Week 1
The Studio & The Philosophy
- Reading
- Preface & Chapters 1 – 2
- Thematic Focus
- Aestheticism, the worship of youth, and the nature of influence.
- Language Spotlight
- Decoding Oscar Wilde's famous "aphorisms" (witty, philosophical one-liners) and the vocabulary of visual art.
Week 2
The Pact & The Aristocracy
- Reading
- Chapters 3 – 4
- Thematic Focus
- Lord Henry's manipulative rhetoric and Dorian's introduction to high society.
- Language Spotlight
- Formulating arguments and expressing abstract philosophical concepts in English.
Week 3
The Illusion of Love
- Reading
- Chapters 5 – 6
- Thematic Focus
- Sibyl Vane, the working-class contrast, and falling in love with "art" versus reality.
- Language Spotlight
- Victorian social vocabulary and analyzing differences in class-based dialogue.
Week 4
The Performance & The Cruelty
- Reading
- Chapters 7 – 8
- Thematic Focus
- The tragic performance, Dorian's cold rejection, and the first terrifying change in the portrait.
- Language Spotlight
- Advanced adjectives for describing shifting emotions, heartbreak, and sudden coldness.
Week 5
Paranoia & The Hidden Room
- Reading
- Chapters 9 – 10
- Thematic Focus
- Basil's interrogation, hiding the painting, and the birth of Dorian's paranoia.
- Language Spotlight
- Verbs and phrasing related to concealment, anxiety, and psychological dread.
Week 6
The "Poisonous" Book & Years of Decadence
- Reading
- Chapter 11
- Thematic Focus
- A deep dive into the passage of time, hedonism, and obsessive collecting.
- Language Spotlight
- Navigating incredibly dense, highly descriptive, and sensory-rich 19th-century syntax.
Week 7
The Confrontation & The Macabre
- Reading
- Chapters 12 – 13
- Thematic Focus
- The fateful reunion with Basil Hallward and the descent into physical violence.
- Language Spotlight
- Analysing how authors use sentence length and punctuation to build narrative tension.
Week 8
The Cover-up & The Dinner Party
- Reading
- Chapters 14 – 15
- Thematic Focus
- Blackmailing Alan Campbell and returning to the glittering, hypocritical world of high society.
- Language Spotlight
- "Reading the room" – how to understand subtext when characters use polite dialogue to mask dark secrets.
Week 9
The Underworld
- Reading
- Chapter 16
- Thematic Focus
- The opium dens of London, escaping one's conscience, and the return of a ghost from the past.
- Language Spotlight
- Gritty, atmospheric vocabulary used to describe urban decay and desperation.
Week 10
The Hunt & The Psychological Terror
- Reading
- Chapters 17 – 18
- Thematic Focus
- The shooting party, the fainting incident, and the inescapable weight of guilt.
- Language Spotlight
- Expressing psychological terror and discussing the concept of "karma" or cosmic justice.
Week 11
The Climax & The Soul
- Reading
- Chapters 19 – 20
- Thematic Focus
- Dorian's attempt to be "good," the final confrontation with the portrait, and the tragic resolution.
- Language Spotlight
- Analysing conclusive moral arguments and summarizing complex character arcs.
Week 12
Retrospective & Synthesis
- Reading
- No new reading.
- Thematic Focus
- The lasting legacy of Oscar Wilde, the duality of human nature, and final takeaways from the text.
- Language Spotlight
- High-level debate, synthesizing 12 weeks of learning, and celebrating your linguistic progress!