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Essay / An analysis of Oscar Wilde and Sarah Water's demonstration of victims and criminals, as seen in The Picture of Dorian and the Little Stranger
How do your chosen authors explore victims and villains?In the supernatural, victims and villains will most likely appear as major plot devices. Throughout the picture of Dorian Gray, there are many who fall under the charm and beauty and pay the price with their death, for example the infatuated Sibyl Vane who commits suicide at the apparent idea of being rejected by Gray. Faraday in The Little Stanger also has an effect on the Ayres family as he brings an unknown presence into the house, resulting in the destruction of the family. Despite the role of individuals, there are other themes in which villains and victims are conveyed, such as class, as shown in the futile death of James Vane or the inability to adapt to the changing times of Mrs. Ayers. Both Water and Wilde have villains and victims as a genre trope, but also convey their ideas about the times. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay One of the ways that texts present villains and victims is through the theme of class. Set in the post-war period, The Little Stranger is set at a time when social mobility was increasing and rich and well-off families were beginning to die off. The way Waters shows that the Ayres are victims of this change since in the first chapter on the Empire era, the house was resplendent while Faraday explored the "marble-floored passages" filled with "wonderful" things. This shows that they had great wealth and their name had substance. The aesthetic contrast thirty years later, during Faraday's next visit, where the previous opulence is replaced by "signs of decadence", shows the effect of changing ideas in the class system and the war it -even on the wealthy families of the time, who lost financially. The ruined house could therefore be seen as a microcosm for declining families and the people within them. Throughout the novel, the Ayres never manage to scrape together enough money because they don't know how to make money like before it was handed to them on the silver spoon when they were born. Most notably, Mrs. Ayres, who has the ability to adapt to the times, leaves behind a time when her family was thriving. Waters has inverted the usual trope of the upper class being vilified, but instead making them victims, which is a supernatural feature as the reader is probably not used to sympathizing with the wealthy elite of British society. In comparison, Wilde presents the working class as victims in The Picture of Dorian Gray shown by James Vane. When the grieving sailor attempts to avenge his sister, he is killed by an “unfortunate accident.” Had he killed Dorian, it would have signaled a class triumph, but alas, the futility of his death reflects the fact that no matter how hard James Vane tries, the upper classes will always prevail. This was a common theme in the writing of the time with novels such as Bram Stokers' Dracula, which is essentially the upper-class Count preying on the mindless lower classes. There is little emotive or pathetic language in light of the dead man, as Dorian responds "listlessly" and "bored." The only reason he cares is because James Vane was a threat to him, sowing the seeds that ultimately the upperclassmen are only interested in themselves. It can also be said that Sibyl Vane isalso a victim of class, because the only way she could hope to leave the circumstances she found herself in rested on her marriage to a rich man, like Dorian. Working class actresses were very lowly in work and often forced into prostitution to earn extra money for the theater owner, not to mention the girl herself. A girl so poor in class could never hope to break free from her social trap, which is why the nickname "Prince Charming" suits Dorian so well, as the prince saves the princess from distress and allows her to live a life of prosperity. The pure idea that this is possible means that Sibyl Dorian rules "life for us now", indicating the scale on which a rich man's toy can affect a life like this. Therefore, his suicide is not only the doing of Dorian himself, but also the consequences in terms of class, for surely Sibyl could not hope to find another suitor as lavish as Dorian with so many doors to new opportunities . Another way villains and victims are presented is through the role of influence. Lord Henry plays an important role in the development of Dorian's character as he introduces him to the ideas of hedonism and that he should "give form to every feeling, expression" in his "low musical voice" which takes at trap Dorian. Wilde deliberately uses the term “musical” to make readers imagine what a pleasant voice Henry must have had, thus lulling them in the same way as Dorian. Therefore, everyone is put in Dorian's shoes, which makes Henry's words stand out even more. Henry knows that Dorian is an impressionable young man with a lot of money and this is shown in the way Dorian "rocks" in his chair. All this happens in the garden, this could be an allegory from Genesis since Henry represents the serpent and encourages Dorian to bite the proverbial apple. This also fits into the philosophy of the Dionysians since Henry wants to live a life of degradation and frenzy compared to the Apollonian Basil who symbolizes order and normality for Dorian. It is Henry who gives him the yellow book which fascinates Dorian so much that he obtains them in many different colors or the fact that Henry found an "exquisite pleasure" in playing with Dorian even going so far as to describe him as an “experience”. This shows that Henry is self-serving and perhaps the most villainous character in the novel, as he sets Dorian on a path to chaos. The influence is also seen in The Little Stranger in presenting villains and victims through a character similar to the dynamic Lord Henry. Faraday could be interpreted as a villain of the story and the reader as a victim. The entire story is from his point of view and the way he is very vague on various topics lends to the ambiguity of the story, such as early on saying the house was "fuzzy and uncertain". This is called an omniscient narrator and fits very well into Gothic literature because a reader puts all their trust in the narrator when recounting the events that occur, but if those events seem unreliable or peculiar , it would give this uneasy feeling about what is real and isn't the case. 't. Reality is something that Faraday seems to manipulate when he feels "out of time and out of place" while in his mind he travels to Hundreds Hall and the reader wonders if he is really traveling there or s This is simply a living dream. Waters accentuates this liminality by using phrases such as “I see myself crossing the silver landscape and passing like smoke” the adjective “silvery” creating this unnatural coloring to nature which disrupts reality. Of.