In a society where we must constantly uphold an appearance, eternal youth seems to be something everyone longs for. Some things however, are too good to be true. Explored within The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde are the consequences of this idea. Consumed with evil, the title character seizes to age. Halting him from displaying a single imperfection, leading to his ultimate destruction. The man who holds responsibility in the main character's downfall comes into question. While Lord Henry, the main antagonist, is partially to blame, he merely serves as a beginning to Dorians twisted road of wickedness. Given a multitude of chances to change, the man refuses, constantly denying his moral failings and knowingly ruining lives. Therefore Although the painting changes, he seldom seeks to place blame on himself. It is Basil's discussion with Dorian reveals turley reveals nature of his reputation. His “friendship [is] fatal to young men” and has led to suicide, murder and public shame (Wilde 111). Even more troubling is Grays lack of remorse. He ceases contact with an old friend “Sir Henry Ashton who had to leave England, with a tarnished name” (Wilde 110). The two were known as great friends, but seized communication. Moreover, Dorians fleeting superficial love for Sybil Vane ended with a tragedy of his own doing and, after a brief period of mourning, rationalizes the situation. The same day of him learning about her death, he visits the Opera. Wishing his friends came along. Basil wonders how his friend could ever attend “the Opera, while Sybil Vane was lying dead” (Wilde 79). Dorian responds sharply, refusing to hear anything Hallward says. These examples of denial only further prove what little regard Gray has for other people's lives. Even the ones he claimed to hold dear. To summarize, the source of Dorian's downfall is unclear. However, of the accused, the most at fault is Gray himself. His vulnerable age causes him to blindly listen to Lord Henry and form unoriginal opinions. He lacks initiative to change his broken ways, and denies any responsibility in harming others; hence these self destructive behaviors furthering his corruption. Wilde demonstrates not only how influence may shatter one's life, but how youth and innocence shape our way of perceiving and handling information. Dorian's downfall is the product of his own
“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.
I think this because as I was reading the book I could see that Lord
In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there are three main characters. Dorian Gray, who is a calm, very attractive young man and adored for his good looks, Basil Hallward who is a painter that idolizes Dorian and Lord Henry Wotton, an older man, who becomes a good friend of Dorian's. As Basil is painting a portrait of Dorian Gray, Dorian makes a wish that only the picture would age and he would stay the same. As he later notices, his wish is granted and the picture begins to age. Not only is the portrait aging, but the face is also becoming more devious looking. This is because Dorian had fallen deeply in love with an actress, Sibyl Vane, and one night he had taken Basil and Lord Henry to watch her act. That night Sibyl Vane was acting so badly that people were beginning to leave. Dorian was humiliated so intensely that he went back stage and told her he had fallen out of love with her. She said the reason for her bad acting was because she no longer cared for acting, just for him. Dorian still could not take the humiliation and told he was never to see her again. After he left, Sibyl ended her own life by drinking a cleaning fluid that was in her dressing room.
With the fateful encounter with Lord Henry, Dorian is ushered into a world of idealistic art and beauty. Lord Henry plays a key role in introducing a new world in which beauty, youth and sensations dominate. First, Lord Henry employs a powerful strategy of developing Dorian's self-consciousness of his ow...
Obsession is the most compelling theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian’s obsession with his beauty and youth, and Basil’s worship of Dorian, are a driving force. Dorian’s tale is similar to every celebrity that has been adored only to fall in public approval when their true natures are revealed. There is no doubt that Dorian is a celebrity in his time, he is adored by many in London like a celebrity would be admired today. The idolatry, quest for beauty, and downfall of obsession are seen in fiction as well as reality, through Dorian’s obsessions and modern day obsessions like plastic surgery or following a favorite celebrity on every form of social media. Obsession is a toxic force that has a hold on humans regardless if it is in fiction or reality.
In society, there has constantly been the question as to whether people can change or not. Author Oscar Wilde proves in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, that one can. The question he poses to his readers is “What kind of transformation is shown by the protagonist Dorian Gray: good or bad?” It is possible to think that Dorian Gray has become a better person, not for others, but for himself since he lives in the pursuit of pleasure and always achieves it. However, as it is demonstrated by the portrait, the damnation of the lives of others can provoke damage to one’s conscience and soul. Dorian’s soul is ruined gradually by his hedonistic adventures, eventually failing to redeem his actions, but not before he leaves a devastating path of destruction and experiences self-inflicted destruction.
