Is it worth maintaining an ornately aesthetic life? Is it better to seek a moral lifestyle following society’s moral standards? With ideal appearances and superficial beauty, a decorated life can seem easier and more luxurious than a moral life. Leading a moral life is not as appealing to most people; and is filled with hardships and trouble over “doing the right thing”. One quality cannot be held without losing the other, due to their conflicting natures. While the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray brings out the central question “Is it better to pursue Aesthetics or Morality?” it describes the life of Dorian Gray, who constantly sought to maintain his appearance at the cost of his morals, and answers the question by revealing the consequences of living Mr. Gray’s “beautiful” lifestyle.
In the novel, Oscar Wilde illustrates the explosion of aesthetic philosophy in higher English society at the time and showed that the ideas were not confined to merely art and artists, but also extended to life itself. Aestheticism advocates whatever was likely to create more happiness, beauty, and luxury in the individual’s life, normally though the tradition of hedonism, or pleasure-seeking self-indulgence. To the aesthetic English citizen, the ideal life is selfish, beautiful, and is only concerned with the individual living it. Lord Henry Wotton, a principal character in the novel, is a man with “wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories” (Wilde 87). Although Lord Henry is a self-proclaimed hedonist, he lives a rather dull life in the novel. He participates in civil English society and attends parties and the theater/opera, but he does not indulge in any low or distasteful behavior, contrary to Dorian Gray in his wild pursuit of youth...
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... however, Wilde’s novel is not as embracing of aestheticism as these examples imply. Wilde illustrated a need for a controlled approach to aestheticism, without which would lead to a severe loss of morality. The concept of unrestrained aestheticism, as displayed by Dorian, results in egotism, a lack of guilt, and decay of the logical mind. As the novel asks, “Is it better to pursue Aesthetics or Morality?” it depicts an uncontrollably aesthetic lifestyle, the life of Dorian Gray, and answers the question by revealing the slow decay and eventual demise of Mr. Gray’s life. It is better to maintain a moral life with a conscience filled with guilt than to have a life of beauty and self-indulgence, filled with nothing but the temporary “pleasures” of the world around us.
Works Cited
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New Jersey: Everbind Books,
1890. Print.
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
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.
Looking through Wilde’s whole life, we find rather difficult to comment a man complicated as he is with few words. He once possessed all but eventually lost all. Richard Ellmann appreciates that “His name buoys up the heart and rouses instant expectation that what will be quoted in his name will make the language dance.” (Ellmann:1994,Introduction).Truly, nobody can deny his contribution to English literature as the figurehead of Aestheticism just as nobody can defend for his immoral homosexuality deeds. His rebellious dandical pose to fight against the materialism and morals of the Victorian society made him the target of all criticism and attack. The popularity of hypocrisy in moral-sensitive Victorian England made Wilde difficult to accept.
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.
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.
Although the audience is invariably aware of the corruption Gray’s soul suffers, Wilde’s use of gothic language suggests the extent of his malice. The painting could have restrained Gray’s soul but the extent of his hideous actions overwhelms Gray, and the true nature of his soul, represented through the ‘living’ portrait inevitably leaks out into Gray’s pleasant reality and into the tone of the entire text. If it were not for the gothic elements, readers would not be fully aware of the depravity of Gray’s soul. Wilde uses the dark to contrast the naive purity of Gray’s facade, which although appears unmarked cannot hide the ugliness of his soul.
In this novel, Oscar Wilde displays Dorian’s moral corrosion negatively in order to convince his audience of the detrimental effects of aestheticism. As Dorian descends deeper into the depths of his depravity, the audience loses faith in him. His innocent, childlike and charitable qualities, seen in his philanthropy and petulance when he is first introduced, are lost, and he acts cruelly and selfishly. For example, when his lover, Sibyl Vane, performs on stage and fails to meet Dorian’s expectations, Wilde fashions Dorian’s reaction to be callous and bitter to her so that the reader sympathizes with Sibyl.
Duggan, Patrick. "The Conflict between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray." Journal of the CAS Writing Program (2008): 61-68. Print.
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
...y others to be a devoted aesthetic due to his concerns to consumerism and fashion, but not a feminist (Mintler 139). Thus, the neglect of women in Dorian Gray is evident and Oscar Wilde had more pursuit over aesthetics than the feminist movement, which is reflected by Dorian’s means of aesthetic pursue over the care of women.
Although Wilde halts short of stating that Basil and Lord Henry have sexual feelings for Dorian , the language he uses to describe their devotion for Dorian is unmistakably the language of deep, romantic intimacy. “Tell me more about Mr. Dorian Gray. How often do you see him?”. “Every day. I couldn’t be happy if I didn’t see him everyday. He is absolutely necessary to me”. This common motif of homoerotic bonds between men plays a large role in structuring the novel. Basils painting is born from his adoration of Dorians beauty , comparatively Lord Henry is overcome with desire to seduce Dorian. This sense of camaraderie between men fits into Wildes aesthetic values, for it returns him to his past where the philosophy of beauty was not only the basis of society but fundamental to culture. As a homosexual living in an intolerant society, Wilde asserted this philosophy in order to justify his own lifestyle.
In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde the eponymous character Dorian follows the lifestyle of New Hedonism. This lifestyle advocates a complete abandon to your impulses, and does not believe in following social dictates or morals. The book illustrates the long-term effects of new hedonism, showing the destruction and death Dorian creates due to following this creed, eventually leading him to complete madness and his own destruction.
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.
In this novel, Wilde had portrayed his philosophy of "aesthetic idealism." He favored nature when it was explained as an internal individualistic impulse, just like Lord Henry who suggests that beauty is the greatest good and doing so diminishes the role of the soul. He does this out of a half-facetious, half-earnest pursuit of that which is more genuine, less socially constructed and therefore less hypocritical.
Wilde, O. (1945). 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