The Picture of Dorian Gray

As I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray, I noticed that the last few chapters had a lot of short phrases of dialogue between characters. The structure built up a sort of tension, a urgency that kept the reader on their toes, as Dorian was becoming more and more troubled. There was a certain understanding that the story had to end in death as it became a more central topic and the short phrases ensued. Harry's acceptance of the terrible world ended up contrasting with Dorian who could no longer accept the world in which he was living and the person he had become. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book very much even though it had far too many witty phrases to remember. The obsession with youth and beauty was carried out well throughout the book, and the last scene brought a beautiful end when Dorian was now old in appearance because his soul was gone, which had been what had been sold to the devil and keeping him young looking. It was interesting to note that it was said that Dorian stabbed the picture with the knife, but ended up dying himself, meaning that he had become the picture in his mind or switched places with the picture.

Structuralism v. Liberal Humanism

Liberal humanism's idea of studying only the words on the page is an impossible way to study literature. How can one just look at words and achieve meaning? The meaning given to words is what makes them useful. Words have many contexts in which they are interpreted, which is unavoidable and necessary. In order to gain a general idea of the meaning of a piece, all possible interpretations should be considered.

Structuralism is the opposite extreme of liberal humanism, where everything is contextual and relational. I do not believe that one needs to compare opposites to achieve meaning, although it can make it easier for the reader to understand exactly what kind of relationship or specific aspect is important in the context.