Passage: "Dorian Gray stepped up on the dais, with the air of a young Greek martyr, and made a little moue of discontent to Lord Henry, to whom he had rather taken a fancy. He was so unlike Basil. They made a delightful contrast. And he had such a beautiful voice."
The juxtaposition of Basil Hallward and Lord Henry echoes the motif of intellect against beauty, which is emphasized by Dorian Gray. In Chapter 1, Basil says "the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me", which is contrasted by Lord Henry's statement about Dorian Gray: "I am bound to the state that she never told me he was good-looking" (making it seem as though beauty is the only thing anyone should be paying attention to. This is ironic because Basil, the artist and "intellectual" finds obsession in Dorian Gray's "personality", whereas Lord Henry, the heidonist, finds obsession in Dorian Gray's good looks. The juxtaposition of the obessions they have of Dorian Gray is, ironically, acknowledged by Dorian Gray in the above passage "delightful contrast". Lord Henry, then says "Genius lasts longer than Beauty." The statement is foreshadwoing the plot, through the beauty and genius motif: Dorian Gray is obsessed with his beauty, and through genius (art; Basil) his beauty will last. The concept of Homosociality, theororized by Eve Sedgwick, is evident in the relationshup between the three men. Despite their ambiguous sexualities, all three discuss looks of other men. "With the air of a young Greek martyr", is reference to Dorian's Greek like beauty. Greek culture and society is associated with homosociality, and also the visual image of Greek sculptures: overaccentuated male muscles make the asociation with Dorian Gray appropriate.
Dorian Gray is characterized as youthful through childish diction. Earlier in the chapter, when Basil tells Lord Henry to leave the scene, Dorian, childishly, fights Basil's wishes by saying "Oh, please don't, Lord Henry. I see that Basil is in one of his sulky moods; and I can't bear him when he sulks. Besides, I want you to tell me why I should not go in for philanthropy." He then tries to keep Lord Henry by expressing an interest in what he has to say "I want you to tell me why". By begging, "Oh, please don't", and following with a complaint about Basil, Dorian Gray has portrayed hisself to be, not only youthful, but immature. The syntax of the first sentence "Dorian Gray stepped on the dais", sets up the paragraph to have Dorian Gray above the setting, which contributes to the imagery of Dorian Gray, being put, literally, on a pedastal.
** I find many allusions to The Wasteland, however, I, painfully, discovered that The Wasteland was written after The Picture of Dorian Gray. When describing the relationship Lord Henry has with his wife, he says "I never know where my wife is, and my wife never knows what I am doing. When we meet- we do meet occasionally,". The noncallant meetings, and relationship he has with his wife echoes the relationshups being described in The Wasteland. Then, "After a pause, Lord Henry pulled out his watch. 'I am afriad i must be going Basil,' he murmured". The time reference is similar to the allusion made in The Great Gatsby, when Gatsby almost breaks the clock- in reference to the part of The Wasteland "HURRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME" (Line 141). I find it also relevant in that The Great Gatsby also had the homosociality motif.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1
Passage: "The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ."
Among the florid, and flowing words in the beginning of the novel, the passage above sticks out, deliberately, to express its qualities of foreshadowing to the reader. Chapter 1 begins with a deep, slow moving (due to use of adjectives), "light summer wind" like diction. The immense imagery is due to the deep detail of the flowers; forcing the reader to imagine what they look like. Then comes the passage above, the last sentence of the second paragraph (syntax), that is not abruptly thrown into the readers view, but still drastically differs from the rest. It is clearly foreshadowing due to the words "dim", and "distant". They not only begin with the letter "d", to show emphasis on their importance, but also share similar denotation and connotation. The word "distant" means far off, which portrays a sense of perception, alluding to something in "the distance" that could, as the story progresses, relate closer to the plot. The start of the passage begins with the paradox "the dim roar" which is in reference to London. The word "dim" contrasts the word "roar" to bring more focus and emphasis to the importance of the sentence, alluding to the relevance the "roar" of London will have as the novel progresses.
The passage holds syntactical relevance in that it is deliberately placed in the beginning of Chapter 1, and is placed at the end of the second paragraph. All sentences leading up to the above passage use words like: "rich", "light", "beauty", "honey", "heavy", "delicate"- that portray a languid and peaceful diction, which emphasizes the relevance. The sentence isn't so drastically abrupt because of the soft diction used to portray the profound foreshadowing; the words "dim" and "distant"are used to counteract the biting sounds of "roar" and "bourdon", portraying a bleak, but still soft tone. Through parallelism and simile, the "The dim roar" is directly correlated with "the bourdon note", and "London" Is directly correlated with "a distant organ". The parallelism further defines "the dim roar", and "London", by using the same structure to say "the bourdon note", and "a distant organ".
