The novels The Picture of Dorian Gray and Siddhartha both demonstrate the theme of long-term verses short-term consequences. A positive or negative consequence is something that happens based on a person’s action (Merriam-Webster). I through both of these novels, readers can contrast how society influences the characters’ actions in order for them to develop and attain their own good life. These actions include weather to stay or leave their society’s grasp. Society influences the characters’ in both novels through their roles in society, influencing their behavior, and by seeing if the person if able to fulfill their goal. These actions either lead to positive or negative consequences. Dorian’s short-term consequences led to his downfall while Siddhartha’s long-term consequences led him to reaching nirvana.
In both novels the reader can see how society influences the characters’ actions in order to develop and reach their goals by determining a role in their society. To begin with, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is a young, handsome, wealthy, and the inspiration of Basil’s portrait. He is at the top of his social class. In the novel Basil, who paints a portrait of Dorian, tells Lord Henry Wotton that Dorian has a “simple and a
…show more content…
In The picture of Dorian Gray Wotton expresses his idea of beauty and tells Dorian “the world belongs to you for a season.” (Wilde 36). This is significant because Dorian starts to change his behavior, and wishes to stay young and beautiful forever, because he starts to believe this is what he wants for his good life. Wotton does this because he wants to take advantage of Dorian’s open mindedness, and wants to influence Dorian of his hedonist views. This quote foreshadows Dorian’s future because just like the painting, he slowly becomes corrupted, which leads to his
In conclusion, both novels have the “monster” theme and show us society and its preconceptions and that society judges by appearance. The monster was mild and beautiful inside, but "ugly" and horrible outside and therefore everyone feared him. They never gave him a chance to prove his gentle nature. Dorian was stunning but had an awful inside, yet everyone loved him and spoke well about him. This shows us that anybody could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. People are more than their appearances; therefore appearance isn’t enough when you’re trying to get to know a person. As Shakespeare said “All that glisters is not gold”.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical fiction novel written by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray is referring to two portraits, first of all is the portrait of Dorian Gray painted by Basil Hallward, the painter in this novel, and the second one is the literary picture of Dorian Gray created by the author in this novel. The physical beauty of the main character of this novel, Dorian, remains unchanged even after 18 years but the painting of Dorian is changing horribly throughout this story to reflect the corruption of Dorian’s soul.
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray was written during the late nineteenth century England. The protogonist Dorian Gray is portrayed as a paragon of youth and beauty whose aristocracy and charisma inspire his surroundings, particularly an artist called Basil Hallward. Dorian poses for him and one day while again posing to Basil, he is introduced to a cycnical philosopher and orator William Henry. Dorian is easily seduced by his theories. Lord Henry corrupts this young boy by transforming into a hedonist. Through him, he faces the harsh realities that his physical appearance is fading and he becomes afraid of ageing. He envies the concrete and ever-to-survive masterpiece of Basil and longs for aging on his life without any sign of ageing and decay. Then his wish incredibly turns out to be real. And his sins begin to be appear in the pic...
The Picture of Dorian Gray presents the reader with numerous possibilities in regards to its theme, yet the one most prominent is the continuous and direct allusion to the Bible as can be seen in the characters themselves, their dialogue, and the imagery surrounding them. As the book opens, two characters are introduced, Basil Hallward, a deeply moral man and an artist who meets Dorian at a party and becomes obsessed with his beauty, which in turn inspires his art; and Lord Henry Wotton, a man of “wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories” (pg. 56), who possesses dry wit and often becomes a bad influence on those who find themselves unlucky enough to be in his company. Throughout the story the two characters are developed in somewhat
Dorian Gray shows how much he gave up to pursue his obsession when he said that his fiancé’s suicide was melodramatic and unnecessary (Wide 88-89). Obsession causes Dorian to indulge all forms of self-pleasure, whether moral or immoral, and to disregard the value of his own soul to preserve his transient beauty. The portrait that Basil Hallward painted acted as a mirror to his soul’s state and grows revolting each time he indulges in immoral acts, which inhibit him from focusing on what is truly important. It was only until the end when he kills himself does his soul reverts back to his inner beauty as shown in his portrait (Wilde 197). Wilde shows us how conformity can push us to obsess something that we don’t truly believe and ignore all other aspects that actually lead to our good lives. Through Dorian Gray, we are taught that we need to stand by our beliefs and not lose ourselves in other people’s beliefs. Wilde teaches the audience that we need to hold onto some core beliefs and elements that we hold near and dear to
Wilde says that Dorian’s journey begins with Ordinary World. He is a young and good looking male. He has a normal life till he met Basil and Lord Henry. He now receives the Call of Adventure. When he met Basil at a party, they become friends and everything is still good until he met Lord Henry. He captured the imagination of Basil and for Lord Henry is how he knows that Dorian can do anything with his looks and perfection. Basil made a portrait of Dorian. Lord Henry made Dorian realize that he is not doing anything wrong and he is perfect no matter what. This is how
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.
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...
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.
They each feel similarities between themselves and Dorian, and strive to mold him into a reflection of themselves. Basil through his portrait, and Lord Henry through his words, both recreate Dorian in their own image and likeness (Manganiello). He publically reflects Basil through his exterior personality, and privately reflects Lord Henry, through his inner personality and behaviors. In a criticism essay written on The Picture of Dorian Gray, a writer states, “The need to immerse one’s self in unfamiliar sensations stands as the motivating force guiding Dorian’s behavior” (Gillespie). This thought is an interesting idea because it explains why Lord Henry seems so appealing to Dorian. As a young man, Dorian is still developing himself through new experiences, and the intriguing novelty of Lord Henry draws him in. This fulfills the need for Dorian to immerse himself in unfamiliar experiences that he is not accustomed to. He is not used to living that type of lifestyle and when he has the opportunity to do so, he becomes completely captivated by it and is unable to release himself from the hold it has on
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
Lord Wotton sees Dorian as "wonderfully handsome...all of youth's passionate purity," and cannot resist the t...
Dorian Gray is a grand Gothic experiment from the moment in Basil Hallward’s studio when he desperately swears that he “would give [his] soul” if only he “was to be always young, and the picture … was to grow old” in his stead (Wilde 28). Even before this moment, Dorian was a test subject of Lord Henry’s, who wanted to see how many of his own ideas he could inject into the boy. This influence rapidly planted in Dorian the ideas of eternal youth and beauty and led to the encasement of his soul in the portrait. After the switch, Dorian not only is under Lord Henry’s influence, but he is also Oscar Wilde’s subject. In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde manipulates Dorian, his surroundings, and his circumstances to capture a realistic portrayal of the character’s downfall by depicting the nature of the body, mind, and soul, and the relationship they share.
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.
Dorian Gray starts off as a young, beautiful man who is loved by many. Because of this, he is all that Basil Hallward, a painter, and Lord Henry Wotton, a nobleman, ever think about. However, they have different ideas on what they want Dorian to become. Their conflicting influences become one of the main conflicts of the book, and this is noticed by Basil. He says, “Don’t spoil him. Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad.” Basil influences Dorian’s choices and actions the most at the beginning of the novel. This is evidenced when Basil says, “He is all my art to me now.” Basil wants Dorian to devote himself to love and selflessness in order to live a happy life. Dorian follows this advice and falls in love with Sibyl Vane, and she becomes another conflict for the novel. He is willing to sacrifice anything for Sibyl, which pleases