In the section on the question What is your attitude to the views of Lord Henry Wotton? ("The Picture of Dorian Gray") set by the author Junkie the best answer is If such views were conveyed through another character, then perhaps I would now begin to read morality.
but the hero is extremely attractive and you readily believe him.
in his mouth, evil becomes much more interesting, gives food for thought, can be beautiful.
Answer from Drizzle[guru]
the realities of life through the prism of perception of an aged and cunning intellectual...
Answer from Give advice[guru]
How to say.. . lord henry extremely controversial nature. he lives for himself, he is an obvious hedonist, because above all else in life he puts pleasure and enjoyment. it is paradoxical, contradictory. For Dorian, he is a kind of demon-tempter, a kind of Mephistopheles, leading him astray .. but the fact is that Lord Henry is charming and it is impossible to treat him negatively. Here is a quote from one article that I completely agree with:
"In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the most striking follower of the ideas of the "ruler of thoughts" is Lord Henry, in whom Wilde invested many of his ideas and, of course, charm. Lord Henry is a representative of the highest circle of the aristocracy, a cynic, esthete and hedonist, who has an incredible gift beliefs, he captivates with his witty and paradoxical statements, his monologues and dialogues are simply captivating.Despite the fact that many experienced people who read this work understand perfectly well what following the calls of Lord Henry can lead to, they still fall into their captivity What can we say about people who are less experienced in life, to whom, like Dorian, they can do a lot of harm. But it’s simply impossible not to love this character. It’s not even so much about the ideas themselves, which will be discussed below, but about the person, a charm that is impossible to resist.The magnificent language of Oscar Wilde, together with the charm that the writer put into Lord Henry, can captivate anyone. "
Answer from flush[guru]
Yes, Lord Henry seems to be the spokesman for the author's ideas.
But this is the paradox of Wilde, that the beauty and charm of evil, which his hero sings (as well as other paradoxicalists of Wilde) turn out to be untenable. Evil is defeated both in this novel and in Wilde's plays and fairy tales.
Despising moralizing, he writes works with a highly moral ending.
Introduction ………………………………………………………………..…..3
Chapter 1. O. Wilde as a prototype of the main characters ……………………..... 4
1.1. The image of Lord Henry Wotton ………………………………………. …5
1.2. The image of Basil Hallward ……………………………………………..9
1.3. The image of Dorian Gray …………………………………………………………………………11
Chapter 2. The depiction of Victorian society in the novel ………….. 17
2.1. The Wayne Family ………………………………………………………......18
2.1.1. Sybille Vane …………………………………………………….. ....18
2.1.2. James Wayne ………………………………………………………19
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….21
List of used literature …………...……………………….22
Introduction
Undoubtedly, O. Wilde is one of the key and iconic figures of foreign literature of the 19th century. But his name belongs to our era almost more than to his own. Many of his works are appreciated and received worldwide fame. O. Wilde is known as the creator of fairy tales, plays, stories, stories, poems, aphorisms and paradoxes. The only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, written in 1890, occupies a special place in the author's legacy. This novel and became the object of our study, the purpose of which was to identify the features of building a system of artistic images in it. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:
Description of the main characters of the novel;
Identification of autobiographical features in the images of the main characters;
Characteristics of the system of minor characters.
The relevance of the work is due to the interest in the work of O. Wilde. There are many studies devoted to this work, but so far one of the little-studied aspects is the study of the system of characters in the novel. The disclosure of this topic helped in many ways to reveal the worldview and aesthetic positions of O. Wilde. The practical significance of the study is great, since its results can be used in the course of the history of foreign literature and the theory of literary criticism.
Chapter 1. O. Wilde as a prototype of the main characters of the novel
O. Wilde's passion for aestheticism began during his studies at Oxford under the influence of the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and the judgments of the greatest thinkers of England in the mid-19th century - D. Ruskin and W. Pater. The theory of beauty developed by him was extremely important for O. Wilde. He recognized beauty as the highest value, and pleasure as the meaning of life.
