Workshopping The Picture of Dorian Gray (by Oscar Wilde) by David Marler
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) is one of the most well-read Victorian novels today. Like many novels of the time, it was a serial publication for Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. The novella was published in sections in the magazine. It wasn’t until a year later that was published in book form.
Ethics and the Dandy
The Picture of Dorian Gray was scandalous from its very beginning. The magazine that published it had issues with many of the topics and themes of the novel. There was open insinuation of homosexuality, and other amoral acts. Characters’ lives were fictitiously ruined, many committed suicide, and one of the main characters – Basil Hallward (the painter) – was even murdered. Morality in the Victorian era was something that Wilde almost appears to mock – he comes revisits topics of morality and beauty throughout the novel.
Beauty is viewed as the highest ideal in the novel. It is more important than being a good person, being virtuous, or even being moral. Youth is directly linked to this view on beauty. Dorian stays forever young and beautiful, but he becomes morally corrupt. We can see that Wilde’s work is a commentary on this worshipping of beauty and youth – both aspects of the dandy culture (or dandyism), where certain men of the time would spend hours on their looks and appearance in order to show refinement.
Problematic then, problematic now.
When the novel was published in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, the editor, J.M. Stoddart, removed many scandalous passages from the work. Many of these passages were re-added in 1891, when the work was published in novel form. Most of these edits dealt with sex and homosexuality. One famous example was the removal of Basil’s near “coming out” when he says to Dorian:
“It is quite true that I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling than a man usually gives to a friend. Somehow, I had never loved a woman. I suppose I never had time. Perhaps, as Harry says, a really grande passion is the privilege of those who have nothing to do, and that is the use of the idle classes in a country.”
Nearly all of the edits dealt with Basil, who Wilde originally described as “Rugged and straightforward as he was, there was something in his nature that was purely feminine in its tenderness.” While the sexuality of all of the characters remains ambiguous, Basil seems to be completely obsessed with Dorian, who he views as his muse.
Most of the “moral issues” with the novel come from complex Victorian ideals about morality. British morality had changed significantly in the Victorian era. Victoria herself was seen as a moral example that the rest of the nation should follow. Victoria’s family was seen as the idealized version of what all British people should strive for. Victorian morality was a strict set of code (mainly for the emerging middle class) that praised personal restraint, hard work, and religion. So, when Wilde’s novel eluded to homosexuality, ruined women, suicide, murder, etc., many were shocked. The novel glorified the exact morals and ideals that Victorians found repugnant and unacceptable. Still, the novel is Victorian in that there is some poetic justice at the end: Dorian commits suicide for his crimes and the portrait returns to its original state.
Five years after it was published, Wilde would become notorious in the United Kingdom when he was charged and imprisoned for a homosexual relationship. He would later flee the UK and move to France, which did not criminalize homosexuality.
Aspects of the novel that shocked Victorian readers (like homosexuality) are no longer shocking to most readers. But The Picture of Dorian Gray is problematic for different reasons. First and foremost, the novel is quite misogynistic. Women are treated as unimportant, silly, and often incapable of original thought. The female characters in the novel are almost entirely underdeveloped and flat. The male characters are misogynists that say horrible things to and also about the female characters in the book. While there is a form of reckoning for the characters who partake in immoral acts (most of them commit suicide), there is no reckoning for the misogyny.
Workshopping the novel
Part 1: Knowledge of the work
Part 1 of the workshop should always be about the facts about the text. It is important for a few reasons. First, the goal is to ensure that the students actually read and understand the text. In my class, students who do not read are asked to leave. Secondly, this portion ensures that the students know which parts of the text are important for possible essays. We focus on the text, structure, aesthetic, and the events of the text. We begin by focusing on the basics of the text in the warming up and we move towards context. Another way of putting it is: we move from what happened? towards why did it happen? and why is it important?
Activity 1: Warming up (15-20 minutes) – finding the right actor.
For this portion of the class, the students will focus on their knowledge of the text. This is a quick warming up activity. The students will be placed into groups of three students. They will each get a character and a task. They will have to answer the following statements:
-What should the actor look like?
-How should the actor behave when in character?
-Which characteristics are most important for this actor?
The characters they will analyze are:
- Dorian Gray
- Lord Henry Wotton
- Basil Hallword
- Sybil Vane
- James Vane
- Allan Campbell
Steps: 1) Give students the instructions: Your group will get a character and you must decide on the characteristics of the actor. You will have 5 minutes to prepare a 1-minute elevator pitch where you will propose an actor. You must discuss -What should the actor look like?
-How should the actor behave when in character? -Which characteristics are most important for this actor?
2) Break them up into groups and allow them 5 minutes to discuss and prepare. One student must keep time and is in charge; one will take notes; one will present later to the group.
3) After 5 minutes the students will give a short 1-2-minute presentation to the entire group.
Activity 2: Group Discussion on the text (15 minutes)
- The novel is based around three male characters: Dorian Gray, Lord Henry Wotton, and Basil Haliward. How are these characters similar and different from one another?
- What kind of love does Lord Henry have for Dorian… does Dorian have for Sybil Vane… does Basil have for Dorian? What does this say about each character?