Among the florid, and flowing words in the beginning of the novel, the passage above sticks out, deliberately, to express its qualities of foreshadowing to the reader. Chapter 1 begins with a deep, slow moving (due to use of adjectives), "light summer wind" like diction. The immense imagery is due to the deep detail of the flowers; forcing the reader to imagine what they look like. Then comes the passage above, the last sentence of the second paragraph (syntax), that is not abruptly thrown into the readers view, but still drastically differs from the rest. It is clearly foreshadowing due to the words "dim", and "distant". They not only begin with the letter "d", to show emphasis on their importance, but also share similar denotation and connotation. The word "distant" means far off, which portrays a sense of perception, alluding to something in "the distance" that could, as the story progresses, relate closer to the plot. The start of the passage begins with the paradox "the dim roar" which is in reference to London. The word "dim" contrasts the word "roar" to bring more focus and emphasis to the importance of the sentence, alluding to the relevance the "roar" of London will have as the novel progresses.
The passage holds syntactical relevance in that it is deliberately placed in the beginning of Chapter 1, and is placed at the end of the second paragraph. All sentences leading up to the above passage use words like: "rich", "light", "beauty", "honey", "heavy", "delicate"- that portray a languid and peaceful diction, which emphasizes the relevance. The sentence isn't so drastically abrupt because of the soft diction used to portray the profound foreshadowing; the words "dim" and "distant"are used to counteract the biting sounds of "roar" and "bourdon", portraying a bleak, but still soft tone. Through parallelism and simile, the "The dim roar" is directly correlated with "the bourdon note", and "London" Is directly correlated with "a distant organ". The parallelism further defines "the dim roar", and "London", by using the same structure to say "the bourdon note", and "a distant organ".
Friday, October 24, 2008
Dubliners: Counterparts
Passage: "Darkness, accompanied by a thick fog, was gaining upon the dusk of February and the lamps in Eustace Street had been lit."
The passage above holds a strong relevance in not only Counterparts, but also Araby. "When the short days of winter came dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners." The passage is referencing the myriad of motifs and themes that have been repeating. Both passages introduce the motif of darkness and British oppression. When the protagonist comes home to a dark house, he exclaims "Light the lamp. What do you mean by having the place in darkness?" For Dubliners, everything is dark. The protagonist is humiliated when he looses an arm wrestling fight. The defeat he exhibits is similar to the lead protagonist in A Little Cloud. In A Little Cloud, the protagonist exhibits intellectual defeat when he is debased by his British friend. The protagonist of Counterparts is defeated in an arm wrestling match, by a fellow Dubliner. This contrast shows the intellectual defeat, characterizing the successful British, and the physical, barbarian like, defeat, characterizing Ireland/Dubliners. The juxtaposition of the two stories help to accentuate the contrast of the British and Irish.
Similar, syntacitally, to the passage from Araby, the passage above is placed in the beginning of the story. By doing this, it creates the dark motif, and sets up the dark diction and tone. By choosing "accompanied by a thick fog", it alludes to a motif bigger than just the repeated "darkness". Since each story is syntactically placed to display a different age in life, the reader infers "a thick fog"as a symbol of what age brings into your life. At first is was "darkness", but as the protagonists get older and older, now "a thick fog" has accompanied the "darkness" that was already keeping the Dubliners down.
The passage above holds a strong relevance in not only Counterparts, but also Araby. "When the short days of winter came dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners." The passage is referencing the myriad of motifs and themes that have been repeating. Both passages introduce the motif of darkness and British oppression. When the protagonist comes home to a dark house, he exclaims "Light the lamp. What do you mean by having the place in darkness?" For Dubliners, everything is dark. The protagonist is humiliated when he looses an arm wrestling fight. The defeat he exhibits is similar to the lead protagonist in A Little Cloud. In A Little Cloud, the protagonist exhibits intellectual defeat when he is debased by his British friend. The protagonist of Counterparts is defeated in an arm wrestling match, by a fellow Dubliner. This contrast shows the intellectual defeat, characterizing the successful British, and the physical, barbarian like, defeat, characterizing Ireland/Dubliners. The juxtaposition of the two stories help to accentuate the contrast of the British and Irish.
Similar, syntacitally, to the passage from Araby, the passage above is placed in the beginning of the story. By doing this, it creates the dark motif, and sets up the dark diction and tone. By choosing "accompanied by a thick fog", it alludes to a motif bigger than just the repeated "darkness". Since each story is syntactically placed to display a different age in life, the reader infers "a thick fog"as a symbol of what age brings into your life. At first is was "darkness", but as the protagonists get older and older, now "a thick fog" has accompanied the "darkness" that was already keeping the Dubliners down.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Dubliners: A Little Cloud
"There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin."
