Hiding The Picture: Dorian Gray Chapter IX - X

 (p. 125-146)

What I like…

I’m still enjoying vivid images Oscar Wilde used to describe nature’s scenes, like this one…

“Cloudless, and pierced by one solitary star,…”

“….a copper-green sky gleamed through the windows...”

[source]

Honestly, I have never thought sky would be related with the color of green!

What it's all about...

Basil visited Dorian because he was worried about his friend's grieve on Sibyl's death. However he was startled by Dorian's ignorance by going to Opera with Lord Henry only one day after the tragedy, which Basil took as a negative change in his character. Meanwhile, Basil intended to exhibit his painting of Dorian Gray's picture in Paris, which frightened Dorian.

When Basil would like to see his own painting, Dorian—of course—rejected. This lead to Basil's confession on his feeling towards Dorian that was reflected in the painting, which was the reason he rejected to exhibit it. After the painting went to Dorian's residence, however, Basil decided to exhibit it anyway. Dorian strongly rejected the idea and Basil kindly accepted his decision. That conversation then encouraged Dorian to hide the painting for good in an old room where he used to be in his childhood and youth days. At the end of chapter X, Lord Henry lent a ‘mind poisoning’ novel to Dorian.

My random thoughts...

Hiding the dark side

Just as sinners like to hide their sins in the darkest ‘room’ of their souls, Dorian securely hide the continuously-corrupted-painting into a dark old-dusty room where he kept the key and ensured that not a single soul should ever see it.

Let the painting bear his sin

It’s interesting to observe how at first Dorian looked at the cruel expression in the painting still with amazement and observation. He had observed that the source of that cruel expression was his cruel treatment to Sibyl Vane. He knew and admitted that he had done something bad. He wished to apologize to Sibyl and marry her to repentant his wrongs, for who knows, his expression in the painting might return to its original state then? But Lord Henry didn’t let him swim in his regret, and soon influenced him to just forget it, that it was not his fault anyway. And now, after Lord Henry ‘lifted’ his moral obligation, Dorian felt burden with his conscience (the corrupting-painting), and finally decided to hide it forever and let it rotten, letting him freely committing more and more sins. Now that the conscience had been muted, nothing would prevent him from falling deeper down…

I'm curious to know...

How deep Dorian will fall?

Black Beauty

[conclusion in English is in the bottom of this post]

Sebuah buku yang menggedor pintu kesadaran kita semua akan perlakukan manusia terhadap sesama makhluk ciptaan Tuhan. Black Beauty adalah kisah tentang kehidupan seekor kuda, yang ia tuturkan sendiri dari sudut pandangnya. Kisah dimulai ketika Beauty masih seekor kuda muda (colt) yang masih menikmati indahnya menjadi kuda yang bebas merdeka di sebuah peternakan bersama ibunya. Beauty dididik dengan baik oleh sang ibu yang selalu menanamkan nilai-nilai kehidupan. Dari awal ibunya menekankan bahwa kehidupan kuda memang selalu tergantung pada manusia yang menjadi majikannya, kuda tak akan pernah merdeka. Mereka beruntung bila mendapatkan majikan yang memperhatikan kepentingan mereka dan memberikan kasih sayang kepada mereka, namun adakalanya nasib membawa mereka ke tangan pemilik yang kejam, dan memperlakukan kuda bak sebuah mesin. Kemanapun nasib membawa, sang ibu mengajarkan kepada Beauty, bahwa ia harus selalu berusaha sebaik mungkin.

Setelah itu Beauty berganti-ganti pemilik. Ada pemilik yang baik hati dan memahami kuda, ada pula majikan yang hanya suka memaksa kuda bekerja keras. Beauty pernah bekerja sebagai kuda penarik kereta bagi tuan/nyonya rumah, pernah pula menjadi kuda penarik cabs (kereta taxi). Kadang ia merasa bahagia, kadang pula sengsara. Semuanya ia lalui dengan selalu berusaha melakukan yang terbaik dan tak memberontak seperti ajaran ibunya.

Dan lewat penuturan Anna Sewell ini kita secara tak langsung diajak untuk lebih memahami tentang cara merawat dan menyayangi kuda, atau makhluk lain ciptaan Tuhan secara umum. Anda akan menemukan banyak pelajaran moral dari buku ini. Dan satu hal yang menarik, kuda—meski secara fisik nampak serupa satu sama lain—ternyata memiliki karakter yang berbeda karena masa lalunya pun berbeda. Sama seperti manusia!

Lima kereta untuk kisah yang menyentuh ini! J

Conclusion:

“We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”

I always thought Black Beauty is a children book. Well, it is—perhaps, but I am grateful to read it as an adult, as I got so many deep philosophies throughout the book, which I might not have appreciated as a child. The main theme is how we should treat animals as God’s creatures, that animals—just as human being—can feel and need affection. Sewell gave several examples in this story, of people who ill-treated their horses, as if they were machines. In fact, not only that it’s not good for the horses, in the long run it was not good for the owner too. Over-working would only shortening horse’s productivity, and at the end the owner must sell it and buy a new horse after every short interval of time.

Sewell also criticized how people at that time (the 19^th century) used horses as fashion accessories. The use of bearing rein, for example; its purpose was merely to lift horses’ head to appear stouter when they were used on carriages. Victorian high class people liked to show off their stout horses, it’s the latest fashion. They never thought about the horses, how they must bear the tension and uncomfortable neck position for hours. If the horses could talk, here’s what they might say:

“You, who never had a bearing rein on, don't know what it is; but I can tell you it is dreadful. (...) I like to toss my head about, and hold it as high as any horse; but you can fancy how it would feel if you tossed your head up high and were obliged to hold it there for hours together, not able to move it at all, except with a jerk still higher; and all this time your neck was aging till you did not know how to bear it." ~p. 46

There are a lot of other examples of ill-using of horses in this book that made me want to slap all those absurd people who only thought about their appearances. But on the other hand, Sewell also gives many examples on how you should treat horses (or animals in general). Being the same creation of God, they too need to be loved, like us. From Black Beauty and his friends, I learn that they didn’t mind to work hard, as long as the owner took care of their needs and stands for them when they were in danger or being treated badly.

In the end, man and horse (which represent all animals) were all habitant of this earth. We can’t live alone; we need each other, so why don’t we work everything together, hand in hand? When man and horse can trust each other, they would be a strong partner in a harmony of life. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Five stars for Black Beauty, it’s indeed one of those touching readings!

Title: Black Beauty

Author: Anna Sewell

Publisher: Wordsworth Edition Limited

Published: 1993

Pages: 201

A Tragedy..Or, Is It? - Dorian Gray Chapter VIII

(p. 109-125)

What I like...

"It was an exquisite day. The warm air seemed laden with spices. A bee flew in, and buzzed round the blue-dragon bowl that, filled with sulphur-yellow roses, stood before him."

What it's all about...

When Dorian woke up, he remembered about his cruelness to Sibyl after looking at the altered painting. He decided to write a letter to ask for her apology, and to propose that they should marry as they have planned. However, soon after the letter finished, Lord Henry came to bring dreadful news: Sibyl had been found dead last night after she committed suicide.

It should be a blow for Dorian, for he had caused a girl to end her own life; and that's what he felt at first, before--as usual--Lord Henry injected his ideas about forgetting his past with a woman and that Dorian should continue his life.

Once again Dorian struggled with his mind about how the painting could have altered, but in the end buried all his fears deep in his heart, and tried to follow Lord Henry's advice, to re-live his life, and went to the Opera with Lord Henry.

My random thoughts...

Painting = reflection of soul

I think the painting to Dorian Gray equal to our soul to us. Dorian Gray might pretended that Sibyl's death meant nothing to him, however every time he looked at the painting, he would be reminded to his sin. The painting became barometer of his life; the consequences of what he did would be reflected by the painting. No matter how hard he pretended, or how well he'd hidden his sin, the painting would always be there to disturb his consciousness. Man can never runaway from his conscience...

