Influence in it's many forms is responsible for Dorian's corruption - to what extent do you agree with this view of the novel?

“Influence in its many forms, is responsible for Dorian’s corruption” To what extent do you agree with this view of the novel? The picture of Dorian Gray takes place in London, where Dorian, young and eager to explore the world, adopts a cruel attitude and a sinful routine in life. Influence is what corrupts him, with Lord Henry Wotton being the largest influential character in the novel, who in chapter 2, tells Dorian that “the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it”. Throughout the novel it can be seen that Dorian picks up on Henry’s attitudes towards life and even his manner of speech, however there are other forms of influence that take effect on Dorian, such as the society he grew up in; upper class and protected, the Yellow Book that Henry gives him; which “Dorian Gray could not free himself” and the idea of appearance vs. reality which is expressed through characters such as Sibyl and the painting itself. All these forms of influence lead to Dorian’s corruption, and later on, death. Some people say that Dorian does not respond to good influence, thus only absorbed bad influence from people such as Henry. However this point can be argued against as well, with the point that Dorian was already a ‘stained trumpet’ when he met Henry, and that Henry stirred ‘impulses’ that were already there. Moreover, Henry was absent during

  • Word count: 1060
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How does Wilde present the theme of love in chapters 1-10 of "Dorian Grey"?

Transfer-Encoding: chunked How does Wilde present the theme of love in chapters 1-10? Many emotional themes are portrayed throughout the novel Dorian Gery. The characters have extreme and dramatic emotions and it is clear to see this throughout the chapters one to ten. One of the main themes conveyed throughout is the theme of love. The theme of love is very important in the novel as it suggests and shows the characteristics of each character and how their emotions affect the reader’s views on them. The characters, who claim to love in the novel, are often under a misconception and show in many ways that they show a kind of extreme and unhealthy way. They do not show a healthy type of love. The novel mostly conveys a darker, unhealthy type of love. This is shown throughout the entire novel and allows the reader to understand the extent of extreme and backwards emotions of some of the characters have within their personalities. This sense of love is made to be very normal within the characters’ social circles and overall outlook on the way people should be treated. The main male characters are all of a high social class and they have quite a controversial idea on the importance of how you treat people and how you should love. When Sybil Vane dies, Lord Henry was almost excited about the idea of such a controversial scandal to have happened to one of his friends. He

  • Word count: 1138
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Act 3 : A woman of no importance

REMIND YOURSELF OF THE SECTION OF ACT 3 FROM LINE 358 TO THE END OF THE ACT. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS SECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WHOLE PLAY? In A Woman of No Importance, Wilde explores the moral attitudes of the aristocratic Victorian society towards social status and class, moral values, roles of men and women, and the relationships between them. The section in Act 3 is important as involves all of these issues, shown through characters such as Gerald, Lord Illingworth, Mrs Allonby and Hester. As well as the use of these characters, language and stage craft is also used to reveal Wilde's views and criticisms of the upper class society. These criticisms include the use of masks, immoral behaviour and hypocrisy. We are aware of the Victorian obsession with status and class through the presentation of Gerald's ambitions. Gerald is a character who aspires to become a person of high social status, in order to propose to Hester. His desires are based on the conventional Victorian ideas of class and social status, one of his main influences being Lord Illingworth: "As Lord Illingworth says, it is impossible to live in such a place as Wrockley." He is "ambitious" and wants more than what he currently has living with his mother. One of the main reasons for this ambition is so that he can propose to Hester: "And if I had a position, if I had prospects, I could - I could

  • Word count: 1899
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How Successful Is Wilde In Introducing The Characters In A Woman Of No Importance?

How Successful Is Wilde In Introducing The Characters In A Woman Of No Importance? Hester is introduced in the first few lines of the play as clearly being an outsider. This becomes obvious by the fact that Lady Caroline comments that "this is the first English country house that [she has] stayed at." Therefore, right at the very beginning Wilde has already stated effectively what she is in comparison to the other characters and because of this she is not so accustomed to how things operate in the setting of the play, which is at an English country house. This can also be seen when Lady Caroline has to point out to Hester that "it is not customary in England...to speak with such enthusiasm of any person of the opposite sex." It is important that the audience of the play knows this information about Hester for the rest of the play to make sense and so therefore Wilde has been successful in introducing Hester in the play because the audience gets a clear understanding of what she is like and how she is seen by the other characters. Wilde is particularly successful in introducing Lady Caroline into the play and allowing the audience to see exactly what she is like almost straight away. For instance her sense of humour comes across in line 10 when she says in response that America is "the largest country in the world," that Hester "should find it very draughty." Therefore this

  • Word count: 1352
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Are The Contrasting Themes in Lady Windermeres Fan Important?

Are The Contrasting Themes in “Lady Windermere’s Fan” Important? Throughout “Lady Windermere’s Fan” we are introduced to many contrasting themes. Such as conflict and harmony, trust and betrayal and deception and truth. These are the main contrasting themes that Wilde has used throughout this play. The balance of these contrasting themes certainly improve the overall effect of the play, adding viewing value in the form of intrigue and enjoyment. However, are these contrasting themes important to the play and if so, how and why? Although this is a comedy, Wilde derives much comedic value from the conflicts within the play. Let’s take into consideration the conflict between Lord and Lady Windermere. This conflict arises purely due to a misunderstanding (when Duchess of Berwick tells Lady Windermere of her husband being with another woman e.g. “He goes to see her continually, and stops for hours at a time…”) and through deception on the part of Lord Windermere (although he promises to his wife that he has not cheated he will not tell her of why he and Mrs Erlynne were meeting), albeit for altruistic reason. The conflict is never really heated or serious and the audience can appreciate the humorous situation as we know that all will end well and any misunderstandings will be clarified by the end of the play, as is an example in “Much Ado About Nothing”

  • Word count: 1453
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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