The Picture of Dorian Gray

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What a great painting! It's so perfect for this book. The hideousness is the perfect representation of Dorian's soul. This book was so eerie. It gave me chills as Dorian Gray went from an innocent young man to the most cold and demon hearted individual. The Picture of Dorian Gray brought up a lot of he same themes as The Importance of Being Ernest, but they were shown in a much darker way with more serious consequences. The most obvious theme was appearance. However, unlike Madame Bovary and A Doll's House it was not concerned with how getting caught up in the trivial details of appearance (the latest fashion, a beautiful house, lovely furnishings etc.) is corrupting, but rather how appearance effects behavioral interaction. With out his unceasing youth Dorian may have learned that there are consequences to evil actions. Yet, does this excuse him? There are still consequences to his actions, many die because of him (Sibyl Vane, Basal, James, Allen Campbell) . He continues the destructive behavior because he has learned to not care the more he kills. Therefore without the bodily consequence to evil doing he only harms others. Wilde mocks society for putting their trust into appearance and not character. He simplifies women to this pursuit of appearance. Through Henry the idea of the strength of influence and mentoring is discussed. Does Henry, being Dorian's mentor have responsibility for Dorian's action? Wilde questions morality and the formation of what is or is not moral through Henry's terse speeches on society.

No Exit

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" - Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady


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In the last few months I have read three different books centered around Hell: Dante's Inferno, The Screwtape Letters, and No Exit. They were all distinctly different. These differences are reflective of the authors' time periods and messages they meant to send. Dante's Inferno was written during the Italian Renaissance. His purpose in writing the Divine Comedy was to challenge specific people in his contemporary society. The format of Dante's work was in poetry. Therefore his Hell was aimed at the more educated that would understand and appreciate his art. The Screwtape Letters was published in 1942 in the midst of World War II. C.S. Lewis's intended audience was Christians. His Hell included ideas that are at least somewhat biblically based and the issues he addresses would be familiar to a Christian audience. As evidenced by the title, the format of the book is a correspondence. His Hell is seen from one side (demon's perspective) whereas Dante's Hell is seen from a narrator, and many different characters throughout the book. Sartre's Hell in No Exit is seen from only the perspective of the sufferers of Hell. The format of the work is in a play. Thus Sartre's audience is much broader being aimed at the general public. Hell in Sartre's play is shown with a message of existentialism. His play says "we are but the summation of our actions," and "Hell is other people." C.S. Lewis's book aims to show the intricacies of the spiritual realm; and Dante's work shows the seriousness of sins on Earth. Hell means different things to different people in different settings. This is evident through these three Hell centered books as they portray different messages through the same setting through different formats to very different audiences.

A Doll's House

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"I have forgiven you."

This statement is so important for Tor to make. It has meaning on many different levels. Tor, as the paternalistic/chauvinistic man he is makes this statement as an expression of his power over Nora. He considers himself to be her guardian feels the need to forgive her as one would a child. The statement serves also as a biblical allusion. It could refer to the general theme of forgiveness in the Bible, but it could also refer to when the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross and said "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." By Tor using this statement of forgiveness to Nora for something she was not aware she needed forgiveness for, it shows that he sees himself as omnipotent and God-like. The statement is also very ironic because he is the one who needs forgiveness for his behavior toward Nora, his distrust and disrespect.

"I have forgiven you" is also a key moment for Nora. As soon as Tor makes this statement Nora goes through the door. This is symbolic of her moving from ignorance to knowledge. From this point forward she is able to think for herself and able to take action based off of those thoughts. The line "I have forgiven you" the climax of the play. From this line Ibsen is able to introduce the scandalous idea that women are people with great power and can take action.

