A Portrait of Dorian Gray

756 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Dorian gray and the effect of his picture

A Portrait of Dorian Gray

“He began to wonder whether we could ever make psychology so absolute a science that each little spring of life would be revealed to us”. Lord Henry spent many days merely philosophizing about the power of the mind and how it could be manipulated. Exercising his abilities of control and influence was what Harry lived for, and when Dorian uttered the fateful phrase wishing to trade places with the portrait, he was not striking a bargain with the Lord of Darkness, but rather one of his rogues. Lord Henry assumed the role of temptation and lured the naïve Dorian into a legacy of abominable deeds and sordid affairs. Dorian received the benefits of Harry’s charm, wit, and views. As for payment, Dorian surrendered any control he may have had over his own thoughts, decisions, or emotions. Harry was able to pursue his quest for mind control and perform his own psychological experiments as he willed. The matter of the portrait that had plagued Dorian for most of his adult life can easily be explained. The painting was merely his guilt that had manifested and displaced itself as figment of his imagination. For although he had traded his self control for superficial characteristics, he still remained the owner of his soul.

Harry slowly exerts control over Dorian in two simple ways. First he implants ideas and reactions into Dorian’s sub-conscience leading him to believe that the thoughts that are flowing from his head are his own, not Lord Henry’s. After Sybil’s death, Harry consoles Dorian, or at least that is how Dorian sees the encounter. “You have explained me to myself, Harry…I felt all that you have said, but somehow I was afraid of it, and I could not express it to myself. How well you know me!”. It is not that Harry knows Dorian so well, but that Lord Henry has influenced and molded Dorian’s coping mechanisms. The young man will now follow this pattern of denial each time he is faced with remorse, guilt, or sadness. Henry himself admits to the fact that he is experimenting with Dorian, “It was clear to him that the experimental method was the only method by which one could arrive at any scientific analysis of the passions: and certainly Dorian Gray was a subject made to his hand, and seemed to promise rich and fruitful results”.

Show More
Related

  • How Art Relates to Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    that he could forever remain just as handsome as he is in the painting -- that the

    Read More

  • The Supernatural in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...years. Lord Henry enjoyed influencing Dorian: "He was conscious--and the thought brought a gleam of pleasure into his brown agate eyes--that it was through certain words of his, musical words said with musical utterance, that Dorian Gray's soul had turned to this white girl and bowed in worship before her. To a large extent the lad was his own creation" (Wilde 51). What makes Lord Henry's influence worse is his utter lack of understanding how harmful it was, and, how little he really knew Dorian, evidenced towards the end when Dorian practically tells him he murdered Basil.

    Read More

  • Nurture In Frankenstein

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lord Henry becomes a monster through his interaction with Dorian Gray. The critic Liebman provides an interesting way to look at Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray: “Henry is, first, a scientist and an intellectual, whose most outstanding trait is his curiosity” (Liebman). Similar to Victor Frankenstein, Lord Henry wishes to know about the human soul and human nature. Liebman continues: “‘a complex personality,’ like Dorian's, gives him an opportunity to examine the human species in its natural habitat” (Liebman). When The Picture of Dorian Gray is viewed in this lens, it seems that Lord Henry’s intent is poison Dorian’s belief system to see how much a pure, innocent man can change. Basil warns Lord Henry about how vulnerable Dorian is: “Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would be bad” (Wilde 23). Henry knows what he is doing, which makes him accountable for Dorian’s descent into derangement. When Henry plants seeds of immorality in Dorian’s mind, Dorian almost can’t help but become a monster. Lord Henry causes Dorian Gray to shift from “a simple and beautiful nature”(Wilde 23) to having “no heart” and “no pity” (Wilde 128). Lord Henry is at fault because he intentionally created a monster, and although he didn’t intend to hurt anyone, he started a cycle of violence that ended with several dead, including

    Read More

  • Themes of Obsession in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Turn of the screw

    2738 Words  | 6 Pages

    Throughout Henry’s life he was always questioning things and was also brought into the world with a family that did exactly the same. The family questioned everything and were particularly intrigued in the working of the mind; his brother William, was even named the ‘father of psychology’. Many of Henry’s books dealt with problems of hysteria and stress and how this affected his characters was a frequent theme in his writing.

    Read More

  • Dorian's Transformation in Oscar Wilde's in the Picture of Dorian Gray

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his search for hedonistic pleasure, Dorian Gray ruins many reputations and is the cause of a few deaths. Even Basil points out that Dorian is linked to destroyed lives, realizing that “One has a right to judge of a man by the effect he has over his friends. Yours [Dorian’s] seem to lose all sense of honor, of goodness, of purity. You have filled them with a madness for pleasure. They have gone down into the depths. You led them there” (143). This is why Sibyl kills herself because after being introduced to pleasure, she cannot act anymore and Dorian unreasonably rejects her. Consequently, after hearing of Sibyl’s death, Dorian is grief-stricken, but quickly recovers and becomes an insensitive Lord Henry clone again: “You [Dorian] were the most unspoiled creature in the whole word. Now, I [Basil] don’t know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry’s influence” (104). Instead of truly acce...

