord Henry on the following evening, as Hallward was shown into a little private room at the Bristol where dinner had been laid for three. “No, Harry,”
Why is he even asking if he has heard when Dorian said the day before that he has not spoken to him in a week? Is it to rub it in his face?
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nervous
Why does Lady Brandon make him nervous?
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“Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil. Conscience is the trade-name of the firm. That is all.
Will start marking Henry's trademark notes on life
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one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception necessar
If the above statements didn't do it, now we know that Henry is a scumbag
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To a large extent, the lad was his own creation.
Can a person be 'created' by someone? Is this a form of art? Neil Labute, in the play 'The Shape of Things' makes the claim that the two most pliable materials are the human flesh, and the human will.
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women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.
I wonder if Wilde was sexist (a product of his time, to say the least) and believed the words he gave some of his characters. The idea that women are useless but pretty seems prevalent in a lot of his work.
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I know you quite well by your photographs. I think my husband has got twenty-seven of them.
I think this might represent Wilde's wife relationship with Possy and maybe Robbie.
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But we never get back our youth.
I follow a Korean music group, called BTS, that used 화양연화 as the title for one of their album. 화양연화, pronounced hwayang-yeonhwa, means "the most beautiful moment of a flower". BTS interpreted the phase to mean, "the most beautiful moment in life", or youth. I like seeing that same reference being used in this story.
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The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
This reminds me of "Demian". In this story, a boy named Sinclair learns, while growing up, that it is okay to enjoy things that are considered to be evil.
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ou-expo.nicklolordo.com ou-expo.nicklolordo.com
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This page would not annotate properly, so I've re-uploaded it and believe it to be now working correctly--let me know if you have problems!
I want us to discuss this trial record primarily as a set of arguments about Wilde's life and The Picture of Dorian Gray. As such, this conversation will help us prepare for the second paper. Look for claims, then; look for evidence. Don't just state your own position, but comment on the strength of the claims offered by Carson and Wilde. The "big question" here is who wins the battle, Wilde or Carson?
Remember, the battle over the book's relationship to Wilde's life (a battle whose terms I've indicated by noting several passages) was not ultimately the deciding factor in the trial: but it might have been! For further context here, check out the linked page of "5 Myths" for a detailed, demystifying background to the trials.
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