Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray": painting, portrait or something else?

Kirdyaeva Ol'ga ORCID: 0000-0001-5465-7778 Senior Educator, the department of English Philology, Moscow City University 5B Malyj Kazennyj pereulok, Moscow, 105064 KirdyaevaOI@mgpu.ru

The relevance of the research topic is due to the constant interest in the work of the British writer, poet, essayist and playwright O. Wilde from readers and researchers of various branches of scientific knowledge. When studying the classical heritage of literature at the present time, the question of the correct interpretation of the author's position is particularly difficult. Therefore, the problem of interrelation and interaction of the synonymous lexemes of the picture – portrait - painting series in O. Wilde's only novel "Portrait of Dorian Gray" is of interest to researchers of this work of art from the point of view of the accuracy of linguistic and literary analysis of important author's intentions.

Among the few critical sources devoted to this problem, the most interesting are the works of G.L. Levina in collaboration with O.S. Lipchenko ^[4] and E.V. Lapshina ^[3], in which the authors pay attention to the metaphoricity of the picture/portrait – mirror – art bundle and define picture as an archilexeme that sets the modality and philosophical basis the entire narrative of the novel. The researchers also note that the picture and portrait lexemes are used with approximately equal frequency (picture – 64 times, portrait – 50 times) and pay attention to the grammatical features of the use of these lexical units.

G.L. Levina and O.S. Lapshina in the article "Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ("The Picture of Dorian Gray"): portrait and/or picture" ^[3] distinguish the meanings of these lexemes based on Russian-language dictionaries, which, in our opinion, is not always justified, since the denotation and designation of the studied pair synonyms may not match in the original text and the target language. For example, in Russian, "picture" is part of a dramatic work, which in English corresponds to a completely different lexeme scene. In addition to the lexical units mentioned above, we consider it necessary to expand the subject of the study by adding the painting lexeme, which is included in the proposed synonymic series and used in O. Wilde's literary text. 

Most monolingual authentic lexicographic sources ^[6-11] distinguish the following meanings of the lexemes picture, portrait and painting, relevant for this study (see Table 1): 

Table 1. Summary table of values of lexical units picture-portrait-painting

The painting token is used 15 times in the text of the novel, which is significantly less compared to picture and portrait. The meaning of painting as an "oil painting" is not the main one for the author, since the focus of attention is shifted towards the portrait as an object of art and a metaphorical mirror-the reflection of the main characters of the novel. In two cases, this token is used in the meaning of "painting", "portrait", but in both of them the author pays attention to the colors on the canvas. So, noticing the first changes in the portrait, Dorian Gray peers into the colorful layer of the painting, trying to understand what caused the appearance of a fold of cruelty in the corners of the mouth in the portrait: “There were no signs of any change when he looked into the actual painting, and yet there was no doubt that the whole expression had altered. It was not a mere fancy of his own. The thing was terribly obvious." ^{[13, p. 78]} ("The paint on the portrait was intact, but the facial expression clearly changed. No, he did not imagine it: a terrible change caught his eye" (hereafter translated by the author of the article. – O. K.) In the second case, wandering through the picture gallery of a country house, a young man looks at his mother's portrait for a long time, noticing that "The carnations of the painting had withered, but the eyes were still wonderful in their depth and brilliance of colour."^{[13, p. 122]} ("The paints on the portrait have faded, but the eyes have retained an amazing depth and brightness of color") In relation to Basil Hallward, painting is used to denote his kind of activity or craft, which he earns a living, which gives this lexeme a somewhat reduced connotation, which is understandable from the point of view of the aesthetic concept of the author. In the essay "The Critic As Artist" ^[14] O. Wilde argues that the painter is always limited in the means of expression and is attached to visual images, unlike a poet or a writer.

