Critic's opinion on The Portrait of Dorian Gray. O

The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of O. Wilde's most popular works. There are more than thirty versions of the film adaptation of the novel. The parable component plays an important role in it, so the meaning of the work should be sought between the lines. At school, The Picture of Dorian Gray is studied in high school. The analysis of the work presented in the article will help you quickly prepare for the lesson and refresh your knowledge about the novel before the exam. For convenience, the analysis is arranged according to the plan.

Brief analysis

Year of writing - 1891.

History of creation- Researchers believe that O. Wilde was inspired to create the "Portrait of Dorian Gray" by the image of Faust, common in world literature and the works "Shagreen Skin" by O. Balzac and "On the contrary" by Huysmans.

Topic- The themes of external and internal beauty, the true meaning of life are developed in the work.

Composition- O. Wilde described the life of Dorian Gray from young years and to old age. There are two versions of the novel - in 13 and 20 chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific event. In one of the chapters, the author managed to contain the events that took place in the life of Dorian Gray for the last 20 years. The analyzed work is an interweaving of events and philosophical reflections.

Genre- Philosophical novel.

Direction- Modernism.

History of creation

Work on the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" lasted only three weeks. For the first time he saw the world in the American "Lippincott's Monthly Journal" in 1890. However, after some time, O. Wilde made changes to his work: he redid some chapters, added 6 new ones and a preface, which today is considered a manifesto of aestheticism. The second version of the work was published in the spring of 1891 in London as a separate book.

The publication of the novel caused a scandal in society. He was criticized by the political elite. The works were considered immoral. There were demands to ban The Picture of Dorian Gray, and its author to be judged. However, ordinary readers took it with a bang.

Topic

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the analysis should begin with a description of the motives of the work.

In world literature beauty theme occupies a place of honor. It is also revealed in Wilde's novel. In the context of this topic, they raise problems of love, human vices, old age and etc.

main characters works - Dorian Gray and Lord Henry. The images of the artist Basil, Sybil and James Vane also play an important role in the realization of the problem. At the beginning of the novel, the reader is introduced to Dorian Gray. This is a young, very handsome man, from whom the artist Basil copied a portrait. In the workshop of Basil, the young man met Lord Henry. Here he admitted that he would very much like the portrait to grow old, and he always remained beautiful.

Dorian Gray's wish came true. Years passed, and he remained a young handsome man. At the same time, the hero knew how to appreciate only external beauty. It killed his love for Sybil Vane. The pride of the man was the cause of Sybil's death. This tragedy was only the beginning of the vicious path of Dorian Gray. After that, he killed more than one person. With each of his actions, the portrait changed. Soon the young man depicted on it turned into an ugly old man.

Dorian Gray understood that the portrait was a reflection of his soul, so he hid it from everyone. When Basil discovered a new image, the former sitter killed him.

The main idea of ​​the novel - human vices and you can't hide an ugly soul under beautiful appearance. One must struggle with the very essence of one's vices, one must not allow self-love to take possession of the soul, this is what O. Wilde's novel teaches.

Composition

O. Wilde described the life of Dorian Gray from a young age to old age. There are two versions of the novel - in 13 and 20 chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific event. In one of the chapters, the author managed to contain the events that took place in the life of Dorian Gray for the last 20 years. The plot of the work develops sequentially: from exposition to denouement. The close interweaving of events and philosophical reflections gives the reader the opportunity to delve into the essence of the topic.

Genre

The genre of the work is a philosophical novel, as evidenced by the following features: the main problem remains open, an instructive component plays an important role. The direction of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is modernism.

O. Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray"- Full analysis of the work.

The title page is drawn up independently.

Serves for numbering. Numbering starts with the title page.

The beginning of O. Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a completely peaceful picture. We see a talented artist who paints a beautiful portrait and dreams of keeping it a secret from everyone. In the portrait of Basil Hallward - a young man - Dorian Gray, the hero of the novel, or his anti-hero. Seeing the beautiful creation of the artist, Dorian exclaims: “Oh, if it could be the other way around! If this portrait were getting old, and I would remain young forever! For this ... for this I would give everything in the world. Yes, I would not regret anything! I would give my soul for that!" These prophetic words and determine the next course of the story. The portrait begins to grow old, and Dorian Gray remains young, adversity is not reflected on his face, but his heart is hardened.

