Couch

Settee

Dublin Core

Title

Couch

Subject

[no text]

Description

The piece is described as "luxuriously-cushioned," facing the screen that hides the portrait while it is still kept in the library (Wilde 92). Though not tied to any specific schools of design, the couch seems to represent an image of leisure for the aesthete. Dorian uses it as a spot to fling himself down after lighting a cigarette (Wilde 92) and as a vantage point to think about the "mask of his shame" and the altered portrait with "a feeling of almost scientific interest"(Wilde 93).
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The black and white image shows an English settee of an unknown date and maker. The upholstery is red velvet and the wood is gilded.

Creator

Oscar Wilde

Source

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Victoria and Albert Museum: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O372005/settee/

Publisher

Penguin Books
Victoria and Albert Museum

Date

Wilde's text/1891
Penguin/2000

Contributor

Hannah Phillips

Rights

Penguin Books
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2017.

Relation

[no text]

Format

[no text]

Language

English

Type

Text

Identifier

[no text]

Coverage

[no text]

Citation

Oscar Wilde , “Couch,” Objects and Interiority in Dorian Gray, accessed March 29, 2024, https://doriangrayarchiveeng578.omeka.net/items/show/8.

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