Empty Canvas: An Outward Perspective on The Picture of Dorian Gray

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Recommended: The picture of dorian gray

The classic novel by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray inspires beauty, and romance. The main focus of the novel is aesthetics, a philosophical view detailing the nature of creation and appreciation of art and beauty. The tragedy of the young Dorian Gray after becoming misled by his companion, Lord Henry Wotton, is one that causes many to reform ideas on life and purpose. Lord Henry believes in hedonism, a thought stating that pleasure is the only true good; he declares, “The only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfilment of the senses” (Wilde). This outlook is tempting for many persons, including that of the title character, Dorian Gray. In contrast to Lord Henry is an artist named Basil Hallward, whom perceives Dorian to be his muse; serving as inspiration, and purpose. Basil has many moral traits including trust, compassion, and kindness. His infatuation with Dorian causes him to change his art and style, composing an exquisite painting of the young boy. Basil states, “the work I have done, since I met Dorian Gray, is good work, is the best work of my life…his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style. I see things differently.” (Wilde). Dorian becomes so mesmerized by the beauty of the picture and the words of Lord Henry that he wishes for the picture to depict his sins and age, rather than his physical being. To the surprise of the young Dorian, his wish becomes fulfilled. This theme shares similarity to the Faust story, as the title character exchanges his soul for pleasures
The Picture of Dorian Gray shares many gothic themes including supernatural, Victorian era society, temptation, death, and tragedy. These elements are exquisitely detailed, and stimu...

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30&SingleRecord=True>.

Fox, Paul. "Nature in The Picture of Dorian Gray." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed.Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing,
2011.Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 June 2014

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Hawthorne, Julian. "The Romance of the Impossible." Lippincott's Monthly
Magazine (September 1890): pp. 412–415. Quoted as "The Romance of the
Impossible" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Oscar Wilde, Classic Critical Views. New York:
Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 June 2014

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Wilde, Oscar, and Joseph Bristow. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

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