“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Plot Summary
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by the writer Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. The Picture of Dorian Gray offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers, some of whom said that Oscar Wilde merited prosecution for violating the laws guarding the public morality. In response, Wilde aggressively defended his novel and art in correspondence with the British press, although he personally made excisions of some of the most controversial material when revising and lengthening the story for book publication the following year.
The story is about a young man named Dorian Gray who is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted by what is believed to be the devil, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences, while staying young and beautiful; all the while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin. He lives a life devoted to garnering new experiences and sensations with no regard for conventional standards of morality or the consequences of his actions.
After leaving to explore the world Dorian returns after 18 years to his home in London. Dorian has grown tired now of pleasure and seeks happiness instead. When meeting up with his old acquaintances they are shocked to see how Dorian has kept his youthful complexion and has not changed at all since the day they met him. Dorian tells Lord Henry that he will be good from then on; his morals have twisted to support Basil's point of view (good) instead of Henrys (evil). Dorian wonders if his new-found goodness has reverted the corruption in the picture, but sees only an uglier image of himself. From that, Dorian understands that his true motives for the self-sacrifice of moral reformation were the vanity and curiosity of his quest for new experiences.
Deciding that only full confession will absolve him of wrong doing, Dorian decides to destroy the last vestige of his conscience. Enraged, he takes the knife with which he murdered Basil Hallward, and stabs the picture. The servants of the house awaken on hearing a cry from the locked room; on the street, passers-by who also heard the cry fetch the police. On entering the locked room, the servants find an unknown old man, stabbed in the heart, his face and figure withered and decrepit. The servants identify the disfigured corpse by the rings on his fingers to belong to their master; beside him is the picture of Dorian Gray, reverted to its original beauty.
Deeper Analysis
Dorian became the man Henry wanted to be or at least the one who followed by his every moral, he was a heavy persuasion in Dorians life in making him become corrupt. Henry had many quips and quotes on life meanings that encouraged the act of sinning and not caring for others or the conscience of the soul. However, as Basil says, Henry is a man who doesn't follow his own advice. Dorian however clung to every word, being easily manipulated and living his life by Henrys corrupt morals. Dorian claims Henry will always be fond of him, as he represents all the sins Henry wanted to commit As the quote at the top of this page references.
What the we learn though from this story is that we receive consequences for all our actions, this is one of the main reasons why Henry couldn't commit to the corrupt life-style however Dorian could due to his deal. Dorian on the outside seems immune to all his sinning however further and further into the film the portrait which he has traded his soul with becomes ugly, diseased and scar ridden showing the consequences on his soul. Dorian essentially leads the life many of us dream of, to live life without care, hurt, sickness or age and to remain beautiful despite our ugly deeds. But the big lesson of it all is that Dorian was unhappy at the end of it and in the end wanted to redeem himself by paying the ultimate price, which was death.
I feel this links heavily in fictional media such as games, films and books. We humans watch films about people who commit traitorous acts and sins, they do what we can’t in real life because we would have to serve the price at the end ourselves as well as put our lives on the line. Nearly every game involves shooting at something, however to shoot someone in the real-world you would get a life sentence in prison. It allows us to do things we enjoy doing but without any care or consequences, of course I would never kill someone in real life as it would be taking a soul but in a game every character is merely fiction with no real soul therefore it takes away all the fear and consequence and you can happily kill them. Same with films, many are filled with scandal, drugs, crime, affairs, fighting and deaths. We become hooked into watching these things as they are living a life we would enjoy or are curious about and we don't have to face the consequences, we can easily step out of that world. We like it because it gives us that thrill of going against society and breaking the rules which is something we are all curious about but most would never do because it's wrong to do so.
I believe this was the reason for why I was so intrigued and interested in researching Pirates. I was fascinated by how they lived their life so on the edge by capturing ships and getting involved in sword/ gun fights. Every day there was a high chance of death and so they all lived life to the fullest, committing sins such as drinking, killing and thieving because they were the outcasts of society and because of that they might as well live their lives to the fullest doing whatever they want rather than quivering in poverty obeying by the rules. I myself dream of living that sense of adventure, it may have been a short life but it was a life well lived.
