Stylistic Analysis of Epithets and its Function în The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

INTRODUCTION

The proposed work is an analytical research in stylistic field. It is called ''The Function of the Epithet in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by ''Oscar Wilde''

The topicality of chosen by us theme lies in the fact that a human being perceives the reality by means of various images. These images exist everywhere: in art, in nature, in thoughts, and in speech in particular. It is a novel about a young man who is in love with his own portrait. The young handsome man admiring the image, cannot get rid of the idea, that the portrait will always possess what he will inevitably lose, — the youth. The author creates extraordinary images of human soul. Each of us at least ones created an image. We use different means (stylistic expressive means and devices) to achieve the aim, but the results are the same: we paint a picture. In our research we would like to concentrate our attention on “epithet”, a figure of speech which gives the opportunity to create the most expressive and vivid images. Usually when people describe a person, they compare him/her to another person or object. This description is the most successful, as it bears a certain connotation (a bad, or a good one).

The choice of our theme gives the possibility not only to work with the content of the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde, but also to analyze the inner world of the protagonist and of the author in particular.

The Subject of our research is “epithet”.

The Object of the research is the novel “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” By Oscar Wilde

In the course of our research we should fulfil the following objectives:

1) To read the novel ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' and to find epithets

2) To give the general information about style, stylistic devices and functional styles.

3) To analize the notion of the epithet it's developing and classification.

4) To identify, examine that “epithet” is the brightest and the most expressive means that creates extraordinary images in ''The Picture Of Dorian Gray'' by Oscar Wilde

5) to prove that the novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” is the best example of images

The present diploma thesis includes the following sections: introduction, two chapters, conclusions, index of terms, bibliography.

In Introduction we present reasons for choosing this theme and give the description of the paper.

In Chapter I we give some theoretical information about Stylistics, style, stylistic devices and functional styles. Also we try to reveal the nature of epithets and their classification.

In Chapter II we propose basic information about Oscar Wilde and his novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” and analyze choice of epithets from his novel applying the received knowledge.

In Conclusions we summarize the results which were obtained while carrying out our research.

In the Glossary of Terms we present the list of basic terms and their definitions which were used in the diploma thesis.

In Bibliography we propose the list of the consulted books with the names of their authors and years of their edition

Chapter I. ''Theoretical Background of the Epithet its Nature and Definition''

1.1General Notes on Style and Stylistics.

''The concept of style means unity of the word and image, image and a composition, composition and ideas of poetic product.

Studying of style is impossible without philological understanding of unity, of the maintenance and the form, without communication with others arts, without communication with the aesthetics.

Style is substantial, and it gives to the facts semantic coloring. The reader whо does not notice the style, difficultly perceives images and ideas, does not feel colours of a picture, does not see it completely and in effect does not understand.''

The word Style is derived from the Latin word ''stilus'' which meant a short stick sharp at one end and flat at the other used by the Romans for writing on wax tablets. Now the word Style is used so many senses that it has become a breeding ground for ambiguity. The word is applied to the teaching of how to write a composition; it is also used to reveal the correspondence between thought and expression; it frequently denotes an individual manner of making use of language; it sometimes refers to more general, abstract notions thus inevitably becoming vague and obscure.

Stylistics, sometimes called linguo-stylistics, is a branch of general linguistics. It has now been more or less definitely outlined. It deals mainly with two interdependent tasks: a) the investigation of the inventory of special language media which by their ontological features secure the desirable effect of the utterance and b) certain types of text (discourse) which due to the choice and arrangement of language means are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the communication. The two objectives of stylistic are clearly discernible as two separate fields of investigation. The inventory of special language media can be analised and their ontological features revealed if presented in a system in which the co-relation between the media becomes evident. The types of texts can be analised if their linguistic components are presented in their interaction, thus revealing the unbreakable unity and transparency of constructions of a given type. The types of texts that are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the communication are called Functional Style of Language (FS); the special media of language which secure the desirable effect of the utterance are called Stylistic Devices (SD) and Expressive Means (EM).