In the 1980s, aestheticism was not so much a movement as a reproach for its absence. He suffered from a lack of example. The Picture of Dorian Gray filled this gap. With its aphorisms, catchphrases, colloquialisms, its lightheartedness and spirit of contradiction, this book proclaimed the Dorian era.
With his novel, O. Wilde wanted to prove that life, which is ruled only by sensuality, is self-destructive. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel that exposes the dangers of aesthetic theory.
O. Wilde wrote a bewitching work, when reading it, a desire arises to find in it the personality of the author himself: to identify with him one of his three main characters. This attempt is doomed to failure. In such a superficial sense, O. Wilde is not in the novel. He is present in it differently: putting into the mouth of Lord Henry a lot of his own thoughts and paradoxically accurate judgments, endowing Basil Hallward with the Gift of the Artist, and Dorian Gray with a feverish, painful search for pleasure, he is present in each of them - and is not present in anyone.
The author himself defined his attitude to the heroes of the work as follows: “Basil Hallward is myself. Lord Henry is who they take me for. Dorian is what I would like to become, maybe in time.
No other novel has attracted such attention for so many years and awakened such conflicting feelings in readers.
- The image of Lord Henry Wotton in the novel
“When an aesthete takes on a novel, his aestheticism is manifested not at all in the formal construction of the novel, but in the fact that the novel depicts a speaking person - the ideologist of aestheticism, revealing his confession, which is put to the test in the novel.”
Bakhtin M. M.
The “talking man-ideologist” in the novel is Lord Henry Watton, who unfolds before Dorian and the reader a whole program of aestheticized humanism. This is perhaps the most striking and complete figure in the novel. He acts in the guise of a secular man from high society. His speeches are able to stupefy the imagination of anyone. It is well known that the writer's judgment is that he put his genius into the art of conversation, and only his talent into his works. The speeches of his hero are also captivating and captivating. Lord Henry is a wonderful conversationalist. He can support and develop any thought: “And Lord Henry began to play with this thought waywardly, giving free rein to his imagination: he juggled it, transformed it, then discarded it, then picked it up again; made it sparkle, decorating it with iridescent spangles of his imagination, inspiring paradoxes” 1 . Lord Henry's speech is a string of brilliant paradoxes. It should be noted that the paradox is specific form presentation and justification of his positions.
"Prince Paradox" - this is how Dorian suggests christening Lord Henry. This definition corresponds not only to the speech manner of Lord Henry, but also to his essence. “You are an amazing person! You never say anything moral - and you never do anything immoral, 2 - says Basil Hallward about him. Indeed, apart from the opium-laced cigarettes that Lord Henry smokes, he really does not do anything immoral within the framework of the novel's plot. Unless the remark about Lord Henry's dandyism finds its confirmation in his appearance and lifestyle: "Lord Henry stroked his chestnut beard, patted his black cane with a tassel on the toe of his patent-leather boot" 3 .
The philosophy of Lord Henry is outwardly attractive, it is consistent, convincing and has an internal logic. He promotes admiration for beauty: “Beauty is one of the types of Genius, it is even higher than Genius, because it does not require understanding. She is one of the great phenomena of the world around us, like sunlight, or spring, or the reflection in the dark waters of the silver shield of the moon. Beauty is undeniable. It has the highest right to power and makes kings of those who possess it” 4 . With the help of aestheticism, he justifies his theory of hedonism: "To show our essence in its entirety - that's what we live for" 5 .
Claiming that the purpose of life is self-expression and enjoyment, he regrets that people have forgotten their duty to themselves. Lord Henry knows no pangs of conscience. For him, there is no such thing as conscience, which he calls cowardice: “Conscience and cowardice are, in essence, one and the same, Basil. "Conscience" is the official name for cowardice, that's all" 6 . He makes it clear that one must live without regard for anything.