The Picture of Dorian Grey
It seemed I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the life of pirates, as pirates are now popular characters in games, films and books. The first major literary work to popularise the subject of pirates was 'A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates' (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson. It is the prime source for the biographies of many well-known pirates of the Golden Age, providing a large account of the period. The book gives an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, such as the notorious English pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack. The book provides many standard accounts of the lives of other pirates in the Golden Age.
Then there's Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883) which is considered to be the most influential work of pirate fiction, along with its many film and television adaptations. It introduced or popularised many of the characteristics and clichés now common to the genre. Stevenson identified Johnson's General History of the Pyrates as one of his major influences, and even borrowed one character's name (Israel Hands) from a list of Blackbeard's crew which appeared in Johnson's book. Modern examples today of pirates in popular-culture are the film’s Stardust, Pan and films series Pirates of the Caribbean; Also the television series 'Black Sails' and the famous Assassins Creed game series 'Black Flag'.
Pirates in Popular-Culture
Stardust (2007)
Stardust is a 2007 romantic fantasy adventure film from the Paramount pictures, directed by Mathew Vaughn. The film is based on Niel Gainman's novel Stardust. In the film it features a gang of pirates who capture the two main protagonists Tristan and Yvaine. The captain of the ship called 'Captain Shakespeare' interrogates them harshly whilst his crew members hover outside the door listening to his every word and cheering when he says something overly cruel or threatening. It’s funny because during the interrogation it feels as though Captain Shakespeare is behaving exactly how the stereo-type pirate is perceived or acted like in the 1700s. He starts to list all of the stereotyped methods pirates use to torture or kill their victims such as making them walk the plank or feeding them to sharks and ponders which he should use. By the end of the interrogation Shakespeare gets very angry and the crew go on top deck and watch a body fall out of the window believing it to be Tristen. Captain Shakespeare then appears on top deck holding the girl Yvaine and tells his crew to not disturb him in his cabin as he drags her in there suggesting he'll be having sexual relations with her, which is another cruel trait pirates had.
When Shakespeare gets into his cabin and locks the door the camera turns to show Tristen alive and well waiting at the back of the room. Yvaine then stops her struggling and laughs, asking if the facade worked well. Shakespeare himself then switches into a complete opposite personality and is all polite and friendly, saying he believed it did and asks if the two of them are alright. Captain Shakespeare later explains that he has to keep up a harsh reputation with his crew and play the 'act' of being a fierce pirate when really he's very into the finer arts of life and is a skilled musician, dancer and has a keen fashion sense. This is a very comedic effect and mocks the stereotype of pirate being harsh, violent and savage men and that they all must act this way.
Pirates in Modern Films
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
What makes Pirates to Interesting?
'Pirates of the Caribbean' is an American fantasy swashbuckler film series originating from the Disney theme park attraction 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. The first film of the series was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl which is set in the 18th century. The film stars Johny Depp as Jack Sparrow, in infamous pirate who originally seeks revenge on Captain Barbossa who left him marooned on an island with a pistol loaded with one bullet. During Jacks quest he meets Will Turner a blacksmith who is against all pirates however later becomes one. This is the same for Elizabeth Swan, the governors daughter, who ends up having a romance with Will Turner. The three become a team and they play the main protagonists in the first three films.
