Mayfair

 

Mayfair is a large wealthy neighborhood in London.  According to the Charles Booth Online Archive, it was occupied almost exclusively by the wealthy, with only a handful of those that were not as well off.  Today, it is much more business oriented and less residential, as opposed to the Victorian era.  In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord Henry has a home in Mayfair.  It is here that Dorian first tells Lord Henry of his love of Sibyl Vane.

 

Prior to Lord Henry’s arrival, Dorian converses with Henry’s wife mostly about music.  Dorian declares his love of the young actress Sibyl Vane once Lord Henry arrives.  He tells Lord Henry of the young lady he found performing in a cheap theatre.  The conversation taking place in Mayfair may have a plethora of different meanings.  One may be contrasting the high-end wealth of Mayfair residents with the found love in a lower-end theatre.  This contrast may be foreshadowing to Sibyl’s impending suicide to hint at the fact that she does not belong in Dorian’s company without her interest in theatre.

More optimistically, this contrast may be showing how this high-end, aesthetic lifestyle is not more important than that of a lower class citizen.  Sibyl is one of the more admirable characters in the novel, and this perhaps shows that the poor may be more likeable than the likes of Dorian.  This contrast may also show that there can be beautiful people, ideas and objects found in places that are not as nice or as a wealthy area like Mayfair.  Mayfair merely serves as an echo and a backdrop for the lifestyles that aesthetes like Dorian Gray or Lord Henry to demonstrate the aesthetic lifestyle they lead, and it serves as a contrast for the lifestyle someone like Sibyl Vane is used to.

 

Works Cited

Booth, Charles. “Booth Poverty Map & Modern Map (Charles Booth Online Archive).” Booth Poverty Map & Modern Map (Charles Booth Online Archive). LSE Library. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.

“The Proceedings of the Old Bailey.” London History. Old Bailey Online. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New ed. Wikisource, 1891. Print.