Dorian plunges into social life, because now nothing has power over him, all the trouble and hardships are reflected not in his beautiful face, but in the portrait of Basil, which is becoming more and more ugly. But now Dorian Gray falls in love with a young actress - Sybil Vane, who plays all the roles in a row in a beggarly theater in the East End. At first glance, the love of two young people is beautiful, and Sybil gives herself completely to her. She can no longer play artificial roles, she now has a different, real role - to love and be loved. That's why the show, to which Dorian invites his friends to look at his bride, fails miserably. “I have known true love,” Sybil says to Dorian. Art is only its pale reflection. Oh, my joy, my Prince Charming! I’m tired of living among the shadows. You are dearer to me than all the art of the world. stage? When I came to the theater today, I was just surprised: everything immediately became so alien to me! I thought that I would play wonderfully, but it turned out that nothing came out of me. However, Dorian Gray did not understand Sybil's feelings, did not understand or did not want to understand. After all, for him, this whole theater is real life, and feelings only add wrinkles to the portrait.

Dorian Gray leaves Sybil, throwing her a cruel "You killed my love!" He wanders around the city at night, and at this time the unfortunate Sybil commits suicide. It would seem that Dorian should be crushed, killed, should be tormented and tormented by remorse. Yes, at first he does so, but his true friend, Lord Henry, gives him good advice: “What, in fact, happened? The girl committed suicide because of her love for you. I regret that there was nothing like this in my life. her." And Dorian Gray calms down, and a hard fold appears on the portrait.

This is how the life of a beautiful young man continues: he plunges into the abyss of vice, revelry and hatred for everyone around him, lasting twenty long years. However, the pains and sorrows of the time do not concern him: “Even those who heard dark rumors about Dorian Gray (and such rumors about his very suspicious lifestyle from time to time went all over London and caused talk in clubs) could not believe the dishonored to his gossip, for he seemed to be a man who had not been touched by the dirt of life. People who spoke obscenities fell silent when Dorian Gray entered. The serene clarity of his face was like an embarrassing reproach to them. His mere presence reminded them of their lost purity. And they wondered that this charming man managed to escape the bad influence of our age, the age of immorality and base passions. And even his faithful friend, the artist Basil, cannot stop him. “Pray, Dorian, pray!” he exclaims, seeing what has become of his portrait. How was it that we were taught to pray in childhood? "Let's pray together! The prayer prompted by vanity has been answered. The prayer of repentance will also be heard. I idolized you too much - and for this I am punished. You also loved yourself too much. Both of us are punished." But Dorian Gray forgot how to pray, just as he forgot how to love, compassion, repentance and understanding. In a fit of hatred inspired by the ugly portrait, he kills the unfortunate artist, who was the only person who loved Dorian for who he is.

Now Dorian begins to seek oblivion in drugs. One day, during his forays into the brothel, he is recognized by the brother of the unfortunate Sybil Wayne. Dorian narrowly escaped death.

But an idle, worthless existence cannot last long. Moreover, Dorian Gray is far from being a stupid person, he understands the reasons for his misfortune, he begins to be tormented by remorse: "This beauty ruined him, the beauty and eternal youth that he begged for himself! If not for them, his life would be clean "Beauty turned out to be only a mask, youth - a mockery. What is youth at best? A time of immaturity, naivety, a time of superficial impressions and unhealthy thoughts. Why did he have to wear her outfit? Yes, youth killed him."

