1.) batten - (v.) to furnish or bolster with small boards or strips of wood used for various building purposes, as to cover joints between boards, reinforce certain doors, or supply a foundation for lathing (dictionary.com)
"The brain had its own food on which it battened, and the imagination, made grotesque by terror, twisted and distorted as a living thing thing by pain, danced like some foul puppet on a stand, and grinned through moving masks" (Wilde 171).
2.) leer - (v.) to look with a sideways or oblique glance, esp. suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intention (dictionary.com)
"As he did so he saw the face of his portrait leering in the sunlight" (177).
---
1.) "Whatever my life is, he had more to do with the making or the marring of it than poor Harry has had" (173).
This quote comes in while Dorian convinces Alan Campbell to dispose of Basil's body. In this quote, Dorian basically blames Basil for convincing Dorian to murder him. Campbell blames the influence of Lord Henry of having corrupted Dorian, and this quote is his response to that. Lord Henry preached to Dorian nothing more than to live a life of Hedonism. In the meantime, Basil stood for the exact opposite. Basil believed in staying true to oneself as well as justice. This is exemplified when Basil asks Dorian to forgive himself for his poor decisions he made in the past. Basil even warned Dorian in the beginning that Lord Henry was a bad influence, but Dorian did not heed his advice. Yet, to a common Hedonist, what matters most is the matter at hand. Dorian is not concerned so much with the past. He has had his pleasure in the past, and now he sought pleasure in the present at whatever expense. However, Basil's meeting with Dorian only got Dorian's bad side, and he impulsively murdered Basil, since his righteousness got in the way of Dorian's pleasure. In that way, Dorian is implying with the above quote that Basil, in actuality, marred his life.
2.) "What was that loathsome red dew that gleamed, wet and glistening, on one of the hands, as though the canvas had sweated blood? How horrible it was!" (177).
This quote is stated as Campbell is disposing of Basil's body. In the meantime, Dorian glances at his portrait that Basil painted, and sees that the hand appears to be bleeding. As previously mentioned, the portrait is like Dorian's soul. It changes and becomes more hideous as Dorian's soul does. At this point, the blood on the hand can mean two things, the death of Dorian's soul and the ultimate corruption of his soul. Dorian had a past marked with reckless decisions that made him into and irritable individual. No one could stand him or his negative outlook. When Dorian got to the point of actually murdering Basil, a former friend who meant well to him the entire time, that came with serious implications. Dorian stands for Hedonism while Basil stands for righteousness. If good always wins out in the end, the victory of Hedonism over righteousness through Basil' s murder would not last very long. The fact that Basil meant well was even more striking. If one means well, anyone could perceive that. Yet, Dorian failed to do that, and instead decided to commit a horrible evil, the kind of evil that no one can escape if committed. Dorian would be plagued forever, and his soul would eventually be swallowed by the guilt he experienced. If good always wins out in the end, chances that would entail the discovery of Dorian's crime and the punishment that would ensue.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)

No comments:
Post a Comment