This approach justifies sin. According to Lord Henry, sin saves from stagnation and leads to progress. He believes that this is the only way to get rid of suffering: “The only way to get rid of temptation is to give in to it. And if you decide to fight it, the soul will be tormented by the attraction to the forbidden, and you will be tormented by desires that the monstrous law, created by you, has recognized as vicious and criminal.
Lord Henry proposes to turn temptation into a work of art, dressed in a charming form. Only then can it give pleasure and become a true pleasure, which is the meaning of life: “I think that if every person could live full life giving free rein to every feeling and expression of every thought, realizing every dream, the world would once again feel such a powerful impulse to joy that all the diseases of the Middle Ages would be forgotten, and we would return to the ideals of Hellenism, and perhaps to something or even more valuable and beautiful” 8 .
But the philosophy of hedonism is not realized in the actions of Lord Henry Wotton himself. He remains only a theoretician, confining himself to preaching pleasure.
Lord Henry decides to test all the power of his influence on Dorian Gray. He does this only to satisfy his curiosity: “And how exciting it is to check the strength of your influence on another person! Nothing compares to this. Pour your soul into another, let it stay in him; to hear the echoes of one's own thoughts, amplified by the music of youth and passion; to transfer one's temperament to another, like the finest fluid or a peculiar aroma, is a true pleasure, the greatest joy, perhaps, which is given to a person in our limited and vulgar age with its grossly sensual pleasures and crudely primitive aspirations. He turns Dorian into a sophisticated hedonist. He announces that everything is subject to Dorian and everything is permitted. And he only watches the course of his experiment from the side: “Watching it is a real pleasure! This boy with a beautiful face and a beautiful soul is of great interest to himself. Does it matter how it all ends, what fate awaits him? He is like those glorious heroes of plays or mysteries, whose joys are alien to us, but whose sufferings awaken in us a love for beauty. Their wounds are red roses” 10 .
Undoubtedly, the hero-ideologist is at a much shorter distance from the author than the hero-protagonist. O. Wilde really conveyed to him many of his cherished thoughts, expressed in theoretical treatises. However, it would be an exaggeration to consider Lord Henry a direct spokesman for the author's views, since the aestheticism in Wilde's version was conscious. Unlike his hero, the author understood all his limitations. Lord Henry's theory of hedonism is doomed from the start, because it is impossible to live life as an immoralist.
Later, defending his book from attacks, O. Wilde explained: “Lord Henry Watton wants to be just a spectator in life. But it turns out that those who evade the battle receive more severe wounds than those who participate in it.
It was believed that the image of Lord Henry Wotton is autobiographical, but we were convinced that he is the bearer of a writer-specific speech manner, marked by non-standard epithets and comparisons, a penchant for aphorism and an abundance of verbal paradoxes, but not the author's ideological system.
- The image of Basil Hallward in the novel
Basil Hallward is depicted in the novel as the opposite of Lord Henry. He constantly challenges what Lord Henry proclaims. Antagonists in their views of the world, Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward affect Dorian in different ways. O. Wilde makes them symbols of two opposing principles coexisting in the human soul.
Unlike Lord Henry and O. Wilde himself, Basil Hallward leads a secluded life: “And you know, I have become secretive, I like to have secrets from people. This is probably the only thing that can do for us modern life fascinating and mysterious. The most ordinary trifle acquires surprising interest as soon as you begin to hide it from people.
The artist is fascinated by the beauty of Dorian. This inspires him to a new art, a new style in painting, he feels a new surge of strength in himself: “The meeting with Dorian seemed to give me the key to something completely new in painting, opened up a new style of painting for me. Now I see things in a different light and perceive everything in a different way. In my art I can recreate life by means that were previously unknown to me. However, Basil does not want to put the portrait on public display, so that no one sees the secret of his own soul, lurking in the portrait of Dorian Gray: “In this canvas I have put too much soul, too much myself” 13.