Unbearable pangs of conscience torment Dorian Gray when he decides to destroy the terrible portrait so that the blood dripping from his fingers does not remind him of the crimes he committed. However, the porter is Dorian Gray, and by plunging into the knife, in fact, Dorian kills himself. Miraculously, the portrait and its owner change places, and now on the wall the servants see "a magnificent portrait of their master in all the splendor of his wondrous youth and beauty. And on the floor with a knife in his chest lay a dead man in a tailcoat. His face was wrinkled, withered, repulsive." Thus ends O. Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

Even Dostoevsky wrote about a man that "God and the devil are fighting in him, and the battlefield is the soul." This is something to keep in mind when thinking about Wilde's novel. For Wilde, humanity is behavior in an extreme situation, although his entire novel is an extreme situation. He has a human soul - something material, something that can be sold, pawned, poisoned, saved, exchanged (these are the words of the protagonist of the novel). Nevertheless, the author does not hide the fact that the whole story with Dorian Gray is fictitious - “the transmission of beautiful fables is the true goal of art”, the more valuable the meaning for us in the fable, the more carefully we are looking for morality in this fable with a portrait.

It is no coincidence that Dorian Gray is in love not so much with actress Sybil Vane, but with the roles she plays - Juliet, Rosalind, Imogen. He himself is a musician and passionately loves everything beautiful. Collects objects of ancient art. Beauty destroys the personality, because it is not real beauty, but diabolical, which shows the portrait that Dorian Gray keeps. A deal with the devil must be paid. The whole story that happened to Dorian Gray is a diabolical obsession: killed, Gray becomes as ugly as it should be, and the portrait again turns into something material - balance is restored.

In general, from the point of view of the plot, Wilde's novel uses several myths (or mythical plots). This is, firstly, the myth of Narcissus, who died when he saw his reflection in the water. It is also a myth about the possibility of selling one's soul to the devil. Wilde plays the role of the devil in Lord Henry, cynical and devoid of any moral and ethical principles, a man who “always says immoral things, but never does them.” It is in a conversation with him that Dorian says the sacramental phrase: “How sad it is ! murmured Dorian Gray suddenly, still staring at his portrait. - So sad! I will grow old, become a nasty freak, and my portrait will be forever young. He will never get older than on this June day ... Oh, if it could be the other way around! And so it turns out: Dorian becomes forever young "the offspring of the Devil," as the prostitute in the port calls him, and the portrait grows old vilely.

Dorian Gray is in love with his "second self" portrait, looks at him for a long time and even kisses him. At the end of the novel, when the portrait replaces him, Gray falls more and more in love with his beauty and, unable to bear the beauty of his body and, in contrast, the disgust of his soul, which the portrait shows him, in fact commits suicide, dies, like Narcissus, from self love.

O. Wilde did not create a realistic novel, although some scenes are quite plausible. “This is purely a decorative novel! "The Picture of Dorian Gray" - golden brocade! - the author himself argued. He does not describe to us the characters of the heroes in a multifaceted way in their development, on the contrary, he singles out one predominant feature in the character, a characteristic idea: Dorian is the desire for eternal youth, Lord Henry is the cult of enjoying life, the denial of morality and morality, Basil is sacrificial devotion to art. The main attention in the novel is paid not to action, not to characteristics, but to the subtle play of the mind, which is played by Lord Henry, in whose bold paradoxes the cherished thoughts of the author are embodied. He involves Dorian in his intellectual game, striking his imagination with unusual and impudent speeches. And words for Wilde are much more important than facts, he, and with him his heroes, completely surrender to verbal fights.

However, Lord Henry's speeches are not so vicious, in many ways they are correct, and sometimes we can even agree with his point of view. His life path, in the end, is illuminated by a dream of beauty, of that beauty of Dostoevsky, which was supposed to save the world, but, as it were, ruined it inopportunely. “The purpose of life is self-expression. To manifest our essence in its entirety - that's what we live for ... If every person could live full life giving free rein to every feeling and every thought, realizing every dream, the world would again feel such a powerful impulse for 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 even more valuable and beautiful,” Lord Henry preaches to us, and it is simply impossible not to agree with him. And after all, no one in the novel, except Basil, tries to contradict him! “You are lovely, but a real demon tempter. Be sure to come and dine with us,” exclaims the venerable duchess. The likes of Lord Henry were held in high esteem in the society of that time.

