The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde's penultimate decadent text, The Picture of Dorian Gray, follows titular character Dorian Gray’s descent into inhumanity and eventual self-inflicted demise. The story begins in Basil Hallward’s home, where the renowned artist has just finished his first portrait of a then young and innocent Gray. Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Hallward’s, is visiting him at this time when Dorian arrives at Basil’s home. Wotton, an epicurean and narcissus, takes an immediate interest in Gray, much to Hallward’s disapproval, and launches into a speech on the temporary nature of beauty. Upset by this, Gray comes to view Hallward’s portrait of him as a reminder of what he will eventually lose and, in a fit of anguish, gives up his soul so that the portrait will bear the brunt of his age and depravity. This marks Gray’s first step into depravity. Soon after this event, Gray falls in love with a talented young actress named Sibyl and quickly proposes to her. Gray takes Hallward and Wotton to see her perform, but her acting is terrible, much the Gray’s disgust. Gray confronts her and Sibyl reveals that because she is so deeply in love with him she is no longer able to pretend love on the stage. Gray then cruelly breaks the engagement and comes home to see that the portrait now wears a sneer. Frightened by this development, Gray decides to reconcile with Sibyl the next day, however Wotton arrives to tell him that she has committed suicide. Wotton convinces Gray to consider Sibyl’s death as a reconciliation and personification of artistry. After this Gray hides the portrait. Eighteen years pass and Gray has not aged at all, yet is painting grows more and more hideous due to his immoral activities. One night, an aged Hallward comes to Gray’s house to confront him about his reputation and actions. After an argument, Gray shows Hallward what has become of his portrait. Horrified, Hallward begs Gray to absolve himself, but Gray, knowing he is too far-gone, stabs Hallward, killing him. The painting now bears a bloodied hand. The next night Gray visits an opium den and upon leaving, he is cornered by James Vale, Sibyl’s vengeful older brother. Vale threatens to kill Gray as revenge for his part in Sibyl’s death, but Gray convinces him that he could not possibly be the same man because of his unaged face. Vale leaves him and is eventually accidentally killed by a hunting party. It is at this point, without any foreseeable threats to his safety, Gray’s depravity escalates and overcomes him. Later, in a rage for the painting’s role and reminder of his moral downfall, Gray picks up the knife he used to kill Hallward and stabs the painting. Upon hearing a scream, Gray’s servants come up to his room to find a pristine portrait and the terrifyingly disfigured body of their master on the floor.
To buy the book visit: http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Dorian-Gray-Hardcover-Classics/dp/0141442468 |
Breaking BadBreaking Bad has been described by producer Vince Gilligan multiple times as one man’s slow journey from being Mr. Chips to Scarface; this short phrase summarizes the series nicely by describing how, over time, an unassuming high school chemistry teacher becomes the kingpin of a meth empire.
Walter White starts the show on his 50th birthday as a man who has never taken a risk in his life. When brought to a drug bust for some “excitement” from his DEA agent brother-in-law, Walter sees a former student (and meth cook), Jesse Pinkman, escaping the scene. Once diagnosed with cancer and facing mounting medical debts, Walter denies aid from friends and family and chooses, instead, to find a way to pay off his expenses personally: by finding Jesse and then using his own skills as a world-renowned chemist to cook methamphetamine. Over the course of the show, in order to separate his criminal life from his personal life, Walter assumes the role of Heisenberg; this distinction is meant to keep his criminal life boxed into one persona while keeping his life as a family man distant, but, eventually, Walter’s juggling act between family man, school teacher, and meth cook overlap to the point that he assumes his identity as Heisenberg. This assumption of the Heisenberg identity goes hand-in-hand with Walter’s assumption of his Heisenberg moralities and, as the series progresses, Walter grows ruthless, murderous, petty, and prideful to dangerous degrees, eventually leading to the downfall of his meth empire and his demise. This all could have been avoided had Walter made a simple choice: an acceptance of aid from others. Essentially, Walter’s pride and perceived sense of worthlessness and emasculation from accepting help leads to his choice to become Heisenberg and his descent into immorality. To watch the whole series buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-Complete-Dean-Norris/dp/B00I9MS86O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417995928&sr=8-1&keywords=breaking+bad |
About Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland to a doctor father and linguist mother. It is speculated that Wilde’s mother’s translation of Wilhelm Meinhold’s novel Sidonia the Sorceress influenced his later writing. After graduating from the Portora Royal School he was awarded the Royal School Scholarship to attend Trinity College in Dublin. After graduation, Wilde published his first text, Poems, in 1881 and began an American lecture tour, followed by a subsequent England and Ireland tour, which lasted until 1884. This same year Wilde married Constance Lloyd; they had two sons together. It was not until 1891 that Wilde published The Picture Dorian Gray, but the novel was met with outrage and disdain. During this time Wilde also began an affair with a man named Lord Alfred Douglas. When Douglas’ father heard about the affair he left a card at Wilde’s home accusing him of sodomy and Wilde promptly sued him for libel. By the trial’s end, Wilde had lost the suit and been sentenced to two years in prison where he was forced into the hard labor that presumptively caused his death three years later in 1900 when Wilde died of meningitis at the age of 46.
For a more complete biography visit here: http://www.biography.com/people/oscar-wilde-9531078
For a more complete biography visit here: http://www.biography.com/people/oscar-wilde-9531078