The Picture Of Dorian Gray Research Paper

Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray familiarizes us to the character of Dorian Gray, once a noble and innocent man who is corrupted by Lord Henry, leading him to have a desire to attain eternal physical beauty, which begins to haunt him as his inner ugliness, begins to reflect in a painting of him. Wilde also introduces the readers to the idea of an invisible mask human beings have the power to wear at all times, which allows them to hide any hideous deeds or imperfections they have as individuals, as displayed through the character of Dorian Gray and his portrait. The author adopts a gothic style while writing this novel to highlight the wicked and maliciousness of the character, which further helps, build up this story. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, “Gothic” literature is defined as “a style of writing that describes strange or frightening events that take place in mysterious places”. Given this definition, it becomes apparent that Wilde writes this novel in a gothic manner. Wilde employs gothic

Upon stabbing the painting, the painting returns to its original form and leaves Dorian looking aged and withered to the point where he is unrecognizable. The author tries to show that the actions and “ugliness” of an individual cannot remain hidden forever. Wilde attempts to convey the message that although others may be oblivious or unaware of an individual’s inner “ugliness”, an individual cannot always tune their ugliness out to their own self. Although, in his pursuit of desires, Dorian ignores his moral compass, which prevents him from differentiating between good or bad, he is however not able to ignore the “ugly” person he becomes. Dorian isn’t bothered by his ugliness due to moral reasons but more so due to the fact he doesn’t wan others to discover this side of