Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray": painting, portrait or something else?

Abstract

The subject of this research is the contextual row of synonyms picture-portrait-painting in Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". The article examines the interrelation of the selected lexemes with the content and plotline of the literary work. Analysis is conducted on the various aspects of implementation of the key meanings of the lexemes in the narrative, turning particular attention to the fact that namely the lexeme “picture” is reflected in the title of the novel. Since the title is the most significant form of expression of the author's plan and comprehension of the own literary work, there is a need for accurate interpretation of the author’s intention and substantiation of the choice of the lexeme “picture” as a plot-forming in comparison with “portrait” and “painting”. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the selection and examination of the triad of lexical units in their semantic, plotline and content interdependence in the novel by O. Wilde, in structuring synonymic chain in the priority sequence that is significant for the accurate interpretation of the author’s position, in determination of the additional triad of symbols, as well as in indication of the latent dynamic component of the headline lexeme of the novel. The acquired results demonstrate that the synonymic chain “picture-portrait-paining” features the technique of ascending gradation, with the dominant word “picture” that forms the title and meta-theme of the literary work. These contextual synonyms determine the emergence of the new triad: instrument, object, and image of creation. The studied lexical units, which a priori are in syntagmatic connectivity, transform into the paradigm of ideological meanings of the novel.