The artist fights for the soul of Dorian Gray, trying to keep it in harmony, purity and pristine youth. He wants to protect Dorian from misfortune. “He gives me good advice all the time,” 14 says Dorian.
Basil insists that Dorian should strive for the good that will make him better: “Yes, I intend to reprimand you. I want you to lead a life that people respect you for. I want you to have not only a spotless, but also good reputation" 15 .
Not accepting the theory of Lord Henry, the artist several times tries to influence the morality of Dorian Gray.
The first attempt was connected with the death of Sybil Vane. But Lord Henry was ahead of him in his influence and managed to restore the emotional balance of the young man. Dorian has learned his lesson about the meaninglessness of emotions and regrets and forbids Basil from talking about Sibylla's death. .
Basil's second attempt to influence Dorian took place eighteen years after the portrait was painted. Basil was horrified by the changes in his creation. The changed portrait became a lesson for both of them. After all, the portrait tells not only Dorian that he needs to repent, but also the artist that he also needs to improve. He, like Dorian, also saw in it a reflection of his own mistakes. The only difference is that Basil accepted the terrible message and realized that only repentance could save him from certain death: "Pray, Dorian, pray!" 16 “I idolized you too much - and for this I am punished. You also loved yourself too much. Both of us are punished.”17
2.1. The Wayne Family ………………………………………………………......18
2.1.1. Sibyl Vane ………………………………………………...........18
2.1.2. James Wayne ………………………………………………………19
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….21
List of used literature …………...……………………….22
Released from the pen of Oscar Wilde in 1890, it remains relevant today. It is read, discussed and recommended. Today we will talk about the main characters and follow the changes with the help of quotation characteristics.
Prologue by Oscar Wilde
The author's words play big role throughout the book. But the prologue helps the reader understand that an unusual journey into the world of art, aesthetics and pleasure awaits him next. Ahead of events, Wilde insists that "there are no books moral or immoral, there are good or bad written - that's all." The attitude to art expressed by him will be reflected in each character individually.
Quote from Dorian Gray
Arriving in London, the young Dorian Gray immediately began to merge into high society, where he first met the artist Basil Holluod, and then Henry (Harry) Wotton, who actually shaped him. further fate. Sincerity, innocence and chastity were felt in the young man, he smiled a lot and did not worry about anything thanks to the inheritance, as evidenced by the quotation. Dorian Gray wasn't attracted to entertainment at first high society, he did not think about vices.
Before meeting Henry Wotton, the young man was well-bred and dreamed of love, had his own, provincial (as Henry would say) views on life. When Wotton criticizes women for constantly demanding something from men, Dorian comes to their defense and objects to him. According to the unspoiled (yet) young man, women are worthy of respect and have full right demand reciprocity, as they give men the best that they have - love.
Having fallen under the influence of the charismatic Harry, Dorian begins to change. Changes in him spoil everything pure, including the relationship with Sybil Vane. The girl kills herself, unable to stop loving him. The tragedy is that Dorian does not care, he does not consider himself responsible for what happened.
There comes a moment when the young man begins to tire of himself, and his speeches become very similar to the philosophy of Henry Wotton. Instead of a young man in love who was looking for simple happiness, the same young-looking, but different Dorian Gray looms before us: he insists that he was looking for only pleasure in life, and he never needed happiness.
Henry (Harry) Watton: Character Characteristics
Henry Wotton - family man who, however, is unhappy in marriage. Departing from the realities of an unbearable, boring life, he professes only one religion, and the main thing in life is not moral principles, but pleasure and beauty. "Your own life is the most important thing," - such is his brief quotation. Dorian Gray is immensely attracted by Henry's difference from the rest, his courage and cynicism. It is Harry who becomes his guide to the world of pleasure.
Love does not exist, only feeling and desire exist, most people are in love only with the image of love - Wotton repeats to Dorian. And the young man who was in love and believed in love begins to become callous. The world would be better and much happier if every person could give expression to every thought, every feeling that arises in him - Harry believes, and Dorian begins to bring his life in line with this statement.
