ANALYSIS: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Chapter 1)

The extract is taken from the first chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

The text can be organized into two sections: the first is a long and detailed description of the study where the scene takes place, the second is mostly a dialogue between two characters. It follows that in Chapter 1 two characters are portrayed: Basil Hallward, the painter, and his friend Lord Henry Wotton. The reader can understand much from these presentations.

The phrases have a complex structure and the language is researched and implicit. The story is told by an omniscient narrator.

The Picture of Dorian Gray opens in the London studio of Basil Hallward, an artist. From the beginning, there are constant references to the senses. "The rich odour of roses", "the heavy scent of the lilac" and "the delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn" reminds to the sphere of smell. The words "the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum" remind to the sense of sight and of taste. "The long tussore-silk" refers to the sense of touch. "The sullen murmur of the bees" and "The dim roar" refer to hearing. The reader understands that the studio is in London, the city it is quoted: "The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ."

The first section makes the reader able to feel the sensations, smells, noises in the study. The reader can imagine the scene and be a part of what happens, it follows that there is a large involvement of the reader.

The first character introduced is Lord Henry Wotton, "he was lying, smoking, as was his custom, innumerable cigarettes".

Following it is introduced the portrait: "In the centre of the room, clamped to an upright easel, stood the full-length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty." It is also introduced the character of Basil Hallward, he is in front of the picture. The phrase "whose sudden disappearance some years ago caused, at the time, such public excitement and gave rise to so many strange conjectures." might arise curiosity in the reader; he could wonder why the artist has disappeared prematurely. The reader understands immediately that the picture is very beauty and attractive ("the gracious and comely form").

The second section is a dialogue between Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward.

The dialogue makes the reader understand much of the personality of the two characters. Lord Henry Wotton is a very intelligent, confident, manipulative man. He is a judgmental man, persuasive and ambitious.On the other hand Basil represents the artist who creates a work of art by putting the soul. Art should not be useful and produce money, art should be attractive, gracious. Oscar Wilde indeed was deeply influenced by Pater's works. Therefore art plays an important role in the book: Basil's portrait is introduced before of the character of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde wants to underline that Dorian's reputation for physical beauty is more important to his character than any other attribute. By reading the extract the reader understands that Oscar Wilde uses the language of the senses and a hedonistic attitude, typical of the Aesthetic artists.