Four Corners of Pardoxes

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is filled with many wonderful paradoxes that are fruitful for discussion. However, some of them are dated, don't fit our modern value system, or the teens just do not relate to them.

This year, I tried the four corners activity to teach the concept of paradoxes with my 10th graders. I posted paradoxes on the board (that I found actually from Goodreads.com) and they had to go to a corner to indicate if they Agreed, Disagreed, Somewhat Agreed, and Somewhat Disagreed.

Once they were in their corners, a student or two "defined" or "translated" the paradox. At that point, some students moved to different corners because they had misunderstood the meaning. Then volunteers in each corner explained why they had chosen their stances. Again, some students were so convincing that this caused movement.

It was a very successful activity. One modification I made in a section with several students with learning challenges is that I had them first sit at their desks and read and absorb the paradoxes before moving around the room.

Here are the paradoxes:

“We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.”

― Oscar Wilde

“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”

― Rita Mae Brown, Alma Mater

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit”

― Vince Lombardi

“All generalizations are false, including this one.”

― Albert Einstein

“Give me an honest con man any day.”

― J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

“The trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”

― Erica Jong

“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

― Plato, The Republic

“One of the great constants in life is change.”

― Heracleitus

Renee Zellweger and The Picture of Dorian Gray

“If only it was the picture who was to grow old, and I remain young. There's nothing in the world I wouldn't give for that. Yes, I would give even my soul for it.” Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray.

While reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, students can relate to many of the timeless themes of the novel, however, much instruction is still needed to contextualize the Victorian period so that students understand exactly from what the Aesthetics were rebelling.

However, nothing is more relevant to teenagers today than the notion of eternal youth, even though, if one was to believe Hollywood, which I don't, they are right now reaching the peak of their own beauty.

Today in class a student balked at the novel's premise, "Why does Dorian care so much about aging, anyways?"

Her question will lead us into our next class which will explore aging and beauty in contemporary society beginning with Renee Zellweger. Ironically, as I googled how to spell her name, there appeared an article comparing her to Dorian Gray that was recently published by Huffington Post. I can, however, stick by the originality of my lesson plan without fear of plagiarism because Zellweger is just an addendum to what I did last year.

The students will learn about plastic surgery, the costs associated, and how it's a growing practice for both men and women. Zellweger will be the hook, as I show students the Twitter feeds and ask them what they have heard about the controversy surrounding her "makeover." We will discuss why she felt the need to reconstruct her face, and if there is a double standard for men and women when it comes to aging and plastic surgery.

Then we will talk about other factors that accelerate aging. Dorian Gray's portrait ages due to his sins. However, why do others age? One answer is stress and we will look at a Washington Post feature on how President Obama has aged since he took office.

Class will end with them aging a portrait of themselves, at which time we will return to the question: "Why does Dorian care so much about aging, anyways?" The goal will be for them to answer not just from the text, but also from their own perspectives.

Was Oscar Wilde Antisemitic?

In my high school AP English class we read Chaucer's The Prioress's Tale.  I read it expecting the teacher to discuss the clear antisemitism (a blood libel) detailed in the plot.

When I came to school the next day, my teacher never mentioned it in her lecture. When I approached her after class, she discouraged any further discussion.

"That's how it was back then," she said. "Do you think we shouldn't read it because of that. It is great literature."

It wasn't that I thought we shouldn't read it. However, it bothered me that she wouldn't challenge the validity of the blood libel and explain how it lead to pogroms and persecution throughout European history to my classmates who already carried some mild prejudice about Jewish people.

I dropped it, but addressed the issue on a test essay.

.....

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there is a character called Mr. Isaacs. Oscar Wilde portrays him in a classically antisemitic light. I researched the meaning of this character and found an article by American University at Beirut Professor Emeritus  Stephen S. Nassaar titled, "The Problem of the Jewish Manager in The Picture of Dorian Gray."

He states that it is unlikely that Oscar Wilde was antisemitic because his two more supportive friends, before, during, and after his trial were a Jewish couple and no other plays or writings include antisemitism. His theory is that Mr. Isaacs is a parody of a character in another novel:

The most prominent and towering example of the portrayal of the Jewish community in the final decades of the century was Eliot's Daniel Deronda (1876). In Daniel Deronda she displayed a warmly sympathetic attitude towards the Jewish community and used it to criticise non-Jewish English society. Wilde disliked Eliot considerably. (Nassaar)

Nassaar explains that just like the entire novel is anti-Victorian, Mr. Isaacs is anti-Eliot. He does accuse Wilde of insensitivity, just not antisemitism. 

Whether or not they agreed with the theory, discussing it in class put the students at ease about the Jewish manager's portrayal. Not because the article exonerated Oscar Wilde on the charge of antisemitism, but rather the topic was important enough to spend 30 minutes talking about in class.