The Picture of Dorian Gray - Have we judged Lord Henry too harshly?

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 31

  • @margueritendi7033
    @margueritendi7033 2 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    Dorian's childhood story and how he came to existence exonerate him for half of his wrong doing, as one cannot give back what has not been given to him in the first place. Secondly, Lord Henry does play a role in his radical decision to indulge completely in a life of pleasure and senses which occurs right after Lord Henry breaks down the news of Sybil Vanes' suicide to him. Had it be Basil that had brought the sad new to him, Dorian would have address the matter differently and take a different route in life in general. The day after his cruel break up with Sybil he was filled with bitter remorse and deep regrets and was writing a letter of apology to her, when the devil aka Lord Henry made his entrance as both the bearer of the bad news, and the absolver of Dorian's guilt in regard to his cruelty towards Sybil

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Great points marguerite ndi! I honestly did not took his childhood into consideration, which I probably should have. And I do completely agree that Lord Henry and his life philosophy plays a significant role in the way Dorian sees life, yet the point I am trying to make is that Dorian should be held accountable for his own decisions. Yes, Lord Henry is an awful influence to him, but when push comes to shove, he did not make the decisions for Dorian, Dorian made them all by himself.
      As you pointed out Dorian was feeling regretful after his breakup with Sybil and Lord Henry swooped in and made him feel all better about it. That to me shows not only the influence Henry has on Dorian, but the lack of strength of character that Dorian has. In my eyes, if you are truly remorseful, one conversation with a stand byer should not be enough to absolve you from your guilt 🤷‍♀️

  • @eggy_etoile
    @eggy_etoile 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Love this video! Currently working on a highschool paper about this book, and I love seeing your take on it! I love seeing people talk about the Picture of Dorian Gray, especially its focus on morality and ethics of actions, because the book was made to reflect the reader's inner thoughts. Personally, I agree that Dorian is more to blame for all of his actions, and Henry never directly encouraged him to do anything other than to 'chase pleasure and emotion.' Their final conversation has a lot of dramatic irony, as Henry talks about how even something like murder can probably be addicting to people if they do it enough while Gray has been responsible for so many deaths. It really proves how Dorian used his philosophies as an excuse for him to act out the lifestyle he did while Henry would never do the same.

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks Alissa! You just summarized my thoughts on the matter perfectly. Couldn't have done it better myself 😅 Best of luck with your book report!

  • @fatima-gy6gn
    @fatima-gy6gn 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    why is your channel so underrated?? this is so perfectly worded! i love the effort put into this!

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks for the kind words Fatima! 💛 As long as there are even few people enjoying this, I'm happy ☺️

  • @sarahmanel6361
    @sarahmanel6361 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    i love this video and your way of talking about the book, i finished it last week and i was in love, what a read!!!
    The background information that you added about the author and the novel was very informative because i didn't know themm!! i'm so gonna watch more videos of yours!! ^^

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hei Sarah! :) I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed and the book and my video about it! Back in the day I was fascinated to learn more about the life of Oscar Wilde. I think that if I would have done this video ten years ago, I would have spend additional ten minutes just gushing about how cool of a person Wilde seems to be :)
      Thanks for your support and I hope you will find other videos just as enjoyable!

  • @hazirafridi7763
    @hazirafridi7763 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Best book ever I have read.

  • @JZY-rs1xs
    @JZY-rs1xs ปีที่แล้ว

    Very Interesting and inspiring video!
    I really like that you have pointed out the complexity of the formation of Dorian’s conducts. It is critical and well elaborated!
    Concerning the “boredom” you have mentioned, it might be a phenomenon of “fin de siecle” , a common decadent cultural phenomenon among late nineteenth century bourgeois. Lord Henry is quite a “fin de siecle” type and from the last chapter it could be evidently seen that he actually dare not to practice his aesthetic theory (maybe I’m wrong) and he is quite “envy” of Dorian (despite knowing Dorian’s sins). At that time, as far as I’m concerned, in Dorian’s eyes, Lord Henry might not a Mephistopheles any more but rather an old, wrinkled and tired man. He is striped off the cloth of a devil and be shown as a complex human. Over the years Lord Henry has been regarded as a purely diabolical type but it might not be totally true…
    Also, from some chapters it can be seen that Dorian’s childhood was full of loneliness and did not get enough attention, which might also lead his characteristics… It’s a really complicated question:)
    Even being a person with low English level, I still read this book and enjoyed it, and chose to write my high school thesis on this novel. It is an impressing work and full of Wilde’s own wit and attitude, though it became one of the very evidences against him in the court. The story is fascinating as well as complex, being open to interpretation…
    Overall, thank you very much for sharing your ideas! It is really helpful!

