The beauty of a portrait, the adventure of a saga, the delicacy of a porcelain vase, the emotion of a symphony – all forms of art, all forms of expression. Art, as Oscar Wilde explains it, is the “most intense mode of individualism that the world has ever known” (Wilde, The Soul of a Man Under Socialism). Art allows one to express themselves through a thousand mediums using all five senses. It allows words that are not meant to be spoken, to be expressed, and ideas not meant to be thought, imagined. Perhaps the most prevalent form of art in today 's society is literature, as is the most direct form of art. 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
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. Wilde demonstrates this point to counter claims that art, including, literature can be regarded as corruptive.
Literature allows us to express ourselves and tell great stories. It expands our horizon of understanding and imagination with intriguing arguments and tales. However, the ideas present in literature have influence, and influence has the potential to be corrupting. Corruption of the mind is only possible after the seed of corruption has been imbedded into one 's subconscious. It implants itself in the mind like a cancerous cell and without warning expands exponentially and takes control. Dorian Gray becomes engulfed by the yellow book that Henry has given to him as he spends all his time reading it. He even purchases 9 copies and binds them in different colours to suit his current mood. The book has taken a foothold in Dorian 's life and his life begins to
He also blames all the misery of his life on the hideous painting of him (152). Dorian 's hatred towards the two pieces of art mirror how Victorian society looks upon art created by people like Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde 's plays, essays and other works of art are looked poorly upon by some in the Victorian era as his work was considered by some to be corrupting. Oscar Wilde, however uses the book The Picture of Dorian Gray to subtly counter these points. “All art us at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril” (4). Oscar Wilde criticizes Victorian culture as he implies that too many people read and analyze the surface or read the symbol, but not both. In order to properly understand a piece of literature the reader must interpret both surface and symbol. Dorian Gray fails to do this as he interprets merely the surface of the portrait and also of the yellow book, but he fails to investigate the symbol of each piece of art. By failing to completely analyze the text he draws terrible conclusions of what the purpose of the book is and as he begins to formulate horrible ideas based off these incomplete conclusions he has drawn from the book. He then proceeds to blame all his corruptness on the book, when in reality it is his poor analysis of the book
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.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Michael Patrick Gillespie, Editor. Norton Critical Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007.
The gothic literature is only a prime example of how our work reflects us in life, or in this instance the case of Oscar Wilde. In this case, whether conscience of the decision, Wilde has placed himself into the novel as Dorian Gray, and replicated the same decisions as he took in life that led each to the same fate. The use of gothic also portrays the same idealistic rules presented, if not spoken in those who create work for the gothic. Although many artists and authors grow in different background and learn different styles, what is presented in their works will always show similar
“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.
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is, at first glance, a novel about a young, handsome man’s demise as he travels into a world of self- indulgence, immorality, and evil. Though the predominant motif of beauty versus ugliness is the main take-away point, Wilde’s use of symbols, particularly flowers cannot go unnoticed. From characterization to depicting religious allusions, flowers are frequently used in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Clearly, the novel’s use of roses, orchids, lilacs, and the like has an underlying meaning, which will be explored and analyzed in this essay.
Although Wilde halts short of stating that Basil and Lord Henry have sexual feelings for Dorian , the language he uses to describe their devotion for Dorian is unmistakably the language of deep, romantic intimacy. “Tell me more about Mr. Dorian Gray. How often do you see him?”. “Every day. I couldn’t be happy if I didn’t see him everyday. He is absolutely necessary to me”. This common motif of homoerotic bonds between men plays a large role in structuring the novel. Basils painting is born from his adoration of Dorians beauty , comparatively Lord Henry is overcome with desire to seduce Dorian. This sense of camaraderie between men fits into Wildes aesthetic values, for it returns him to his past where the philosophy of beauty was not only the basis of society but fundamental to culture. As a homosexual living in an intolerant society, Wilde asserted this philosophy in order to justify his own lifestyle.
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.
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.
Oscar Wilde`s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is written primarily out of the aesthetic movement of the Nineteenth Century. Therefore, the text contains a profuse amount of imagery which reflects the concepts of beauty and sensory experiences. By taking the aesthetic approach, Wilde was able to revive the gothic style through grotesque imagery of the portrait and the character whose soul it represents. Wilde is not using gothic elements to shock his audiences; rather he uses the gothic to capture the hideousness of Gray`s corruptness which leaks out of the painting and into the tone of the entire text.
Wilde, Oscar, and Michael Patrick. Gillespie. The Picture of Dorian Gray: Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds, Reviews and Reactions, Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2007. Print.
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.
The picture of Dorian Gray. The Electronic Classics Series, The Pennsylvania State University. p. 3/ Retrieved January 3, 2014 from http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/oscar-wilde/dorian-gray.pdf
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.
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
Though Wilde wrote in the preface to this book that, "To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim", we can still trace the shadow of the author himself in all of the three major characters. Basil Hallward, the artist who painted the picture of Dorian Gray, probably has a homosexual attachment to the young Dorian. And as a homosexual himself (or to be exact, bisexual, because he also loved his wife and two sons), Wilde here might be commenting on the enforced secret homosexuals' lives in the late nineteenth century. Seemingly striving after impersonality and aesthetic perfection in his work, Basil feels the greatest anxiety of having put "too much of himself" into his picture of Dorian (Chapter 1, page 20) that he can't exhibit it. To display his work of art in public would, in a sense, amount to exposure of Basil's attraction to Dorian Gray.