Examples of Victorian Literature that deal with the issue of Influence

[adambede]

Hi,

I'm looking for ideas for an essay I'm writing. I want to do an analysis of the role of influence in Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', and I'm trying to think of another Victorian text that explores corrupting influences, and the ways in which they corrupt, as a comparitor.

Can anyone suggest some novels or poems from the Victorian period that deal with corruption caused by the influence of people, objects, or art? Any that explore the act of influence itself would be especially helpful. I thought that Stoker's 'Dracula' would be fun, but I'm planning on using that text for another essay.

Thanks, this looks like a great forum.

[kiki1982]

I think that, foremost, Byron did a lot to make the villain or baddy attractive and sympathetic.
He is not Victorian, but the hype around the Byronic hero was his doing.

I think that also Goethe (who is not even English) pressed a very heavy stamp on literature as a whole. His Faust was a hype everywhere and it was translated in a lot of languages. Pieces inpsired by it appeared in music, opera, theatre and also literature of course. Admittedly Marlowe also wrote a Doctor Faustus, but it was mainly Goethe's poetical and sturm- und-drang emotional version that had a great influence on the theme of devil's pacts and the like.

It is everything off the top of my head for now.

goog luck.

[kasie]

George du Maurier - Trilby (1894) falls within your period. Gaston Leroux - Le Fantome de l'Opera falls just outside it, published 1910-11, (English translation 1911).

[LitNetIsGreat]

Great idea for an essay. The first texts that come to my mind which would work are Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Stevenson and A Rebours by Huysmans. Both of these books were highly influential to Wilde's Dorian Gray and both could be used to explore corruption in contrast to it.

[Wilde woman]

Yes, Dorian Gray was the first title that jumped to mind when I saw your title. You may want to check out Wilde's short story "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime", which is similar to Dorian Gray in many ways.

[JohnMelmoth]

There's a rather good Irish gothic novel by Wilde's great uncle, Charles Maturin, called Melmoth the Wanderer. In it Melmoth has made a pact with the Devil in exchange for eternal life; but it's all going rather badly, so Melmoth wanders the earth looking for individuals in despair, and then uses his influence on them in the hope they swap their existence for his. It was an influence on Wilde's Dorian Gray and when Wilde went to France after being released from prison he took the name Sebastian Melmoth.

[mollie]

Henry James The Turn of the Screw might also work for your topic.

[Dark Lady]

Dickens writes a lot about corruption. It's one of his favourite topics along with injustice, poverty etc. You could try Oliver Twist and use the fact that Fagin corrupts people when they're still children and so too young to know any better. This could be compared with Dorian who is older and should know better regardless of what literature he is given! You've also got the fact that Fagin doesn't manage to corrupt Oliver and only partially seems to corrupt Nancy. Whereas his influence on other characters is much more obvious.

As Neely mentioned Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde also came to my mind but I haven't read it so can't add much comment.