One of the most famous and most frequently quoted statements about the moral responsibility of artists can be found in Oscar Wilde ’s preface to his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book,” writes Wilde, “Books are well written or badly written. That is all.” His claim is that works of art are legitimate objects of aesthetic judgement, but not of moraljudgement. Wilde added this preface when the novel was reprinted a year after its initial publication
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Preface-SUMMARY The artist creates beautiful things. Art aims to reveal art and conceal the artist. The critic translates impressions from the art into another medium. Criticism is a form of autobiography. People who look at something beautiful and find an ugly meaning are "corrupt without being charming." Cultivated people look at beautiful things and find beautiful meanings. The elect are those who see only beauty in beautiful things. Books can’t be moral or immoral; they are only well or badly
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recognized and resolved (Hepworth et al., 2013). As such, this reflective journal is an exercise in self-awareness, recognizing countertransference, and application of clinical practice. I will begin this journal with a summary of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde in order to fully expound on the themes of mental illness existent in the novel. From there, I will present my assessment of the mental illness and describe the clinical approach that I would take to address these issues.
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cruelty become more pronounced; its traits hidden in our culture just under the surface like the effects of sin on the picture of Dorian Gray.” (Richards 216) Diedre demonstrates her social cruelty within her seemingly ‘good’ actions. Her social cruelty occurs when she bullies Elly, or takes the Henderson children from their home. The textual allusion to The Picture of Dorian Gray allows the reader
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Sparknotes – Dorian Gray • Written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. • Devoted to a school of thought and a mode of sensibility known as aestheticism, Wilde believed that art possesses an intrinsic value—that it is beautiful and therefore has worth, and thus needs serve no other purpose, be it moral or political. • Dorian is a cultured, wealthy, and impossibly beautiful young man who immediately captures Basil’s artistic imagination • Although Lord Henry is a self-proclaimed hedonist who advocates the
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1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his only novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray), his plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death. Wilde's parents were successful Anglo-Irish Dublin intellectuals. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life. At university Wilde read Greats; he proved
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This week we had several readings that dealt with both physical health and beauty. Our physical body plays a vital role in the pursuit of a “good life” to a certain extent. In the upcoming paragraphs I will answer the question in relation to all the assigned readings. Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa Cells: The novel about Henrietta’s life story shows one’s physical body needs to be healthy in order to have a “good life”. As her health started deteriorating, Henrietta’s physical body became weaker and
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Oscar Wilde Birth and early life Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, short story writer and Freemason. One of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day, known for his barbed and clever wit, he suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned after being convicted in a famous trial for gross indecency. Birth and early life Wilde
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Oscar Wilde is famous for his claim “All art is quite useless”. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? “All art is quite useless” is a line from Oscar Wilde’s <The Picture of Dorian Gray >. When Wilde wrote this book at that time, it was when people were obsessed with practicality, with everything needing to have a purpose beyond itself. He suggested that art doesn’t need any purpose; it doesn’t have any further use. It exists simply to exist. In some way, art is useless because it doesn’t
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1. W. Shakespeare « Hamlet» (Renaissance) Character List Hamlet - The Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. About thirty years old at the start of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has studied at the University of Wittenberg
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