1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

The Oval Portrait and The Picture of Dorain Gray have been studied by lots of critics from different perspectives，including the use of Gothic techniques，the relationship between life and art, grotesque colors. Some scholars considered The Oval Portrait and The Picture of Dorain Gray both reflect the relationship between the art and life. Han Ling noted that 窗体顶端 Han Ling noted that The Oval Portrait shows the relationship between art and life. ”The author spent a lot of ink on the description of the portrait of young women, but with a smaller space to think about this art is at the expense of the life of the young bride#8217;(34). It can be seen that the artistic beauty and reality are in a contradictory binary opposition, which is far higher than the real life and has its own life. 窗体底端 Hu Qiyun said that Wilde held the view that life copies art and art is above life. In The Decay of Lying, Wilde wrote: ”If not from the impressionists, do we get those wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas lamps and changing the houses into monstrous shadows,#8230;Nature is no greater mother who has borne us, she is our creation. It is our brain that she quickens to life. Things are because we see them and what we see and how we see them depends on the Arts that have influenced us. Human beings are the creator of Nature#8217; (19). On the other hand, he spoke highly of art that is perfect and beautiful. Art is superior to life. Some scholars also noted the use of Gothic techniques in both two works. Lei Muye said that The Oval Portrait is also similar to the previous Gothic novels. ”The story takes place in an abandoned castle, gloomy and solemn castle, gloomy room, shabby and old decoration, gloomy shutters and black velvet curtain... All these elements deliberately pursue the creation of the effect and fully render the atmosphere of death, so that readers feel the shroud of death#8217;(87). 窗体底端 Wu Yanan noted that The Picture of Dorain Gray focuses on the description of the grotesque portraits and the murder of horror. The author uses the supernatural portraits to show the fall of the hero's soul, making the meaning of the work more profound(32). With the characteristics of modern Gothic novels, the murder and dissection plot also presents the atmosphere of the publication of the work.

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

In the hope of figuring out what The Oval Portrait and The Picture of Dorain Gray tell about, I have first of all read the Chinese versions of these two works. Then I analyze the main ideas of these two novels with the help of Chinese version. Because of the Chinese version, I can understand the content easier and quicker. Another modernized tool---Internet also does me a great favor, providing me with abundant background information. Without doubt, traditional libraries and E-libraries are indispensable, too. The last but not the least, my supervisor helps me a lot with this thesis. She constantly gives some grammatical suggestions. Reading books, taking notes, turning to the Internet and the libraries, and discussing with my supervisor are the main procedures of this study. The thesis consists of four parts. The first part will primarily provide the background information, including a general introduction of Ellen Poe and Oscar Wilde (their personal experiences, literary careers, literary reputations and masterpieces), the background of their creating these works, the novel The Oval Portrait and The Picture of Dorain Gray (reception and summary). The second part is literature review and the purpose of the study. The third part is the comparative reading between these two works. In this part, the study will be about the various writing techniques of the two works, such as the use of Gothic techniques. This part will also focus on the relationship between grotesque elements and the tragic ending. What#8217;s more, this part will analyze the influence of Ellen Poe's The Oval Portrait on Wilde's Picture of Dorain Gray from the perspective of intertextuality. Part four will draw a conclusion, stressing the similarities between two works and Wilde#8217;s superior aspects to Ellen Poe.