5V The Picture of Dorian Gray Week 1 Lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Week 1 Lesson 1

In Class Today

• Introduction to the theme
• Oscar Wilde
• Historical Context
• Start reading

Introduction to the theme

• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Several chapters each week
• Analyse segments from each chapter each week
• 1 assessment

Oscar Wilde

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXbpox7l8r0

Oscar Wilde

• “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
• “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
• “I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
• “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
• “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
• “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
• “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”

Oscar Wilde

• “Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary.”
• “A good friend will always stab you in the front.”
• “Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.”
• “I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.”
• “I am not young enough to know everything.”
• “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”

Historical Context

The novel’s depiction of Victorian London seems to draw a lot from the historical events and fashions of the era. Dorian’s excursion into the seedy world of opium dens especially relates to an underground city obsession.

Other works of the 19th century that deal with Gothic settings and spooky, supernatural events: like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. For its dark portrayal of opium and temptation-filled London, Charles Dickens’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood also creates a similar atmosphere. 

Historical Context

We also know that Wilde was inspired by the themes of Faust and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and there are allusions to these texts in The Picture of Dorian Gray's plot.

The workbook

Read several chapters each week

Analyse several segments from these chapters each week

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PqaXM-bYfJ8SGLOpk13A7jUJ3cjj-83lpwF5iVN7fq4/edit

Pick a theme

Themes Key

1. The Mortality of Beauty and Youth
2. Surfaces, Objects and Appearances
3. Art and the Imitation of Life
4. Influence
5. Women and Men

Start reading