More handpicked essays just for you.
Sample Research Papers On Narcissicism
Narcissistic personality disorder research paper
Narcissistic personality disorder research paper
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Everyone is merely a product of their surroundings and become what they have been raised to be. While some remain untempted by the vices of their peers, others completely absorb the negative influences in everyday life. Modern society values beauty over substance and The Picture of Dorian Gray serves to reveal that flaw. Oscar Wilde criticizes the superficial nature of people by satirizing the corruption of their views on morality. He says “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame” (Wilde 238). Dorian Gray, the main character, is representative of the direction that humanity as a whole is heading toward. He struggles with his religious identity while also trying to please society’s expectations …show more content…
He decided to study the psychology behind individuals that posses the traits of a modern Narcissus. In many cases, narcissism, or excessive self-love and feelings of superiority, is the effect of another issue. Most people develop it during fundamental stages in their childhood which can remain with them for life. The presence of certain influences or the lack of, in children’s lives can cause them to develop the personality disorder. It can either result from cultural and societal expectations or from experiencing a childhood …show more content…
Kelly means that if someone feels hated by their peers that may cause them to try to counteract it with over-compensation. They lessen the emotional toll of bullying by treating themselves the complete opposite of their aggressors. Since their flaws are glorified by others, they learn to only focus on the positives and become obsessed with making themselves feel great. Kelly’s studies show that most narcissists have low self-esteem, which is contradictory to their dispositions. Even though this theory would not originally apply to Dorian’s personality, it could explain his mindset later in the novel. At first everyone loves him, but toward the end, he became a social outcast. Despite Dorian’s former friends shunning and gossiping about him, he only grows worse in his unjustified self-confidence. He becomes so involved with his image that he is blind to everything
Within The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde depicts two characters that follow the philosophy of Walter Pater. These two characters are Dorian Gray and Henry Wotton. They both embody Pater’s ideal of placing as much enjoyment in one’s short life as possible. While Dorian learns of Pater’s philosophy from Henry he soon exceeds his teacher and becomes invested within the philosophy of living life to the fullest. Dorian exceeds Henry in Pater’s philosophy through his active experimentation and desire for beauty, but Dorian fails to live up to all of Pater’s expectations due to his inability to separate morality for art.
The classic novel by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray inspires beauty, and romance. The main focus of the novel is aesthetics, a philosophical view detailing the nature of creation and appreciation of art and beauty. The tragedy of the young Dorian Gray after becoming misled by his companion, Lord Henry Wotton, is one that causes many to reform ideas on life and purpose. Lord Henry believes in hedonism, a thought stating that pleasure is the only true good; he declares, “The only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfilment of the senses” (Wilde). This outlook is tempting for many persons, including that of the title character, Dorian Gray. In contrast to Lord Henry is an artist named Basil Hallward, whom perceives Dorian to be his muse; serving as inspiration, and purpose. Basil has many moral traits including trust, compassion, and kindness. His infatuation with Dorian causes him to change his art and style, composing an exquisite painting of the young boy. Basil states, “the work I have done, since I met Dorian Gray, is good work, is the best work of my life…his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style. I see things differently.” (Wilde). Dorian becomes so mesmerized by the beauty of the picture and the words of Lord Henry that he wishes for the picture to depict his sins and age, rather than his physical being. To the surprise of the young Dorian, his wish becomes fulfilled. This theme shares similarity to the Faust story, as the title character exchanges his soul for pleasures
In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde introduces Dorian Gray as a mysterious and beautiful young man. He has no opinion and is very similar to a ball of clay, in the sense that he has no opinion and is free to be molded by whoever takes interest in him. Basil and Lord Henry both take interest in the young man. While both praise his physical beauty, Lord Henry wants to turn him into a hedonist minion. He convinces Dorian that he is a perfect candidate to live life according to his pleasure and that Basil is a poor influence upon him. Dorian takes this to heart and lives his life this way. He exchanges the purity of his soul for the beauty of his youth in certain painting. This breaks him down. He becomes less and less welcome by those who once admired him. He gets blackballed from clubs, has promiscuous sex and spends seventy-two hour periods in London’s opium dens. His life of seeking pleasure makes him more and more unhappy. When Basil shows up, he wants some one to sympathize with him and tell him that what he has done is not his fault. During the scene of Basil’s murder, Dorian’s want to be seen as good is apparent, but his unwillingness to accept fault and his corrupt ideology drive him to kill Basil, unveiling a new, malicious side to Dorian Gray.
