Essay Questions

How does Oscar Wilde use nature to appeal the sense of sight to the reader?

Various literature authors are fond of using nature as a setting of the proceedings being described. The narrator in The Portrait of Mr. W. H learns the truth concerning the portrait and the happenings about its appearance. He creates a visual image of nature around him. He says, “: “As I walked home through St. James’s Park the dawn was just breaking over London. The white swans were lying asleep on the polished lake, and the gaunt Palace looked purple against the pale-green sky”. This imagery appeals the sense of sight and self-reflection as the narrator tries to compare his inner feelings and the reality surrounding him on earth.

Does Oscar Wilde use fanatic obsession in The Portrait of Mr. W. H ironically?

Cyril Graham has given up and does not see any reason to continue living. He opts to commit suicide. It is ironic that the primary reason why he commits suicide is his fanatic obsession of Willie Hughes beliefs and existence. Graham is very secretive and does not want anyone to know what step is taking next making it impossible even for his close friends to advise him otherwise. It is further ironic that Erskine does not want to share the same belief with the narrator and at last he is seized by the same fanatic obsession.

What does George Erskine mean when he says, “It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is absolutely fatal"?

Erskine’s quote is a reality of what is happening in the physical world. Human beings take advice differently and most of them are not appreciative because when things go wrong they pass the guilt to the adviser. For instance, if you advise someone and he succeeds in his endeavors, he will credit himself. On the other hand, if the advice turns out to be fatal, the advisor is forced to bear the blame. Therefore, Erskine believes that the worst thing one can do is to give advice to someone. When he gives advice to Cyril Graham, the unfortunate happens and he is blamed for it.