Dorian Gray Questions

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QUESTIONS

Chapters 1-2

Before you read

 1) Look at the Word List at the back of the book.  

a) Which of these words in italics have a positive meaning?

 - absurd - charming - fascinating - scandal - shame  

b) Which of these words in italics do not have a positive meaning?

- corrupt - failure - friendship - rumour - tragedy 

c) If an artist paints your portrait in a fortnight, how long does it take?

If an artist paints my portrait within a fortnight, it will take fifteen days to paint it.

2) Read the Introduction and answer these questions. What do you learn about?  

a) Oscar Wilde's character and personal life?

Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist who lived from 1854 to 1900. He is regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian Era.Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, and grew up in a household full of artists, writers, intellectuals, and members of the medical profession

 b) The life of Dorian Gray?  

Dorian becomes obsessed with his own youth and beauty and wishes that his portrait would age instead of him. His wish is granted, and he lives a life of hedonism and sin while his portrait becomes a reflection of his true self, growing more grotesque with each sin he commits

c)Wilde's opinion of art?

Wilde believed that an educated person's ideas of art are drawn naturally from what art has been, whereas the new work of art is beautiful by being what art has not been.Wilde believed that art is about illusion and imagination, and that the artist's ability to transcend reality and to create the sublime is what makes him great

While you read

 3) Who says these sentences? Write the name of the speaker from the story.  

'It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you have ever done.  

Lord Henry Wotton

 'I really can't exhibit it. I have put too much of myself into it.  

Dorian Gray

 'Charming boy. I don't know what he does -I think he doesn't do anything.  

Lord Henry Wotton

 'I choose my friends for their beauty and my enemies for their intelligence.'  

Lord Henry Wotton

 'When he is with me, I see the world differently.

Dorian Gray

4) Put a (✔) next to the correct answers.

Lord Henry thinks:  

that Dorian is very handsome. ✔ 

 that Dorian should visit him. ✔ 

 that Dorian has passions that make him afraid. ✔ 

 that it is not good to be young.  

Beauty never disappears. ✔ 

Basil's portrait of Dorian is one of the greatest paintings in modern art. ✔ 

After you read  

5) What do you think Basil means when he says these things to Lord Henry?

 When I like people enormously I never tell their names to anyone.  

However, it does reveal something about his character and personality. Basil is a private person who values his relationships with others and keeps them close to his heart. He is not interested in gossip or idle talk, but rather in deep, meaningful connections with people he cares about.

l knew that this boy would become my whole soul, my whole art itself.  

Is a reflection of his deep admiration and affection for Dorian Gray. Basil is a talented painter who becomes infatuated with Dorian's beauty and sees him as the embodiment of his artistic vision. Basil's love for Dorian inspires him to create his greatest work of art, the portrait of Dorian Gray

 Then I feel, Hary, that I have given my whole soul to someone who uses it like a flower to put in his coat on a summer's day.'  

This reveals his feelings about Dorian Gray. Basil is speaking to Lord Henry and expressing his concern that Dorian is not taking their friendship seriously and is treating it as a superficial decoration rather than a deep, meaningful connection.

6) How does Dorian Gray feel about the following things? Why?  

sitting for his portrait

Dorian Gray initially admires his portrait painted by Basil Hallward. However, as the story progresses, his relationship with the portrait becomes more complex and stormy. Dorian becomes envious and jealous of his own portrait after Lord Henry warns him that he will not always have his looks and youth. Dorian's jealousy of the portrait shows his ever-increasing vanity, and the fact that his mind changed so quickly proves the power Lord Henry has over his thoughts and emotions. Dorian's feelings towards sitting for his portrait are influenced by his obsession with his own beauty and youth.

 Lord Henry  

Dorian Gray is influenced by Lord Henry Wotton, who promotes the pursuit of pleasure and beauty without moral restraint in things other than Dorian himself. Lord Henry's theories aim to shock and purposefully attempt to topple established, untested, or conventional notions of truth. Dorian falls under Lord Henry's spell and becomes obsessed with his own beauty and youth.

growing old  

Dorian Gray has a deep fear of aging, as he longs to preserve his youth and beauty forever. Lord Henry Wotton instills this fear in Dorian's young and impressionable heart with a few casual words. Dorian becomes greatly troubled, and when Basil unveils the portrait, its beauty hurts Dorian so much that he exclaims he would sell his soul for his painting to age in his place

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