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thanks for such an insightful comment! A true pleasure to read! ☺️

  • @dakshyogi6056
    @dakshyogi6056 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your Chanel is underappreciated period

  • @mia.505
    @mia.505 ปีที่แล้ว

    you couldnt have described my thoughts better :)

  • @thegrimreaper9035
    @thegrimreaper9035 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    i just loved ur channel!!!!!!!! ..thank u so much video :) subbed .....u words are taken best and OMG best video ...very informative !!!!! am happy i found this channell...love ya 3!! ;)

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed this video and that found it informative as well! :) Welcome on board, I'm happy to have you here! :)

  • @mishabilal9299
    @mishabilal9299 ปีที่แล้ว

    Young people are very impressionable and especially when they don’t have any good role models to guide through life it’s very easy to get stray away from the right path. Its understandable how Dorian was impressed and influenced by Lord henry. Henry was very manipulative and full of toxic ideas. Still I don’t hate Henry as it was Dorian who made the choices in his life, despite feeling remorse for his actions from time to time. He kept on justifying his actions by blaming others especially Basil.

  • @julianmusic2024
    @julianmusic2024 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    really loved it. subscribed. and would really love it more if you analyzed poetry as well.

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed it ☺️ As for the poetry, sadly, I can't claim to really understand it myself... 😅

    • @julianmusic2024
      @julianmusic2024 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      oh that's fine, keep analyzing more books. more power to you

  • @Brian-nw3ey
    @Brian-nw3ey ปีที่แล้ว

    Very insightful :)

  • @rossellagiovanardi9154
    @rossellagiovanardi9154 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Well Lord Henry used to play with the vanity of the young Dorian Gray.
    The young and vain boy was like a toy for him.
    Lord Henry is a negative character in many ways because he used to give force to his bad inclinations and to devils inside him.
    Well I think it's hard to judge him too harshly because he was really very bad when playing with the worst inclinations of that young and vain boy and when he used to play with his vanity and pride for the beauty and got him getting so cruel.

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Oh for sure! Never meant to say that Lord Henry is a positive character. I only meant to say that he is not the ONLY negative character. All of them are, in one way or another.

    • @rossellagiovanardi9154
      @rossellagiovanardi9154 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@juditareads of course 💜
      Nobody can be influenced by a bad person without having already the devils inside.

  • @aryaraval1459
    @aryaraval1459 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Idk, perhaps i am corrupt or i may have sold my soul to the devil. But Lord Henry is my favourite character in the book 💀
    But a Very Exquisite and one of the only review i adore on the TH-cam Platform.

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Haha I do sometimes think that selling the soul to the devil might actually be worth it, so more power to you Arya! 😄😄 As for the Lord Henry, like him or hate him, I think everyone will agree that he is a very interesting character to follow 😉
      Thanks for the kind words btw!

  • @sulevil
    @sulevil 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    i read it quickly for a school thing and i also at first got the impression that dorian was just an innocent guy that got caught up with the wrong crowd but then on the second time i read it (this time in english) dorian seemed much more at fault than first i thought

  • @rubypanterra.
    @rubypanterra. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Glad I found your channel, new subbie

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hei Ruby! Super glad to have you here!

  • @devikamenon6447
    @devikamenon6447 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Loved the video! New subscriber here. :)

    • @juditareads
      @juditareads  3 ปีที่แล้ว

      So glad to hear that Devika! Thanks for the support ;)