    Read More

  • Dorian Gray Hero's Journey Analysis

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lord Henry easily influence Dorian because he is young and young people can copy everything what old people say and does. Dorian listened to Lord Henry that being gorgeous is better than to have manners. He showed this like when he just liked Sibyl because she can act but when Sibyl forget about her acting, he unliked her and just dumped her. When Sibyl killed herself, at first Dorian is kind of guilty but then Lord Henry told him that it is not his fault. That Sibyl is only a girl. Also, with the death of James and Basil, he felt really guilty. With James, he feels like because James was the brother of Sibyl so like James is threatening him. Basil also kind of influenced him because he also made Dorian realized or showed Dorian the world of beauty. And with Basil, Basil is the one who knows everything about him and the one who made his portrait that Dorian feels like it is not right because all he see on his portrait is his guilt and every bad thing he did. He blamed Basil for it. He also destroyed the painting because it is not working right and its just becoming worse and worse when his sins are increasing. When he destroyed the portrait, he used the knife that he also used when he killed Basil. At the end, when he destroyed the painting, he also killed himself. The book is

    Read More

  • Essay on Picture of Dorian Gray: Dorian as Tragic Hero

    2335 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Picture of Dorian Gray: Influence, Corruption and Conscience

    3042 Words  | 7 Pages

    Through Basil Hallward, Wilde implies that Dorian can easily be corrupted. However, Dorian tries to assure Basil that he is not being influenced. He states that Lord Henry "has certainly not been paying me compliments. Perhaps that is the reason that I don't believe anything he has told me" (Wilde 15). The only reason Dorian does not believe Lord Henry is because Lord Henry does not complement him. Wilde infers that if this is the only reason for Dorian to doubt Henry, Dorian could therefore be influenced in some other way. Overall, Wilde shows how a person may deny the warning signs of being influenced.

    Read More

  • New Hedonism in The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Lifestyle Doomed to Destruction

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Dorian Gray first meets Lord Henry at the studio of artist Basil Hallward, he is fascinated with Lord Henry’s wit and the radical social doctrines that he advocates. Dorian is easily molded and falls for the argument he hears. According to Lord Henry the goal of new hedonism, “to realize one’s nature perfectly…to give form to every feeling, expression to every thought, reality to every dream” (198-199). As far as philosophies go this seems rather innocuous until Lord Henry goes on to clarify that, “every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us…the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing” (199). Lord Henry’s advice entices the malleable Dorian, who does not seem to realize that Lord Henry may advocate giving in to every impulse, even the destructive ones, but he does not follow this advice himself. As Basil Hallward informs Lord Henry, “you never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing. Your cynicism is simply a pose” (188). Dorian, however, takes Lord Henry’s advice concerning new hedonism at face value and the results are disastrous.

    Read More

  • The Picture Of Dorian Gray Theme Essay

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Beauty in The Picture of Dorian Gray

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Did The Yellow Book Influence Dorian Gray

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    The yellow book has a stronger influence on Dorian Gray than Lord Henry does. It is proven through Dorian’s attachment to the book, the obvious lack of effect Lord Henry has on Dorian, and his sudden change in lifestyle due to the teachings of the book. In these three actions, Dorian is able to disprove Lord Henry’s influence while

    Read More

  • Essay on The Picture of Dorian Gray as a Moral Book

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Picture of Dorian Gray was a remarkably well-written book due to the reaction of its themes by society.  In the preface of the novel, Wilde introduces the opinion that "...there is no moral or immoral book.  Books are well written or badly written.  That is all."  Numerous views can be taken upon this fastidious comment.  Many would agree that Wilde is justifiably correct because the preface was written with the intention that his readers understand the deeper meaning of the themes than worrying about whether it is considered morally acceptable; or perhaps, the view that it could be considered moral or immoral by the impact it has on the readers' lives.  Even though there are several positions held on what The Picture of Dorian Gray's most important meaning is about, the most prominent is the novel as a moral book.  Lord Henry Wotton immediately begins to corrupt Dorian's mind after they first meet by forcing his immoral thoughts of "yielding to temptation" which allows Lord Henry to hold his attention.  After listening for quite a while to Lord Henry's views, Dorian begins to change his own to match them, and therefore begins to live a life of immorality.  The yellow book is a device that Lord Henry uses to further corrupt and drive Dorian deeper into the pits of sin.  Through Lord Henry's influence, the changes in Dorian Gray, and the impact of the yellow book, Oscar Wilde efficiently reveals The Picture of Dorian Gray as a moral book.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

    2392 Words  | 5 Pages

    Shortly after meeting Dorian for the first time, Lord Henry calmly declares, “to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul” (20). In these few words, Lord Henry foreshadows the entirety of his relationship with Dorian throughout the novel. By sharing his unique thoughts about the scientific view of influence, Lord Henry captures Dorian’s curiosity and attention, opening the door to the beginning of Dorian’s evolution

    Read More

More about A Portrait of Dorian Gray

Open Document