Recorded October 7th, 2025.

A seminar by Prof Jarlath Killeen (School of English, TCD) as part of the English Staff-Postgraduate Seminar Series.

"Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses." 

The Picture of Dorian Gray opens in the studio of Basil Hallward in which the smells of an English garden at the start of summer mingle with the smoke of Lord Henry Wotton's opium-tinged cigarettes. This scent puts Dorian into a trance in which it is difficult, if not impossible for him, to resist the temptations offered: one located in Basil entrancing portrait, the other in Lord Henry’s mind-numbing peons to ever-blossoming youth and beauty. In this noxious atmosphere a new plant will grow, one even more dangerous than those that Hallward already has in the garden: the plant that is Dorian Gray. This talk will look at the ways in which Wilde has carefully used a Victorian language of the flowers throughout his novel as a way to dramatise the struggle between the forces of good and evil over Dorian's soul. 

English Staff-Postgraduate Seminar Series is a fortnightly meeting which has been integral to the School of English research community since the 1990s. The aim of the seminar series is to provide a relaxed and convivial atmosphere for staff and students to present their research to their peers. The series also welcomes distinguished guest lecturers from the academic community outside Trinity College to present on their work. It is a fantastic opportunity to share ideas and engage with the diverse research taking place within the School. 

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub