Dorian's Double Lifestyle

“Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.”(38: Ch.3) In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the main character, Dorian struggles in trying to live a double life. A painting conceived by a close friend, Basil, enables him to stay young while the painting decays according to Dorian’s lavish and decadent lifestyle. Although Dorian does not look like a bad person, his soul wrenches away due to all of his sins weighing upon him. Dorian’s double lifestyle proves too much for him to handle, drives him insane, and ultimately results in his death.Wilde employs the use of aesthetic principles and the two dimensional life of Dorian Gray to compose a story that outlines the negative connotations of a lavish and decadent

Dorian continues to commit horrible, heinous acts against morality and thinks nothing of it until he looks at the painting of himself which reveals Dorian’s true nature. "The quivering, ardent sunlight showed him the lines of cruelty round the mouth as clearly as if he had been looking into a mirror after he had done some dreadful thing." (102: Ch. 7) Decadence can play a sinister role when combined with a lavish and laid back lifestyle. Dorian uses his good looks, wealth, and social status to achieve his desires with no regard for his actions. "You look exactly the same wonderful boy who, day after day, used to come down to my studio to sit for his picture...Now, I don't know what had come over you.”(122: Ch. 9) As soon as Dorian begins to lose control he rids himself of his closest friend who notices Dorian no longer ages, but has turned into someone who, “had no heart, no pity”(122:

Wilde portrays how basing attitude on what looks good and how much something may cost and having no concern for others can deteriorate a mind and drive the victim crazy. "There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realise his conception of the beautiful." (165: Ch.11) Although Dorian sees the paintings gruesome features and results of his deeds, he continues to act monotonously and with no care of the outcome. "It had brought melancholy across his passions. Its mere memory had marred many moments of joy. It had been like conscience to him. Yes, it had been conscience. He would destroy it."(253: Ch.20) Dorians pleasures vested the better of him and caused him to do many awful things including killing the artist behind the painting. Dorian lived in pursuit of unattainable perfection and found himself as far from perfect as a man can achieve. The Picture of Dorian Gray can be disputed in many different ways. It may be up for speculation that Wilde does not show a negative connotation behind his reasoning for Dorian’s death as some may say it was the final act of pursuit of pleasure. "There was purification in punishment.”(250: Ch.20) This may be a valid stance of objection, but it does not draw from the fact that Dorian’s life was affected in a negative way. Dorian began to lose a social status though it might not have been substantial, people