The Picture of Dorian Gray - Basil Hallward and Sibyl Vane are extremely similar

NOTES: Spoilers, but it was written 200 years ago so I'm probably not spoiling it for anybody I'm doing my dissertation on The Picture of Dorian Gray because I hate myself and love spending multiple hours dissecting an actually quite short preface for what are subpar results anyways. I actually love it, but fell out of love multiple times during my note taking because what was Oscar Wilde on when he wrote this I'm literally 17 my brain is not built for this 🧠👁👄👁 ACTUAL POINT: Basil Hallward and Sibyl Vane are really similar in some ways. Not all ways, Sibyl Vane comes from a poor family, she is an actress at an East-end theatre with an uninteresting life. Basil Hallward studied at Oxford and is a painter who has a lovely house with a garden in the posh area of London. But they are both artists, and they make the same mistake ( according to aesthetic theory ) in not having a boundary between their life and art. Basil Hallward puts too much of himself into Dorian's portrait. His infatuation with Dorian both seeps into his art and transcends his art. This causes problems in that the Picture becomes cursed with Dorian's faustian wish, and that his art after Dorian leaves him as a sitter is pretty meh if we trust Lord Henry isn't just being mean. When he saw what had become of his work, he is first stricken with guilt, then repeatedly stabbed behind the ear till death. Sibyl Vane's life is bleak, so she outs all of herself into her art. When her life is lit up with love and hope ( when she meets her 'Prince Charming' ) she is present in her life, and nothing is ekft for her art, which exposes her as a mediocre actress. When Dorian leaves her because of this ( because he didn't really love her ) she no longer has her art, and she can no longer enjoy her life. She ingests poison and kills herself. RIP Basil Hallward and Sibyl Vane, you hardly knew eachother at all but your boyfriend turned out kinda evil. Please share any thoughts about the picture of dorian gray I am DESPERATE to talk about this!!!! Especially if you're talking bad about Lord Henry ----- Obviously, I could be totally misunderstanding, but this has been on my mind all day and after 7 hours of work on my dissertation today, and 12 yesterday, I badly need a break to talk about this book I love in a non-formal way, were I don't need to sacrifice all of my favourite details to meet a word count ( I'm absolutely gutted I can't talk about Schumann and can barely discuss Venice ) Also I had to way oversimplify the flowers symbolism which pmo because that's actually really important, in terms of synaesthesia and also actual character development and themes I have loved this book for so long ( why I asked to do it for my dissertation ) but someone tell me why Oscar Wilde was smarter than everybody because how on earth do you even think to write this, also his editor was doing him a MASSIVE favour in telling him to change some of that stuff he wrote in Lippincotts because GENUINELY that stuff was gayer than heated rivalry ( love him for it but also you live in the 19th Century are you trying to get yourself in trouble -_- ) submitted by /u/Such-Entry-8904 [link] [comments]

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