Edexcel English Lit 26/05 Dorian Gray and Beloved

Beware much spelling mistakes I just jotted this down quickly hopefully it will be of use to you.

Initially I struggled with comparisen but in terms of the text I would try to get familiar with chapters that are related specifically to supernatural phenomenen such as Basils death and the portrait in Dorian Gray and the ghost of Beloved and her death, you could look for literary devices elsewhere but generally in both books the content that can be used for a lot of literary analysis will be in supernatural events which is something I would focus on if you're short of time; realistically in the exam they will only ask you a question that's related to themes found in the supernatural genre such as death, so it might be something you want to consider focusing on.

Also in terms of historical context for Beloved it is mostly related to slavery such as the fact it's based on the reconstruction era in 1873 post 66 and post civil war , emancipation act 1963 (double check on that), that the character Sethe is based on the true story of a slave Margaret Garner (it's more dedactic than Dorian Gray in that sense), The fugitive slave act of 1850 which allows slave owners (school teacher) to attempt to 'collect' Sethe, free north and the south, there's ideas of the masculine identity being destroyed by slavery which is embodied through Paul D with his anxiety to assert his masculinity and his shame at his seduction by Beloved as its perceived as feminising this can also be found in the idea of 'buck breaking' (google it) which was more common than you would think; Morrison addresses this when Paul D has a flash back (analepsis) of forced homosexual acts, Sethe's value of family and motherhood isn't just about the character but the context slaves were subject to sex farming and weren't truly supposed to form families or try to marry as Sethe and Halle did as they are seen as solely owned including their sex by the slave master for productivity this is one of the ways slaves regained their status and identity and was a subtle form of rebellion thus why Sethe's children and motherhood are central to her identity as it's seen as a feat of sorts as well as escaping slavery, Baby Suggs' unorthodox preaching heals ex-slaves historically the most famous slave led rebellions were led by preachers (google to find out more if you want to directly reference such historical acts in your work) who had learnt to read as it empowered slaves historically as well as these characters they have the power of knowlledge hope and faith which slave masters had tried their hardest to deny them. Also by far the most easiest thing you can pick up at any point for historical is African American Vernacular English and you can pretty much use this for any language analysis as this is a literary device and relevant to historical context.

For Dorian Gray historical context can be found in opium dens, brothels, the taboo of Sybil Vanes suicide, alot of ideas about gender and class can be found in Lord Henry's witty aphorisms, fear of recidivism in the Victorian era can be found in the use of animal imagery whenever DG gives into sin, pseudoscientific approach of the time that carnal sins can be physically seen (baring in this time they still used phenology) and that sin could be inherent as DG's mother married down to a soldier and DG was going to marry down to an actress Sybil Vane who is at a courtesian level, ideas regarding class and social mobility can also be found there, the nature of 'Bumburying' and living a double life in DG as middle class gentleman culture and the hypocrisy of his life; he is called a gentleman while being promiscuous, taking opium and commiting murder etc, Faustian Pact is also often a popular theme in gothic literature of the time, repressed homo erotic desires are also alluded to with Basils fascination with DG (although it is much less obvious in the published edits it is alluded to through euphemism), homosexuality was illegal at the time and recieved a lot of social stigma, in fact the book was used in Oscar Wilde's court case where he was prosecuted for his homesexuality, ideas of purity and 'corruption of the soul' from the book DG reads and this reflects the Christian values found in the Victorian era.