Looking Into Words

Looking into Words
An Analysis of the dialogues in The Picture of Dorian Gray

[Preface] As we often see in fictions, dialogues play a significant role in characterizing heroes. Apart from speaking for the characters in novels, Oscar Wilde used dialogues to speak for himself. This is especially the case in The Picture of Dorian Gray in which he ‘hires’ three characters to represent his ideals, present situation and the conflict between them. The following passage will mainly focus on the strategic use of dialogues in Chapter One in characterizing Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward.

[Key Words] Oscar Wilde, Dialogues, Aesthetics, Characterization

[Main Content]
Lord Henry Wotton: Lord Henry Wotton is a cynic, a dandy who treats life as a spectator sport and exercises malign influence on Dorian in the interest of vivisection. Although he appears to be indulgent and fond of the luxurious life in the upper class, he himself is an aesthetic advocate in his way of speech. He condemns the way of life in The Victorian time and finds fun in revealing the dark side of the society. Wilde described Henry as his own image in public eyes because it seems to all that they are both great destructors of traditional norms and those who try to blur the boundaries of morality. As a well-educated man in the upper class, Henry not only simulates other gentleman in his word choice but also establishes his unique style of speech in the following ways.

1. Absolute expression Lord Henry Wotton demonstrates his preference for absolute words in the very beginning of his speech: "It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you have ever done," said Lord Henry, languidly. "You must certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor. The Academy is too large and too vulgar. Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so many people that I have not been able to see the pictures, which was dreadful, or so many pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was worse. The Grosvenor is really the only place." Henry enjoys using predicative sentences, the superlative degree, unconditional adverbs and words like ‘only’ or ‘whenever’. This unique way of talking helps us to identify Henry as a direct person who hides nothing behind his words. At the same time, frequent use of rhetorical questions and exclamatory sentences portrait a straightforward man who is nothing like his companion.

2. Cynicism As a person of his social status, Henry should support the present social environment rather that speak ill of it. However, Henry’s words speak otherwise, such as "My dear fellow, I am not quite serious. But I can 't help detesting my relations. I suppose it comes from the fact that none of us can stand other people having the same faults as ourselves. I quite sympathize with the rage of the English democracy against what they call the vices of the upper orders. The masses feel that drunkenness, stupidity, and immorality should be their own special property, and that if anyone of us makes an ass of himself he is poaching on their preserves. When poor Southwark got into the Divorce Court, their indignation was quite magnificent. And yet I don 't suppose that ten percent of the proletariat live correctly." In this parataxis sentence, Henry tried to convince Basil of the true colors of the dignified class. Henry employs an ironical tone in teasing those who set double standards when judging other people and themselves. By pointing out that drunkenness, stupidity, and immorality act as the preserves of the masses, he sympathizes them rather than detests them because he is inevitably part of the masses. By ruining Basil’s concept about relations, Henry establishes himself as a realistic cynic who says all bad things about a society but can’t make feasible actions to improve it. By characterizing Henry as such a cynical man, Wilde showed us what himself appears to be in public and exhibited his helplessness in changing this situation since however he hated the society he could never get out of it.

3. Epigrammatic wit The most entertaining style contained by the narrative voice is the epigrammatic wit of Lord Henry. His voice is very important as a catalyst for events within the novel, yet his form of wit is also the most detachable from the plot, which can be seen as a way Wilde preached in his novel. Much of his dialogue was used again by Wilde three years later to create Lord Illingworth in A Woman of No Importance. In Chapter One, Henry talked extensively about philosophical concepts and social reality in a witty way. Among all his discourses about marriage, conscience and indifference in life, I suppose his argument about intellect and physical beauty is the most impressive one. "… But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! "By using hyperbole and simile, Henry vividly illustrates the nature of intellect and physical beauty in which they are mutually exclusive matters. However, Henry still holds his respect for those who possess intellect. Evidence can be seen from his word choice: By using words like ‘perfectly, hideous’ rather than ‘extremely, ugly or homely’, Henry tries his best not to hurt his companion for he is someone with intellect. From what have been discussed above, we can safely conclude that Lord Henry Wotton is a cynic of high social status who enjoys philosophical thinking and tells the truth in a direct or even hurting way. In sharp contrast, Henry’s friend Basil is not in the least way like the Lord.