Among a number of studied synonyms, the word portrait appears for the first time on the pages of the novel in the direct subject-logical meaning of the portrait of Dorian Gray as a subject of fine art and the result of the creation of a talented artist. But already in the first chapter, in Basil Hallward's answer to Lord Henry's question about why he does not want to exhibit a portrait, both lexemes become contextual synonyms: “Harry,” said Basil Hallward, looking him straight in the face, “every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. <...> The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul." ^{[13, p. 8]} (highlighted by me – O. K.) ("Harry," Basil Hallward said, "any portrait painted with love, this is a portrait of the artist, not the one who posed for him. <...> I am afraid that the portrait will reveal the secret of my soul. That's why I won't exhibit it") From the point of view of a true artist, a portrait as an object of fine art becomes identical to a portrait as an impression or representation that appears when looking at a picture. Later, in an explanation to Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward will designate the writing of portrait as the original goal and task, which eventually transformed into the creation of a picture: “One day, a fatal day I sometimes think, I determined to paint a wonderful portrait of you as you actually are<...> But I know that as I worked at it, every flake and film of colour seemed to me to reveal my secret. <…> I felt, Dorian, that I had told too much, that I had put too much of myself into it. Then it was that I resolved never to allow the picture to be exhibited." ^{[13, p. 98]} (highlighted by me – O. K.) ("And then one day, a fateful day, as it sometimes seems to me, I decided to paint your portrait in a modern costume and setting <...> But when I painted the portrait, it seemed to me that every brush stroke reveals my a secret. <...> I felt that I expressed too much in the portrait and put too much of myself into it. That's why I decided never to exhibit it")

When studying the text of the novel and the extra-textual reality, it becomes obvious that all of the above meanings of the picture lexeme, including the subject-logical definition as a visual image of an object or person, are somehow reflected. This lexical unit is an example of polysemy "with the expansion of the volume of derivatives" ^{[1, p. 55]}

In the center of the narrative is a picturesque portrait of a young man who has a striking, almost photographic resemblance to him: "It was certainly a wonderful work of art, and a wonderful likeness as well." ("It was an amazing work of art, and the similarity was amazing") ^{[13, p. 24]} It should be noted that the art of photography itself became extremely popular in England during the reign of Queen Victoria. However, along with traditional photographs, such a direction as photos with deceased relatives appeared and enjoyed great popularity, which in modern times cause a sense of surprise and misunderstanding. In other words, the photograph depicted an imaginary, perhaps desirable, but not real reality, blurring the line between the world of the living and the dead, and at the same time became a documentary fact of the presence of a person in this life. Similarly, the portrait of the title character of the novel captures a turning point in the life of Dorian Gray, symbolically demonstrating "awareness of the exhaustion of traditional forms (both life and art)" ^{[5, p. 123]} The portrait with photographic accuracy will reflect the changing picture of the degraded and dying soul of Dorian Gray and will become a semblance of evidence.

O. Wilde also creates a literary portrait of the late period of Victorian England, reflecting the ideas of such important cultural traditions and trends of the era for the author, dandyism, decadence, pre-Raphaelitism, aestheticism. The novel is also a literary portrait of the author himself, who in a letter to Ralph Payne states the following: “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be – in other ages, perhaps” (Basil Hallward is me as I am; Lord Henry is me, as the world sees me; Dorian is the one I would like to become, perhaps in other times" ^{[12, p. 319]} The portrait of a young man will forever remain associated with memories of the day of his writing by Basil Hallward and the period of life when the soul of Dorian Gray has not yet experienced a pernicious the influence of Lord Henry's theories. Representatives of the upper class of London associate the appearance of Dorian Gray with a certain ideal and memories of irrevocably departed immaculate youth: "His mere presence seemed to recall to them the memory of the innocence that they had tarnished." ("His mere presence reminded them of the lost purity" ^{[13, p. 108]}   

When comparing the picture and portrait lexemes, the second of them is less polysemic compared to the first and coincides with it in almost all meanings. In the novel, both words are often used as textual synonyms: “As he was turning the handle of the door, his eye fell upon the portrait Basil Hallward had painted of him. He started back as if in surprise. Then he went on into his own room, looking somewhat puzzled. <...> Finally, he came back, went over to the picture, and examined it." ^{[13, pp. 77-78]} (highlighted by me – O. K.) ("When he had already taken hold of the door handle, his gaze fell on the portrait painted by Basil Hallward. Dorian shuddered and stepped back. Perplexed, he went into the room. <...> In the end, he returned, approached the painting and stared at it for a long time") G.L. Levina and E.V. Lapshina note the absence of an accentological meaning in the use of the lexemes picture and portrait ^[3].

We observe an interesting use of the ascending gradation technique: painting-portrait-picture, where each subsequent token complicates and expands the meaning of the previous one. The author considers painting as a process of drawing and using oil paints, portrait becomes the subject of the artist's creation, where O. Wilde focuses on the type depicted on canvas: portrait as a representation of the visual characteristics of the model. Portrait transforms into picture, combining the meanings of portrait as an oil painting and portrait as a genre of painting, and at the same time becomes an element of the mental level. In our opinion, we can distinguish another triad that goes in parallel with the lexemes under study: the instrument of creation (painting) – the subject of creation (portrait) – the image of creation (picture), realized in the image of Basil Hallward. The paints belong to the artist, the portrait is painted by him, but later becomes the property of Dorian Gray, and the metaphorical image combines both characters, becoming a kind of mirror for them.