Throughout the story, Joyce uses the motif of British oppression. The whole motif, and idea is encompassed the passage above. The protagonist is the vehicle that conveys the motif. He desires more out of life; he wishes to be a poet. This dream to be, is echoed in the passage "When his hour had struck he stood up and took leave of his desk and of his fellow-clerks punctiliously. He emerged from under the feudal arch of the King's Inns". While he's day dreaming of being a poet, "he emerged from under the feudal arch", which is a metaphor for his dreams; the dreams are tangible ideas in his head, similar to the physical "arch", but they won't be pursued in Dublin, evident in the above passage; they're futile like the arch itself. The main focus, other than the protagonist, is his friend, Ignatius Gallaher, a successful Dubliner. Gallaher, characterized in the passage "You could tell that at once by his travelled air, his well-cut tweed suit, and fearless accent." He is the first Dubliner to be characterized in such a successful and respecting manner, which is why, when the reader discovers Gallaher found success in England, that the motif of British oppression is continuing throughout the stories, and that the above passage is the true focal point of the story. The dreams of the protagonist slowly digress as the story progresses. Gallaher contributes to the digression, as a symbol of British oppression. He degrades the protagonist- going off on tangents in French, referring to him like a child, until the protagonist relizes, and states, "Gallaher was only patronising him by his friendliness just as he was paronising Ireland by his visit." The passage initiates Gallaher as the symbol of British oppression, and Little Chandler as the symbol of the oppressed Irish. The story ends with his dreams, that once seemed possible, being dessicated- when he comes home to his wife and child. The end of the story is appropriate and anticipated by the reader in the forshadowing conversation of marriage between Gallaher and Little Chandler, ending with the bitter remark by Gallaher, saying "Must get a bit stale, I should think." Little Chandler has a wife and child, which Gallaher does not, which heightens the contrast between the Brtish and the Irish. It is because of Little Chandler's family, and his unhappiness with his wife that neither of them address, or choose to fix, that he cannot progress, that he continues to live in Ireland, and continues to be oppressed by the British.
Joyce puts a great amount of rhetoric into the syntax of the sentence. With the use of a colon, he puts syntactical definition, and focus on the most important part of the sentence, "if you wanted..." The syntax of the sentence in the paragraph, helps the reader to acknoledge its meaning. The paragraph begins with an uplifting, less morbid tone to the paragraph, beginning "Little Chandler quickened his pace" which is neither negative nor dark sounding. The uplifting tone flows through to the prodound above passage. The sentence is, however, not uplifting to a Dubliner, clearly stating that you cannot progress in Dublin. The tone of the paragraph diverts the reader's attention away from it's importance. It helps to foreshadow the protagonist's the lack of seriousness in the idea, and how the protagonist isn't going to leave Dublin.
Throughout the story, Joyce uses the motif of British oppression. The whole motif, and idea is encompassed the passage above. The protagonist is the vehicle that conveys the motif. He desires more out of life; he wishes to be a poet. This dream to be, is echoed in the passage "When his hour had struck he stood up and took leave of his desk and of his fellow-clerks punctiliously. He emerged from under the feudal arch of the King's Inns". While he's day dreaming of being a poet, "he emerged from under the feudal arch", which is a metaphor for his dreams; the dreams are tangible ideas in his head, similar to the physical "arch", but they won't be pursued in Dublin, evident in the above passage; they're futile like the arch itself. The main focus, other than the protagonist, is his friend, Ignatius Gallaher, a successful Dubliner. Gallaher, characterized in the passage "You could tell that at once by his travelled air, his well-cut tweed suit, and fearless accent." He is the first Dubliner to be characterized in such a successful and respecting manner, which is why, when the reader discovers Gallaher found success in England, that the motif of British oppression is continuing throughout the stories, and that the above passage is the true focal point of the story. The dreams of the protagonist slowly digress as the story progresses. Gallaher contributes to the digression, as a symbol of British oppression. He degrades the protagonist- going off on tangents in French, referring to him like a child, until the protagonist relizes, and states, "Gallaher was only patronising him by his friendliness just as he was paronising Ireland by his visit." The passage initiates Gallaher as the symbol of British oppression, and Little Chandler as the symbol of the oppressed Irish. The story ends with his dreams, that once seemed possible, being dessicated- when he comes home to his wife and child. The end of the story is appropriate and anticipated by the reader in the forshadowing conversation of marriage between Gallaher and Little Chandler, ending with the bitter remark by Gallaher, saying "Must get a bit stale, I should think." Little Chandler has a wife and child, which Gallaher does not, which heightens the contrast between the Brtish and the Irish. It is because of Little Chandler's family, and his unhappiness with his wife that neither of them address, or choose to fix, that he cannot progress, that he continues to live in Ireland, and continues to be oppressed by the British.