I've already gone over this before in my earlier research but the reason why I love these films so much are because of the imaginative fantasy twists they've added to the harsh real life of the 1800s universe. The stereo-type of pirates being the typical selfish, violent and thieving men is made clear by the perspective of Elizabeth's life from the start of the film. However as soon as Jack Sparrow arrives in a very comedic fashion with his ship sunken and acting very unprofessional it breaks the barrier of pirates being these untouchable beings seeking violence, it instead enables you to relate with them. They showcase this feeling well in how Will and Elizabeth first react to Jack Sparrow when meeting him. Will and Elizabeth represent the viewers and so from the start thye rebel against jack, declaring they’ll never be a pirate deeming them as cruel criminals. However following Jack along in his adventures and teaming up with other pirates you see their side of things and how they work as a team and it’s almost like a family. Now when the army comes in to capture and arrest them you start to resent against the army and start to see how they are in the wrong and they are just as bad as pirates themselves. You almost cheer the pirates on in how they stand up to the government and don't care for petty rules or order and they live their lives to the fullest.
Now of course this is a much nicer take to pirates as in the 1700s Pirates attacked innocence and took them hostage. In this case Pirates seem a lot more understandable and never killed innocence as usually something else gets in the way coincidently. However the looting and thievery side was never lost for them but it is done in a comedic fashion. Other than that when it comes to the life of living as a pirate and dress sense Pirates of the Caribbean seem to nail it on the head. When following the pirates on their ventures, sailing on their ships everything is done so well and feels real with the captain shouting orders here and there to sword fighting and battling other ships. They showcase every part of a pirate’s life and have done it so well. The character costume designs are incredible and so much effort has been made into making them look real and authentic. Each character would be great inspiration to use when designing my own outfits for my four pirates.
Pan (2015)
I watched the film Pan which is the latest film out right now involving pirates. The film is based off the iconic Disney story of Peter Pan, a boy who grew up in a magical world called Neverland and has an arch nemesis called Hook who is captain of a pirate crew. The film Pan focused on Peter’s birth and origin and twisted the story and made their own version. In this film Peter is first shown as a baby who is left by his mother Mary on the steps of an orphanage in London, an establishment under the care of Mother Barnabas . Several years later, during World War II, Peter and his best friend Nibs find a letter from peters mum hidden in a secret chamber in the orphanage, the letter assures Peter that they will meet again "in this world or another". In retaliation for the boys' mischief, Mother Barnabas summons pirates who kidnap Nibs and several others. Nibs manages to jump off the pirate ship and escape but Peter does not. He is captured and taken to Neverland, a magical realm beyond space and time, where he is forced to become a slave labourer and mine for fairy dust on behalf of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) who uses it to keep himself young. When watching I was slightly hesitant of this take of Black Beard as I felt he was simply used to be a laughing stock and comedic character for young children's entertainment. However Hugh Jackman played the part so well and although dressing rather flamboyant and ridiculously stylish, Black Beard was a character to take seriously and was actually quite a dark character when you read into his actions closely. The care for fashion sense was needed with this take on Black Beard as he was overly obsessed in gaining the power of immortality and remaining young and so by dressing well this emphasised on the characters want of looking good and keeping his youth; I absolutely love the black feather collar . I also noticed his pierced left ear which is a cool detail to have. I wonder if Pirates had ear piercings in the 1700s, this would be a nice touch to add to my portraits especially black beard as piercings can be used as an intimidation factor. I see that the creators behind Black Beards outfit decided to make him wear all black apart from his stockings being a bold bright red. I was surprised to find Black Beard to be rather intimidating and scary despite his theatrical clothing. It seems what kept him being intimidating was his actual face. They seem to have used makeup to make Black Beards eyes very hollowed out with deep bags, the only part deceiving his youthfulness. Also underneath that wig, Black Beard has a completely shaved head which really increases his intimidation a lot. So when his wig comes off, you know things are about to get serious.
Captain Shakespeare trying on his favourite dresses.
Captain Shakespeares pirate outfit he wears at all time in the public eye to keep up appearences.
The pirate crew, all dressed in dark gloomy colours and very rough looking with scraggly beards and dirty faces, very pirate like.
