Peer editing - Martinely -- EnglishtextsM

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:59:45 06/18/07 Mon
Author: Cristiane Tin�co
Subject: Peer editing - Martinely

The Myth of Narcissus and Dorian Gray in the Victorian Age

Narcissus myth has influenced many artistic works since the Old times. Maybe because his story refers to vanity and selfishness, which are subjects always present in the history of humankind, mainly in the modernity. Anyway, one of the influences of this myth occurred (Bw) to the homoerotic culture of the Victorian age, specifically through the aesthetic movement in England in the ending of the 19th century. In that period, Oscar Wilde published �The Picture of Dorian Gray�, which presents explicit and implicit references to Narcissus myth. Then, it is obvious that the novel has a clear association with the story of this myth.
Firstly, both plots are quite similar. Narcissus is a very handsome young man who attracts people�s attention because of his beauty. At the same time, he is so selfish and proud of himself that he is not able to love someone else�s (Ww). After being punished but (Ww) the Goddess Nemesis, he falls in love with his own image on Echo�s pond. So, Narcissus spent his days admiring his face on the surface of the water, until a (Ww) day he jumped into the pond, hopeful (Ww) to find his loved being, but he ends up drowning. In the case of �The Picture of Dorian Gray", the plot also tells us about a very handsome young man named Dorian who also attracts everybody around him for his beauty. A man named Basil Hallward painted a picture of him, Dorian falls in love with his image in the picture, and then, he wishes not to get old anymore in order to keep (Ww) handsome and young forever. In the end of the story, in a fit of anger, Dorian picks up a knife and tries to destroy the picture. When his servants hear a cry from Dorian�s room, they decide to call the police, which later, find a wounded, ugly and old man holding a knife and the picture of Dorian Gray as beautiful as he used to be eighteen years ago.
Secondly, it is important to take into consideration that vanity and beauty are very recurrent themes both in the Victorian Age and Narcissus� story. In the novel, we can see references to vanity and physical appearance all the time; an absolute exaltation to youth, like in this passage in an opinion of a Dorian�s friend, Lord Henry who used to praise Dorian ��you have the most marvelous youth, and youth is the one thing worth having.�. (WILDE, p.45). Later, he tries to explain about the importance of beauty to Basil Hallward, the man who had painted Dorian�s portrait:
� People say sometimes that Beauty is only superficial that may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as Thought is. To me, Beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible� (WILDE, p.45).

After seeing his picture Dorian Gray ends up agreeing with Lord Henry.
I know, now, that when one loses one�s good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything. Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry Wooton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself. (WILDE, p. 50)

This reveals the same passion Dorian feels for himself like Narcissus for his own image: �I am jealous of everything who�s beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. � (WILDE, p. 50). The moment in which Dorian Gray sees his painting for the very first time is quite similar to that one in which Narcissus sees his own image reflected on the surface of Echo�s pond:
Dorian made no answer, but passes listlessly in front of his picture, and turned towards it. When he saw it he drew back and his cheeks flushed for a moment with pleasure. A look of joy came into his eyes, as if he had recognized himself for the first time. He stood there motionless and in wonders, dimly conscious that Hallward was speaking to him, but no catching the meaning of his words. The sense of his own beauty came on him like a revelation. He had never felt it before. (WILDE, p. 48)

Thirdly, we can find another similarity between both stories is the passions of Echo and Sybil Vane. The scholar and professor Terence Dawson wrote about them in an essay. In a part (Ww), he specifies the relation between the story of Narcissus and Echo and between Dorian Gray and Sybil Vane. He makes a comparison between Echo�s sexuality and Sybil�s one (Wo) in which both suffer from an �inner fire�. And then he compares how Narcissus is indifferent to Echo�s love and how Dorian does the same with Sybil�s one. Still, how both of them are so enamored of themselves who end up getting anguished with their own beauty, since as both of them are fallen with love with themselves they are not predisposed to love anybody else.(R) Finally, the author parallels (Ww) Echo and Sybil as women who tried to conquer their loved being and awake their sexuality in vain. Specifically as for the relationship between Dorian and Sybil Vane, in many parts of the book it is clear that he does not love Sybil, only her artistic talent as an actress by performing many female characters in the theatre.
To conclude, we must remind (Ww) that beyond many similarities between the plot and the characters of both stories, this novel was the fruit of the Victorian Age, mainly of the aesthetic movement, which took refuge in the classical age by considering it more artistic and less obscurantist than the moral principals of the Victorian age intend to be. As a result, they were interested in revive figures of the past like Narcissus myth. Therefore, this novel would not exit outside this context what justify the meeting of Narcissus myth and the fictitious character Dorian Gray in the Victorian Age.

I don�t think your text fits the purpose of a Argumentative essay. You spent too many paragraphs telling the story, and your thesis statement is not debatable. I tried to correct some segments, but you are simply telling the stories, that are clearly similar, without giving support to your ideas. In my opinion, you shouldn�t explain and tell the stories, you should only compare and give your opinion , giving a debatable tone to your text.
Cristiane

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]