Having not read The Picture of Dorian Gray at all prior to this class, but only having a basic overview of the plot, I went in thinking that Blue Gate Fields would be a extremely fancy place. Well, I guess we all have those moments when our dreams are shattered. Just like Dorian. Blue Gate Fields happens to be one of the most notorious slums harboring many opium dens that Dorian frequents. Given the fact that we have read about opium dens in Sherlock Holmes, the geographical location of this “maybe real, maybe fantastical” area would be around a harbor or a dock so that the smuggling of opium by water could happen.

In Chapter 11, there is only one part that specifically mentions the Fields, but it is a crucial moment where Dorian falls into corruption: “Then, suddenly, some night he would creep out of the house, go down to dreadful places near Blue Gate Fields, and stay there, day after day, until he was driven away” (Chpt. 11). Despite the fact that I could not find a specific place that was donned the name “Blue Gate Fields,” I was able to come up with an area that might have been given the notorious name. The dens symbolize Dorian’s inner turmoil. The need to smuggle himself away from his proper lifestyle and squander himself among the slums exploits the inner darkness he is harboring, just like the slums hidden behind closed doors.

In the Victorian Dictionary, an entry for Blue Gate Fields depicting the place as the following: “Generally, the name “Bluegate Fields” was used to refer to one of the worst slum areas that once existed at the east end of London (just north of the old London docks) during Victorian times” (Fisher, “Bluegate Fields”). Here we can see the sin and corruption seeping out of the painting into Dorian himself. The areas in which Dorian frequents becomes an external source to the corruption of the painting. Even though he may not age, there is still his reputation that can become damaged. The fact that Dorian would go to one of the worst slums in all of Victorian London explores the corruption of the inside leaking out of him as opposed to the painting which exploits the corruption physically.

_____

Works Cited

Jackson, Lee. “Victorian London – Districts – Streets – Bluegate Fields” Dictionary of Victorian London. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)/Chapter 11.” – Wikisource, the Free Online Library. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.