Consequence and Responsibility: New Hedonism in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Article: http://www.oscholars.com/TO/Appendix/Library/Gillespie.pdf

Nathan Hendricks

Eng 263

Literary Criticism

March 16, 2010

Consequence and Responsibility: New Hedonism in The Picture of Dorian Gray

In Michael Patrick Gillespie's article Ethics and Aesthetics in The Picture of Dorian Gray, he offers an analysis of various philosophies and ideologies which encompass the issue of art in its relation to morality. He applies these in regards to Wilde's novel; discussing the character's motivations and actions. He starts by mentioning Socrates and the long associations that mankind has made between morals and happiness. “The dialects of Socrates underscore the fact that our society has long affirmed the ideal of right conduct. They further show how we have sought to discover and articulate the moral tenets configuring our conduct in a fashion appropriate to our beliefs. Plato extended these considerations beyond Socratic concern for immediate material gain to the exemption of a system—designated as ethics—that functions as a means to goodness and that sees goodness as a means to happiness (p. 140)”.

From a humanistic point of view, goodness is only a construction of society and is irrelevant to the pursuit of happiness (happiness in terms of being considered that it is not impossible to achieve). It could then be argued that art , as a philosophy, serves no purpose but to encompass aesthetics. During the Victorian period, it was commonly thought that art could be used as a tool (or weapon in some cases) in order to enhance social education or improve moral instruction or enlightenment. It is clear that Wilde set out to spread an ideal that art should not have to be chained to such an imposed purpose (in a Victorian society that is starch and concerned with spreading a unified understanding of propriety and “correct” morals).

Gillespie explains that “the view of art as aesthetically and ethically self-contained, summed up in a single phrase—art for art's sake—that impelled the Aesthetic Movement.” (Gillespie p. 142). Gillespie says about those involved in the Aesthetic Movement (such as Theophile Gautier, Stephane Mallarme, Gustave Flaubert...),

“...subscribed to the doctrine that art represents the supreme value because it stands as self-sufficient and has no aim beyond its own perfection. To this end, they asserted that the function of the work of art lies simplicity in its existence and its ability to exude beauty, indifferent to current social issues” (p. 142). The Aesthetic movement clearly is an influence in The Picture of Dorian Gray, however, Gillespie goes further to pinpoint the motivations for Dorian: New Hedonism (as reinforced with the yellow book that Dorian lives by).

“The novel does prescribe a single mode of answering the questions implicit in its discourse, but it does foreground an internal ethic programme- New Hedonism. This system makes a direct claim for the shaping effect of art upon one's character, and it asserts the primacy of a doctrine of pleasure that absolves individuals from the ordinary responsibilities for their actions. Readers measure its effect by contrasting it with the conventional Victorian morality in the work and with whatever ethical systems, conventional or otherwise that they bring to the text. (p. 145)

Dorian is first introduced to this ideal by Lord Henry,“To realize one's nature perfectly—that is to what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves now a days. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, that one owes to one's self...Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis for morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion—these are the two things that govern us. And yet...I believe that if one man were to live his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, expression of every thought, reality to every dream—I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the miladies of medieavalism and return to the Hellenic ideal...But the bravest man amongst us is afraid of himself...Nothing remains but the recollection of pleasure or the luxury of regret. The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Resist it and your sould grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden itself, with desire for what is monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful" (Wilde p. 19).

It is ideal that sparks Dorian and makes him question his own life and ultimately leads him down the tragic path he chooses (leading to the contribution of Sybil's death, the murder of Basil and his own death). Gillespie goes on to raise the question of whether Hedonism is a paradox just as much as the status quo of whatever society's accepts morality is. Lord Henry (and the yellow book) gives Dorian a predetermined set of values to live by.

“In this stark articulation of the aims of New Hedonism one sees a far different moral view than anything expressed in conventional approaches. Nonetheless, it stands as a viable alternative to traditional ethnical programmes. As one would expect in the outline of any moral system, Lord Henry delineates New Hedonism by laying out its goals, providing guidance on how to achieve those goals, and establishing a means for judging behavior in relation to those goals. This detailed description of New Hedonism, however, does not legitimize it, and so its function stands open to debate" (Gillespie p. 150).