I think this all comes down to the point I made before referring to Dorian Grey on how pirates live a life without rules or care for consequences and this is something we can't help but look up to and want to be. There is evidence of this with how many of us love to play video games which nearly all contain violence. This means we can kill enemies without a second doubt but the largest thing of all is to not fear death. If the character you play dies in a game they respawn and you face no real life injury. This is why pirates are so interesting and unique because they actually lived the life that video games are made about, of killing and going against laws, stealing, being rich, gun fights. To have actually gone and lived that life, although wrong and cruel, you still can't help but feel slight admiration for them on how they lived such an adventurous life and one so care free. Not only this but what makes pirates so different from other types of criminals is how pirates lived in such a different world as they travelled mainly over sea on stylised ships and this is an experience very few others experienced. This is a unique thing to them and one which creates such interesting scenes in games and movies as they are set in such different locations rather than in the common city. Also oddly enough, pirates worked together as a team and a strong community. They do act as a family or a pack with on being the leader and the rest having roles. There's a very thorough and interesting system and codes that pirates follow and again it’s like living in a new world with new rules, it makes you want to be a part of it.
The True Pirates (Golden Age)
The golden age of piracy is between the 1650s to the 1730s and is one of the most interesting and misunderstood eras of history. Spanning the course of several centuries The Golden Age of Piracy saw the rise of empires and the colonization of the New World. While pirates were often branded as enemies of the state by the Imperial powers that be, the ruling elite of Europe at the time could just as easily be branded as enemies of humanity due to their actions.
In an era ruled by oppression and tyranny featuring the development and rise of the African slave trade and the complete genocide of native populations the pirates were uniquely democratic and libertarian and championed the earliest ideas of freedom and democracy in the New World. Piracy was not a new phenomenon during this time and it has always been present throughout history wherever there are unprotected trade routes. Even the Greeks and the Romans and other ancient civilizations experienced piracy.
Raiding and plundering with impunity and complete disregard for all authority the pirates were as ruthless as they were successful. Being one of the most democratic societies at the time, pirates often freed West African slaves and recruited them into their crew, had an older version of a healthcare system and favoured group dynamics above all else. Pirates held votes on any issues of importance and a captain could find himself just as easily marooned on an island as he could do to a crew member.
Overall a pirate’s life was not for anyone. Only sea hardy ex-privateers and sailors could become competent pirates due to the demands of being on a ship for months at end. Land lubbers as they were called were given less shares and often were the soldiers who boarded boats. The crew was commonly made up of sailors who turned to a life of piracy. Many of them became pirates to escape the brutal treatment they received on merchant ships or warships. They had been forced to live on rotten, maggot-infested food, and frequently suffered disease and crippling injury. The captain on such ships had absolute authority and often handed out harsh punishments, including flogging. Life at sea was still tough for pirates. Below deck, it was dark, damp and dirty. The men lived in cramped conditions, sleeping amongst rats and eating a poor diet. Rats on board were a big problem; they ate the food stores, chewed through ropes and carried disease.
There were no doctors, so pirates' battle wounds went untreated. All an injured pirate could do was wear a patch over a lost eye, or wear a wooden leg in place of a missing limb. When they had time off from chores pirates could sing, dance, play cards or sleep. There were many more men on board than were needed to crew the ship. The extra men would be used to crew any ships they captured. In the meantime, it meant they could all do less work on board.
Other men wished to escape the cruelties inflicted on them for minor and major infractions. Piracy promised them a better way of life, the chance to make their fortunes, and the opportunity to leave the drudgery of life on land. As pirates, all men were equal. No longer did one man outrank another. The crews chose their captains, and signed articles of agreement to ensure that everyone earned a share of any prize taken. Such freedom was unavailable to men who remained on the right side of the law.
Modern Day Piracy
Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains to be a large issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US $16 billion per year), especially in the waters between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and also in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. The emergence of piracy off the coast of Somalia created a multi-national effort led by the United States to patrol the waters near the Horn of Africa. In 2011, Brazil also created an anti-piracy unit on the Amazon river.
