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February 22, 2008 at 4:50 am
· Filed under Observations
February is too cold and too dark to be reading anything as potentially depressing as The Picture of Dorian Grey but that’s what we’re doing in AP Literature. It’s interesting how many of my students really like this book. They seem to respond to the ideas that are expressed by Lord Henry-mostly the ones concerning hedonism and, youth. It’s a little scary to see them respond to literature like this. I know I’m supposed to want them to but, at the same time I’m worried that they’ll take the ideas too far or miss the irony.
I remember going through my own phases along with the books I was reading. I was an Objectivist after reading Atlas Shrugged and, I still feel vaguely guilty whenever I betray the ideals I was so committed to after reading Walden. But I don’t remember getting these books from any of my teachers-they just seemed to wander in, connected to each other by the threads of what I was doing. (I remember reading Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice because it was mentioned in Annie Hall. Now that I think about it I read a number of things because of Woody Allen movies, Marshall Mcluhan, Portnoy’s Complaint, Sentimental Education. Does that make me a Woody Allen disciple?)
I don’t want to turn these kids into disciples of Lord Henry or Oscar Wilde or Woody Allen.
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To be honest, I am an avid Wilde and Rand reader - personally, I was intrigued by and embraced the book “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and not the ideals. Lord Henry is undoubtedly a realist in the cruelest of ways, and today’s generation is attracted to realism. I don’t believe that one would actually want to become someone as wicked as Henry [who had some strangely positive qualities], but the remarkable and respected sadist in literature is always intriguing.
I can’t wait to read Dorian Gray. I read the beginning bit a while back but not enough to become enveloped within the story. Everyone who has read it and knows me say that I basically have a Dorian Gray complex so I’m just dying to see if this is true.
Hedonism is has become mainstream American-teenage culture. Life gives us lemons and we don’t have the recipe for lemonade so we sulk and and do dumb things. If philosophy were star wars it’d be like the dark side of Existentialism. You don’t know what to do so you do whatever feels good or produces immediate results. I think the important thing is that it is just a phase and not a prolonged or permanent lifestyle. Learn, live, move on.
As far as Rand I made it about 20 pages into Anthem and then felt like the world was falling to pieces and starting reading Ginsberg in a tent in my backyard… until my brother came in and made fun of me. Those 20 pages were the first in a while that made me actually feel bad while reading them. I might be able to finish it but I have a feeling it’ll take over my brain and make me vote Bush in as a write-up for a third term… and then cry.
I remember being an Objectivist after reading Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead…But then I read “No Exit” and “Caligula”, haha…
oh and Steve: How did I ever lend you both the complete works of Ginsberg and “Anthem” in the same night? Seems a bit of an odd thing to do, seeing as they totally clash.
I think I took different things from Dorian Gray, I didn’t see Henry as a realist, nor did I really see him as wicked. I can’t wait to reread it and discuss it. I didn’t see it as a hedonist manifesto…I saw it as a cautionary tale, amongst MANY other things…A warning to those egocentric individuals who may allow their moral compass to be replaced by hedonistic values…After all, how does Dorian Gray end up?
Oh, and Kreinbring, I saw Annie Hall, finally. And Manhattan, and Deconstructing Harry, and Hollywood Ending…and Scoop, Crimes and Misdemeanors, New York Stories, and Mighty Aphrodite… Thanks Kreinbring, look what you’ve done now.
I think “The Devil and The Good Lord,” by Jean-Paul Sartre should be required reading.
I think Henry is a realist in an interesting sense, at least. He views things at their murky core and expresses the ugliness of the world.
I know a few people who remind me of Henry’s character, actually - but who live completely different things. I think that’s the way I interpreted Henry.
For some reason the part that always stands out to me is when Henry admitted his wife didn’t love him anymore. He chided the ideals of love, but because he’s a realist, he knew he couldn’t really be content without it.
I agree with your summary of the end of the novel.
And - I’m sorry to say, I’ve never seen Annie Hall - I like some Woody Allen films, but my favorites by far are “What’s Up Tigerlily?” and “Take the Money and Run.”
On a really random note, I saw Amelie recently, which was enlightening.
Ah, Amelie is fantastic. On the subject of French films, I’ve recently become obsessed with Alain Resnais films after seeing “Hiroshima, Mon Amour.” This movie has to be one of the most moving, beautiful films I have ever seen. I saw it four days ago, and have watched it three times. Each time I watch it, I appreciate it more.
I can’t recommend this movie enough. I’m renting more Alain Resnais films, right after I return my Jean-Luc Goddard films (I recommend “Band of Outsiders,” but it’s hardly as good as “Hiroshima..” Very accessible, but doesn’t really have anything to say)
In short, rent “HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR”!!!
I’m too poor to rent movies. I’m reduced to reading. What I have seen of Woody Allen I enjoy though. Back to Dorian Gray. If you examine Oscar Wilde’s personal ethics I think the book has more of the backbone of being the “Hedonist Manifesto”. I am by no means a literary scholar but I do know that by traditional standards he was a pretty raunchy guy.
Jordan, I think “Caligula” or “No Exit” would be far more accessible as required reading.
I think we should read Ionesco and explain to students and parents of students that the Rhinoceroses mean something… and then curl in a ball in the corner muttering no one understands.
I still think Ender’s Game was a great book…
Oscar Wilde wasn’t any more of a hedonist than you or I, or anyone else. He was the same as the royalty that condemned him to exile, the only difference is that while others hid their sins from the public…Wilde displayed them in his art, not dissimiliar to Dorian Gray’s portrait.
To quote Camus, “A work of art is a confession.” Most of what I have read of Wilde’s work shares multiple common themes, with one of the most obvious being the concealment of one’s true nature: Salome’s perversion, Gray’s hedonism, and Erlynne’s secret past. Wilde’s art allowed him to voice feelings that could be potentially damaging to his reputation and standing.
But one must take into account that he had a wife and two children, and wrote beautiful, romantic poems to them. But he also wrote a story that ends with a woman kisssing a decapitated head of a prophet. And he had homosexual affairs.
I think that’s why Wilde continues to captivate us. He’s a duality and a dichotomy, a clash between a respectable Victorian socialite and, what was then considered an immoral, hedonistic gay that wrote “pornographic” material.
((Sorry if that was kind of a rant. I’ll admit that Wilde can be considered a hedonist, but only against Victorian England’s standards.))
“Dichotomy is the essence of being.”
-Stephen Wright
Nice use of the word there.
Morality is subjective to the individual and the society he lives in. Within ancient Greco-Roman society and during some periods Japanese society pedophilia was an accepted practice. As time progressed within these societies social norms and standards changed (though 13 year old girls are open game for creepy old Japanese men during this “civilized” age). Speaking of pedarists, Oscar Wilde happened to be one. According to him once puberty hit for boys and girls they were fair game. Indulgent? Hedonistic? I think so. Like you said, we have to examine the society that he lived in. Pedarism and homosexuality were not considered orthodox within the Victorian era in Europe. By our standards today they are not considered orthodox. Our actions define us and his actions conflict with my good sense of right and wrong. Therefore, I name him a hedonist.
By the way, thanks for stealing the Camus quote from my facebook lol.
I like the Tolstoy one better anyway…
And I’ve taken to Rand a bit. Irrational self interest will destroy us but selflessness leaves us defenseless. I need to look into her more. I’m all of 30 pages into Anthem!
Forget Anthem-It’s formulaic and preachy-like all of Rand’s books.
Go for the mothaload and read Atlas Shrugged or the Fountainhead. Go to the blogroll for AP Students and look in on Rachel. She did Rand for her final project.
RK
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