Madame Bovary

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The theme in Madame Bovary that stuck out the most to me was the theme of escape. Throughout the novel Emma is constantly looking for an escape from her reality. This could be attributed to the death of her mother at a young age and her father’s subsequent actions that brought her into an unfamiliar environment at that very sensitive and impressionable time. His solution to Emma’s lack of a woman role model was to get her out of the situation she was in: give her an escape. From this she learned that when life gets tough or doesn’t turn out the way one thinks it should the thing to do is change one’s environment. This lesson was affirmed through every novel she read. Since she couldn’t physically change her environment when she lived at the convent she turned to the novels to be the escape for her mind. From there on Emma went from mental escape to physical escape. The next escape was once again provided by her father as he helped her “escape” from the convent. Of course, as soon as she was home she wanted to escape from home back to the convent; that is, until Charles came into the picture. To her Charles was her dream escape incarnate. He represented an ultimate escape from her childhood and from her father. But the dream could not last. As soon as Emma does not get her way with a midnight wedding she looks for escape. As an adult she finds the escape through materialism, excessive buying, moving to a new town, lovers, religion, and continuing the novels.

Tom Jones Excerpt

I'm very relieved to read some comedy. All the Hell books (Dante, No Exit, and The Screwtape Letters) were getting a bit depressing. I thinks the funniest part of the excerpt from Tom Jones was the contrast of style and action. It was so cartoony. I can imagine Henry Fielding watching two women cat fight from a distance. He turns to his companion, in eighteenth century garb of course, as he pretends to be a sports announcer, or as it just so happens to be, an epic poet. The men would chuckle, then Fielding, the snarky man he is, goes home and writes it all down. The narrator calls upon "the muse" to help him describe this event, as if it is a divine battle. This method is used in Oedipus, and Gilgamesh. Yet the miss match of language and action creates the effect of either confusion or comedy. At first reading this section I was a little confused. I wasn't quite sure what I was reading.

This same technique was used in Ella Enchanted when the stepmother, Dame Olga, writes a letter to her daughter. She describes a social event that was obviously boring to every one else in flowery language. It becomes even more humorous as the overly romantic language is misspelled in several places and the letter contains many grammatical mistakes. I'm trying to mimic this technique in a poem for Southwinds. It's a bit different though because I'm not going for a humorous effect, but rather looking at the daily routine (for some) of putting make up on in a new light of applying a protective mask. Perhaps you can tell me how successful it is once it's finished.


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The Importance of Being Earnest

I found this book ridiculous and hilarious!

A "comedy of manners" is defined as: "A comedy concerned with the social actions and behavior of members of a highly sophisticated, upper-class society. Low-class characters are normally subordinate in interest or are played against the foibles of their 'betters'. Such comedy emphasizes wit, whether true of false, and more often that not take an arch view of the love game." How closely does Earnest fit this description?

Earnest definitely fits this description. Wilde's satirical style makes practically every other line some sort of jab at society. He challenges social order, marriage, and morality through characters that are more caricatures than flesh and blood. They speak with such certainty on rules that society has unknowingly agreed upon, that it comes off as very humorous and makes one think that people are as senseless as sheep.


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The status of females in this play is atrocious. However since it is a satire it is only a representation in the extreme of how women really are considered in Victorian society. Even still the point Wilde makes is that women have no respect as being fully human. They are represented as very simple to the point of being comparatively lacking in mental development compared to the men. The young girls in the story are hung up on he idea of being married to an "Ernest". They have no consideration to the character of the men they are ready to share their lives with, quite the opposite actually. Cecily has already invented the man she wants her love to be before they even met. It's as if the women cannot distinguish between fact and fiction. They have taken the role of play write of their lives and are simply waiting for the proper man, named Ernest of course, to audition for the role. Thus they only care about the appearance of the play, the look of the characters, rather than the person who plays the role. Miss Prism is so unable to distinguish between fact and fiction that she is able to confuse a script for a baby! To her each had an equal life, each a dear creation to her. Yet this value put into a fictional world could be what gets the women by day by day. Without the script, love letters, and other general delusions the women are left in a lonely world with men who treat them as the dolls they become. They are trapped in a reality constructed with facades that must not be broken.