Many modern pirates have heavy-duty firepower, including automatic weapons, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades. Pirates are also often equipped with cell phones and other tech gadgets to keep in contact with organizers who feed them information about ships and their locations. Many pirates weapons are specialized to their geographic location, with the most dangerous usually being in the South China Sea and Somalia. With the recent news about the pirate capture off Somalia, it may appear to some that modern pirates are isolated to this geographic area. While the political upheaval in Somalia does provide an ideal, lawless hideout for pirates, the fact is pirates are often found in many places around the globe. Some areas most frequented by pirates include the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the waters of Indonesia and Singapore.
Pirates boarding ships at sea and kidnapping the crew have been making the news but an older report suggests that 72% of pirate attacks occur on anchored ships where the pirates either steal the ships or take cargo and crew members’ belongings. Recent trends show that kidnapping the crew in order to get ransom money is on the rise, as pirates cannot only profit from the ransom but stolen goods as well. When kidnapping is involved, ship owners sometimes must pay high ransom prices to help their kidnapped crew. Ransoms average around $120,000. Some owners will hire security organizations to escort their ships, at costs of around $120,000 per trip to avoid the high ransom payments, danger to their crew, and potential loss of the ship and its cargo.
Piracy is a frequent activity happening much more often than what makes the news. Reported piracy incidents are currently occurring at about 20-30 per month. While not all incidents result in kidnapping or theft, many do.
Syrian pirates shown holding guns and various weapons. Also using high technology to take control of ships.
Syrian pirates surrendering to squad unit.
Pirates wearing black balaclavas to hide identities. All of them holding guns, most commonly ak-47s.
Syrian pirate stood next to captured boat. He holds a rifle on his back and balaclabva wrapped round his face.
Pirates captured by marines. Noitice how small the boat is they set sail on.
Captain Phillips (Film)
Captain Phillips is a 2013 American biographical survival thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom hanks. The film is based off of the true story of the Maersk Alabama hijacking and incident where during the merchant mariner Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by pirates in the India Ocean led by Abduwali Muse.
Richard Phillips was in command of the MV Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship. Wary of pirate’s activity off the coast of Horn of Africa he and first officer Shane murphy order strict security precautions on the vessel and carry out practice drills. During the drill the vessel is chased by Somali pirates in two skiffs and Phillips calls for help. Knowing that the pirates are listening to radio traffic, he pretends to call a warship, requesting immediate air support. One skiff turns around in response and the other manned by four heavily armed pirates led by Muse loses engine power trying to steer through the Maersk Alabama's wake. However the next day Muse's skiff returns now fitted with two engines. Despite Phillips efforts the pirates make it on-board, Phillips tells his crew to hide in the engine room as he allows himself to be captured. He offers Muse the $30,000 in the ships safe but Muse's orders are to ransom the ship and crew in exchange for millions of dollars of insurance money from the shipping company. Eventually the crew members ambush Muse and arrange to release him into a lifeboat to get the intruders off the ship. However the pirates refuse to release Phillips and the lifeboat launches with the pirates and Phillips on board.
They are later intercepted by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge. The Bainbridge's captain Frank Castellano is ordered to prevent the pirates from reaching the mainland by any means necessary. Even when additional ships arrive, Muse asserts that he has come too far and will not surrender. The negotiators are unable to change his mind and a DEVGRU SEAL team parachutes in to intervene while Phillips makes an unsuccessful attempt to escape from the lifeboat.
Eventually Muse agrees to board the Bainbridge, when he is told that his clan elders have arrived to negotiate Phillips ransom. In the lifeboat, Najee decides to take full control and the pirates tie up Phillips and blindfold him. As the pirates are about to shoot Phillips, the marksmen get three clear shots and simultaneously kill the pirates. On-board Muse is taken into custody and arrested for piracy. Phillips is rescued and treated. He is in shock and disoriented but he thanks the rescue team for saving his life.
