A Lexical Stylistic Analysis to Selected Extracts from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian

Abstract

The research paper combines language and literature through a detailed lexical stylistic analysis to three extracts from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. This connection is exhibited through the authors' use of language and style, including the choice of words which is analysed according to the theory of Foregrounding and Charles Bally’s stylistic approach to language. The aim is to reflect Wilde’s lexical choices, which have been done very carefully. This step makes Wilde’s novel a profound, pure, work of art that is read, studied, analysed repeatedly. One of the conclusions arrived at is that Wilde engages multiple senses emphasising his focus on sensory richness and surface detail. The power of Wilde’s stylistic skills to give a beautiful and elegant image to a normal and ordinary scene through the words.