Tesina maturità: Behind beauty, deception, Prove d'esame di Inglese

Scarica Tesina maturità: Behind beauty, deception e più Prove d'esame in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Behind beauty, deception Aurora Bernardi 5^LL A.S. 2019/2020 Introduction External beauty is something that fascinates the human being, it is pleased and attracted by it. People tend to create beauty to delight other, also through their own image. There is an idealised concept of beauty, which is in constant change and to which everyone aims. The literary works I am going to analyse in this essay are related to the corrupt beauty, which attracts man, but in its flurry of attraction a secret deception is hidden. In particular, I will concentrate on the image of the artist deceived by his muse. I will highlight this aspect in Spanish and English literature, by examining Oscar Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Gray and Bècquer’s legends and poetry works. Dorian Gray, the portrait of corrupted beauty The picture of Dorian Gray is a novel of decadentism written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. The story is set in London at the end of 19th century. The protagonist is a young and naif man, Dorian Gray, he is extremely beautiful to the point that he captures the attention of Basil Hallward, a painter. One day while Basil is doing a portrait of him, he meets Lord Henry Wotton, who introduces him to his view of life, which only relies on pleasure. Dorian is strongly influenced by Henry; he is fascinated by Hedonism. His vision on the world changes completely. At first, he didn’t give importance to his external beauty, but after seeing his portrait completed, he is haunted by the desire to pursue eternal beauty. His wish is fulfilled: the sign of age and sin will appear only on the drawing, while his appearance won’t change. The influence of Lord Henry grows bigger and bigger on him as the years pass by. He becomes corrupted, everyone who gets in contact with him ends up killing himself or being dishonoured, losing every trace of pureness. One day Basil comes to visit him and asks him why there are such bad rumours about him. Dorian Gray shows him the portrait, the real image of his soul. Basil is horrified and Dorian, upset by his behaviour, decides to kill him. After some time, Dorian tries to change, but he is unable to. Taken by a range of anger he decides to stab the portrait, which in his opinion is the origin of all the bad things that had happened to him. As he stabs it, he mysteriously kills himself. The portrait gains its original form, instead Dorian becomes old and disfigured. Una noche el hombre y la mujer de la fuente empiezan hablar y se declaran amor. La mujer demonio arrastra Ferdinando hacia la locura, él no es capaz de entender lo que ocurre y besa a la mujer cayéndose en las aguas profundas y muriendo. La mujer en este cuento, también como en la rima, encanta al hombre, que no es capaz de escaparse da ella. Se aleja de todos los que ama para intentar una nueva aventura, da la que es fascinado al punto de arriesgar su propria vida. La mujer es un ser malvado, que utiliza a su belleza, para controlar al hombre y hacerlo sufrir. El desengaño, pero, quizás no es determinado por la mujer, sino que por el hombre que se pone un ideal romántico inalcanzable. La desilusión nunca es la manifestación de una ilusión, que pide demasiado amor y que no pude satisfacerse. Conclusion Bécquer and Wilde are two completely different artists, who had completely different lives, but still they both speak about the hidden deception of beauty, which has the power to get in control of the human mind. In The portrait of Dorian Gray the strong adoration for gorgeousness brings man to death, such as it happens in Los ojos verdes. To worship an ideal of love, or art, or beauty is wrong because you will never get to it, it is something unreal, a dystopia. The illusion that we have reached the utopia is not genuine, it is only a temporary hallucination. Nowadays with the advent of social media, the standards of beauty are growing higher and higher. The now so-called influencers act as muses to their followers, many people copy them: how they dress, act and eat. This obsession of a healthy lifestyle brought up by influencers with no medical acknowledge is becoming dangerous for those who follow their extreme diets and exercises routine, especially young teens. This apparently perfect and healthy life turns into an unhealthy obsession. This problem is called orthorexia and it is classified as an eating disorder, which in extreme cases can become anorexia or bulimia. Perfection becomes deception when it is worshiped to the brink. Bibliography • L. Garzillo, R. Ciccotti, ConteTextos literarios, 2019, Zanichelli • M. Spiazzi, M. Tavella, M. Layton Culture & Literature 2, 2012, Zanichelli • O. Wilde, The picture of Dorian Gray, 2008, Gutenberg EBook • C. Haupt, Oscar Wilde and the Culture of Decadence, 2015, GRIN • G. A. Bécquer, Rimas y Leyendas, 2010, Amazon Media EU • F. B. Velazquez, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer: precursor del simbolismo en España, 2006, Espiral Hispano Americana