Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Blog Question: The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapters 1-4

We've talked about how Oscar Wilde writes himself into the story; which character do you think he wrote himself in as?

13 comments:

  1. During the class discussion we talked about how Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying, ""Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks me: Dorian is what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps." Before reading this I thought that Wilde depicted himself as Dorian because it seems that Wilde thinks that he is deserving of the attention from other people and very narcissistic. I don't think I really agree with Wilde's quote because I think that Wilde used the way that society sees him (Lord Henry) as the place to show his flaws, when in reality it is Basil and Dorian who should be flawed. I still think that Wilde secretly saw himself as perfect, and therefore saw himself as more like Dorian than any other character, despite what he said.

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  2. Oscar Wilde is quoted saying, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks of me: Dorian is what I would like to be-in other ages, perhaps". To me this quote reveals that Wilde imbued certain traits that he has into every character. His homosexuality with the character known as Basil. His wit and intelligence despite his mean spirited nature with Lord Henry, and what everyone wishes to have, beauty in the character Dorian Grey. I believe this more than the idea that Wilde would write his flaws into his characters because that doesn't make any sense. I believe he wrote certain traits of him into every character and what we view as flawed is what Wilde intended to be flawed about the character.

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  3. In my opinion, I believe that Wilde is more like Lord Henry than any character we have met in the story so far. Lord Henry speaks with a tone that overwhelms his audience and sounds as if he believes he is always correct. These characteristics are exactly what Wilde seems to be like. Therefore, if Wilde did write himself into the book, than I would have to say that Lord Henry best represents Wilde in the story. In the discussion today, we heard the quote, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry is what the world thinks me; Dorian is what I would like to be-in other ages, perhaps." To me, this quote describes Wilde the way he saw himself. He is just saying that who he thinks he is represented as in the story is someone totally different than what his audience perceives him as. This quote is what our Portrait project was based on, and basically the quote is just showing us what he believed he was like. However, I still believe that Wilde is more like Lord Henry than Basil Hallward, even though he specifically said he is more like Basil.

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  4. I understand that Oscar Wilde wrote himself into the book from three different aspects. The Character Basil is suppose to represent what Oscar thinks of himself, Dorian Gray is who Oscar Wilde wants to be, and Lord Henry is how other's think of Oscar. This is clearly shown, Basil is envious of Dorian’s beauty, and Lord Henry lives for pleasure. To me it seems as that Lord Henry is thought as a Hedonist which others said the same about Wilde. Is there another character that might represent people’s first opinions of Oscar?

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  5. As others have said we got the quote that Wilde said "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks me: Dorian is what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps." and I think that it was very interesting that not only did Wilde write himself in as a charicter he wrote himself in as 3 completely different charicters and each charicter represented a different part of him. Either how society viewed him, how he viewed himself or how people think he views himself

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  6. I believe that he put himself in the book as Dorian. Dorian is the most interesting and coolest character. He is seen as a perfect being by his peers. I think that Wilde would want him to reflect who he is the most because he is a favorite. Wilde's love for himself is desplayed in all the characters love for Dorian.

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  7. In class we talked about how he pretty much wrote himself in as all three characters. But before we discovered that I had thought that he wrote himself in as Lord Henry because of his arrogance and the advice he had been giving Dorian. It makes sense that Henry is who others thought he was because that is how he has been portrayed especially with the background we read. At the same time you can view yourself completely differently than others because you know yourself but others just judge you.

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  8. As we talked about in class, I have to agree with the quote from Wilde stating that, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks me: Dorian is what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps". However, I think that there is a specific reason that he split his own character into these three. While each one of them represents different views of Wilde (as Katy R has already said), by dividing himself into three characters, he was able to also split his flaws out into these three individuals. From what we have learned, we know that Wilde was somebody who wanted everyone around him to think that he was perfect, therefore through placing himself into three characters he was able to also spread out the "not so desirable" traits, making it harder for readers to point these out.

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  9. I still believe that Lord Henry is who Oscar Wilde wrote himself in as. I know he said he was three different characters, but from the background we read about Wilde, he is most closely resembled by Lord Henry. Henry was called a bad influence and his ideas were "against the grain" as Wilde's real thoughts were. They are also both Hedonists.

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  10. "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks me: Dorian is what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps." I believe that Oscar is all three of these characters. I believe Oscar was Dorian when he was a young boy,Basil when he was middle aged and skill acquired, and Finnaly The wiser Lord Henry with all of his philosiphies about life as if he knows exactly what situation Basil and Dorian are in.

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  11. While Wilde did give the quote referenced in the above quotes about being each of the characters, it is my personal opinion that this is not necessarily the truth. Wilde gave this statement in order to give a false image of what he wanted to look like. By saying that Basil was what he was truly like, it gave the impression that at his core he was truly a kind man who cared for others, and the use of Dorian being the image he wished to be, he makes it so that the reader feels he is more like them, wishing to be perfect. However, from the background readings and what I can tell from his style of giving character flaws to his "other self's", I believe that the true character that represents Wilde is Lord Henry. Both his personality and intellect are similar in style to Henry, and his overall arrogance is blatantly obvious.

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  12. I agree with most in saying that I think Wilde is most like lord Henry. From what we have read about Wilde it would seem that how the rest of the world sees him, as he describes lord Henry as being, is pretty accurate. But I will say that I think Oscar Wilde may know himself more than we do and there may be something about himself that the world does not see so that's why he sees himself as Basil.

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  13. Based on what we have learned about Wilde, he was very fond of his own intelligence and believes very strongly in hedonism. The character that most resembles Wilde in this way is Lord Henry. Lord Henry constantly offers his opinions during conversation. Usually what Lord Henry says revolves around his idea that we should live our life with pleasures and sin. The manner in which Lord Henry conveys his opinions shows that he believes himself to be a brilliant man that knows the answer to anything.

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