Two stories, two authors, two epochs – to compare them will be the purpose of this paper by focussing on the two portraits which are each the important element of their story. At the same time, confusing and paradoxical relationships between art, life and death constitute the thematic centre of both stories. The portraits, as pieces of visual art, are presented in a verbal or ekphrastic form. Why and how are they represented with words? To answer this questions I will first give an overview about ekphrastic theory, second classify the narrative situations, third compare the relations of observer and observed subject and finally by the discussion of their function and importance.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Ekphrastic Theory
3 Analysis
3.1 The narrative structure of “The Oval Portrait” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
3.2 Who watches whom?
3.3 Ekphrastic characteristics
3.3.1 The Titles
3.3.2 “The Oval Portrait”
3.3.3 “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
3.4 The importance of the portraits
4 Conclusion
5 Bibliography
Objectives & Core Topics
This paper examines the use of ekphrasis in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Oval Portrait" and Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," analyzing how these authors utilize portraits as central narrative elements to explore the complex, often paradoxical relationship between life, art, and death.
- Comparative analysis of ekphrastic theory in literature.
- Investigation of narrative structures and the role of the narrator.
- Examination of the voyeuristic "observer-observed" dynamic.
- Analysis of portraits as symbolic manifestations of identity and morality.
- Evaluation of the "inversion of life and art" theme in both works.
Excerpt from the Book
The narrative structure of “The Oval Portrait” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
“The Oval Portrait” is a story which tells a tale within a tale. It is a very short story and the events that are reported scenically take place during a segment of time that includes only few hours. It is a first person account and is related retrospectively. The narrator of the whole story is a wounded man who tells in an opening flashback that he was brought to an abandoned chateau for the night and there he stays in an apartment with paintings covering the wall – he can be considered as intradiegetic. The narrator mentions that his immediate fascination with the richly framed pictures hanging in an eccentric manner in the niches of the weirdly constructed walls of the chateau is likely due to his “incipient delirium” which causes the impression of an unreliable narrator.
The tale of the wounded man provides the narrative frame which contains the "vague" gloss on the portrait provided by the “small volume” found nearby the narrator's bed. The gloss relates to the "rich golden arabesque" frame containing the portrait. The word arabesque and its synonymous “Moresque” refer to "patterned strangeness," a "carefully wrought design, which is colorful, intricate, symmetrical, and therefore pleasing, often fascinating, in its effects". They imply a complex character of design not only for the frame of the picture but also for the story.and narrow the reader's attention toward the portrait. It is the portrait of a young girl and later on the narrator reads the story of this young girl in the catalogue which is the most telling and reliable instance of the story. For this last paragraph of the story Poe uses a quotation, set off by quotation marks at the beginning and the end, so the reader gets the impression that he or she reads it at the same time the narrator does.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the context of aestheticism and the "Age of the Beautiful Death," establishing the comparative focus on Poe and Wilde regarding the intersection of art, life, and mortality.
2 Ekphrastic Theory: This section defines ekphrasis through the perspectives of theorists like Murray Krieger and W.J.T. Mitchell, outlining the historical development of verbal representations of visual art.
3 Analysis: This chapter serves as the core investigation, exploring narrative structures, the dynamic of the observer, specific ekphrastic characteristics, and the overarching importance of the portraits in both literary works.
3.1 The narrative structure of “The Oval Portrait” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: This section analyzes how both stories utilize frame narratives and internal texts to manipulate the reader's perspective on the central portraits.
3.2 Who watches whom?: This part explores the voyeuristic power dynamics between characters, noting how the gaze influences the transformation of the subjects into objects of art.
3.3 Ekphrastic characteristics: This section details how the authors describe artworks through language, establishing the portraits as notional ekphrastic objects.
3.3.1 The Titles: This subsection discusses the ambiguity and significance of the titles, highlighting their role in introducing the genre of painting to the reader.
3.3.2 “The Oval Portrait”: This subsection focuses on the specific ekphrastic passages in Poe's work and the narrator's interpretation of the portrait's life-likeness.
3.3.3 “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: This subsection examines how Wilde's novel uses the portrait as a supernatural, evolving mirror of Dorian's morality.
3.4 The importance of the portraits: This section investigates why both authors chose the face as the primary subject of the portraits, relating it to the concept of the face as a "mirror of the soul."
4 Conclusion: This chapter synthesizes the findings, refuting the initial hypothesis of a perfect inversion of life and art, and reflecting on the power of mental images versus written descriptions.
5 Bibliography: This section lists the primary and secondary sources used in the research.
Keywords
Ekphrasis, Poe, Wilde, The Oval Portrait, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Aesthetics, Narrative Structure, Voyeurism, Life and Art, Symbolism, Portraiture, Modernism, Representation, Mirroring, Identity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research paper?
The paper provides a comparative study of ekphrasis in Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Oval Portrait" and Oscar Wilde’s "The Picture of Dorian Gray," specifically looking at how both stories use portraits to explore the boundaries between life and art.
What are the primary themes explored in the text?
Key themes include the aesthetic movement, the "inversion" of life and art, the gaze and voyeurism, the role of the narrator, and the symbolic function of portraits in literary works.
What is the main research question or objective?
The objective is to analyze how and why these authors represent visual artworks with words and to determine how these portraits function as mirrors of the protagonists' moral or physical states.
Which theoretical framework is applied?
The study relies on ekphrastic theory, drawing primarily from the works of Murray Krieger, W.J.T. Mitchell, and other scholars to categorize the narrative situations and the "problem" of describing visual art.
What does the main analytical section cover?
The analysis covers the narrative structure, the "who watches whom" dynamic, the specific ekphrastic characteristics of both works, and the philosophical importance of the portrait as a representation of identity.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as ekphrasis, aestheticism, narrative structure, voyeurism, portraiture, and the interplay between visual and verbal representation.
How does the portrait in "The Oval Portrait" differ from the one in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"?
While both portraits are central to their respective plots, the study concludes that Wilde’s portrait undergoes an actual supernatural transformation reflecting Dorian's soul, whereas in Poe's story, the painting's "life" is more a result of the narrator's perception and obsession.
What conclusion does the author reach regarding the "inversion of life and art"?
The author argues that while both stories seem to attempt an inversion of life and art, they do so in different ways; Poe centers on art that exhausts life, while Wilde performs a more complex inversion where the protagonist's life is subsumed by his portrait.
- Citation du texte
- Nancy Reinhardt (Auteur), 2007, The use of ekphrasis in comparison of Edgar Allan Poes´s 'The Oval Portrait' and Oscar Wilde´s 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/131489