It can be said that in the novel, Henry Wotton is the theorist of hedonism, and Dorian Gray is the practitioner who decided to test its viability.
quotation by artist Basil Hallward
Basil Hallward is an artist. He serves art - and this is reflected in his quotation. He met Dorian Gray at a social reception, and they immediately became friends. The beauty of the young man - pure and innocent - shocked him to the core. The portrait of Dorian turned out to be the best of what he painted so far.
"The artist must create beautiful works art, without bringing anything from his personal life into them, "says Basil and breaks this rule. He confesses to Lord Henry that he has invested too much of himself in the portrait of Dorian Gray, and therefore cannot send him to any exhibition.
“It often occurs to me that art hides the artist to a much greater extent than it reveals him,” Basil argues, but this is only a theory that has nothing to do with his work after meeting Dorian. It is to this character that most of the quotes about the art of the artist belong.
So, pleasure as the basis of life and the consequence of this choice - that's how Dorian Gray thinks. Quote characteristic The heroes of the novel allow you to form a certain opinion about them and about the book. Still, it is worth reading the book in its entirety to understand its relevance in modern world and enjoy the figurative, rich prose of Oscar Wilde.
Irish philosopher
Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wills Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde
English philosopher, esthete, writer, poet of Irish origin. One of the most famous playwrights of the late Victorian period.
The Picture of Dorian Grey
The only published novel by Oscar Wilde. In genre terms, it is a mixture of a novel of education with a moral parable. It exists in two versions - in 13 chapters and in 20 chapters. Became the most successful work of Wilde, filmed more than 30 times.
In terms of genre, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a conte philosophique, an intellectual and allegorical story, so popular in the Enlightenment, but written from the standpoint of the decadence of the end of the century. In Dorian Gray, the protagonist of the novel, the features of the new Faust are guessed. Lord Henry plays the role of Mephistopheles, it is he who, throughout the novel, seduces Dorian Gray with the ideas of a new hedonism, turns an innocent and talented young man into a vicious monster. Under the role of Marguerite falls Sybil Vane, new valentine— James Wayne. As you know, Faust also received eternal youth from Mephistopheles.
Main characters
Dorian Gray- youth endowed incredible beauty. Falling under the influence of the ideas of new hedonism preached by Lord Henry, he devotes his life to a thirst for pleasure and vice. This figure is dual. It combines subtle esthete and even a romantic and vicious, ruthless criminal and lecher. These two opposite sides of his character are in constant struggle with each other. This duality of the hero is characteristic of many Gothic novels.
Basil Hallward
- the artist who painted the portrait of Dorian Gray. He is distinguished from other heroes by his extreme affection for Dorian Gray, in whom he sees the ideal of beauty and man. In other words, he is Dorian Gray's failed guardian angel.
Lord Henry- aristocrat, preacher of the ideas of new hedonism, "Prince of Paradoxes". His paradoxical, contradictory thinking is imbued with criticism of the entire Victorian English society. Is a kind of Mephistopheles for Dorian Gray.
Sybil Vane- actress, one of the most amazing images novel. Before meeting Dorian, she lived in her fictional world, the world of the theater, was talented actress. Love showed her all the artificiality of her world, where she did not live, but only played. With love, talent will disappear in her soul, as she tries to escape from the world of illusions into the real world. But this is what leads to her death.
James Wayne- Sybil's brother, a sailor. A man of military bearing, who practically lost the meaning of life after Sybil's suicide. Finds rest in the desire for revenge.
Summary of The Picture of Dorian Gray
On a sunny summer day talented painter Basil Hallward receives in his studio an old friend, Lord Henry Wotton, an Epicurean aesthete, the "Prince of Paradox", as one of the characters defines it. In the latter, the features of Oscar Wilde, well known to contemporaries, are easily recognized; the author of the novel “gives” him the prevailing number of his famous aphorisms. Captivated by a new idea, Hallward enthusiastically works on a portrait of an unusually handsome young man whom he recently met. Tom is twenty years old; His name is Dorian Gray.