Oscar Wilde often refused to call a spade a spade. Literature, in his opinion, should not describe the vices and shortcomings of society. He had little sympathy for the sufferers. He believed that those who care for the suffering, flaunt only ulcers and wounds, refusing to perceive a person's life as a whole, with his defeats and victories. And in this his point of view is very similar to that of Lord Henry. The author believes that all living things, no matter how ugly and immoral it may seem, have the right to exist and also have the right to make their own choice. This, in fact, is the essence of the philosophy of Sir Henry, the spiritual provocateur and seducer of Dorian Gray from the novel. Life is just a material, clay is in our hands, the hands of artists-experimenters of life. Everything in life has to be tried. And fascinated by this idea, Dorian boldly tries. He experiments with his own life. But not only with your own. And this, apparently, is the difference between the position of Sir Henry and Dorian. "Every crime is vulgar," says Sir Henry, "and every vulgarity is criminal." According to Sir Henry, for vulgar, unimaginative people, crime is what art is for a sophisticated mind, that is, a source of unusual sensations.

The portrait of Dorian Gray is a portrait of his soul, a list of the crimes of this sinner. Wilde believed that there is Someone in the world who watches over us and writes everything down (or sketches, as in a certain portrait in heaven). However, this method of reforming Dorian Gray is highly questionable, because it raises even more questions for us about the ways in which repentance for the crimes committed is possible. At the first stage, Dorian Gray is not particularly tormented by pangs of conscience. He is, however, still preoccupied with his reputation (his portrait) in the eyes of others. But gradually he does not give a damn about this either - just to remain uncaught. The main spiritual flaw (sin) of Dorian as a person is that he, devoid of imagination, needed actions, deeds (good or evil) in order to experience the excitement of contact with life. But actions, in contrast to the game of the mind, from a certain moment begin to repeat themselves, that is, to cause boredom and irritation in the first place for the one who performs these actions.

Actually, Dorian Gray is suppressed by the very fact that his inner content (which is the portrait) is embodied in the face of the old man. Thought (as well as meaningful feeling) ages, that's for sure. Dorian Gray does not age because he does not think about his actions, about his portrait. He did not think about his own crimes, because he never really loved his own victims (no matter how much he swore this to himself).

Thus, we see that everything in O. Wilde's novel is built on contradictions. On the one hand, this is the permissibility of crimes (I recall Dostoevsky and his "Crime and Punishment"), on the other, a ban on them, their rejection. This is, in our opinion, the essence of creative idea author of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray": images, analysis

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Wilde's artistic searches are connected with the European ideals of "art for art's sake", asserting the self-sufficiency of artistic creativity, the independence of art from politics and social requirements.

In the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde outlines the main points of aesthetic theory: “The artist is the one who creates beauty ... There are no books moral or immoral. There are books well written or badly written… The artist is not a moralist… In fact, art is not life at all… All art is completely useless.”

Since art is higher than life, it cannot be considered from the point of view of human morality. But this does not mean at all that the writer affirms “immoral art”. Polemic, scandalous for late XIX century, Wilde's statement only emphasizes that art cannot be immoral. A “well-written book” as a work of art always contains a lesson in humanity, because it is written from the standpoint of an ideal and according to the laws of beauty, which is alien to everything immoral. A “poorly written book” is not a work of art and does not deserve attention, whether it contains morality or not. For an artist, beauty is the highest criterion.

From the point of view of the aesthetic theory of Oscar Wilde, “Art is completely useless”: only a person who has a subtle feeling for beauty can understand a work of art, and a moral lesson is not needed for him, because he himself lives according to the laws of beauty (for example, Lord Henry). For others, such art will be inaccessible: "Art is a mirror that reflects the one who looks into it, and not life at all."

The novel The Picture of Dorian Gray organically combines the main aesthetic principles of Oscar Wilde's theory of art (preface to the novel) and their artistic realization (the novel itself).

Wilde's images are symbolic: Dorian Gray personifies eternal youth, Lord Henry is a preacher of the ideas of hedonism (philosophy of unlimited pleasure), Basil Hallward is presented as a minister of Art, Sybil Vane is the embodiment of the theatricality of life, etc.

The novel recreates the unique atmosphere of beauty: beautiful people, brilliant statements, perfect works of art, although at times salon beauty turns into empty embellishment.