The reason why I chose to research into Captain Phillips and the story behind it is a re-enactment of a true story involving modern day piracy. When analysing this I could start to see how much piracy has changed since the 1700s. The beginning steps of piracy of hijacking a Ship and getting on-board and taking hostage was the same strategy from then and now. However in the 1700s pirates would rob the ship of its valuable loot then leave their hostages marooned on some island as they take both ships. Pirates were very prideful of the ships they taken in the 1700s, I feel as that was because their ship was a powerful weapon as well as their transport and homes across many days while at sea. However now in modern day, piracy is very much a one-shot thing, as the pirates are hired at random and get on a Skiff and travel and speed across the ocean as fast as they can to find their target. Also guns now come into play, back in the 1700s guns were powerful but very slow to reload, cutlasses were better used in a close range battle. Now pirates get on-board with their rifles and easily take control in seconds with the amount of gun power they have.
Pirates also don’t seem to care what’s on-board the ship as modern day money transactions can be done and also insurance can give out great money. This means pirates aren’t really after the ship and its loot but rather simply the crew itself and how they can take them for hostage to use them for bargaining or in Captains Phillips case to get millions of dollars of the ships insurance money. There’s no glamour or pride in being a pirate anymore, not that there should be, piracy is a crime after all.
A Skiff being used by pirates.
Captain Phillips being interigated by Muse and his gang.
Muse on the right with his pirate crew.
Fact VS Fiction
Fictional pirates especially in modern day have seem to slowly cut out the harsh and cruel realities of life as a pirate and made them much more entertaining and fun. Pirates in the 1700s were often faced with incurable diseases that turned your fingers black and made your teeth fallout, I have never seen this mentioned in a pirate film or any media I know of. However I can understand why as no one wants to see that as it’s too dark and gruesome and would put many off. Pirates in films are commonly entertaining and seen us fun and so to see characters go through diseases would ruin the mood of things. I have seen in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Worlds end that they do take note the weather conditions such as storms or sub-zero areas, and this has a damaging effect on the crew but in a comedic fashion. I believe Pirates of the Caribbean so far is the closest to showing off the gruesome life of pirates but it still glosses over a few of the extreme things.
Pirate battles have been exaggerated a lot in fiction. We now have pirates swinging from ropes shooting below, having sword fights on giant rolling wheels and even ship fights on the edge of a whirlpool. Of course realistic fights with pirates was on deck or land, usually involving sword fighting which was a lot more gory and messy than they are shown in films. For example, in Black Beards final battle the deck was described to be so covered in blood that they slipped over on it. Of course you can understand this as many of the fictional media that have pirates in are action films and so they want big battles to amaze the viewers, realistic battles can be seen as too dull. Also gore is lessened to keep the age rating low for young viewers.
Also another thing I noticed is pirates aren't actually as cruel in films as they were in real life. In the 1700s Pirates were often committed for murder, torturing and rape. If we take a look at pirates in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ they really seem to focus more on theft than murder. They do murder but never of innocence and if they do then they are made the villain and it is not in mutual agreement. I have never seen any media where pirates have raped people and that's because that is an extremely dark and deep concept, instantly killing the mood of any fun and excitement and is something you dwell on. Pirates are defiantly toned down with their evil deeds in the media and although they hold their reputations of being dangerous criminals, they are not so scary or seen as evil as they would have been in the golden age. I feel as well pirates in films see a lot of reason and are a lot more educated and well-spoken in fiction simply because they need to be, as who wants to watch a drunk scallywag whose slang is so strong he might as well be speaking another language.
I believe fiction is very different from that of real life but it's for the better and I do not see this as a bad thing. Of course you could never go to pirate films these days and use them as a source to understand the true pirate life as so many things such as the darker side to piracy is glossed over and their action life style is over-exaggerated with their types of battles but under-exaggerated with the violence and injuries. Pirates have essentially been changed to fit how we want them to be and what we would want to be ourselves. I mean I would love to live the life of Captain Jack Sparrow till I realised it takes a hundred days to get to our locations, we live off beans for months if we're lucky, I sleep under deck with the rats and I'll be lucky to be alive if we don't get shot, ill with infections or a disease till then.