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Theme of morality
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(In the Berea Coffee and Tea Shop sitting on a couch is Ms. Crockett drinking Mocha, Ms. Cocker drinking organic tea, and Lord Henry drink a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino in with bendy straw)
Ominica Crockett: Do you know I always found the book The Picture of Dorian Gray to have such a questioning theme about Morality. When looking at Lord Henry his life seems to be fine though he is the one who corrupts Dorian. Dorian life seems fine if he could forget the picture, he’s young, handsome and rich. So what his conscience might be ruined, at least in this world he has the perfect life.
Ms. Crocker: What is going on in your mind Ominica, Dorian life was terrible because of the immoral thing that he did. Just because he was handsome does not mean
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I read somewhere that, “To the aesthete, there is no distinction between moral and immoral acts, only between those that increase or decrease one’s happiness” (Duggan). I lived a similar life to that of Dorian, and I am not dead. Instead, I am in the presence of not a completely boring company, drink on this nonsense which cost five dollars. Please tell me why Ms. Crocker, should a person, not increase, their happiness, would you rather we all walk around babbling idiots who seem depressed all the …show more content…
Crockett: Ms. Crocker, you bring out good points that are true about Dorian is Immoral and how it only does not affect him but think about it. He tried to change to be good, and his picture still became more grotesque. Yes, you could say that he was not truly trying to become pure, as he was in the when Lord Henry was first introduced to him, but people change. Life changes us, and the idea that Dorian still thought he could change, and become a better person should have proved that his morals or intentions had nothing to do with that painting. It was the painting that changed him. Oscar Wilde Once said that “Life imitates art, more than art imitates life.” I truly believe that the life Dorian had years after the death of Sybil can be explained through that quote. It was not until Dorian looked at the picture of himself, then he notices that terrible things in his life. Leading me to my first opinion that Dorian Gray should not have worried about his morals, and everything would have been
...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.
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 young and stunning Dorian was always accompanied by stares as he entered a room. Women wanted to be with him and men wanted to be him. Basil described the experience he had in meeting Dorian for the first time: “When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale” (Wilde 16). The simple fact that a male was so taken aback exemplifies the fact that Dorian is visually stunning. However, the budding connection is anything but authentic. The nature of attraction that Basil feels toward Dorian lacks the fundamental structure of a true relationship. The truth is that Basil is attracted toward Dorian purely based on his appearance. He is the model from which Basil is able to create a magnificent painting but beyond that, he is just eye candy. These thoughts are brought to the attention of Dorian through Henry’s continued indoctrination of beliefs. As anguish creeps into the back of Dorian’s brain, he calls out Dorian for only liking him for his looks and questions what the future between them will hold when he begins to grow old: “How long will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose. I know, now. That when one loses one’s good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything” (Wilde 38). This is a driving theme behind that novel that Oscar Wilde consistently advances. It was quite clear that when Basil fist saw
and rich people in his town as well. His beauty charmed the world. Basil was
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 first one is because of Sibyl Vain’s death because instead of being devasted, he found pleasure in her death because about what Lord Henry told him that it is a beautiful work of art. Another one is the anxiety of leaving his portrait alone. He is not really guilty but rather he is scared that people might discover his secret. She also said that the decaying portrait represents a limited life, filled with fear and self-loathing that one would not which upon anyone. Dorian’s thirst for pleasure is therefore blamed upon the immoral guidance from Lord Henry. Because from the beginning he was exceptionally susceptible for Lord Henry’s influence, who fashioned him to believe that his most esteemed attribute was his beauty. This taught Dorian Gray to be vain – all the while not realizing that his true value steamed from his innocence and purity, which lent his physical beauty a magical
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.
how much he admired him that the painting he did was thought to be the
Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, explores the themes of influence, corruption and conscience. “The obvious influence of Lord Henry upon Dorian shows how one may corrupt another to such an extent that one's own conscience withers and dies”(Weintraub 116).
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.
Monstrosity is not just defined by disfigurement, but also by the actions and obsessions of man. Most, if not all, tales of monsters often came about as exaggerations of sins and immoral actions. Others see men who become too obsessed with the idea of overstepping their own humanity and playing God as monsters in society. Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray reflect this idea. While the painting and the creation mirror the monstrous nature and the sin Gray and Frankenstein enact throughout the course of each novel, both Dorian Gray and Victor Frankenstein are the true monsters.
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, Lord Henry has exhibited valid acts of someone who is hedonistic. Throughout the first few chapters in the text Lord Henry has displayed substantial liking to pleasure, dislike of philanthropism and the love of beauty and youth. First of all Lord Henry believes that it is a silly habit to lose one’s pleasure (page 4), this belief is a strong indication that he is hedonistic because it seems to be something that influences him to continue on living. The dictionary defines a hedonistic person as someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures and that’s exactly what Lord Henry believes in. Next, Lord Henry does not believe in philanthropy (page 39), he believes that “philanthropic people lose all
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.
Careful examination of Dorian’s initial susceptibility to influence, willingness to commit sin, and interactions with other characters prove Lord Henry plays the biggest role in transforming Dorian from pure to vicious. With his cunning theories and brainwashing comments, Dorian cannot muster the strength to resist Lord Henry’s dominating nature, showing there are no limitations in relationships when it comes to influence. The topic of which character primarily influences Dorian to turn to a dishonest lifestyle is undeniably significant in understanding the purpose of the characters as well as the deeper meaning of the text.