Soon the sitter appears, listening with interest to the paradoxical judgments of the weary hedonist; Dorian's youthful beauty, which captivated Basil, does not leave Lord Henry indifferent either. But now the portrait is finished; those present admired his perfection. Golden-haired, adoring everything beautiful and liking himself, Dorian dreams aloud: “If the portrait changed, and I could always remain the same!” Touched, Basil gives the young man a portrait.
Ignoring Basil's languid resistance, Dorian accepts Lord Henry's invitation and, with the latter's active participation, plunges into social life; attends dinner parties, spends evenings at the opera. Meanwhile, after paying a visit to his uncle Lord Farmer, Lord Henry learns of the dramatic circumstances of Dorian's parentage: raised by a wealthy guardian, he painfully endured his mother's early death, in defiance of family traditions who fell in love and connected her fate with an unknown infantry officer (at the instigation of an influential father-in-law, he was soon killed in a duel).
Dorian himself, meanwhile, falls in love with the aspiring actress Sybil Vane - “a girl of about seventeen, with a face as gentle as a flower, with a Greek head entwined with dark braids. Eyes are blue lakes of passion, lips are rose petals”; she plays with amazing spirituality on the wretched stage of a beggarly theater in the East Indies best roles Shakespearean repertoire. In turn, Sibile, dragging out a half-starved existence with her mother and brother, sixteen-year-old James, who is preparing to sail as a sailor on a merchant ship to Australia, Dorian seems to be an embodied miracle - the “Beautiful Prince”, descended from transcendental heights. Her lover does not know that in her life there is also a secret carefully guarded from prying eyes: both Sybil and James are illegitimate children, the fruits of a love union that at one time tied their mother - "a tortured, withered woman", serving in the same theater, with a person of a foreign class.
Having found in Sybil the living embodiment of beauty and talent, the naive idealist Dorian triumphantly announces his engagement to Basil and Lord Henry. The future of their ward instills anxiety in both; however, both of them willingly accept an invitation to a performance where Dorian's chosen one must play the role of Juliet. However, swallowed up by bright hopes for the real happiness that awaits her with her beloved, Sybil that evening reluctantly, as if under duress (after all, “playing a lover is a profanity!” she believes) pronounces the words of the role, for the first time seeing without embellishment the squalor of the scenery, the falsity of stage partners and the poverty of the enterprise. A resounding failure follows, evoking the skeptical mockery of Lord Henry, the restrained sympathy of good-natured Basil and total collapse Dorian's castles in the air, in desperation throwing Sibile: "You killed my love!"
Having lost faith in his beautiful-hearted illusions, mixed with the belief in the indissolubility of art and reality, Dorian spends a sleepless night wandering around deserted London. Sibile, however, finds his cruel confession beyond her powers; the next morning, preparing to send her a letter with words of reconciliation, he learns that the girl committed suicide that same evening. Friends-patrons and here react to the tragic news, each in their own way: Basil advises Dorian to strengthen his spirit, and Lord Henry - "not to shed tears in vain for Sybil Vane." In an effort to console the young man, he invites him to the opera, promising to introduce him to his charming sister, Lady Gwendolen. To Basil's bewilderment, Dorian accepts the invitation. And only the portrait recently presented to him by the artist becomes a merciless mirror of the spiritual metamorphosis brewing in him: a hard wrinkle is indicated on the flawless face of the young Greek god. Seriously worried, Dorian puts the portrait out of sight.
