Part I
Dorian Gray has just finished sitting for a portrait by his friend Basil Hallward, who was
proud of having captured his beauty on canvas. He is walking in the garden with Lord
Henry Wotton.
"You have the most marvellous youth, Mr. Gray, and youth is the one thing worth having."
"I don't feel that, Lord Henry," he replied, snapping off a blossom by the stem.
"No, you don't feel it now. Some day, when you are old and wrinkled and ugly, when
thought has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded your lips with its
hideous fires, you will feel it, you will feel it terribly. Now, wherever you go, you charm
the world. Will it always be so?"
"… You have a wonderfully beautiful face, Mr. Gray. Don't frown. You have !
And beauty is a form of genius ! – is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no
explanation.
It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or spring-time, or the reflection in
dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon... Yes, Mr. Gray, the gods have been
good to you. But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years
in which to really live, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go
with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you...
Ah! Realize your youth while you have it! Don't squander the gold of your days! […]
Live the wonderful life that is in you!
Let nothing be lost upon you! Be always searching for new sensations […] afraid of
nothing! […] With your personality there is nothing you could not do. The world
belongs to you for a season. […] Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world
but youth!" […]
"How sad it is!" murmured Dorian Gray with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait.
"How sad it is ! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain
always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June... If it were only
the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to
grow old ! For that – for that – I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the
whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!"
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Words
1. Find in the text words or expressions that mean:
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Ridé:.............................................
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Froncer les sourcils:.......................................................
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Marquer ( brûler):..............................................................
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Gaspiller:....................................................................
Analysis
1. Are the following statements RIGHT or WRONG? Justify by quoting the
text:
a) Lord Henry must be old and he regrets it.
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b) Dorian agrees that it is wonderful to be young.
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c) Lord Henry advises Dorian to be as moral as he can in his youth.
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d) Dorian wishes that both he and his portrait could remain young.
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2. How does Dorian feel at the beginning of his conversation with Lord
Henry?
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3. What are the effects of Lord Henry's speech on Dorian? What marks
the turning point?
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4. The Faustian legend:
“The Faustian legend is an ancient German story about a man who sells his soul to the devil
in exchange for a woman's love.”
Find in the text elements that refer to the Faustian legend
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5. Who does Sir Henry Wotton represent ?
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6. Watch the following excerpt from the film and complete the script:
Basil: we whither and ............................because the Gods are ...................and ............................ !
Dorian: or perhaps I should nail my .................................. to the ...............................'s altar.
Harry: ............................... as you are? Fair trade.
Basil: how about another gin .................................. ?
Harry: all that hocus pocus, endless .................................., books bound in infant's skin,
............................ of fire, or even the blood of virgins.(..) Dorian wouldn't really ................... his
soul ,................................ you Dorian ?............... you?
Dorian: yes !
7. Compare the original text and the movie when they discover the portrait:
How to express opposition and contrast
Instead of + v + ing
Although + GN
Contrary to + GN
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Elements of Gothic fiction appearing in The picture of Dorian Gray:
The devil
Quite early, it becomes apparent that the devil is impersonated by ..............................................
a wicked, malicious man who often utters aphorisms, uses his wisdom to seduce
and to spoil Dorian with his new hedonism and his immoral opinions. Lord Henry also
gives Dorian the poisonous yellow book, which totally fascinates him and influences him
badly, he even brings him to the loss of his ”natural” innocence and makes him a murderer.
A fact supporting this thesis is that Lord Henry Wotton’s name is an *aptronym: He is
often called ”Harry”, and ”old Harry” is a synonym for “the Devil”.
*An aptronym is a name aptly suited to its owner ( ex: Mr Goodman, Mr Nice )
Find the words that match the following defintions:
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the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good
and proper aim of human life..............................................................
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an observation which contains a general truth............................................
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evil or morally wrong..................................................
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accumulated philosophic or scientific learning.........................................................
Part II
Dorian’s wish came true. While he kept his youth and beauty, his portrait became
progressively older, uglier and more wrinkled. Many years later, lonely and depressed after a
life of corruption and debauchery during which he had brought misery and disgrace upon all his
companions, Dorian regrets the loss of his soul.
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. 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?
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Ah! in what a monstrous moment of pride and passion he had prayed that the
portrait should bear the burden of his days, and he keep the unsullied splendour of
eternal youth! All his failure had been due to that. Better for him that each sin of
his life had brought its sure swift penalty along with it. There was purification in
punishment. Not "Forgive us our sins" but "Smite us for our iniquities" should be the
prayer of man to a most just God.