The reader's special attention is attracted by the fact that O. Wilde puts the picture lexeme in the title of the novel, and not portrait, despite the fact that the latter is used in the Russian translation. The wording of the title sets the ambivalence of understanding, since it can be interpreted as "a portrait belonging to Dorian Gray" and "a portrait depicting Dorian Gray", which correlates with the ideological plot structure of the novel: a young man becomes the object of the image, the owner of the painting and subsequently the subject as the creator of his life displayed in the portrait. Portrait as an object of a particular genre of art (portrait) goes into the background of the narrative and is replaced by picture. To the outside world as a whole, Dorian Gray shows an image-a deception, an image-an impression that others make of him at the sight of his beautiful young face. The image on the canvas ceases to be the subject of painting, but with photographic clarity (picture) begins to reflect the full depth of the fall of the protagonist of the novel and becomes evidence against him.

In English, the picture lexeme, the only one of the considered series of synonyms, is the basis for the formation of the verb to picture through conversion with meanings: 1) present something; 2) depict someone/something in a photo or picture; 3) describe something in a certain way. The verb to picture has an active beginning a priori. In the novel under study, Basil Hallward initially paints a static portrait of Dorian Gray, as the young man repeatedly says that he was bored of posing motionlessly for the artist. However, it is interesting to note that the portrait becomes not only a reflection of the ideal external and internal beauty of Dorian Gray, but at the same time reflects the somatic change caused in the sitter by Lord Henry's words about unspoken and unrealized desires and his theory of a new hedonism. It is at this moment that Basil manages to catch the desired expression on Dorian's face, while the artist does not know anything about what caused the young man's thoughtfulness. Thus, the facial expression of the hero of the novel in the portrait is dynamically conditioned and becomes the result of the collision of two opposing views: Basil's platonism and Lord Henry's hedonism. A static portrait becomes dynamic. As S.N. Zenkin notes in his article, the portrait moves and changes externally and internally. (Zenkin, 2018) The external dynamism of the portrait is manifested in its physical movement: from Basil Hallward's house to the house of the young man depicted on it, and then from the living room to a small room on the upper floor. The internal dynamics consists in the changes that Dorian Gray observes: the portrait changes itself and begins to tell the true story of the life of a young man who watches it from the position of a spectator in the theater. In this, perhaps, another of the meanings of the picture lexeme is realized – a living picture as a genre of pantomime (tableau). At the same time, the main character of the novel always sees not the process, but the result of changes. Moreover, the portrait becomes a trigger for certain actions on the part of Dorian Gray: one look at his own portrait causes a strong feeling of hatred for the artist who created it and leads to murder: "Dorian Gray glanced at the picture, and suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward came over him, as though it had been suggested to him by the image on the canvas, whispered into his ear by those grinning lips." (Wilde, 2008, p. 133) ("Dorian looked at a portrait, and suddenly he was seized with an indomitable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward, as if inspired by the image on the canvas, whispered by his grinning lips."

As a result of the conducted research, we came to the following conclusions. The considered painting-portrait-picture lexemes are mutually dependent from the point of view of semantics and are in a relationship of syntagmatic connection. At the same time, each subsequent lexical unit of this triad absorbs the meanings of the previous one and complements them with new meanings. The lexemes picture and portrait become contextual synonyms in the novel, while painting acquires a somewhat reduced connotation. The introduction of the lexical unit picture in the title of the novel defines the macrotheme of the work of art and gives internal dynamics to the central image of the novel. The synonymous series of the studied units determines the appearance of a new trinity: the instrument of creation (painting) – the subject of creation (portrait) – the image of creation (picture). The syntagmatic relations defined by the painting-portrait-picture lexemes unfold into the paradigm of the ideological meanings of the novel. The practical significance of the work lies in the possibility of using the results obtained in the study of O. Wilde's literary heritage, in particular the novel "Portrait of Dorian Gray", issues of literary theory, stylistics and literary criticism in general. Prospects for further research we see the possibility of expanding the subject of research, namely: in addition to the proposed synonymic series. It is also possible to consider the features of the functioning of the selected lexical units in other works that make up the literary heritage of O. Wilde.