The Picture Of Dorian Gray Analysis

833 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Lord henrys role in the picture of dorian gray

Alexandra Soludanova
The Novel
Essay 1
31 March, 2014

Explore the significance of beauty in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Oscar Wilde's creativity is very versatile, it covers a lot of philosophical and aesthetic and moral problems. In this novel, most fully embodied the aesthetic ideal Wilde creativity and creative personality, contrasting inner world heartless, harsh reality, the proclamation of pleasure. The author made the theme of the relationship of aesthetic problems with ethical norms of society the main problem of the novel. In this book the Wilde's fiction and reality is very peculiar intertwined with fantasy.

Beauty is the fundamental paradox of the novel. Assessing the significance of beauty by, on the one hand, focuses on the fact that ugly people and art has always been perfect. On the other hand, that the beauty of art is necessary redemption of human sins, as morality and beauty make harmony. Beauty - a very individual concept. Than one person to be admired, the fact the other did not even look, and if you look, it is very surprised, because I do not find there is nothing beautiful. Beauty attracts. Often she brings some positive energy, purifies and enlightens. Therefore we can say that beauty has higher nature is divine.

Oscar Wilde claim that “Beauty, true beauty disappears where there is spirituality"( Wilde, 34). It's a story primarily about the relationship between art and life and art and beauty. Each of the characters - the embodiment of a certain side of art and beauty. Basil - the embodiment of service to art, Lord Henry - the embodiment of the philosophy of pleasure, and Dorian - a man who decided to make my life as beautiful as the art. In the novel of a young man Dorian Gray who worked as the model...

... middle of paper ...

...his is the terrible price of disregard for morality. It is, therefore, not be heroes watch themselves at present. By trying to kill morality and conscience, he had killed himself.
Thus, in the plot of the novel lies Oscar Wilde shows us the main idea of the aesthetics of unconditional superiority of art over real life. Art as the epitome of beauty forever, and because the hero dies, and continues to live a beautiful, as in the end of the artist's portrait. Everything seems to be consistent with theoretical views of the writer. Picture of Dorian Gray is the novel of aesthetic in the highest sense, not propagandizing aesthetic doctrine, and revealing her in danger. His novel, the author argues that life alone controlled sensuality and self-destructive anarchist.

Works Cited:
Wilde, Oscar. Thoughts, Aphorisms and Phrases. M.Moscow: Exmo-press, Pocketbook, 2010. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Dorian Gray Vs. Frankenstein

    2002 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel written by Oscar Wilde. The story takes place in England, where the artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. During his stay at the artist’s studio, he gets introduced to Lord Henry who later becomes one of the most influential people in his life. Dorian Gray becomes aware of his amazing beauty and youthfulness due to the portrait and wishes that the portrait ages instead of him. His wish comes true, Dorian remains beautiful and youthful while the portrait changes. Lord Henry becomes his best friend and motivates him to live in abundance, to sin and always strive for beauty. After a while, Dorian discovers that his portrait doesn’t only age, but also changes face expression as a result of all his sins and evil deeds. Dorian gets anxious by the fact that the portrait shows his evil soul and is scared that somebody will see it, therefore he hides it. The portrait haunts Dorian although it’s hidden. As Dorian’s sins gets worse, he feels that he can’t handle the pressure anymore and decides to destroy the portrait that shows his true self.

    Read More

  • Use of Floral Imagery and Symbolism in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray

    2716 Words  | 6 Pages

    Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is, at first glance, a novel about a young, handsome man’s demise as he travels into a world of self- indulgence, immorality, and evil. Though the predominant motif of beauty versus ugliness is the main take-away point, Wilde’s use of symbols, particularly flowers cannot go unnoticed. From characterization to depicting religious allusions, flowers are frequently used in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Clearly, the novel’s use of roses, orchids, lilacs, and the like has an underlying meaning, which will be explored and analyzed in this essay.

    Read More

  • Essay on Picture of Dorian Gray: Dorian as Tragic Hero

    2335 Words  | 5 Pages

    In "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, we see a beautiful young man who makes tremendous efforts to transform the actual world into the idealistic world of art, dreams and sensations.  Dorian's quest, however, culminates in his ultimate tragic destruction. Given that Dorian lives a corrupt life, one is likely to focus on the negative aspects of his character.  In spite of his significant character flaws, Dorian Gray may still be considered a hero.  This essay will examine Dorian's degradation from the innocent world to the vicious, sensation-oriented world.  The elements contributing to Dorian’s status of tragic hero will then be discussed.

    Read More

  • Right and Wrong in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams

    1909 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray’s true nature is revealed through a graceful portrait that a man by the name of Basil Hallward paints. This painting resembles Dorian’s beauty and purity. “When he saw it he dre...

