History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014
Homosexuality on Trial
- Cook describes London as a city to invite and thwart fantastical recreation and sensual indulgence. Does this describe the role played by the city in The Picture of Dorian Gray? Why or why not?
- How might the relationship between Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas be compared to the relationships among Dorian, Lord Henry, and Basil?
- Did the trials of Oscar Wilde broad fears about the decline or degeneration of British society? How?
- How does the portrayal of marriage in Wilde’s novel reflect or contrast with the portrayals of Victorian marriages in other texts we’ve read in class?
- In Douglas’ and Nicholson’s poems, a recurring theme corresponding with homosexuality is shame and secrecy; in what way did Oscar Wilde reject these Victorian attitudes in his life and in The Picture of Dorian Gray?
- Do you think that the Victorian male beast is at the heart of both The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Picture of Dorian Gray? If so, is it a different beast in each novel?
- How does Showalter characterize the treatment of women in The Picture of Dorian Gray? Do you agree with her assessment?
- How does The Picture of Dorian Gray reflect the aesthetic ideal of “art for art’s sake”? Can the novel be taken as an argument in favor of that ideal?
- What makes Sibyl Vane initially attractive to Dorian, and what changes his feelings about her? What is the purpose of the Sibyl/Dorian relationship in Wilde’s novel?
- In what ways do Wilde’s frequent and vivid descriptions of color reflect a rebellion against Victorian values?
- Culture & corruption, criminal & the aesthetic, beauty & evil
- Decadence: sensory intensity, exploration, pleasures
- The decadent man: homosexual, “the perfect form of male aestheticization” (Showalter)