Oscar Wilde and Charlotte Bronte: A Comparative Study of Their Lives and Literary Works, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Oscar Wilde and Charlotte Bronte: A Comparative Study of Their Lives and Literary Works e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! OSCAR WILDE VITA • In Eighteen fifty-four Oscar Wilde was born and grew up in Dublin. His father was a famous doctor and his mother was a translator and poet. • In eighteen seventy-four after graduating in classical studies, he settled in London and became a spokesman for the school of 'Art for Art's Sake! He was a popular and eccentric dandy, and was famous for his witticisms and aphorisms (short phrases which express a general truth). • In eighteen eighty-four he married Constance Lloyd, and they had two children. • In eighteen ninety-five Wilde was arrested and imprisoned in Reading Gaol for homosexual offences. • In eighteen ninety-nine after his release from prison, Wilde moved to France, where he lived in poverty under an assumed name. • In nineteen hundred Oscar Wilde died and was buried in Paris. THE PREFACE The Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a manifesto of the Aesthetic movement, and it expresses Wilde's ideas on art in general. Here are some of its main principles: • The artist is a creator of beautiful things. • To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. •There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. •No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything. •It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. THE STORY: The novel is set in London at the end of the eighteen century. The protagonist is Dorian Gray, a young man whose beauty fascinates a painter, Basil Hallward, who decides to paint his portrait. Under the influence of the Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian throws himself into a life of pleasure. While the young man's desires are satisfied, including that of eternal youth, the signs of age and experience appear not on Dorian but on the portrait. When the painter sees the corrupted image of the portrait, Dorian kills him. Later Dorian wants to free himself of the portrait, and stabs it but, in doing so, he kills himself. In the very moment of Dorian's death, the picture returns to its original purity, and Dorian's face becomes, wrinkled. Dorian Gray represents the ideal of youth and beauty. He is immortalised in Basil Hallward's painting as a living Adonis. Dorian is influenced by Lord Henry, who teaches him about hedonism and starts to look for a life of pleasure and sensations. In the end, his vanity ruin him, and the portrait provides a representation of the degradation of his soul. Lord Henry Wotton is an intellectual and a brilliant talker. Basil Hallward is an intellectual who falls in love with Dorian's beauty and innocence. He does not want to exhibit the picture, even if it is his best work, because he is afraid that it reflects the attraction he feels for Dorian. Basil becomes a sad example of how a good artist can be destroyed in a sacrifice for art. This story is told by an third person narrator. The settings are vividly described with words appealing to the senses. This story it is a version of the legend of Faust, the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil so that all his desires might be satisfied. The moral of this novel is that every excess must be punished AESTHETIC AND DECADENCE The Aesthetic Movement began in France with Théophile Gautier and reflected the artist's reaction against the materialism. French artists' escaped ' into aesthetic isolation , into what Gautier defined ' Art for Art's Sake . The bohémien led an unconventional existence , pursuing sensation and excess , and cultivating art and beauty. Walter Pater thought life should be lived as a work of art, filling each passing moment with intense experience . The new aesthetic position was that art had no reference to life , and therefore it had nothing to do with morality and did not need to be didactic. The term ' decadent generally implied a process of decline of recognised values. CHARLOTTE BRONTE •1816 Charlotte Bronte was born in in Haworth, North Yorkshire. She was followed by a younger brother Branwell, and two younger sisters, Emily and Anne. Charlotte and her sisters were sent away to school , but after her two older sisters , Maria and Elizabeth died of tuberculosis , the remaining three sisters came home. • 1835 Charlotte began working as a teacher and governess. • 1849 Charlotte spent time in London where she moved in literary circles. • 1854 Charlotte got married. • 1855 Charlotte died of pneumonia at the age of 39. • In 1847 , Charlotte Bronte published her first novel , Jane Eyre . • In 1849 , she wrote Shirley , a story set in Yorkshire , at the time of the Napoleonic wars. • In 1857, The Professor , based on her experiences as a student in Brussels. THE STORY: Jane Eyre is an orphan who lives with her rich relatives. Her aunt dislikes her , so when Jane is ten years old , she sends her to Lowood boarding school. Jane is very unhappy and lonely . She only makes one friend , Helen , but Helen dies of consumption . At the end of her time at Lowood , Jane becomes a teacher and finds a job as a governess to a young girl Adèle , who lives with her guardian Mr Rochester, Jane is happy in the company of Adèle, but she sometimes hears a strange laugh coming from the attic of the house. Mr Rochester is a mysterious man, but Jane is attracted to him. One night, Jane saves Mr Rochester from a fire in his bedroom . After some time , Rochester tells Jane he is in love with her and proposer to her . Jane agrees , but the wedding ceremony is interrupted by a man and a lawyer, who reveal that Rochester is already married to Mason Bertha . Bertha is mad and lives in the house, locked in the attic. It was Bertha who set fire to Mr Rochester's bed. Shocked by this news , Jane left, and becomes a teacher in a small village. One night , Jane imagines she hears Mr Rochester calling to her . She returns to Thornfield to find it