The Picture of Dorian Gray — Page 1
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Le Portrait de Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
par Oscar Wilde
Contents
Table des matières
THE PREFACE
LA PRÉFACE
CHAPTER I.
CHAPITRE I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPITRE II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPITRE III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPITRE IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPITRE V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPITRE VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPITRE VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPITRE VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPITRE IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPITRE X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPITRE XI.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPITRE XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPITRE XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPITRE XIV.
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPITRE XV.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPITRE XVI.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPITRE XVII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPITRE XVIII.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPITRE XIX.
CHAPTER XX.
CHAPITRE XX.
THE PREFACE
LA PRÉFACE
The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
L'artiste est le créateur de belles choses.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.
Révéler l'art et dissimuler l'artiste, tel est le but de l'art.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
Le critique est celui qui peut traduire dans une autre manière ou un nouveau médium son impression des belles choses.
The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
La forme la plus haute comme la plus basse de la critique est une forme d'autobiographie.
Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming.
Ceux qui trouvent de laides significations dans de belles choses sont corrompus sans être charmants.
This is a fault.
C'est un défaut.
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated.
Ceux qui trouvent de belles significations dans de belles choses sont les gens cultivés.
For these there is hope.
Pour ceux-là, il y a de l'espoir.
They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.
Ils sont les élus pour qui les belles choses ne signifient que la beauté.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.
Il n'existe pas de livre moral ou immoral.
Books are well written, or badly written.
Les livres sont bien écrits ou mal écrits.
That is all.
C'est tout.
The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
L'aversion du XIXe siècle pour le réalisme est la rage de Caliban voyant son propre visage dans un miroir.
The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
L'aversion du XIXe siècle pour le romantisme est la rage de Caliban ne voyant pas son propre visage dans un miroir.
The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.
La vie morale de l'homme fait partie de la matière de l'artiste, mais la moralité de l'art réside dans l'usage parfait d'un médium imparfait.
No artist desires to prove anything.
Aucun artiste ne désire rien prouver.
Even things that are true can be proved.
Même les choses vraies peuvent être prouvées.
Vocabulary
- Portrait
- A painted or photographed image of a person
- par
- Preposition meaning 'by' or 'through'
- Table
- A flat surface; also used in 'table of contents'
- matières
- Subjects or matters; used in 'table of contents'
- PRÉFACE
- An introductory section at the beginning of a book
- CHAPITRE
- A numbered division or section of a book
- artiste
- A person who creates works of art professionally
- créateur
- One who creates or originates something new
- belles
- Feminine plural of 'beau', meaning beautiful or lovely
- choses
- Plural noun meaning 'things' or 'objects'
- Révéler
- To reveal or disclose something previously hidden
- art
- Creative expression through painting, music, writing, etc.
- dissimuler
- To hide, conceal, or disguise something from others
- tel
- Adjective meaning 'such' or 'like this'
- but
- A goal, aim, or purpose one seeks to achieve
- critique
- A person who evaluates and judges artistic works
- celui
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'the one' (masculine)
- traduire
- To translate from one language or form to another
- autre
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'other' or 'another'
- manière
- A way, manner, or style of doing something
- nouveau
- Adjective meaning 'new' or 'novel' (masculine singular)
- médium
- A means or material used to express artistic ideas
- impression
- A feeling or effect produced by an experience or sight
- forme
- The shape, structure, or style of something
- haute
- Feminine adjective meaning 'high' or 'elevated'
- comme
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'as', 'like', or 'such as'
- basse
- Feminine adjective meaning 'low' or 'base'
- autobiographie
- A written account of one's own life story
- Ceux
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those' (masculine plural)
- laides
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'ugly' or 'unattractive'
- significations
- Plural noun meaning 'meanings' or 'significances'
- corrompus
- Adjective meaning 'corrupt' or 'morally depraved'
- sans
- Preposition meaning 'without', indicating absence or lack
- être
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to be'; also used as noun
- charmants
- Masculine plural adjective meaning 'charming' or 'delightful'
- défaut
- A flaw, fault, or shortcoming in someone or something
- gens
- A plural noun meaning 'people' or 'persons'
- cultivés
- Adjective meaning 'cultivated', 'educated', or 'cultured'
- ceux-là
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those ones' (emphatic)
- y
- Pronoun meaning 'there' or referring to a previously mentioned place
- espoir
- A feeling of hope or expectation for something positive
- élus
- Adjective or noun meaning 'chosen', 'elected', or 'the select'
- signifient
- Third person plural of 'signifier', meaning 'mean' or 'signify'
- beauté
- The quality of being beautiful, pleasing to the senses
- existe
- Third person singular of 'exister', meaning 'exists'
- livre
- A bound publication containing written or printed pages
- moral
- Adjective meaning 'moral', relating to ethics and right conduct
- immoral
- Adjective meaning 'immoral', contrary to accepted ethical standards
- livres
- Plural of 'livre', meaning 'books'
- bien
- Adverb meaning 'well'; also noun meaning 'good'
- écrits
- Past participle of 'écrire', meaning 'written' (masculine plural)
- mal
- Adverb meaning 'badly'; noun meaning 'evil' or 'harm'
- tout
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all', 'every', or 'everything'
- aversion
- A strong feeling of dislike or repugnance toward something
- XIXe
- Abbreviation for 'dix-neuvième', meaning nineteenth (century)
- siècle
- A period of one hundred years; a century
- réalisme
- An artistic movement depicting life as it truly is
- rage
- Intense anger or fury; furious emotion
- voyant
- Present participle of 'voir', meaning 'seeing' or 'noticing'
- propre
- Adjective meaning 'own', 'clean', or 'proper'
- visage
- The face of a person; one's facial features
- miroir
- A reflective surface used to see one's own image
- romantisme
- An artistic movement emphasizing emotion and imagination
- vie
- Noun meaning 'life' or 'existence'
- morale
- Relating to ethics; principles of right and wrong behavior
- homme
- Noun meaning 'man' or 'human being'
- fait
- Third person singular of 'faire', meaning 'makes' or 'does'
- partie
- A part or portion of a larger whole
- matière
- Matter, subject, or material; topic or substance
- moralité
- The quality of being moral; adherence to ethical principles
- réside
- Third person singular of 'résider', meaning 'resides' or 'lies in'
- usage
- The way something is used; practice or custom
- parfait
- Adjective meaning 'perfect' or 'flawless'
- imparfait
- Adjective meaning 'imperfect'; also a French past tense
- Aucun
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'no', 'none', or 'not any'
- désire
- Third person singular of 'désirer', meaning 'desires' or 'wishes'
- rien
- Pronoun meaning 'nothing' or 'anything' in negative sentences
- prouver
- To prove or demonstrate the truth of something
- Même
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'even', 'same', or 'itself'
- vraies
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'true' or 'real'
- prouvées
- Feminine plural past participle of 'prouver', meaning 'proven'
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