TPoDG important quotes

monstrous and loathsome

• allusion to mary shelly’s frankenstein’s monster

• emphasises visibly immoral and corrupted soul

throbbing cores of flame

by the allusions to his fate in hell foreshadow his downfall and death.

loathing, horrible, cruelty, look of pain

semantic field of suffering to describe portrait

I don’t believe that Harry, and I don’t believe you do either

• Basil’s direct speech

• basil’s belief in innate goodness of man invades the persuit of LH’s im/amorality

no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex.

pithy phrasing +irony of misogynistic views towards women to emphasise shallow nature

the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties

subversion of marriage rites LH

pure, bright, innocent

tricolon of christian idealism to describe dorian

the secret of my own soul

basil’s deliberate ambiguity to reference secret homosexuality

the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life

repetitive hyperbolic lang to comment on d’s immature perception of love

A white-smocked carter offered him some cherries. He thanked him, wondered why he refused to accept any money for them, and began to eat them listlessly.

references D’s use of women

juliet, rosalind, imogen

• satirises Dorian’s love through the motif of an “actress”, describing Sybil through only the roles she plays

eyes that were violet wells of passion, lips that were like the petals of a rose

• poor similes that portray Dorian to be overly pretentious, mocking Dorian’s misunderstood and ill-placed desire.

gravely, half afraid, dreadful evening, heartbroken, strained touch of pain vs dreadfully bored

• the semantic field of sadness vs the semantic field of indifference emphasises D’s careless and manipulative attitude towards love

• emphasises that he never really loved S and manipulated her into suicide

I am a man now. I am different, I am changed

• anaphora of “I am” emphasises dorians ability to only think about himself, painting him as a manipulative and immature character

• ultimately embodies a manipulative toxic masculinity which Wilde criticises

that horrid thing

euphemism to describe S’s death shows lack of guilt + dismissal

Why is your friendship so fatal to young men?

basil’s adoption of interrogative tone to emphasise D’s destruction

the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it

• paradoxical epigrams characterise LH as an influencing character motivated by hedonism and his amorality

• juxtaposes basil’s idealism, which ultimately influences dorian

chord … vibrating… throbbing to curious places

• metaphor of dorian’s body being a musical instrument

My father was a scoundrel then!, Sibyl has a mother, I had none

• exclamatory lang →Mrs Vane is portrayed to have similar struggles as a single mother, concerned for the wellbeing of her family

gentleman is wealthy, aristocracy, perfect gentleman

• semantic field of financial security

• emphasises motivation to protect her daughter from same hardships that she has endured

this portrait would be to him the most magical of mirrors

• m alliteration introduces supernatural conceit, shifting from realism to gothic fantasy

• subverts expectation of mirrors traditionally reflecting outward appearance

repetition of ‘you are the same’

• LH’s perception emphasises D’s unnatural change

• D’s stasis is coveted

• ambiguity of verb ‘are’ emphasises lack of emotional development

I would give everything! yes, there is nothing in the whole world that I would not give! I would give my soul for that!

• exclamatory language

• obsession with youth and aestheticism leads to denial of time

you must not think of anything but your acting

• use of imperatives emphasises the expectations that sibyl must provide for their family, subverting the expectation that men should be the primary worker of the household

there is no reason why she should not contract an alliance with him

• semantic field of business

• emphasises Sibyl’s need to secure financial security for family’s ‘debts’

Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face. It cannot be concealed

• dramatic irony

• physiognomy