- Lord Henry gives Dorian a book after Sybil’s death titled Le Secret de Raoul (a.k.a. “the yellow book”), what is in the book? Why is this book significant?
- Why does Dorian kill Basil Haliward?
Courtesy of the William Andrews Memorial Library of the University of California, Los Angeles
Part 2: Knowledge of genre, theme, and symbols
Part two of the lecture will focus on genre, theme, and the symbols of the novel. In activity three the teacher will discuss various themes and symbols in the text and will link these to both the text and Oscar Wilde’s life. A large part of the lecture will be done in group work, where the students will hold a mini-presentation about one of the major topics in the novel.
Activity 3: Lecture: Oscar Wilde’s tumultuous life and The Picture of Dorian Gray (15 minutes)
This part of the workshop will consist of making connections between Oscar Wilde, the movements he belonged to, and the text.
Activity 4: Micro-presentations on theme, symbol, and genre (45 minutes)
For this activity, the students will be broken up into groups. They will be given 20 minutes to create a short 4 to 5-minute presentation on one of the terms below. It is important that they use specific examples from the text and answer the question as best as they can.
Group 1: Dandyism
The title of your mini-presentation: Dandyism in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Look at the term Dandyism below. What role does Dandyism place in the novel? Which characters are Dandies?
Group 2: The Aesthetic or Decadent Movement
The title of your mini-presentation: The Picture of Dorian Gray as part of the Aesthetic or Decadent Movement
Many academics have called The Picture of Dorian Gray a quintessential text from the Decadent or Aesthetic movement. Read the term below and present specific examples from the text that prove that this novel is an important part of the Aesthetic movement.
Group 3: Libertines and Sadists
The title of your mini-presentation: Libertines and Sadistic characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Many of the characters in the novel can be described as libertines or even sadists. Describe what those terms mean and present which characters are libertines or sadists using specific examples from the book.
Group 4: The Gothic genre
The title of your mini-presentation: The Picture of Dorian Gray as a Gothic novel
The Picture of Dorian Gray is often seen as part of the gothic genre. Read the term below and prepare a mini-presentation where you explain how this book is part of the Gothic genre. Use as many specific examples from the book.
Group 5: Bourgeois Morality
The title of your mini-presentation: The roll of bourgeois morality in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Many academics argue that The Picture of Dorian Gray is a rebuke of bourgeois morality. Read the term below and create a mini-presentation where you explain the role of bourgeois morality in the novel. Use as many specific examples from the text as possible.
Important terminology for the workshop
Dandyism: “The term “dandyism” refers to a British cultural movement of the late nineteenth century, within the Victorian era. It was a doctrine of elegance, finesse, and originality which was primarily concerned with language, sophisticated manners, and dress. An aphorism coined by the writer Gabriele D’Annunzio, one of the leading representatives of the Italian movement, perfectly sums up its essence: “living life as a work of art.” For that reason, “being dandy” became an expression not only of sophisticated dress, but of a proper lifestyle that expressed itself in every aspect of existence, such as attitude and personal tastes, and was superior from the point of view of social and cultural capital. This way of life was driven by a determination to stand out from the stereotype of the ordinary bourgeois man, and its aim was to rise above social conventions and the common way of thinking. In this sense, the dandy played a leading role in the society of its time, as an actor on a theater stage, shocking the audience with his eccentric and provocative style.” (source: Michele Bonazzi)
The Aesthetic or Decadent Movement: “Aestheticism and decadence shocked the Victorian establishment by challenging traditional values, foregrounding sensuality and promoting artistic, sexual and political experimentation.”… “Many Victorians passionately believed that literature and art fulfilled important ethical roles. Literature provided models of correct behavior: it allowed people to identify with situations in which good actions were rewarded, or it provoked tender emotions. At best, the sympathies stirred by art and literature would spur people to action in the real world. The supporters of aestheticism, however, disagreed, arguing that art had nothing to do with morality. Instead, art was primarily about the elevation of taste and the pure pursuit of beauty. More controversially, the aesthetes also saw these qualities as guiding principles for life. They argued that the arts should be judged on the basis of form rather than morality.” (source: Carolyn Burdett)
Libertines and sadists: A libertine is “a person, usually a man, who lives in a way that is not moral, having sexual relationships with many people.” (source: Cambridge Dictionary) and a sadist is “a person who gets pleasure, sometimes sexual, by being cruel to or hurting another person.” (source: Cambridge Dictionary)
Gothic novel: “The gothic novel is one of the oldest and most studied forms of ‘genre’ or ‘formula fiction’. It got its start around the middle of the 18th century in Great-Britain and encompasses novels and stories that could be described as a mix of horror, mystery, adventure, psychological thriller and historical fiction.” (source: Douglas Redant)
Bourgeois morality: The Bourgeoisie is a term often used to refer to the Middle Class. Bourgeois morality is “marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity” (source: Merriam Webster Dictionary). According to Jerrold Seigel, “Few features of classic bourgeois life have been more remarked on and bewailed than its morality, often derided as rigid, puritanical, and hypocritical, especially in regard to sex.” (source: Jerrold Seigel)