Basil Hallward:
Basil Hallward is an artist, a perfectionist who does art for art’s sake. He falls in love with innocent Dorian at first sight but is not willing to admit it. Oscar Wilde described Basil as what himself is like in his own mind. Similarity between the character and the author can be seen from Wilde’s reaction to public criticism: ‘There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.’ Also as a well-educated man, Basil stands opposite to Henry in his perception about society and life which can be tracked down to what he talks about in his dialogues.

1. Affection for art itself Much as Oscar Wilde ruled out morality issues in the discussion about literature, Basil Hallward remove personal matters from his art. Paradoxically, Basil confesses to Henry about his affection for Dorian while referring to Dorian as if he is simply a sitter or even an article. When telling Henry what Dorian means to his art, Basil said "I sometimes think, Harry, that there are only two eras of any importance in the world 's history. The first is the appearance of a new medium for art, and the second is the appearance of a new personality for art also. What the invention of oil-painting was to the Venetians, the face of Antinoues was to Late Greek sculpture, and the face of Dorian Gray will some day be to me. "By employing analogy in which the face of Dorian Gray is compared to the invention of oil-painting and the face of Antinoues, Basil highlights the significance of his sitter as a new medium rather than an individual person. This emphasis on pure aesthetics illustrates Basil as an outsider of the society and at the same time hints his tragedy ending (killed by the hand of one in whose soul he has created a monstrous and absurd vanity.). In my point of view, Oscar Wilde expressed his own personal disappointment through Basil’s words. Wilde has been widely criticized for his works which were believed to accelerate the degradation of its readers. Faced with such intensive criticism, Wilde fought back in the beginning but later on fell into deep pain just as Basil does. Accounting shared life experience between Basil and Wilde, it is not hard for us to understand why Basil echoes best with Wilde in his own mind.

2. Longing for recognition Partly due to the reason talked above, Basil lacks social recognition and is in bad need for it. In his long discussion with Lord Henry, sentences like ‘I know you will laugh at me’, ‘I suppose you think me awfully foolish about it?’ and ‘Is that very vain of me? I think it is rather vain.’ appear frequently. Basil graduates from the same school as Henry does and they are also talking about something Basil excels at. But Basil evidently lacks confidence in his words, and it even seems that his confidence can only arise from Henry’s feedback. At the same time, Basil tries to convert Henry from his cynic views on the dark side of society even if it never succeeds. For example, after his friend expressed his idea about conscience and cowardice, Basil exclaimed ‘I don’t believe that, Harry, and I don’t believe you do either.’ As I see it, Basil’s only way to respond to a different idea is to deny its existence both in the society and in other people’s mind. Vain as it may seems, this way of denial properly reflects what life is like for the author. As an antecedent in aestheticism, Wilde could not be understood by anybody in his time and his fights against mainstream ideology were as vain as Basil’s denials.

To sum up, Oscar Wilde shows his mastery of words in characterizing his heroes by dialogues. Though Wilde may be wrong in his position that life is mere mimicry of art, he does a great job in depicting what life is like both in realty and in his mind. I guess that’s the major reason why he remains popular among the young, because we suffer the same pain as Wilde does in our pursuit of absolute perfection.

References：
1. 《王尔德导读》,[英] Anne Varty著, 北京大学出版社
2. 《〈道连.格雷的画像〉中的唯美主义艺术》, 杨芳著, 盐城师范学院学报 人文社会科学版, Vol. 27, No.1
3. Oscar Wilde: The Critical Heritage, Edited by Karl Beckson, Publisher: Routledge London and New York
4. An Analysis of Self-Destruction in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Heart of Darkness, Science and Technology Information Year 2007 No. 23

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References: 1. 《王尔德导读》,[英] Anne Varty著, 北京大学出版社 2. 《〈道连.格雷的画像〉中的唯美主义艺术》, 杨芳著, 盐城师范学院学报 人文社会科学版, Vol. 27, No.1 3. Oscar Wilde: The Critical Heritage, Edited by Karl Beckson, Publisher: Routledge London and New York 4. An Analysis of Self-Destruction in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Heart of Darkness, Science and Technology Information Year 2007 No. 23 范