And again, his helpful friend Mephistopheles, Lord Henry, helps him drown out the disturbing pricks of conscience. On the advice of the latter, he plunges into reading strange book newfangled French author- a psychological study about a person who decided to experience all the extremes of life. Bewitched by her for a long time (“it seemed that the heavy smell of incense rose from her pages and intoxicated the brain”), Dorian in the next twenty years - in the narrative of the novel they fit into one chapter - “falls more and more in love with his beauty and watches with great interest the decomposition of his souls." As if drunk in his ideal shell, he seeks consolation in the magnificent rites and rituals of foreign religions, in music, in collecting antiquities and precious stones, in narcotic potions offered in notorious haunts. Drawn by hedonistic temptations, falling in love over and over again, but not able to love, he does not shun dubious connections and suspicious acquaintances. The glory of a soulless seducer of young minds is fixed behind him.
Recalling the destinies of fleeting chosen ones and chosen ones, broken at his whim, Dorian tries to reason with Basil Hallward, who has long cut off all ties with him, but was going to visit him before leaving for Paris. But in vain: in response to fair reproaches, he laughingly invites the painter to see the true face of his former idol, captured on the Hallward portrait, gathering dust in a dark corner. To the astonished Basil, the frightening face of the voluptuous old man opens up. However, the spectacle is beyond the power of Dorian: considering the creator of the portrait responsible for his moral behavior, he, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, plunges a dagger into the neck of a friend of his young days. And then, calling for help one of his former associates in revels and feasts, chemist Alan Campbell, blackmailing him with some shameful secret known only to both of them, makes him dissolve Basil's body in nitric acid - material evidence of the villainy he committed.
Tormented by belated remorse, he again seeks oblivion in drugs. And he almost dies when some tipsy sailor recognizes him in a suspicious brothel at the very “bottom” of London: this is James Wayne, who found out too late about the fatal fate of his sister and swore at all costs to take revenge on her offender.
However, fate for the time being keeps him from physical death. But not from the all-seeing eye of Hallward's portrait. “This portrait is like a conscience. Yes, conscience. And it is necessary to destroy it, ”Dorian concludes, having survived all the temptations of the world, even more devastated and lonely than before, vainly envious of both the purity of an innocent village girl and the selflessness of his accomplice involuntarily Alan Campbell, who found the strength to commit suicide, and even ... the spiritual aristocracy of his friend-tempter Lord Henry, who, it seems, is alien to any moral obstacles, but incomprehensibly believes that "every crime is vulgar."
Late at night, alone with myself in a luxurious London mansion, Dorian attacks the portrait with a knife, trying to chop and destroy it. Shouting servants discover in the room dead body an old man in a tailcoat. And a portrait, timeless, in its radiant grandeur.
Thus ends the novel-parable about a man for whom "in some moments Evil was only one of the means of realizing what he considered the beauty of life."
- We will search among the characters of the fandom
Character groups
Total characters - 33
Adrian Singleton
0 0 0
Once a friend of Dorian Gray. He fell so low that he forged the signature of his acquaintance on the bill. He became addicted to smoking opium, lived in the slums.
Alan Campbell
0 0 0
For some time he was a friend of Dorian Gray. She and Alan were very friendly, almost inseparable. Then their friendship suddenly ended. And when they met in the world, only Dorian Gray smiled, Alan Campbell - never.
Campbell was known as a highly gifted young man, but knew nothing about fine arts, and if he learned a little to understand the beauties of poetry, then he was entirely indebted to Dorian. Alan's only passion was science.
However, chemistry did not prevent Alan from being an excellent musician. For a non-professional, he played the violin and the piano just fine.
Basil Hallward
0 0 0
The artist who painted the portrait of Dorian Gray. He is distinguished from other heroes by his extreme affection for Dorian Gray, in whom he sees the ideal of beauty and man. In other words, he is Dorian's failed guardian angel.
0 0 0
Dorian Gray's servant woke the young master. Subsequently, he married the maid Lady Radley and took her to Paris, where she works as a fashionable English dressmaker.
Victoria Wotton
0 0 0
Lord Henry's wife.
The wife of Lord Henry Wotton, she and her husband rarely see each other, and when they meet - according to Henry - they tell each other tales about their supposedly pious life. Catching a spouse in a lie never quarrels with him, only showers him with ridicule.