Both Dorian Gray and Lord Henry do not really fully encompass the philosophy of New Hedonism.From a psychoanalytical method of thinking, this philosophy caters to the Ego. It appeals to conscious desires but ignore's the ID's attempt to regulate desires. It is Dorian's denial of this idea that leads him to become overwhelmed with guilt and concern for his soul...ultimately resulting in his own death. If he was really only concerned with appeasing temptations in order to achieve happiness, wouldn't other people's well-fare become irrelevant (when not related to his own desires)? Lord Henry more closely represents the philosophy because he is passive and indifferent to moral consequence of behavior (placing more emphasis on metaphysical implications). He also dismisses Dorian's trouble and guilt as an embracement of conventional morality. Lord Henry is not as radical in enacting the ideal as Dorian, but shows his desire to influence/corrupt beauty and youth (he, however shows restraint in realizing the consequences of fully applying New Hedonism like Dorian) .

Gillespie argues that, in a sense, Wilde is successful in presenting an idea that art is not meant to teach or reinforce morality, but regardless, reflects the creator of it (therefore capturing humanity and unable to be labeled meaningless). Therefore the current Victorian ideals and Hedonism are both paradoxes. “The propositions of the novel, however, go beyond a simple philosophical exercise, for they enable us to indulge a range of alternative ethical responses without incurring the consequences that such behavior would provoke” (p. 153). This is interesting because Wilde appears to be doing the same thing as Le Fanu: allowing the reader to ponder its content safely (especially in regards to the time period both novels are from). Wilde, however in doing this, takes away from the implication that art is apart from political or humanistic agendas.

As Gillespie concludes, “In consequence, The Picture of Dorian Gray, does not and should not bring us closer to a new ethical position or reinforce our old one. Rather, through the actions of its characters its discourse establishes within us a sense of the wide-ranging aesthetic force that ethics exerts upon a work of art. Furthermore Wilde's novel gives us the opportunity to enhance the mix of our aesthetic and ethical views by extending our sense of possibilities for interpretation beyond those delineated by our immediate hermeneutic system" (p. 154).

For the most part Gillespie's interpretation and analysis is agreeable. I also had some unresolved questions:

How much and to what extent is Wilde's life is reflected in this novel?

Is Wilde really making a statement about "art just being art" or is he saying it is impossible not to attach human meaning (because it is created by an artist)?

In denouncing the restrictive status quo of the Victorian period, does Wilde write to help liberate a repressed society? or is he merely spreading his own set of beliefs that could be viewed as equally restrictive?

Works Cited

Gillespie, Michael Patrick. Ethics and Aesthetics in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Available Online: http://www.oscholars.com/TO/Appendix/Library/Gillespie.pdf

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oxford University Press. Oxford UK, 2008. Print

Gothic's Enigmatic Signifier

It seems that Davis would argue that, as a whole, the effective component of the Gothic novel, or the Gothic text as horror, is the fear of death itself...and which also is the end/death of what it means to conceptualize oneself with meaning (being human). We as readers and interpreters become caught in the same component of these texts which provokes a feeling of fear or horror; this the element that makes the Gothic so effective, entertaining and interesting. As Davis puts it so well,

“That 'unspeakable horror', indeed that traumatising, unnamable horror which is deposited by the other and forced into us by the Gothic text is, ultimately, the 'very attack of the death drive'; that impulsion towards the death of meaning itself...Finally, if we, as readers of the Gothic, are in fact caught in the same 'vortex of summons and repulsion' as Laura, then our constant attempts to decipher the Gothic text, 'to master, to translate, those enigmatic, traumatising messages', leave us all trapped in our own repetition compulsion, inexorably (but perhaps pleasurably) drawn to 'the place where meaning collapses'; a place 'very nearly dark'” (Davis p. 234)

Rather than analyze Carmilla from a literal Freudian interpretation, Davis chooses to incorporate the work of psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche to explore the novel as a Gothic allegory. Davis says that the element of fear or horror in the story comes from the effects that Carmilla has on Laura; specifically her inability to make sense of or find meaning in Carmilla's desires. “Carmilla represents a failure of 'translation'; a traumatising failure to decode the enigmatic received from and indeed implanted by the other, namely Carmilla...repression and its potentially traumatising effects are the result of a failure to decipher and metabolise the other's messages or 'the enigma of the other's desires'” (p.224).

My first interpretation of Laura's confusion and paradox in trying to decode Carmilla's very sexually charged seduction was possibly that Le Fanu was hinting at repressed homosexual desire. Although Freud would possibly do the same, especially with Laura's dreams, Davis uses Laplanche to make another credible analysis to ponder. When referring to the inability of someone to decipher the “enigma of the other's desires”, Davis says that for Laplanche they are always “'saturated with unconscious sexual signifiers' as he insists 'sexuality reaches the subject from the other' and 'it is in the very nature of sexuality to have a traumatic effect' (p. 224). Davis is saying that the “the enigma of the other's desires” involves the “'seductive intrusion of the other...the inauguration of human sexuality shifts the location of its source 'from a biological stimulus to an exciting internal foreign body that attacks the ego from within' And the source of this assault is 'the intrusive intimacies of the other.' At the heart of this intrusion lies a situation of primal seduction” (p.224).

