The Picture of Dorian Gray
-Chapter 1-
My
connection-if anyone could call it so-with the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray began when I was in the second year of
elementary school. I read an abridged version of the book and truly enjoyed it.
Due to such good impression of the novel, I bought an original English version on
my first trip to Barnes & Nobles, the nearest bookstore to where I lived in
the US, when I just finished the fourth year of elementary school. I read it
again in the original version, and as a child, I was fascinated by the magical
plot that one person’s youth is maintained forever on the outside whereas the
portrait of him would get older instead. But sadly, that little fascination of
merely the plot itself was it. It was a good thing I enjoyed reading the book,
but come to think of it, I feel I never understood the novel with my heart; I
merely “read” it. All these feelings and retrospection, I felt them just by re-reading
the first chapter of the novel.
 |
| My retrospective feelings on re-reading the novel |
In
the first chapter, not much story is developed in terms of the diverse
incidents and affairs one would expect to see in a novel. However, this is not
to say that chapter 1 was a total waste of pages-it aptly illustrates the
characteristics of some important characters and the suspected overall mood of
the novel through rich descriptions and somewhat long dialogues. The vivid descriptions
of the art studio of Basil Hallward in the very beginning suggest the
aristocratic and mysterious mood of the novel with a sense of magic and exoticism.
The conversation between Basil Hallward and Lord Henry-even though it may not
be lengthy enough to make a definite conclusion-reveals each character’s personality
and attitude toward life and art. Lord Henry gives an impression of a talented
speaker in terms of his good use of language and whit. However, his words do
not seem to carry honesty and make him sound secular, an attitude exactly
opposite to that of the artist. Two things are deductible from Basil’s frank
words: that he lives up to his firm artistic beliefs and that he may be
identified with homosexuality.
Basil’s
artistic beliefs are worth further discussion, as they enrich the novel’s
philosophical eloquence, of which I missed a significant part at the first time
I read the book. Basil expresses his thoughts and attitudes on arts through his
reluctant explanation of the reason why he cannot reveal his magnificent
portrait of Dorian. He tells Lord Henry, “An artist should create beautiful
things, but should put nothing of his own life into them.” (page 13, chap 1) as
a response to Lord Henry’s talking about poets who reflect themselves into
their literature. Considering Wilde’s devotion to this newly formed school of
arts, this can be seen as an almost explicit expression of artistic trend of Aestheticism
along with its critical remarks toward the preceding trend, Romanticism. In
addition to the revelation of contemporary trends, Basil’s words on Aestheticism
and a slight hint of homosexuality suggest possible autobiographical elements
of the novel.
So
far, there has been only indirect introduction of our infamous main character,
Dorian Gray, through the two other characters’ dialogue on Dorian’s portrait. Chapter
1 ends as Lord Henry and Basil awaits Dorian’s arrival. I wonder how Dorian
will expose his personality through the meeting of the two people. Hopefully with
Dorian’s presence, I will be able to further catch on to artistically philosophical
and autobiographical elements other than the simple story line, which I missed
out years ago.
