After reading the first seven chapters of Dorian Gray, I noticed that the female characters seem to be after thoughts. The main female character Sibyl is so submissive to Dorian and his charms that it seems like a support character for Dorian's beauty rather than her own person. Normally, it is the woman's beauty that is so intriguing, but here, it is a man's features the are so compelling.
After seeing Sibyl act, Dorian fell in love with her. He actually falls more in love with her talent rather than Sibyl herself. Dorian ends up telling Lord Harry Henry about his new found love affair and Lord Henry shoots down the idea of the relationship immediately. He even says that "men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious. Both are disappointed" (Wilde, p. 30). This statement even further oppresses women and the ideals of marriage. Henry is controlling Dorian almost like a man would his wife at this time by rejecting the idea that Dorian could be happy with the opposite sex because she is not his equal. Even Lord Henry was mentioned to have a wife but it scarcely talks about her character at all either. All of the women are strangely submissive to the counterparts. Even Sibyl's mom is rooting for Dorian because of his beauty and his higher status. The men are seen as marrying down from their aristocratic status, accept for Dorian Gray's aristocratic mom marrying down to a soldier. His past was described and a "dark and tangled" one. His grandfather kills his father, and his mother died of a broken heart essentially soon after. He was raised by an unkind man which makes me think why wouldn't he cling to Basil's love rather than Lord Henry's brute ways. Dorian is almost like a beautiful disaster that "needs" the guidance of such an opinionated man such as Lord Henry.
Is it truly better to live for pleasure instead of alleviating the pain of past experiences? Could his past also tells us more on why he is searching for guidance an acceptance so much?
Is the fact that Dorian's mom was the only one who married up relevant to the oppressing of women?
Does Lord Henry have a point in being selfish by circumstance though? Instead of grieving and defining one's self by life's unjust moments, one indulges in one's own happiness without any concern for those affected by one's actions?
The problem with Harry Henry is that is is unable to distinguish between self- care and self indulgence. This is reflected as much in his relationships with the men in the story as it is the women. The only reason he treats men and women any differently at all is that he cannot relate to them. He barely relates to men and generally judges and degrades everyone he meets.
ReplyDeleteNo one should define their life by the low points unless you can make those experiences work for you in a positive way. Dorian and Harry do not face and redirect the hard stuff, they utterly avoid it, because they can literally afford to.