Joyce puts a great amount of rhetoric into the syntax of the sentence. With the use of a colon, he puts syntactical definition, and focus on the most important part of the sentence, "if you wanted..." The syntax of the sentence in the paragraph, helps the reader to acknoledge its meaning. The paragraph begins with an uplifting, less morbid tone to the paragraph, beginning "Little Chandler quickened his pace" which is neither negative nor dark sounding. The uplifting tone flows through to the prodound above passage. The sentence is, however, not uplifting to a Dubliner, clearly stating that you cannot progress in Dublin. The tone of the paragraph diverts the reader's attention away from it's importance. It helps to foreshadow the protagonist's the lack of seriousness in the idea, and how the protagonist isn't going to leave Dublin.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Dubliners: Two Gallants
Passage: "He turned to the left when he came to the corner of Rutland Square and felt more at ease in the dark, quiet street, the sombre look of which suited his mood."
The passage above encompasses many of the ongoing motifs, and metaphors, that are reoccurring in all the stories, prior, in Dubliners. The reference of "Rutland Square", a reference to any street name, or specific area has been repeatedly used in all the stories. "He turned to the left", the specificity of direction, and the names of all the streets conveys to the reader a tangible scene, and character. Like in all the stories, the dubliners are oppressed, and "sombre"- mentioned in the above passage. It is perplexing that the character would feel more at ease on a dark, quiet, and sombre looking road. The ease that the character feels is similar to the ongoing motifs of British oppression, and the lack of happiness that is achieved by the Irish. Rutland Square, coincidentally, is the scene of the beginning and end of the story. This circular, shape like directional motif is evident in many of the stories. In Eveline, for a vague example, in one of the last paragraphs, Frank was "saying something about the passage over and over again." In addition to Eveline, After The Race, begins with a car race, which in on a track, which is usually circular, and repeated- metaphorically, a car is always getting ahead, but repeating the same direction. The spiral directions presented to the reader are a metaphor for the Irish progression- always ending up where they began.
The "dark" tone of the passage is relevant in all stories of Dubliners. It holds a lot of meaning pertaining to the dubliners themselves. The character finds comfort in the dark and sombre street. This unusual comfort is blatant to the reader. The syntax of the passage puts, "He turned to the left... and felt more at ease" to inevitably make the reader anticipate a comforting detail, only to be flustered by "in the dark, quiet street, the sombre look of which suited his mood."By putting the feeling of "ease" before the "dark", "quiet", and "sombre", Joyce puts more emphasis on the words that have been repeating in the previous stories.
The passage above encompasses many of the ongoing motifs, and metaphors, that are reoccurring in all the stories, prior, in Dubliners. The reference of "Rutland Square", a reference to any street name, or specific area has been repeatedly used in all the stories. "He turned to the left", the specificity of direction, and the names of all the streets conveys to the reader a tangible scene, and character. Like in all the stories, the dubliners are oppressed, and "sombre"- mentioned in the above passage. It is perplexing that the character would feel more at ease on a dark, quiet, and sombre looking road. The ease that the character feels is similar to the ongoing motifs of British oppression, and the lack of happiness that is achieved by the Irish. Rutland Square, coincidentally, is the scene of the beginning and end of the story. This circular, shape like directional motif is evident in many of the stories. In Eveline, for a vague example, in one of the last paragraphs, Frank was "saying something about the passage over and over again." In addition to Eveline, After The Race, begins with a car race, which in on a track, which is usually circular, and repeated- metaphorically, a car is always getting ahead, but repeating the same direction. The spiral directions presented to the reader are a metaphor for the Irish progression- always ending up where they began.