In order to gain such a great value on the writing. The writer would like to present the previous study and research that have correlation to this study, in order to prove the originally of this study. There are several theses and journals that relate with this study, the first relevant previous study is Viktoria Drumova’s thesis: The Picture of Dorian Gray: Eternal Themes of Morality, Beauty and False values Through Centuries. Drumova is a student of Narva Collage, Tartu, Estonia. She writes her thesis in 2015, which submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for her master degree. It is about social condition and representation of morality (in particular moral values as dignity, honesty, empathy, sanity) and an exaggerated importance of beauty in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in the context of the Victorian era.
If you can get past most of the superficial and unlikeable characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray, this story does indeed have its place in the horror genre. While I understand the setting and the characters were a reflection of the actual class distinctions during the Victorian time period, I found the shallowness and narcissism of Dorian Gray and his circle of acquaintances tedious. "Fops" came to mind more than once along with "don't these people have a purpose other than to dine out and indulge themselves?" Even the women were for the most part portrayed as imbeciles. It almost hurt to read the section in chapter four where Lord Henry's wife appears for the first and only time: "She was usually in love with somebody, and, as her passion was never returned, she had kept all her illusions. She tried to look picturesque, but only succeeded in being untidy. Her name was Victoria, and she had a perfect mania for going to church" (Wilde 41). The only likeable main character is Basil Hallward who seems to have a conscience, and although it proves his undoing, he is the only one that tries to save Dorian.
In the beginning of the book, Dorian seems to be an innocent, charming, beautiful young man, and even referred to as “a wonderful creation” (ch 2). Dorian is described as this amazing person, with looks comparable to a God, charm that could swoon any woman, and a mesmerizing persona about him with the ability to draw anyone near, yet he seems to be so imperceptive to himself. His attitude of simplicity causes readers to be fond of him, passing their first judgments that he could not possibly be evil. As the story moves along readers see the first inkling that Dorian may not be so perfect. Dorian comments on “how sad it is…[that he] shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But the picture will remain always young” (ch 2). This statement lets readers inside Dorian’s thoughts, showing how shallow and frivolous Dorian views life to be. He places so much value and esteem on looks alone, forgetting that being painted should be an honor, or at the very least...
trading his soul for his youth, Dorian rids of the good inside of himself. The
Dorian Gray's life is dictated by his physical appeal. His beauty lies within his youth. Dorian's perception of beauty allows him to love. He is convinced that his beauty allows him to accomplish anything he desires regardless of the consequences and still be loved by his friends. He uses his beauty to mitigate his evil actions. Dorian says, “I don't wish to know anything about them. I love scandals about other people, but scandals about myself don't interest me. They have not got the charm of novelty.” Youth and beauty are the most precious things to Dorian. In his life, beauty is of utmost importance. Then he sees the picture of himself, painted by Basil, absorb his sins and this changed his view. “I hope it is not about myself. I am tired of myself tonight. I should like to be somebody else,” Dorian said. He aspired to have had a good life rather than one filled with artificial meaning and beauty. The moral beauty of Doran lies within the portrait of himself. The portrait imitated his life. He finally realized that beauty cannot help him escape his evil actions. He deeply lamemted his wish that the portrait bore the burden of his age an...
The picture of Dorian Gray. The Electronic Classics Series, The Pennsylvania State University. p. 3/ Retrieved January 3, 2014 from http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/oscar-wilde/dorian-gray.pdf
Careful examination of Dorian’s initial susceptibility to influence, willingness to commit sin, and interactions with other characters prove Lord Henry plays the biggest role in transforming Dorian from pure to vicious. With his cunning theories and brainwashing comments, Dorian cannot muster the strength to resist Lord Henry’s dominating nature, showing there are no limitations in relationships when it comes to influence. The topic of which character primarily influences Dorian to turn to a dishonest lifestyle is undeniably significant in understanding the purpose of the characters as well as the deeper meaning of the text.
Basil Hallward, a painter, knows the corruptive influence that Lord Henry can impose upon his model, Dorian Gray. Basil does not want Lord Henry to even meet Dorian because he is afraid that Dorian will be influenced and ruined. Basil begs Henry by saying, "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would be bad. The world is wide, and has many marvelous people in it. Don't take away from me the one person who gives to my art whatever charm it possesses: my life as an artist depends on him" (Wilde 10). Right from the beginning Wilde begins to show what type of person Lord Henry is. Lord Henry's influences pose a threat to Dorian. Basil is well aware of this.
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 corruption. Before we examine the quality of the error that Dorian Gray commits, we should first examine his friends and their relation to him, because Dorian falls into this error with a little help from his friends. 1. What is the difference between a. and a The relationship between Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward.