social class (dorian) Flashcards
where set
•victorian england where social class was an important ideal at the time
where is there separation and who’s it represented by
•between the high, middle and lower class represented by lord henry, basil hallward, dorian gray and the family of sibyl vane
what’s lord henry portrayed as
• a wealthy high class citizen in victorian england who’s an aristocrat
lord henry can be..
•manipulative and cold while remaining free of crimes - seen from him being able to corrupt the young handsome dorian gray when basil told him not to & other scenes that are significant to the plot
lord henry is politically astute and
•self diagnonses problems in the East End (poorer side of England) and is quite clear and content with the status quo in society
what does Lord Henry say about slaves
•”It is the problem of slavery, and we try to solve it by amusing the slaves”
lord henry tried to hide his personality from his wife because
•he doesn’t want her knowing about what he’s doing as he wants to keep the respectable image of what an aristocrat needs to be like & has to maintain his status in the social class
this is a problem as his reputation is seen to be..
•the most important part of a man in the highest class, without ruining his rep & where family, pride and structure was a fundamental aspect of the victorian upper class
who’s lord henry in complete contrast with
•basil hallward. basil is a middle class citizen, painter and hard worker, who realizes his potential as an artist in painting the dorian gray masterpiece
basil is the only central character with a..
•sense of right and wrong. for a while he refused to believe that his friends can commit evil and while he cheerfully warned dorian abt lord henry’s bad influence, he thinks lord henry’s cynicism is “simply a pose”
however, henry is a what character
•henry is a suspicious character as he pretends to be upfront all the time
we never see basil and henry in a chapter together unless..?
•unless dorian is present, showing how the social class causes the superstition between & that it was rare for social classes to mix due to their differences
from this, dorian can be seen as.
•the character who helps in joining the characters together, with ignoring the class system and allowing people to come together from the three classes w/o being looked down on
who’s sibyl vane
•a young actress, dorian’s first love, who comes from the lower class and lives in poverty with her family
what quote shows the poor status of sibyls home and how it contrasts their social class as characters
“back turned to the shrill intrusive light was sitting in the one armchair that their dingy little sitting room contained”
