The Harlot's House, lesson by Esther

THE HARLOT'S HOUSE

by Oscar Wilde

WE caught the tread of dancing feet,
We loitered down the moonlit street,
And stopped beneath the harlot's house.

Inside, above the din and fray,
We heard the loud musicians play
The "Treues Liebes Herz" of Strauss.

Like strange mechanical grotesques,
Making fantastic arabesques,
The shadows raced across the blind.

We watched the ghostly dancers spin
To sound of horn and violin,
Like black leaves wheeling in the wind.

Like wire-pulled automatons,
Slim silhouetted skeletons
Went sidling through the slow quadrille.

The took each other by the hand,
And danced a stately saraband;
Their laughter echoed thin and shrill.

Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed
A phantom lover to her breast,
Sometimes they seemed to try to sing.

Sometimes a horrible marionette
Came out, and smoked its cigarette
Upon the steps like a live thing.

Then, turning to my love, I said,
"The dead are dancing with the dead,
The dust is whirling with the dust."

But she--she heard the violin,
And left my side, and entered in:
Love passed into the house of lust.

Then suddenly the tune went false,
The dancers wearied of the waltz,
The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl.

And down the long and silent street,
The dawn, with silver-sandalled feet,
Crept like a frightened girl.


LEVEL: Sec 3/4 Express
OBJECTIVE: To teach students setting and mood/atmosphere (reinforcement lesson)

1. Having read Oscar Wilde's 'The Harlot's House', can you identify where the poem is set? How is the setting described?

This question aims to help students to locate the poem in time and place, i.e. setting. By asking them to describe how the setting is established, they will have to make close references to the poem, focusing on the use of adjectives especially to determine how specific details are being portrayed.

2. Which of the five senses does the poem appeal to? How is this done? What does this achieve?

This question helps students identify the mood/atmosphere or 'feel' of the poem. In observing how the poem appeals to the reader's sense of sight and sound, students should be able to draw conclusions about the dark, eerie and macabre mood/atmosphere created by constant references to the 'dance of the dead' in the harlot's house. This then leads students to the next question, which focuses on symbolism and significance.

3. Are there any objects/events which are symbolic or significant?

Here, the purpose is to help students delve deeper into the mood/atmosphere of the poem by drawing their attention to the symbolism and significance of specific objects/events in the poem.

Hence, I will ask them about the symbolism/significance of:
-the types of dances mentioned (quadrille, saraband, waltz)
-the role of music in the poem (horn, violin, "Treues Liebes Herz" (German for 'true loving heart') of Strauss, laughter, singing)
-the theme of dancing and singing
-the harlot's house, and the people inside the house ("strange mechanical grotesques", "ghostly dancers", "wire-pilled automatons", "skeletons", "marionette", "clockwork puppet")
-the role of sound and silence

4. How does the setting, mood/atmosphere relate to the main issues/themes in the poem?

To wrap up the poem, I will pull everything together by getting students to think about the poem in its entirety. Hence, I will ask them to comment on how the setting, mood/atmosphere relates to the main themes in the poem. Students should therefore be able to first identify the main issues discussed in the poem ie. moral and spiritual decay/degeneration/death associated with decadence/luxury/wealth, and then discuss how setting, mood/atmosphere helps to achieve this. In doing so, they are making use of prior knowledge acquired from the previous discussions, and bringing everything together for a holistic understanding of how setting, mood/atmosphere functions in the poem.

To facilitate the lesson, I will play the oral reading of 'The Harlot's House' at the beginning before discussion as this helps to invoke more explicitly, the setting, mood/atmosphere of the poem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOGVwch3n54