I don't know what I should feel about...

What Lord Henry said about Sibyl, what she was for Dorian:

"The girl never really lived, and so she has never really died. To you at least she was always a dream, a phantom that flitted through Shakespeare's plays and left them lovelier for its presence, a reed through which Shakespeare's music sounded richer and more full of joy."

That quote sounds beautiful, and perhaps that's what happened, but to me it's thrilling. It's as if we can ignore other people's life because they are 'only dream' to us; a mere fiction character of a play. Listen people!.. Sibyl was as real as we are. Being young and naïve doesn't mean to be 'empty'.

Just entered my mind...

Lord Henry had taken two souls

He had taken and altered Dorian's soul, and because of that, Dorian had caused Sibyl's death.

The Cruel Reflection: Dorian Gray Chapter VII

(p. 95-108)

What I like…

It's the last scene from this chapter...

"The fresh morning air seemed to drive away all his sombre passions. He thought only of Sibyl. A faint echo of his love comes back to him. He repeated her name over and over again. The birds that were singing in the dew-drenched garden seemed to be telling the flowers about her."

[source]

Have I mentioned before that I LOVE nature scene like this? I love flowers and birds, and love Wilde's idea about the birds telling the flowers about the woman one loves. Oh, if only it were for a romantic love story...

What it's all about...

That night Sibyl would play Juliet, and Dorian had proudly invited Basil and Lord Henry to watch the genius actress who would become his wife. However, Sibyl's performance that night was surprisingly very bad. Dorian became very angry to her, although Sibyl had explained that it is because of her great love to Dorian, that she could no longer acted as somebody else. In Dorian had she found herself, her life, her happiness.

Dorian could not accept that, he coldly broke their engagement in a cruel manner, despite of Sibyl's cry and weep. Then that night, at his bedroom, Dorian found that his picture--painted by Basil--has changed! There was a cruelty on his expression. Could that be possible, that the picture reflected the soul of its subject? Dorian directly realised that the picture reflected what he had done to Sibyl! He would apologize to her the next day, and before that, he put a screen in front of the picture to hide it.

My random thoughts...

Her acting, not herself

To whom Dorian had fell in love? To Sibyl? NO. He fell in love to what she performed, to her acting. This is pathetic!

Fear, not love

I doubt that Dorian really felt sorry for what he had done to Sibyl. I mean, he was sorry, but not for Sibyl; Dorian felt sorry because he was scared that his soul would change just like the painting. Why? Read next...

Battle between good and evil

I think the painting alteration was representing the moment when the evil begin to creep into our soul. We are basically good, because God has made us good. When evil is penetrating our soul, it's just as when Lord Henry began poisoning Dorian. We know we had done sin, we know we shouldn't do that, we can see the dark evil that came in our way, and we are scared that evil will take us away from where we were supposed to belong from the beginning (God). At this point, we are struggling, just as Dorian was at that night. We can see it clearly from his mind wandering:

"Cruelty! Had he been cruel? It was the girl's fault, not his..."

"...And, yet, a feeling of infinite regret came over him... He remembered with what callousness he watched her. Why had he been made like that?.."

"...Lord Henry knew what women were. Why should he trouble about Sibyl Vane? She was nothing to him now..."

"...He would not see Lord Henry any more.. He would go back to Sibyl Vane, marry her, try to love her again... Poor child! He had been selfish and cruel to her..."

That's what happened when we committed a crime or sin, our soul are always struggling and weighing, we can never be at peace; and which part is gonna win? It depends on us; and in this story, it depends on where Oscar Wilde will take us next...

I'm curious to know...

...where Oscar Wilde will take us next... J

Dorian Fell In Love: Dorian Gray Chapter V & VI

(p. 72- 94)

What I like…

This is a scene on the road where Sibyl and her brother James took a seat during their walk.

