The Picture of Dorian Gray
Being an English major takes up the majority of my free time, so when I get to integrate my love of literature into my other disciplines like photography and art—it’s magical. For my English 337: Study of a Major Author-Oscar Wilde class this semester, we were assigned to read the infamous The Picture of Dorian Gray. As a lot of my close friends know, I read constantly. So, reading this well-known classic was a reread for me. I had read this novella for the first time last year for fun. Going into it, I had never known much about the book. Somehow I had missed out on the pop-cultural phenomenon of the Dorian outcome, so I had no idea how the story would end. When I tell you I was surprised by the {SPOILER WARNING} gory betrayal of poor Basil Hallward, I was floored. I remember having to silently close the book and take a minute to process how the beautiful Dorian had succumbed to the madness. He was a seriously flawed character, but I somehow had held out hope for him.
I think I gave the book a solid 9/10 on my ratings, which is a feat in my world! But reading it this second time, with the added cultural background and life story of the genius Oscar Wilde, I discovered a newfound respect for the character Wilde creates for art. He goes against the Aestheticism movement’s core beliefs, despite being a strong supporter of the movement (often even being a core symbol of it). Art is not just for art’s sake in Dorian. It becomes a symbol of the corruption of the previously untouched and pure creation that is Dorian Gray. That is why I find myself enamored with Wilde and his work. He constantly contradicts himself, going back and forth, leaving you silently questioning yourself. Wilde was unapologetically himself, as eccentric and over-the-top as he wanted. His dedication to his character (he was also a problematic person, but for the sake of the blog, I’ll avoid going into that) is admirable and I hope that I stay as true to myself as I evolve and grow.
For my creative “unessay” project I was assigned, I decided to recreate the key scenes in the novel. So, I hit up my best guy friends, Max Stewart, Caden Suplita, and Caleb Miller. They thankfully agreed to participate in my antics. Max played the charming Dorian Gray. Caden portrayed the poisonous intellect Lord Henry Wotton (and Oscar Wilde himself for a bonus). Caleb took the role of the idealistic artist fascinated by Dorian’s beauty, Basil Hallward. Since most people don’t have late 19th century dress costume simply just lying around, we had to get creative. Obviously Caden (the stylish aesthete he is) came fully prepared with a long sandy beige overcoat and an heirloom cane, ready to help as an additional creative eye. Max conjured up parts of his suit he recently purchased for law school. My blessing of a sister last minute provided a vest and jacket that was much needed. Caleb did a last minute trip to the Fairmont Goodwill, coming up with a new pair of pants and white button-up (don’t look too close into the details, you may see Caleb’s orange converse). Regrettably, no top hat was to be found at the Arts and Antiques Marketplace, but maybe next time! This shoot wouldn’t have come to fruition in the way it did without my lovely neighbor, Amy Carpenter, lending me use of her sitting room that provided the absolute perfect backdrop for the moody, decadent era. Props included (but certainly not limited to) candles, coupe glasses, bunches of hydrangeas harvested from my mom’s bush, an hourglass, a rusty knife I scavenged in the bottom of the kitchen drawer, a $7 mirror from a thrift shop (RIP), my old paint palette from high school art class, some expired black acrylic paint, and a bushel of partly moldy apples. All of these factors came together to create an artistic rendition of the 1890 novella.