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The curiously carved mirror that Lord Henry had given to him, so many years ago
now, was standing on the table, and the white-limbed Cupids laughed round it as of
old. He took it up, as he had done on that night of horror when be had first noted
the change in the fatal picture, and with wild, tear-dimmed eyes looked into its
polished shield. Once, someone who had terribly loved him had written to him a mad
letter, ending with these idolatrous words: "The world is changed because you are
made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history." The phrases came
back to his memory, and he repeated them over and over to himself. Then he loathed
his own beauty, and flinging the mirror on the floor, crushed it into silver splinters
beneath his heel. It was his beauty that had ruined him, his beauty and the youth
that he had prayed for. But for those two things, his life might have been free from
stain. His beauty had been to him but a mask, his youth but a mockery. What was
youth at best? A green, an unripe time, a time of shallow moods, and sickly thoughts.
Why had he worn its livery? Youth had spoiled him.
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Words
1. Find in the text words or expressions that mean:
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la perte:...................................
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irrémédiable:........................................................
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ternir:.....................................................
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nostalgie, désir nostalgique:............................
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punir, châtier :....................................
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mépriser:...................................................
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fragments:..............................
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gâcher:.........................................
Analysis
1. Are the following statements RIGHT or WRONG? Justify by quoting the
text:
a) Dorian’s life has been a sinful one.
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b) Dorian realizes that his beauty and youth have damned him.
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c) Dorian would like to change things in order to redeem himself.
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e) Dorian was corrupted but he never corrupted anyone.
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2. How does Dorian feel towards himself ?
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3. What does the breaking of the mirror represent ?
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4. The legend of Narcissus: Echo was a wood nymph who loved a youth by the name of
Narcissus. He was a beautiful creature loved by many but Narcissus loved no one. He enjoyed attention,
praise and envy. In Narcissus' eyes nobody matched him and as such he considered none were worthy
of him.
Find in the text elements that refer to this legend
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5. Pick out the elements of Gothic that are present in this excerpt :
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6. Dorian refers to God in the passage, what sort of God ?
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PART III
It was his duty to confess, to suffer public shame, and to make public atonement.
There was a God who called upon men to tell their sins to earth as well as to heaven.
Nothing that he could do would cleanse him till he had told his own sin. His sin? He
shrugged his shoulders. The death of Basil Hallward seemed very little to him.[...]
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But this murder--was it to dog him all his life? Was he always to be burdened by his
past? Was he really to confess? Never. There was only one bit of evidence left against
him. The picture itself-- that was evidence. He would destroy it. Why had he kept it so
long? Once it had given him pleasure to watch it changing and growing old. Of late he
had felt no such pleasure. It had kept him awake at night. When he had been away,
he had been filled with terror lest other eyes should look upon it. It had brought
melancholy across his passions. Its mere memory had marred many moments of joy.
It had been like conscience to him. Yes, it had been conscience. He would destroy it.
He looked round and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward. He had cleaned it
many times, till there was no stain left upon it. It was bright, and glistened. As it had
killed the painter, so it would kill the painter's work, and all that that meant. It would
kill the past, and when that was dead, he would be free. It would kill this monstrous
soul-life, and without its hideous warnings, he would be at peace. He seized the thing,
and stabbed the picture with it.
There was a cry heard, and a crash. The cry was so horrible in its agony that the
frightened servants woke and crept out of their rooms. [....]
Inside, in the servants' part of the house, the half-clad domestics were talking in low
whispers to each other. Old Mrs. Leaf was crying and wringing her hands. Francis was
as pale as death.
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After about a quarter of an hour, he got the coachman and one of the footmen and
crept upstairs. They knocked, but there was no reply. They called out. Everything was
still. Finally, after vainly trying to force the door, they got on the roof and dropped
down on to the balcony. The windows yielded easily--their bolts were old.
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.
The myth of the Doppelganger
The Doppelganger is a well known motif in myth, folklore and literature.
The word comes from doppel (...................) and ganger (usually translated as goer), it refers to any
double of a person; sometimes the doppelganger is a second self that haunts the first self.
The picture of Dorian, which serves as a metaphor for the state of his soul, or his conscience, is a
variation of this motif of the doppelganger.
It’s Dorian’s second self that haunts him and which eventually he cannot bear to look at.
Double life in Victorian society
In the Victorian society people thought that appearance was the most important thing in the life of the
rich people.
Members of high society showed a respectable appearance but in reality they committed a lot of
crimes.They could be pedophiles, murderers, or drug dealers. They corrupted the police, they had a
clean face and they lied about the reality of their life.
Double life of Oscar Wilde
It is possible that Oscar Wilde had a double life like the characters on his books and the people of his
society. In the story of The Picture of Dorian Gray there could be a connection with the personality of
Oscar Wilde, indeed Basil doesn’t want to show his picture because it shows the secret of his heart and
he could be convicted of homosexuality.
Oscar Wilde was put in prison for his homosexuality and he had a double life to preserve his
respectability.