“They took their seats amidst a crowd of watchers. The tulip-beds across the road flamed like throbbing rings of fire. A white dust, tremulous cloud of orris-root it seemed, hung in the panting air…”

[source]

“..The brightly-coloured parasols danced and dipped like monstrous butterflies.”

[source]

What it's all about...

Chapter V is belonged to the Vane family. Sibyl lived with her mother—an ex-theater actress, and her brother James who was going to Australia to find a better living. Both mother and brother reacted differently on Sibyl's engagement with Dorian. Mrs. Vane, although doubt the young couple's seriousness, put a hope on her son-in-law-to-be, who she believed to be a rich nobleman.

On the contrary, James—who quite racist to any gentlemen—detested the young man whom Sibyl hardly known (she hadn't even know his name, other than his nickname 'Prince Charming'). James sworn that if the young man wrongs her sister, he would kill him. Shortly before his departure, James forced his mother to reveal a secret, that his late father was actually a gentleman who never married his mother because of their backgrounds.

In chapter VI Dorian was very excited to announce his engagement to Basil and Lord Henry. The three of them had an interesting discussion on marriages and pleasures, before they made a departure to the important night; the night when Sibyl would perform Juliet in the play they were going to attend.

My random thoughts...

Slapped by Mr. Wilde J

Straight forward quotes that the trueness was sometimes frightened, and Oscar Wilde has written it very sharply:

“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”

“When poverty creeps in at the door, love flies in through the window.”

Life is a theatre play

If life is an art for Lord Henry, then for Mrs. Vane, life is a theatre play…

Art is dangerous

Art is a medium into which people expresses their thoughts, idea, and sometimes their own soul (like Basil). In that case, art can bring a strong influence to others. The art of painting (by Basil) and the art of intelligent (by Lord Henry) had both altered Dorian Gray’s soul and his way of thinking. One of them might meant nothing, but both…we have saw the result. Lord Henry said to Basil in chapter V:

“Your portrait of him has quickened his appreciation of the personal appearance of other people”

But I think he was not 100% correct. Lord Henry himself had shared quite big part in what had happened to Dorian Gray.

Reactions upon Dorian's marriage

Lord Henry did not approve nor disapprove Dorian's marriage, he just under-estimate marriages, and thought marriage only make one lack individuality. Basil didn't say anything, he was too surprised of that new fact and think it was just merely passion.

A bitter goodbye

At the end of this chapter the gentlemen departed to the theatre in two vehicles. Lord Henry could only take another passenger in his brougham (a carriage which can only take 2 passengers), so he asked Basil to take a separate hansom. Lord Henry—of course—took Dorian with him. For other people it is only a transport arrangement, but somehow Basil felt that he would 'lose' Dorian after that night, their relationship would never be the same again.

The characters development

Dorian Gray—In the excitement of his passionate love, Dorian realized the bad influences Lord Henry had been pouring upon him all these time. At this particular moment, Dorian disagreed with Lord Henry about love, marriage and pleasure.

"When I am with her, I regret all that you have taught me. I become different from what you have known me to be. I am changed, and the mere touch of Sibyl Vane's hand makes me forget you and all your wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories."

Oh..how fragile soul was so easy to change!

Lord Henry—In chapter VI I saw clearly how Lord Henry was a hedonist. He praised a lot about Pleasure (Wilde purposely used capital letter), and he believed that one should only live for one's self.

Literary Classics Challenge - Friday Progress (3)

This week is my most productive week for the Literary Classics Reading Challenge so far. I have done with Black Beauty, and it has been a very relaxing moment after reading a Dickens J. I’ve been enjoying Black Beauty for only 2 or 3 days, mostly in the weekend.

Then I started a new week with a new book with a fresh excitement. Oscar Wilde’s ThePicture of Dorian Gray was my choice, and I’m glad I’d picked this book. Dorian Gray is a kind of psychological story, and I always love fictions which talk a lot about psychological aspects. Besides that, I’m in the mood for reading Victorian books for A Victorian Celebration. Dorian Gray is also a perfect choice for Indonesian Book Blogger’s group read of this month theme: gothic, and will be counted as my ninth classics for Classics Club Project.

