Textuality » 5BLS Interacting
BASIL’S STUDIO
Analysis
This extract is taken from the Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. -The narrator tells in a third person, because he can tells the story with freedom, without comment and make judgements. There are no filters between the reader and the narrator.
Besides, he is a external and omniscient narrator.
Content Description of the room;
Characterization of main characters.
1) Basil is a secretive and independent artist, indeed Basil answers to Lord Henry that: “ I don’t think I shall send it anywhere”. - He painted the portrait and it is his masterpiece.
In addition, the distinctive toss of his head, the one that "used to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford," characterizes Basil as someone who is thought of as an odd, yet endearing, fellow. -When he meet Dorian he becomes dependent on him, as Basil’s muse. We can understand in this lines: “ a smile of pleasure passed across his face, and seemed about to linger there.” Basil seems attracted by the young man.
Dorian inspires Basil to a new vision of art, combining Greek perfection with Romantic passion.
Basil is also a jealous person, wanting to keep Dorian from Lord Henry so that he can have Dorian all to himself.
2) The other main character introduced in Chapter 1 is Lord Henry Wotton, his friend, he is a smoker;he is a very intelligent, confident, manipulative man and a destroyer of beauty for his own amusement. He is an edhonistic man.
3) Basil's portrait of Dorian plays such an important role in the book that he is actually introduced with the painting. Basil speaks at length about Dorian, stating that he is charming, but also that "Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain."-In these chapter we can found this themes:
the fleeting nature of beauty
the importance and power of beauty in relation to the intellect and the soul
Sequences
SMELL (odorato) in the room there were smoke and flower’s fragrance.
The narratorfocuses attention on furniturefull ofdetails:
- Sofa’s saddle-bags
- Decoration of flowers ( the flowers are the symbol of aestheticism)
- Description of theflower; he describes the flowers giving a stifling effect.
Style andlanguage choices
The language used is refined, with accurate descriptions and detailed. These features are typical of the Decadent, cultural and artistic movement in Europe from the second half of the nineteenth century. It is also metaphoric, andwithaheavysyntax. The long tussore-silk curtains exotic