The epigrams that are woven in the sentences of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, are filled with witty remarks about different art forms. The portrait sheds light on the epigram “vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.”(xxiv) relevance to the novel. Vice is the moral failure that deprives one from achieving happiness. In the novel, it is difficult for Dorian to achieve happiness due to the actions he takes. After he commits a murder his life is filled with paranoia. The only way he could have escaped his own vice would have been if he had not taken his good looks for granted. On the other hand, virtue is the opportunity to have happiness through one’s own good deeds and moral behavior. In the beginning of …show more content…
Once Basil finishes painting the portrait, he shows it to Lord Henry and Dorian. Basil is surprised at the reaction that Dorian has when he sees it because instead of being thrilled at the beautiful portrait, Dorian is sad that “‘[he] shall grow grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will always remain young’”(29). Dorian is so upset that one day he will lose his youth, he says “‘If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! I would give my soul for that’”(29). His happiness does not last long as it drives him to his own destruction. Even though vice and virtue are opposites, when Basil overlooks Dorian’s vice he only paints the virtue he sees. When Dorian sees the painting he cleverly figures out a way to manipulate his virtue to cover up his …show more content…
Basil discusses with Lord Henry the two most important eras in history that relate to art. The first “era” is “‘the appearance of a new medium for art’”(11) and the second era is “‘the appearance of a new personality for art’”(11). These “eras” are the two steps Basil uses in order to paint the portrait. Basil uses Dorian’s virtue as his medium for the portrait, and as a result both Basil and Dorian have altered personalities after the portrait is finished. In a previous conversation Basil has with Lord Henry he strongly states his opinion: “‘ it is… the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself’”(6). This implies that the portrait of Dorian that Basil is painting does not necessarily represent an accurate image of how Dorian actually looks. Basil admits that he is guilty of not depicting Dorian as he looks because “‘[Dorian] is never more in my work then when no image is there’”(12). The way in which Basil applies both of his materials, vice and virtue, to his artwork allows him to create a heavily influenced image by his desire to depict Dorian in a perfect way. The portrait demonstrates virtue in that Basil is successful in creating the image of Dorian that he desires. At the same time, the portrait is an example of vice, as Basil only sees what he wants to see in
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
The story begins in an artists home in the city of London. The artist, named Basil Howard, is talking with his friend Lord Henry about his newly found inspiration otherwise known as Dorian Gray. They discuss how innocent and handsome he is which of course leads to Lord Henry asking to meet and talk with him. Basil, fearing Henry's potential inluence on Dorian, asks him to leave. As if on some certain que Dorian arrives and meets Lord Henry for the first time. From that point on Lord Henry manages to corrupt Dorian and forever change him to only act upon his own pleasures. Following this Basil completes the portrait of Dorian that he had been working on and presents it to him so that he can take it home for himself to look upon his beauty. After seeing this Dorian proclaims that he wishes that if only the painting could bear the burden of age and emotional decay while he himself remaind young forever.
Basil goes to speak to Dorian to tell to him of the rumors they have been spreading. Many people believe him to be immoral and a corrupting influence that must be avoided to keep one’s good name. Hearing such rumors trouble Basil because he worships Dorian so strongly and is so devoted to him. He even refuses to exhibit the portrait of Dorian, the imitation he made, “Because, without intending it, I have put into it some expression of all this curious idolatry.” (13 Wilde) Basil feared that the world would be able to tell how much he adored Dorian. Continuing his conversation, Basil claims “but you, Dorian with your pure, bright, innocent face, and your marvelous untroubled youth—I can’t believe anything against you.” (127 Wilde) Which is to say that Basil believes that when one commits sin it changes the man’s outward appearance, corrupting him and since Dorian is beautiful he is without sin...
In the beginning of the book, Dorian seems to be an innocent, charming, beautiful young man, and even referred to as “a wonderful creation” (ch 2). Dorian is described as this amazing person, with looks comparable to a God, charm that could swoon any woman, and a mesmerizing persona about him with the ability to draw anyone near, yet he seems to be so imperceptive to himself. His attitude of simplicity causes readers to be fond of him, passing their first judgments that he could not possibly be evil. As the story moves along readers see the first inkling that Dorian may not be so perfect. Dorian comments on “how sad it is…[that he] shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But the picture will remain always young” (ch 2). This statement lets readers inside Dorian’s thoughts, showing how shallow and frivolous Dorian views life to be. He places so much value and esteem on looks alone, forgetting that being painted should be an honor, or at the very least...
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel written by Oscar Wilde. The story takes place in England, where the artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. During his stay at the artist’s studio, he gets introduced to Lord Henry who later becomes one of the most influential people in his life. Dorian Gray becomes aware of his amazing beauty and youthfulness due to the portrait and wishes that the portrait ages instead of him. His wish comes true, Dorian remains beautiful and youthful while the portrait changes. Lord Henry becomes his best friend and motivates him to live in abundance, to sin and always strive for beauty. After a while, Dorian discovers that his portrait doesn’t only age, but also changes face expression as a result of all his sins and evil deeds. Dorian gets anxious by the fact that the portrait shows his evil soul and is scared that somebody will see it, therefore he hides it. The portrait haunts Dorian although it’s hidden. As Dorian’s sins gets worse, he feels that he can’t handle the pressure anymore and decides to destroy the portrait that shows his true self.