The "dark" tone of the passage is relevant in all stories of Dubliners. It holds a lot of meaning pertaining to the dubliners themselves. The character finds comfort in the dark and sombre street. This unusual comfort is blatant to the reader. The syntax of the passage puts, "He turned to the left... and felt more at ease" to inevitably make the reader anticipate a comforting detail, only to be flustered by "in the dark, quiet street, the sombre look of which suited his mood."By putting the feeling of "ease" before the "dark", "quiet", and "sombre", Joyce puts more emphasis on the words that have been repeating in the previous stories.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Dubliners: Eveline
Passage:"He rushed beyond the barrier and called her to follow. He was shouted at to go on but he still called to her. She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition. "
Within Dubliners, the story Eveline is not only the first short story with a female protagonist, but also a protagonist with a name: Eveline. The passage above encompasses everything Eveline is trying to get at throughout the story. At the start of the story, Eveline is a myopic, listless, individual leaning on a window, an on going motif throughout Dubliners, reminiscing in the past; which happens to be pre-British oppression, or "before the new red houses" (pg. 25). Eveline reminisces over the past, dreams about the future, and when given the opportunity to escape the present moment, she holds back. By remaining in the present- remaining in Ireland- she is dehumanized, "like a helpless animal". The dehumanization of Eveline is similar to the dehumanization of the main protagonist in Araby, who, at the end of the story "saw myself as a creature".
Though the end of Eveline is powerful, Joyce contradicts the climax, with a docile tone. Eveline undergoes an epiphany, which is why she's ostentatious enough to flee her father, a possible symbol of Ireland. When she is ready to board the ship with Frank, who is conveyed to the reader as a strong, brave, hero, she gives up. A rising climax is balked by the protagonist's incapability to leave her home, Ireland. Joyce describes, "She set her white face to him; passive, like a helpless animal", as oppose to being blunt, he eases the protagonist's defeat with a more soft tone; describing her face as, "white" instead of vacuous, or empty. He makes the reader perplexed, and draw their own conclusions, another ongoing literary element used by Joyce, begging the question: if she had the opportunity to leave, why did she succumb to defeat?
Within Dubliners, the story Eveline is not only the first short story with a female protagonist, but also a protagonist with a name: Eveline. The passage above encompasses everything Eveline is trying to get at throughout the story. At the start of the story, Eveline is a myopic, listless, individual leaning on a window, an on going motif throughout Dubliners, reminiscing in the past; which happens to be pre-British oppression, or "before the new red houses" (pg. 25). Eveline reminisces over the past, dreams about the future, and when given the opportunity to escape the present moment, she holds back. By remaining in the present- remaining in Ireland- she is dehumanized, "like a helpless animal". The dehumanization of Eveline is similar to the dehumanization of the main protagonist in Araby, who, at the end of the story "saw myself as a creature".
Though the end of Eveline is powerful, Joyce contradicts the climax, with a docile tone. Eveline undergoes an epiphany, which is why she's ostentatious enough to flee her father, a possible symbol of Ireland. When she is ready to board the ship with Frank, who is conveyed to the reader as a strong, brave, hero, she gives up. A rising climax is balked by the protagonist's incapability to leave her home, Ireland. Joyce describes, "She set her white face to him; passive, like a helpless animal", as oppose to being blunt, he eases the protagonist's defeat with a more soft tone; describing her face as, "white" instead of vacuous, or empty. He makes the reader perplexed, and draw their own conclusions, another ongoing literary element used by Joyce, begging the question: if she had the opportunity to leave, why did she succumb to defeat?
Friday, September 19, 2008
Dubliners: Araby
Passage: "I watched my master's face pass from amiability to sternness; he hoped I was not beginning to idle. I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play."
Joyce uses the ongoing theme of the protagonist's struggle to grow up; evident in The Sisters, An Encounter, and Araby. In the passage above, the protagonist has an epiphany like experience in his classroom. This epiphany is foreshadowed and supported in The Sisters, and Araby. In The Sisters, Joyce uses the death of Rev. James Flynn to put the protagonist at war with himself, and to see reality for what reality is; increasing the inevitability of an epiphany. In An Encounter, Joyce uses the Mid Western motif to echo the protagonist's striver to grow up, which is balked by the the protagonist's immature escape through childish literature. "I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life", since the protagonist has found love, he puts on as if he has found the true meaning of life, or "desire". The protagonist refers to "serious work of life" as "ugly monotonous child's play." By demeaning "serious work" to "child's play" the protagonist misleads the reader into truly believing he is progressing.
In Araby, the protagonist has found love. Love- a moving, light, florid subject- is contradicted by Joyce's tone. "When the short days of winter came dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners." This characteristic of the setting sets up Joyce's repeated use of words like: "dark", "figure", and "shadow". Mangan's sister is never fully observed, she is always described as a "brown figure", or always illuminated by lamplight. This use of illumination and vague figure contributes to the intangibility of the relationship the protagonist has with the girl; always observing her through windows, or from afar, never seeing her straight forward, always via illumination from surrounding light. "I was thankful that I could see so little", the quote echoes Joyce's "dark", "shadowy", unclear tone, and, furthermore, proves the protagonist's inability to mature.
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