Previous
Foil
Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Dorian's Demise:
Although the primary attribute Wilde ascribes to Dorian Gray at first is extreme beauty, his portrait painter Basil Hallward also notes a darker side to the character in the opening chapter, foreshadowing Gray's fall from grace:
As a rule, he is charming to me, and we sit in the studio and talk of a thousand things. Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and he seems to take a real delight in giving me pain. Then I feel, Harry, that I have given away my whole soul to some one who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer's day.
Explanation and Analysis—Classical Allusion:
In Chapter 1, when Lord Henry first introduces Dorian, and the reader, to his take on hedonism, he references the ancient Hellenic, or Greek, world:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of mediaevalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal—to something finer, richer than the Hellenic ideal, it may be.
Related Themes:
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Lord Henry's Speech:
In the beginning of The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses foreshadowing to hint at Dorian's eventual obsession with aging. It is Lord Henry who inspires Dorian to fear aging above almost all else, and by emphasizing Henry’s own preoccupation with Dorian’s aging at the beginning of the novel, Wilde foreshadows Dorian’s eventual willingness to sacrifice all else in service of his beauty:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Let us go and sit in the shade,” said Lord Henry. "[...] You really must not allow yourself to become sunburnt. It would be unbecoming.”
“What can it matter?” cried Dorian Gray, laughing, as he sat down on the seat at the end of the garden.
“It should matter everything to you, Mr. Gray.”
“Why?”
“Because you have the most marvellous youth, and youth is the one thing worth having.”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Classical Allusion:
In Chapter 1, when Lord Henry first introduces Dorian, and the reader, to his take on hedonism, he references the ancient Hellenic, or Greek, world:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of mediaevalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal—to something finer, richer than the Hellenic ideal, it may be.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Lord Henry's Influence:
When Lord Henry first introduces his hedonistic philosophy to Dorian, while he sits for his portrait, Basil warns Dorian not to listen to Henry’s words and Dorian himself questions whether such self-serving ideation is a bad influence upon him. In a moment of irony, Henry responds,
Unlock with LitCharts A+There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray. All influence is immoral—immoral from the scientific point of view.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Shakespeare:
Wilde makes ample allusions to Shakespeare and his plays in Dorian Gray. This is unsurprising, given the emphasis the book places on the enjoyment of the arts and the titular character's particular enthusiasm for theater. Perhaps the most significant allusion is to Shakespeare's most famous play, Romeo and Juliet, which occurs during Dorian's courtship of the actress Sybil Vane:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Yet she was curiously listless. She showed no sign of joy when her eyes rested on Romeo. The few words she had to speak [...] were spoken in a thoroughly artificial manner. The voice was exquisite, but from the point of view of tone it was absolutely false. It was wrong in color. It took away all the life from the verse. It made the passion unreal.
Related Themes:
