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Duality In Victorian Literature

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In Victorian literature the idea of duality and the double present as a theme which is common. This ever present theme within literature from the fin de siecle of the Victorian Era allow readers of the text to be able to gain an insight into Victorian culture and the socialial ideals of the period. In using Stange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and also The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde allows the reader to gain an insight into the previlence of this theme, dispite themes within these novels being rejected by soicitey at the time. I will write about both of these works with the aim to analyise, compare and contrast the depiction of the double within the Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll …show more content…

Applying this definition to the duality presented within The Picture of Dorian and Jykell and Hyde show the idea of the duality of human nature and phycology and that humans always have two coflicting personalities which are interlinked and interrelated. The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Stange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde demonstrate the inportance of literature as as soical and cultural tool used as a platfrom to discuss and cast light on issues, interests and desires which link to 'devenciy ' in the victorian era.
The Picture of Dorian Gray has many different elements which suggest the depiction of duality and the double within human nature, one of the most previllant examples of duality within this novel is the apparent stuggle between good and evil ' 'Your voice and the voice of Sibyl Vane are two things I shall never forgot...I don 't know which to follow ' ' …show more content…

' 'The love that he bore him -- for it was really love -- had nothing in it that was not noble and intellectual ' ' (10.7). This quotation direct from the novel denotes, the idealised romantic and sexual love which Bazil implicly holds for Dorian. ' 'It was such love as Michelangelo had known and Winckelmann.. ' ' (10.7). The use of the names of painters, Michelangelo and Winckelmann if sigificant because these painters had fervent admiration of the male form in an artistic sense and were also known homosexuals. We also see the mixing themes of homosexuallity and hetrosexuality; this is shown by the relationship between Sybil Vane and Dorian ' 'Dorian Gray leaped to his feet, with flushed cheeks and burning eyes. "Harry! Sibyl Vane is sacred!" (4.10). This is another aspect of duality within the novel, and this duality is bought out by the relationship that Dorian has with Basil and the heterosexual relationship he has with Sibyl. I believe that Wilde 's mixing homosexual and hetrosexual themes depicts a conflict within Dorian regarding his sexuality and it suggests that he may be bisexual and is torn between love with both male and female characters. This pecieved duality is due to the fact that in the Victorian Era, any type of homosexual or bisexual relationships were considered to be seen as excessive intimacy and these types of

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In Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, the authors argue that external influences can impact identity, eventually leading to an internal conflict. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it is revealed that Jekyll is an upper-class man who is put under immense scrutiny, and because of this, he is not able to conduct the experiments he desires and puts a part of himself in a mental hole. However, with the help of his experiments, he is able to split himself in two. As Jekyll reminisces about the beginning of his troubles in his full statement, “Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection and began to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of me(49),” describing how even at a young age the pressures and expectations of him coming from wealth and predicted to become a great man, had caused his inner turmoil, leading him to already begin the process of splitting himself up

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Lord Henry even gave particular offense for female of the species, he said to Dorian Gray that ‘women are a decorative sex, no woman is a genius and women represent the triumph of matter over mind’. But, Dorian ignores Lord Henry’s advice and even invited him and Basil Hallward to watch Sibyl Vane’s act. This part was my favorite because Dorian Gray did not care what other people thought and truly believed himself that Sibyl Vane was a women that suites him and he was confident in his decision. The way of Oscar Wilde wrote this book was interesting because of good plot and twisted ending that made me hard to predict which is great. I loved it when this story touched about beauty and consequences if we did wrong, that was when Dorian Gray tried to kill the portrait, reflected as his soul made him killed himself.

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Basil and Henry in a way are the moral options Dorian had available to choose from. To him both were friends that helped him and realized influenced him. Basically, Basil and Henry represent the opposite influences of good and evil as is trying to take over Dorian’s soul. Basil is Dorians “good” while Henry is obviously the “evil”. have already chosen a side.

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I worshipped you. I grew jealous of every one to whom you spoke. I wanted to have you all to myself. ” (Wilde 83) This quote demonstrates how Wilde vigorously accepts homosexuality by displaying Basil’s intense love for Dorian.

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The theme of duality is explored through the ongoing push and pull that Dorian faces between the influence of Lord Henry and the influence of Basil. This is made apparent as Dorian ponders whose guidance he should listen to and thinks, "When I close my eyes, I hear them, and each of them says something different. I don 't know which to follow”. Wilde’s use of sensory imagery illustrates the physical toll that this mental conflict is taking on Dorian. The juxtaposition of visual and aural imagery shows Dorian’s internal battle, but the fact that Dorian cannot see them, only hear their voices displays the blind faith that Dorian has in two men who have completely contrasting moral ideals, displaying Dorian’s mercurial and conflicting morals.

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The theme of appearance extends further in Dorian’s life. Dorian’s outer beauty allows him to get away with almost anything, due to the fact that people equals his outer beauty to him being a good person. In reality, Wilde makes it very clear that Dorian Gray is not a good person. The theme of appearance is illustrated through underlying criticism within Wilde’s use of motifs and symbols. A main motif used by Wilde is the painting done by Basil Hallward.

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