Lady Wotton was always in love with someone - and always hopelessly, so she kept all her illusions. She tried to be spectacular, but looked only sloppy. All the clothes of this strange woman looked as if they had been conceived in a fit of madness and worn in a storm. She loved to go to church to a passion - it turned into a mania for her.
Gwendolyn Wotton
0 0 0
Lord Henry's sister, Dorian found her a lovely woman. Before she met Dorian, no one dared to say a bad word about her, not even a shadow of gossip touched her. After - not a single decent woman in London dared to appear with her in Hyde Park? Even her children were not allowed to live with her in the same house...
Henry Wotton (Harry)
1 0 0
Lord, aristocrat, preacher of the ideas of new hedonism, "Prince of Paradoxes". His paradoxical, contradictory thinking is imbued with criticism of the entire Victorian English society. Is a kind of Mephistopheles for Dorian Gray.
Henry Ashton
0 0 0
Once a friend of Dorian Gray. He was forced to leave England with a tarnished name
Duchess Gladys
0 0 0
The duke's beautiful wife, Dorian liked. She was in love with him, despite the fact that she did not like him.
James Vane
0 0 0
Sybil's brother, a sailor. There was not a trace of that subtle grace that distinguished his sister in him.
A man of military bearing, who practically lost the meaning of life after the suicide of his sister. Finds rest in the desire for revenge.
George Farmer
0 0 0
Henry Wotton's uncle, aristocrat, lord. A good-natured, though brusque, old bachelor, who outside the social circle was considered an egoist, because he was not particularly useful to people, but in the social circle he was generous and kind, for Lord Farmer willingly treated those who entertained him.
Dorian Gray
0 1 0
A young man endowed with incredible beauty. Falling under the influence of the ideas of new hedonism preached by Lord Henry, he devotes his life to a thirst for pleasure and vice. This figure is dual. It combines a subtle esthete and even a romantic and a vicious lecher, capable of crime. These two opposite sides of his character are in constant struggle with each other. This duality of the hero is characteristic of many Gothic novels.
Lady Agatha
0 0 0
Lord Henry Wotton's aunt, who knew Dorian, considered him a pretty boy.
Lady Brandon
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Hostess of the ball at which Basil met Dorian. She was inseparable from his mother, the owner of many secrets of her guests. Not particularly pretty, has a loud voice.
Lady Narborough
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A married woman, she was in love with Dorian when he was thirty-eight. Mother of several daughters, loves to flirt, but is disappointed that her husband does not notice her flirting with other men.
Lord Carrington
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A very wealthy aristocrat who wooed Margaret Devere. Was crazy about her.
Lord Kelso
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Dorian Gray's grandfather. Arranged so that the humble father of Dorian was killed in a duel.
Lord Stavley
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Once a friend of Dorian Gray. Subsequently, he declared with contempt that maybe Dorian was a fine connoisseur of art, but it was dangerous to introduce young, inexperienced girls to a person like him, and it was indecent for a decent woman to even be in the same room with him.
Margaret Devere (Margaret Grey)
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Mother of Dorian Gray. She was an extraordinary beauty and all the men raged when she ran away with some young man, a complete nothingness without a penny to his soul.
Miss Radley
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Dorian Gray's maid, who later married his valet Victor, went with him to Paris, where she worked as a fashionable English dressmaker.
Mrs. Wanderer
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One of Sir Henry's aunt's longtime friends, a truly holy woman, but dressed so tastelessly and loudly that she could be compared with a prayer book in a nasty, gaudy binding.
Mrs. Wayne
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Mother of Sybil Vane. An actress who already lives by acting and presents every moment of her life as a stage moment.
Mrs. Leef
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Dorian Gray's housekeeper. Elderly lady.
Mr. Isaacs
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A Jewish theater director helped Sybil Vane's family, mostly financially.
Mr. Hubbard
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Portrait binder, helped Dorian move the portrait into the office.
Mr. Erskine
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