During this time an artist was seen as an important figure to society because he was able to visually create and give meaning to beautiful things, which was considered art. Art and beauty became correlated this way. Sometime it is thought that artwork has to be significantly beautiful to be considered art. Basil believes that he has created his one and only master piece, which is the picture of Dorian Gray. He sees so much of himself in the art that becomes insecure about his masterpiece. In Victorian times the artist was always more important than the artwork because of what he could possibly represent in the eyes of society as an artist. This allowed Basil to become insecure about his artwork, he did not want to be judged based off of his artworks that he put some much of himself into; artistically and intelligently. This is the reason he becomes too reluctant to exhibit his artwork, “I know you will laugh at me,” he replied, “but I really can’t exhibit it. I have out too much of myself into it.” (6). This statement by Basil shows his insecurities and afraid of judgement as an artist. it also depicts that he is very concerned with the reaction and judgements of others because he tells Lord Henry his reason for not wanting to exhibit his painting Dorian, which he becomes very drawn and attracted to. Basil pushes Victorian gender roles by showing
Dorian Gray is a grand Gothic experiment from the moment in Basil Hallward’s studio when he desperately swears that he “would give [his] soul” if only he “was to be always young, and the picture … was to grow old” in his stead (Wilde 28). Even before this moment, Dorian was a test subject of Lord Henry’s, who wanted to see how many of his own ideas he could inject into the boy. This influence rapidly planted in Dorian the ideas of eternal youth and beauty and led to the encasement of his soul in the portrait. After the switch, Dorian not only is under Lord Henry’s influence, but he is also Oscar Wilde’s subject. In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde manipulates Dorian, his surroundings, and his circumstances to capture a realistic portrayal of the character’s downfall by depicting the nature of the body, mind, and soul, and the relationship they share.
The development of Dorian’s double life discreetly implicates the confinement of homosexuality due to a lack of liberation.1 Before his confrontation with sin, Dorian leads a lifestyle of spiritual freedom and aesthetic oblivion.2 Dorian’s moral corruption does not arise until the forcible fragmentation of his identity when Basil asserts his desire to “stay with the real Dorian,” while referring to the portrait of Dorian.3 His corruption emerges when he begins to feel a “passion for sensations,” which results in a constant fluctuation of emotional stability and discontinuity of his puerile innocense.4 Wilde finalizes Dorian’s breakaway from realism through his proclamation that the portrait was to “bear the burden of his shame,” which foreshadows his shameful future and the degradation of his image.5 The implementation of a double life reflects the beginning of his battle with sin versus morale, and even more intuitively his expression of homosexuality versus traditional relations.6
With the fateful encounter with Lord Henry, Dorian is ushered into a world of idealistic art and beauty. Lord Henry plays a key role in introducing a new world in which beauty, youth and sensations dominate. First, Lord Henry employs a powerful strategy of developing Dorian's self-consciousness of his ow...
Dorian first meets Basil, who values Dorian’s beauty so much that he is Basil’s muse for art, his way of living. Basil wants to cherish Dorian forever, and wants to keep him all for himself. Additionally, at first, he cherishes Dorian’s beauty more than he does his personality. As an artist, Basil is completely enamored by Dorian’s beauty, and he says, “what the invention of oil-painting was to the Venetians, the face of Antinous was to late Greek sculpture, and the face of Dorian Gray will some day be to me” (Wilde 12). Dorian’s beauty is greatly appreciated by Basil, and he is the one who makes Dorian realize his beauty and charms.
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.
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...
Basil from ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ uses art to immortalise Dorian, therefore, trying to defeat Time not for himself but for the one he admires and Olaussen argues that ‘most prominent conclusion drawn by most literary critics is that Basil is infatuated with Dorian’. It is true that Dorian’s beauty is much more than simply aesthetic to the artist, but gives him the inspiration to ‘recreate life in a way that was hidden from [him] before’. From this, it is clear that the wish made by Dorian to the painting was only part of the reason that his prayer was answered, and that Basil’s true love and admiration for his subject seemed to breathe life into the work. Without Basil and his ‘abstract sense of beauty’, Dorian would not have been so moved by Lord Henry’s words as the painting leads him to think of the future, of becoming ‘dreadful, hideous, and uncouth’. This idea that Basil successfully immortalises Dorian and therefore defeats Time is thwarted by his death at the hands of the very thing he tried to protect from it.
Basil wants Dorian to go back to his old ways. It is at this point that the reader can see that Dorian is actually being affected by his conscience, something that has not been seen in him since the beginning of the book. It is at this point that Dorian begins to go back to how he was before and feels the need to reform. However, Dorian is unable to accept how drastically he himself has changed, and attempts to excuse it. This can be seen when Dorian cries, “Each of us has heaven and hell in him, Basil.” Dorian is showing despair, proving that he realizes that he understands that he has committed many sins and thrown away his life, but still wants to explain it away. Despite this, Dorian attempts to shock Basil by showing how drastically his painting has changed to reflect what Dorian has done. However, Basil instead prays for Dorian and shows him love, which Dorian cannot accept. Dorian kills Basil, but realizes that he has made a mistake. He starts trying to reform in order to get rid of the ugliness of the picture and return it to how it was
One of the lessons Wilde tries to portray is that a shallow existence does not satisfy the way a life dedicated to true happiness does. This pursuit of physical pleasure, which has led him to commit heinous crimes and engage in activities that are not accepted by society at the time, is destroying Dorian, and he is beginning to realize