    Read More

  • Dorian Gray Hero's Journey Analysis

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray goes through the Hero’s Journey because of the challenges he had been through, the way he transformed, and his crisis.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Conscience In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Picture of Dorian Gray could really be called: The Picture of Dorian’s Soul. The novel explores what occurs to a man who in the face of having to make the choice of his life of standing for something, chooses wrong, destroy his soul, and according to the Christian belief damns it to hell. He does this by abandoning his trained conscience because he listens to a deceitful influence that instills in the man’s belief system the idea that pleasing society is a worthless endeavor, it is because of the novel’s similarities to other works of literary merit with this story arch that it is allegorical. Otherwise Wilde would have crossed a line into a very literal piece with less depth to the meaning simply because of his outright and unapologetic call-it-what-it-is style. After all Dorian’s soul is very literally personified as an object in the novel, unlike other novels where the soul is represented by some object or other. Like Foster puts it in How to Read Literature Like a Professor the state of the soul is often represented by things like the weather, “It’s never just rain or snow” (150) because the soul is rarely out of the body like in Wilde’s

    Read More

  • Free Essays on Picture of Dorian Gray: Dorian as Faust

    3302 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Picture of Dorian Gray is a rich story which can be viewed through many literary and cultural lenses. Oscar Wilde himself purposefully filled his novel with a great many direct and indirect allusions to the literary culture of his times, so it seems appropriate to look back at his story - both the novel and the 1945 film version - in this way.

    Read More

  • The Picture Of Dorian Gray Theme Essay

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde readers are presented with a vast depiction of the art of immorality in the face of ignorant innocence portrayed by the character Dorian Gray. In the beginning it seems to be a quaint novel on artistry and the paradoxical relationship between two lifelong friends by the name of Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. The plot takes a surprising twist when introduced to the real center of attention, the character of the seemingly innocent Dorian Gray. Upon this introduction Wilde then begins to tell the tale of what a life of secrecy and deception will lead to without the consciousness of a moral threshold and the inescapable burden of Dorians horrid accumulation of sins. The deception begins with a simple shout out to the heavens for the impossible to be granted. This then flourishes into unspeakable acts caused by an Egyptian statue, bringing misfortune to Dorian Gray by giving him exactly what he so desperately desires, thus teaching the world a lesson. Not everything we so strongly desire the world to provide is good for the soul.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Masculinity In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde shows the life of three men who are affected by art in the Victorian society. In Victorian times men were expected to provide for himself and his family, accumulate wealth, exemplify good morals and prove his masculinity. If a man did not show one of these qualities in the Victorian time his masculinity would be questioned. In the novel these men show three different sides to masculinity. Each character finds himself unhappy with the role he is forced to play in order to prove his masculinity. For them it seems in order to be successful or achieve happiness they must push past the gender roles society has placed on them. Basil Hallward represents the artist, Dorian

    Read More

  • The Picture of Dorian Grey

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this novel, we see the corruption of Dorian’s unscathed innocence and his beauty by various outside sources. Dorian first meets Basil, who values Dorian’s beauty so much that he is Basil’s muse for art, his way of living. Basil wants to cherish Dorian forever, and wants to keep him for himself. Additionally, at first, he cherishes Dorian’s beauty more than he does his personality. As an artist, Basil is completely enamored by Dorian’s beauty, and he says, “what the invention of oil-painting was to the Venetians, the face of Antinous was to late Greek sculpture, and the face of Dorian Gray will some day be to me” (Wilde 12).

    Read More

  • How Did The Yellow Book Influence Dorian Gray

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Dorian Gray slowly becomes more influenced by things and people around him. Eventually, Lord Henry gifts him with a book describing a wealthy man’s pursuit of aesthetically and sensually pleasing items. “The yellow book” has a much stronger effect on Dorian Gray’s perception of beauty than Lord Henry Wotton does. Although it can be argued that Lord Henry introduced Dorian to the idea of aestheticism, the “yellow book” drives Dorian to live a life full of it, and changes his focus. Dorian shows the fact that he is not strongly influenced by Lord Henry through his interactions with Sibyl. Contrary to this, Oscar Wilde illustrates the substantial influence the yellow book has on Dorian by one, the

    Read More

  • Beauty in The Picture of Dorian Gray

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, beauty is depicted as the driving force in the lives of the three main characters, Dorian, Basil and Lord Henry. Dorian, the main character, believes in seizing the day. Basil, the artist, admires all that is beautiful in life. Lord Henry, accredited ones physical appearance to the ability of achieving accomplishments in life. Beauty ordains the fate of Dorian, Basil, and Lord Henry. The novel embodies the relationship of beauty and morality. Beauty is not based on how attractive an object is to everyone, but how attractive it is to one.

    Read More

  • Gothic Elements in The Picture of Dorian Gray

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oscar Wilde`s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is written primarily out of the aesthetic movement of the Nineteenth Century. Therefore, the text contains a profuse amount of imagery which reflects the concepts of beauty and sensory experiences. By taking the aesthetic approach, Wilde was able to revive the gothic style through grotesque imagery of the portrait and the character whose soul it represents. Wilde is not using gothic elements to shock his audiences; rather he uses the gothic to capture the hideousness of Gray`s corruptness which leaks out of the painting and into the tone of the entire text.

    Read More

  • Picture of Dorian Gray: Influence, Corruption and Conscience

    3042 Words  | 7 Pages

    Woodcock, George.  The Paradox of Oscar Wilde.  London-New York: T.V. Boardman and Co., Ltd., 1950.

    Read More

  • The Relationship between Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Set in the late 19th Century, Oscar Wilde wrote his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is a story about debauchery and corruption of innocence and well known as a "Gothic melodrama." Violent twists and a sneaky plot make this novel a distinct reflection of human pride and corrupt nature.

    Read More

More about The Picture Of Dorian Gray Analysis

Open Document