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.
The Picture of Dorian Gray can be defined as a symbolic representation of a dialectic between two aspects of Wilde's personality. Dorian is an archetypal image by which both aspects are fascinated. This suggests that his behaviour symbolizes Wilde's unconscious (i.e. unacknowledged) attitudes. Dorian is characterized by his evasiveness and his obsession with objets d'art. For example, when Basil comes to console him about Sibyl's death, he is unwilling to discuss the matter. He does not want to admit the possibility that his behaviour was reprehensible. He tells his friend: "If one doesn't talk about a thing, it has never happened. It is simply expression, as Harry says, that gives reality to things" (107). Later, after murdering Basil, he again seeks to avoid acknowledging what he has done: "He felt that the secret of the whole thing was not to realize the situation" (159).
In Jean Twenge’s novel titled, “Generation Me”, she describes “Generation Me” as a group of self-obsessed, overconfident, assertive, miserable individuals. “Gen-Me” cares about what other people think so much they 'll go to great lengths to “impress” their peers. Self-obsession can be viewed as a sickness of the mind. The average person may be oblivious to the fact that 1 out of 6 people are narcissists. “Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders, one of a group that includes antisocial, dependent, histrionic, avoidant and borderline personalities. But by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless.” - Jefferey Kluger
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. The juxtaposition of Dorian’s incredible devotion and his sudden hatred of Sibyl Vane creates shock and makes the reader realize Dorian’s injustice to his lover. When he first meets Sibyl, Dorian is enamored by her beauty and talent.
Krents begins his essay by pointing out to the reader that he cannot see himself, and thus, often has to depend upon the viewpoints of others. He states: "To date it has not been narcissistic." The average reader may not be aware that the word "narcissistic" means, "Excessively in love with oneself." It is helpful for the reader to keep this first observation in mind as he continues through the article, and hears Krent’s descriptions of society’s viewpoints.
In conclusion, it has been reiterated that Lord Henry's influence, the changes in Dorian, and the immorality of the yellow book further enforced The Picture of Dorian Gray as a moral book. Oscar Wilde allows for those who could understand the real meaning of the novel by comprehending the importance of these three things to discern that he fully intended on writing this novel as a moral book.
He becomes an echo of someone else’s music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. ”(Wilde 13). The words of an honored role model can easily persuade even the purest of hearts into the darkness of crime and evil, such as Dorian Gray. At this moment, Gray falls victim to the flourishing words of Lord Henry, who manipulates Gray from a timid and shining boy to nothing but a shallow man who commits capital crimes to conceal his secret.
Dorian Gray's life is dictated by his physical appeal. His beauty lies within his youth. Dorian's perception of beauty allows him to love. He is convinced that his beauty allows him to accomplish anything he desires regardless of the consequences and still be loved by his friends. He uses his beauty to mitigate his evil actions. Dorian says, “I don't wish to know anything about them. I love scandals about other people, but scandals about myself don't interest me. They have not got the charm of novelty.” Youth and beauty are the most precious things to Dorian. In his life, beauty is of utmost importance. Then he sees the picture of himself, painted by Basil, absorb his sins and this changed his view. “I hope it is not about myself. I am tired of myself tonight. I should like to be somebody else,” Dorian said. He aspired to have had a good life rather than one filled with artificial meaning and beauty. The moral beauty of Doran lies within the portrait of himself. The portrait imitated his life. He finally realized that beauty cannot help him escape his evil actions. He deeply lamemted his wish that the portrait bore the burden of his age an...
In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray reads a yellow book given to him by mentor-friend, Sir Henry Wotton. In the years after reading the book, Dorian Gray transforms from the pure and innocent young man he was into a two-faced immoral man. The reason behind the Dorian's degradation is never explicitly mentioned in Wilde's novel, which begs the question of whether literature has the ability to degrade a person. The influence of literature has the potential to corrupt one’s mind, but whether it does is dependant on the state of the reader.
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.
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.