The horrible marionette, in contrast, rather than singing, smoked its cigarette and tried to pretend it was alive. Finally, the utter hopelessness of the dark side of Victorian society comes out with the phrase, "The dead are dancing with the dead, the dust is whirling with the dust," evoking the funeral speak of "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and the dead -- the underside of society, those with whom the proper Victorian had little use, pass from love to lust, from light to dark, tire of the game as they do the synthetic waltz, their shadows morphing into nothing as they continue to wheel and whirl, finally weary of it all. The literary images of this poem, coupled with the drawings by Althea Gyles, certainly focus upon the hypocrisy of the social caste and cultural mores of the time. Wilde, likely being familiar with these types of establishments, seems to believe that while the aristocracy would "slum" to these areas for entertainment,...

However, rather than being able to offer something true and meaningful, they are relegated to focus on the lustful nature, the fleeting glances and actions of pleasure, certainly not the overt sense of love. Finishing the poem, one cannot help but be filled with the pathos of the inhabitants, lacking any life force, but still attempting to dance a part of the world. For Wilde, society's view of lust is empty and lifeless, too, removed from the innocent and the truth of real love. Yet, too, he seems to say that the pleasures of the flesh are desired by all -- fleeting and ever out of reach.
REFERENCES and WORKS CONSULTED

Hay, C. "A Glimpse at Lust Redeemed." The Victorian Web. 2003.Cited in:

http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm

"Welcome to the Twilight City." HistoricalEye.Com., (n.d.). Cited in:

http://www.historicaleye.com/Lost1.html

Wilde, O. "The Harlot's House." Google Books. Cited in:

http://books.google.com/books?id=YA4ZAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Harlot+House&ei=mL22S5-dGargkQSOg9GpDw&cd=1#v=onepage&q=The%20Harlot%20House&f=false

Vallely, P. "1841: A Window on Victorian Britain." The Independent UK. 25 April 2006.

Cited in: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/1841-a-window-on-victorian-britain-475516.html