The novel is dedicated to the non-identity of art and life, an illustration of which is the story of Dorian Gray: a portrait that absorbs traces of vices real person, in the finale remains an impeccably beautiful masterpiece, while its dying "owner" acquires its true features.
Not wanting to say goodbye to youth and beauty, admiring his own image, Gray once exclaims: "If the portrait changed, but I could always remain the same as now!" The fantastic thought of the author allows this wish to come true: Dorian's appearance remains invariably beautiful, while monstrous crimes disfigure the portrait. The monstrous picture becomes a symbol of Gray's moral degradation.

Dorian's concepts of conscience and honor are thinning under the influence of Henry Wotton's "sermons", in which the theory of pleasure is presented in a devilishly seductive way.

The sayings of Lord Henry amaze the imagination, because they oppose ordinary, bourgeois morality, his thinking is unique and extraordinary, like that of the author who created an unforgettable image: " The only way get rid of temptation - give in to it", "Only mediocrity is the key to popularity", "Love feeds on repetition, and only repetition turns simple lust into art", "Every crime is vulgar, just like every vulgarity is a crime."

Wilde's passion for paradoxes is, in his own words, "a feast with panthers", the only chance to survive in a world of hypocrites. But we should not forget that any idea not only carries others along with it, but also leads them to death. Having mastered the philosophy of "new hedonism", Dorian Gray, in pursuit of pleasure, loses all idea of ​​good and evil with new impressions, because this is required in practice by an attempt to bring art to life. Works of art are more important to him than real life. For example, the love for the actress Sibile Vane turns out to be the love the hero feels for Shakespeare's heroines. Sybil's love was real, and this made it impossible for her to portray other people's passions, she lost the "art of lying", so valued by Dorian. The discrepancy between the ideals of the lovers led to the suicide of the girl (as the end of her own play), while Dorian suppressed an attempt to become a man - the ideas of the hedonist Henry Wotton won the battle between life and art: forgetting about the torments of conscience, he calmly goes to the opera to listen to the famous Italian singer Patty. Thus, the writer puts beauty above morality. However, the objective meaning of the novel refutes this assertion.

The story of the life and death of Dorian Gray becomes a condemnation of hedonism, moral nihilism and individualism.
Trying to finally put an end to the pangs of conscience, the symbol of which is a portrait, the hero kills himself. The final conclusion of Wilde's work is essentially contained in the words of a street preacher: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his own soul."

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Balashov Institute (branch)

State educational institution higher vocational education"Saratov State University

named after N.G. Chernyshevsky"

Analysis of the features of the figurative system and ways of its linguistic embodiment of Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

graduate work

specialty 050303.65 "Foreign language"

The figurative system is perhaps the most interesting, complex and rich component of a work of art, the most difficult for the reader to understand and comprehend. Despite this, consideration of the figurative system and ways of its linguistic embodiment is of great value to linguists and literary critics, because in the ways of the linguistic embodiment of the system of images is reflected art style era, author's style, author's mood and worldview.

This work is carried out in line with the study of the features of the figurative system and the ways of its linguistic embodiment of Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which is subject research.

“A real artist” (Bryusov), “a born writer” (Aldington) - this is how writers spoke about Oscar Wilde different countries and different generations, a Russian and an Englishman, both endowed with a heightened aesthetic sense. They were not mistaken in their opinion: Wilde's work entered the history of literature and theater, a living history that attracts not only researchers, but also readers and spectators; skill and brilliance of self-admiring wit.

As in any phenomenon, the merits and demerits in Wilde's work do not belong to independent spheres. In his works, they are brought together and connected in such a way that they almost do not leave boundary signs.

In this work, we will talk about the only novel Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Dorian Gray came out with a scandal that was largely the work of Wilde himself. The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published in issues of the American magazine Lippincott'sMagazine and then revised (probably to remove a clear homosexual accent) before being released in hardcover. And yet this book was met with a storm of protest against the alleged immorality of the novel and, even more so, of Wilde's Preface to it. Indeed, the Preface has attracted so much attention over the years that sometimes the novel itself is taken as nothing more than a demonstration of its truth. One way or another, the interest of the Dorian Gray novel lies in its method of storytelling. The novel should be read carefully, with an eye alert for inconsistencies between author and character. Although Wilde himself admitted: “Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry is what the world thinks I am; Dorian is what I would like to be - some other time, perhaps."