At first I thought Dorian Gray will be quite fast, for it is only 256 pages. However after finishing chapter 1, I soon realized that this is a book that you must digest slowly to be able to get the best of it. If book is a drink, Dorian Gray is a cup of coffee…instead of drinking it in gulps, you should take it sip by sip, while savouring the bitter-sweet taste, feeling the warmth liquid flowing through your throat and inhaling the sweet fragrance that come into your nostrils. There are many aspects in a cup of coffee that you can enjoy, which, if you drink it in a hurry, you will lose the sensation! J (writing this made me crave for a cup of coffee!). 

And so, I decided to read Dorian Gray chapter by chapter, and write a post for each chapter (sometimes I will write for 2 chapters in a post) right after I read the chapter. I won’t leap to next chapter before I sit down and pour all my thoughts of what I have read in my PDA (I usually do it after dinner), to be posted the next morning. That way, I can read a new chapter in the next morning with a new excitement.

Reading AND writing takes a long time indeed, and I haven’t had much time lately, but I think it’s worth the satisfaction I got from this book. Anyway, I can always catch up the schedule on weekend, and hope I can finish it by end of this month. If you are curious with The Picture of Dorian Gray, you can take a look at my chapter posts on my sidebar. But I warn you, you might find spoilers on them!  

Well, that’s my week, what about you, how is your classics reading this week?

Life Is Art: Dorian Gray Chapter IV

(p. 55-71)

What I like...

The first scene to open this chapter is in Lord Henry's study room with a small library, something I've been longing to own.

"It was a very charming room, with its high-panelled wainscoating of olive-stained oak, its cream-coloured frieze and ceiling of raised plaster-work, and its brickdust felt carpet strewn with silk long-fringed Persian rugs."

Of course I can't find a picture exactly like what was described in the book, but this image can quite satisfy me...

[source]

What it's all about...

Dorian came to tell Lord Henry about a theatre girl with whom he fell madly in love. Sibyl Vane is a beautiful girl and a good actress. Dorian told Henry how he met her, and this chapter was closed with a telegram announcing that Dorian would soon marry Sibyl.

My random thoughts...

Cynical thoughts about women and marriage

This chapter only strengthens my idea of how 19th century society thought about women. Lord Henry had also mentioned something cynical about marriage in chapter II. Quoted from Lord Henry:

"Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious; both are disappointed."

"No woman is genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of mind over morals."

And that's all because women were uneducated at that time! It really annoying me to read it, and I think this is the point where I began to dislike Lord Henry. A lot.

Unromantic

Not only detested marriage, Lord Henry also saw love and romance in a negative point of view.

"When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others."

After reading Dickens with his Romantic style, it's quite striking to find how shallow Wilde has described about love.

I also think Dorian's love was just false passion; he adored Sibyl for her beauty, not for herself. Again here, Dorian worshipped something mortal, the flesh instead of the soul.

The psychological study object

It became clearer that Lord Henry was interested in Dorian Gray as an object of observation on human psychological.

“It was delightful to watch him. With his beautiful face, and his beautiful soul, he was a thing to wonder at. It was no matter how it all ended, or was destined to end.”

Paradox

I just realized how Oscar Wilde loved paradox! There are many throughout the book, but I will quote one of them,

"A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures."

Life is art

Lord Henry looked at life as we looked at art. For him, life was the real work of art. From this I began to see the flickering light of what this book is all about; I think I have found the red thread between what Lord Henry did to Dorian and its relation with the picture. It's only a flickering light, though, but I hope to see the full shining at the end...

What I still don't get it...

"To note the curious hard logic of passion, and the emotional coloured life of the intellect--to observe where they met, where they separated, at what point they were in unison, and at what point they were at discord."

“He was like one of those gracious figures in a pageant or a play, whose joys seem to be remote from one, but whose sorrows stir one’s sense of beauty, and whose wounds are like red roses.”

The characters development...

There's nothing much to say about this, I better keep it for next chapters...