Indeed, Carmilla pursues and stalks Laura in a very primal animalistic sense. This made me think again of one of Laura's dreams. “But I soon saw that it was a sooty-black animal that resembled a monstrous cat. It appeared to me about four or five feet long for it measured fully the length of the hearthrug as it passed over it; and it continued to-ing and fro-ing with the lithe, sinister restlessness of a beast in a cage” (Carmilla Ch. 4). Through Carmilla's desire and advances (intrusion), Davis would say that, she implants a signifier (or deposit) into Laura's subconscious. Laura in turn tries to comprehend that signifier and is unable to do so (resulting in psychological trauma). Laura clearly is effected by this for years afterward. I will stop here in exploring the various reasons as to why Davis and Laplanche give in order to explain exactly why Carmilla is able to implant this signifier and why Laura is incapable of making sense of the enigma. In regards to saving space in this post, I would like to explore the central concept of this as a whole and why it is so important and effective in the Gothic and horror genre in general.

The idea of the vampire has a component that can be found in numerous attempts in the horror genre. This is the concept of something foreign or alien penetrating the human body or mind that threatens life or sanity (in other words erase or bring meaningless to existence). While reading Davis' article, I automatically thought of William Peter Blatty's novel, The Exorcist and Ridley Scott's film, Alien. Indeed the concept of alien or foreign penetration is highly sexual in and of itself. Like in Alien, the alien has no way of reproducing solely through its own species. It is a parasite and will latch on to a human face ramming its phallic like appendage down the throat. It then implants an egg into the stomach until the embryo becomes mature. It then, when ready, burst through the stomach and skin killing the human carrier. This is obviously a very violent and harsh way to play on the human fear of a parasite sexually penetrating the body (in this case killing it) in order to create life. What I find more interesting though is the concept of the human fear of something penetrating the mind. It is this fear that seems more complex and threatens the very meaning of what it is to be human. This is a component that works so well in The Exorcist and Carmilla.

Like Davis says, “In turn this deposit becomes unconscious fantasy, or an 'internal other'...thus the deposited untranslated residues of the other's enigmatic messages become 'an internal foreign body' or as Laplanche puts it, 'an alien inside me, and even one put inside me by an alien'...This process by and of the alien other becomes the key element of Laura's experience in Le Fanu's tale” (Davis p. 226). This implantation of a signifier by an alien person (or creature) becomes embedded in the subconscious. By not being able to decipher the message (in this case a sexual one) it becomes an object that the conscious self is unable to assign meaning to. This attacks the ego and evokes the death drive, creating trauma. This implantation of a foreign message reflects another component of human fear: the threat of something attacking the ability to assign meaning to existence. If we as humans are unable to to provide meaning to our lives or an explanation for existence then we have no purpose in being alive. If there is no meaning attached to life, what would be the purpose of reproducing in order to create more life that will inevitably die? This reveals an element of human fear that is just as dangerous as being physically threatened: we are in danger of becoming dead inside (or losing our concept of humanness) because we can be equally attacked mentally. Although Laura is not in danger of losing her motivation for existing, she still suffers mental trauma from Carmilla implanting such an undecipherable signifier into her subconscious.

As Davis says, “By the end of Le Fanu's tale, we know that this element that can not be metabolized, assigned meaning and assimilated remains actively at work in Laura's psyche, attacking the ego from within', long after the events she narrates. Like the alien (source-object) inside the object and like the Gothic itself, the internal alien object is 'exciting rather than informing' And as Laplanche points out, what is not translatable becomes 'the measure of the quantity of trauma' (Davis 227).

Although Davis' (or Laplanche's) interpretation can not be considered as an absolute truth in being correct, it does present very intriguing ideas and explanations. Even more so than its analysis of Carmilla, the article raises some very interesting questions about human fear. More importantly, Davis makes a credible statement about what exactly the Gothic does to its audience and why it is so attractive. This threat of penetration from not just a physical alien or object but a psychological one reveals a major component of human fear. It is a key component not just to the Gothic, but can be seen in the horror genre in numerous mediums and continues to scare us to this day.