This work gives an analysis of the novel by Oscar Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray". An object research - the figurative system of Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and its linguistic embodiment - is due to the fact that earlier the attention of researchers was not attracted to the system of images of Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which is relevance research.

Target research - consists of a comprehensive, system description, analysis, scientific and theoretical understanding and classification of the system of images in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

Tasks research - to determine the essence of the concept of "system of images", to analyze the images in the novel, the stylistic devices used by the author to create certain images, to trace their influence on the style and narration of the novel.

Thus, we penetrate into the basis of the style and narrative manner of Wilde the prose writer.

Practical the significance of this work is determined by the fact that the results of the study can be applied in courses on literary criticism, stylistics, in classes on the practice of speech of English language and interpretation of the text.

This work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references.

In the introduction, the subject and purpose of the study are established, its tasks are formed, the relevance of the research topic is substantiated, and practical value work results.

The first chapter establishes the theoretical basis of the study, provides the basis for the analysis of a literary text, defines the concept of a system of images, and considers the main canons of some artistic styles.

The second chapter is devoted to the study of the system of images of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", the consideration of the stylistic devices used by the author.

The results of the study and the main results are reflected in the conclusion.

Chapter 1. Theoretical basis analysis of a work of art

1.1 Literary definition of image

To study the linguistic expression of the system of images in Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", it is necessary to clarify the concept of "image".

Image- one of the basic concepts of literature, which determines the nature, form and function of artistic and literary creativity. In the center artistic image there is an image of human life, shown in an individualized form, but at the same time carrying a generalized principle, behind which one can guess those patterns of the life process that form people of this particular type.

The image is a universal category of artistic creativity, a form of reproduction, interpretation and development of life inherent in art by creating aesthetically affecting objects. An image is often understood as an element or part of an artistic whole, usually a fragment that has, as it were, an independent life and content. Since the image of a certain person becomes generalized, it is inherent in fiction (the writer discards random details, adds features that clarify what he considers important). Fiction reinforces the generalized meaning of the artistic image, which is inseparable from the writer's idea of ​​the ideal, emphasizes in it what helps the establishment of this ideal or contradicts it. An image is a fact of imaginary being, each time it is re-realized in the imagination of the addressee. In the aesthetic aspect, the image appears to be a purposeful, life-like organism, in which there is no superfluous, random, mechanically auxiliary, and which gives the impression of beauty precisely because of the perfect unity and ultimate meaningfulness of its parts. But without the isolating power of fiction, the image could not achieve that concentration and coordination that liken it to a living formation. In other words, the "life-likeness" of an image is connected with its imaginary being.

An image in literature is a character, a character. In general, any literary image is expressed in the word - although it is not reduced to the word, it is wider and deeper than the word. The term “image” is often used in both a narrower and a broader sense of the word. Often any colorful expression, each trope is called an image.

The artistic image is manifested in the work in a very versatile way. In prose, it is given in interaction with the author's speech. The image reflects life in all its complexity and versatility.

For further work it is important to determine the genre of the work. A genre is a historically developing and developing type of work of art.

Novel- an epic genre in which the subject of the image is an unfinished, ongoing history or the past, comprehended through the prism of concepts, interests and aspirations that characterize modernity, perceived in its dynamics. The novel recreates the experience of the individual and the circle of her ideas, which are formed in continuous contact with reality, which, like the hero, is in the process of becoming. The constant changes taking place in it, its very incompleteness and unpredictability of potential development affect the self-awareness of the characters, as well as their destinies. The peculiarity of the construction of the novel determines the choice of characters, the movement of intrigue, the nature of the climactic episodes, the motivation of the denouement. In the course of literary evolution, the structure of the novel becomes more and more complicated. Varieties of the genre are emerging in which an original combination of intense intrigue and psychological sophistication is found, and the desire to recreate life authentically and recognizably is combined with the widespread use of fiction, gravitating towards science fiction.

Composition the novel includes the "arrangement" of characters, i.e. image system. The most important aspect compositions - a sequence of introducing images into the narrative, contributing to the deployment of a literary text. The arrangement of characters takes place around the image of the protagonist, which is transformed throughout the novel.

1.2 Building a figurative system of a work of art

System images begins where, according to Pasternak, “the image enters the image”, where they overlap each other, interact with each other in one way or another - within the framework of one artistic text. In this case, a so-called hierarchy of images arises. "Hierarchy" in Greek means a multi-stage order of subordination and domination. It reigns everywhere, at any stage of being, and often these hierarchical relations are extremely complex, contradictory, incomprehensible.

The figurative system of a literary text can be built - from top to bottom - in the following order:

The image of the work itself as a whole;

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a famous novel by the English writer Oscar Wilde, which caused considerable public outcry and even a scandal immediately after its publication in London, in 1891. Now this work is very popular with readers around the world. It will be interesting to do brief analysis works "The Picture of Dorian Gray", and on our website you can also find it summary.

Aesthetic principles in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde was a supporter of the principles of aestheticism - the literary and philosophical trend in English art of the late XIX - early XX centuries. The main provisions are set out in the preface to the novel in the form of aphorisms.

Aestheticism affirms the superiority of art over life: the artist's imagination is more valuable than a simple copy of reality. Oscar Wilde speaks of the uselessness of art in the sense that it should not pursue any purpose, it serves for the pleasure of man, and an analysis of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray clearly reveals this.

Problems of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

The Picture of Dorian Gray reveals several themes that are very important in Wilde's work. Even after reading the summary of the novel, you will notice this. The theme of the artist, creativity, the power of art are central in the novel. Basil Hallward is a talented portrait painter and admirer of beauty. But in his view, aesthetic and ethical, beauty and morality are inseparable. Therefore, he anxiously follows the life of the protagonist and reproaches him, trying to convince him to give up vices. Mark this thought if you are doing a brief analysis of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The image of the protagonist in the analysis of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

The work depicts the life of Dorian Gray, who put beauty and pleasure at the forefront. In the first chapter, he is shown as a beautiful young man, whose external beauty is in harmony with his spiritual purity. For the first time, he thinks about his beauty when he hears the admiring speeches of the artist. Then the thought of her fragility takes possession of him, and he is ready to give everything to save her. Looking at the portrait, Dorian Gray says: let the portrait grow old, he himself remains forever young. And so it happens. All life, experiences, passions, vices are reflected in the portrait. The portrait becomes a reflection of the hero's soul. Here we do not give a summary of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", but consider the essence of the plot.

The portrait is first changed when Dorian betrays his beloved, Sibyl Vane. The girl was an actress in a small poor theater, where Dorian accidentally went. She talentedly played the love of Shakespeare's heroines on stage. Young people began to meet and confessed their love to each other. The young man decided to show it to his friends. But on the day of the performance, she thought only of love for Dorian, so she played poorly. Dorian's friends, like himself, were disappointed. The young man rudely expresses his disappointment to his beloved and says that he no longer loves her. The next day, he realized the injustice of the reproaches, but it was too late: the girl was poisoned. Lord Henry leads young man to the idea that there is nothing wrong with that, and Dorian dismissively recalls his acquaintance with her. At this moment, looking at the portrait, the hero notices that a cruel fold has appeared near the lips. What else can we learn from a brief analysis of The Picture of Dorian Gray?

Subsequently, Dorian indulges in vices, wanders through the slums, sinks lower and lower morally. Oscar Wilde does not tell in detail about the life of the hero, hinting only that he sank to the very bottom in pursuit of pleasure. The depravity and cruelty of Dorian are mentioned by many heroes of the work. He lives double life: visits social events and dirty quarters of the East End, strikes everyone with unchanging beauty and shudders to watch the terrible changes in the portrait.

In the end, in a rage, he attacks his own portrait, now hidden from view in the attic, with a knife. The servants find an ugly, repulsive, decrepit body, in which the owner is only identified by a ring, and a beautiful portrait of Dorian Gray, shining with youth - the art remains imperishable. An analysis of the finale of The Picture of Dorian Gray shows that the central idea of ​​the novel is embodied here: “What good does a man gain the whole world if he loses his own soul?”

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