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Dorian Gray Transformation

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Timed Writing 1 Dorian Gray, in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, experiences many changes throughout the book. The main influence of this transformation was Lord Henry, but on the opposing end was Basil. The changes that Dorian had experienced were enough to ignite a spark in him to change his frame of mind, from a young innocent man into a vain hedonist. After Dorian had determined what he was seeking was not physical, he set out to find pleasure through corrupt relations and life experiences. For a time, Dorian sets his conscience aside and lives his life according to a single goal: achieving pleasure. Dorian’s portrait was an item representing his moral decay, which he had a fascination with. The portrait represented the moral …show more content…

The relationship caused an insurmountable number of wrong-doings and Dorian seeking to find a way to fix them, caused the end of his life. Lord Henry had warned Dorian about loving Sibyl saying, “When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others,” (Wilde, 71) but Dorian’s desire for pleasure had hindered his own ability to listen. The driving factor of Dorian’s relationship with Sibyl was his own pleasure, when Sibyl had “spoiled the romance of life” he ended the relationship as he had now seen her as “a third-rate actress with a pretty face.” (Wilde, 115) The fact had become clear that Dorian had only valued Sibyl as an aesthetic and beautiful object rather than a human-being with flaws. He had perceived her as a living work of art, and since she could not act anymore, she had lost all of her value to …show more content…

When Dorian had shown the portrait to Basil, he had let a part of himself go, which was his innocence in that he had never shown anyone the corrupted portrait of himself. The portrait represented the moral decay that Dorian had been experiencing and he found great pleasure in watching the artwork slowly diminish from its former beautiful self, to a true representation of his own soul. When Basil saw the painting “an exclamation of horror broke from the painter's lips as he saw in the dim light the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him.” When Dorian stabbed and killed Basil, it is written that Dorian “felt strangely calm” (Wilde, 205) and he did not stab Basil just once, but “stabbing again and again.” (Wilde, 204) He took great delight during the act of stabbing his former

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In Robert Stevenson’s novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, Dr Jekyll transforms from the handsome “well-made” scientist into the devilish, sinful and villainous Mr Hyde. Similarly, in William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Macbeth’, Macbeth transforms from a patriotic hero into a malevolent tyrant. By comparing the thoughts, intentions and actions within the protagonists’ behaviour, it is clear that both Stevenson and Shakespeare present the theme of change from good to evil within their stories. At the start of ‘Macbeth’, Macbeth is presented as a valiant, noble character, but Shakespeare uses varied language to foreshadow his downfall.

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Right at the start of the story Basil Hallward, who is somewhat obsessive over the young and beautiful Dorian Gray, decides to paint a portrait in his praise. Unbeknownst to Basil, Dorian had been speaking to Lord

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Choices Distinguish the Individual A man defines himself by his choices. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley both embody comparable characteristics about selfishness, prejudice, and desiring excess knowledge. The victims, Dorian Gray and Victor Frankenstein’s creation, become adversely influenced by Lord Henry and Victor Frankenstein respectively in divergent ways. Choosing to ignore his creation, Victor Frankenstein disregards any physical or emotional care needed by the creature. On the opposite hand, Lord Henry subjugates Dorian to his teachings by dominating his thoughts and lifestyle.

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Brittany Marie Rollins English 252 “The company you keep will affect & influence the opportunities you meet.” John Maxwell once said, “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde, Dorian Gray did the complete opposite. At the beginning of the novel Dorian Gray was a humble man but with negative influence from Lord Henry, Dorian has made mistakes. His mistakes where depicted through a painting that’s his best friend Basil had painted for him.

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She tells Dorian: “You are more to me than all art can ever be” (63; ch. 7). Unlike Dorian, Sibyl chose reality over art, denying the credos of the new hedonism, “which dictates an aesthetic detachment from the sordid realities of daily existence” (“Overview: The Picture of Dorian Gray”). Without Sibyl’s art, her acting, she is nothing to Dorian, and thus no longer fulfills a purpose in Dorian’s aesthetic life, so he breaks off their engagement (Duggan). Dorian’s careless cruelty not only causes Sibyl to commit suicide, but it was also the first amoral act that caused his portrait to transfigure. With Lord Henry’s encouragement, Dorian “reacts to the death of Sibyl Vane with cool detachment after the initial shock” (Fox 1145).

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The Picture of Dorian Gray Master Theme Paper Dorian Gray’s quest to regain innocence is told through the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Throughout the novel, Dorian Gray experiences a realization and loss of innocence, leading him to see life from a cynical point of view. As Dorian grows old, he realizes the downfall of his cynical lifestyle and wishes to find innocence again. To regain innocence, Dorian has to let go of his greatest trait - his beauty.

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One of the main reasons why The Picture of Dorian Gray has become a critically acclaimed because of Oscar Wilde’s brilliant use of themes. Throughout the novel, different ideas appear in both literal and figurative ways. The relationships between each of the characters hold some significance to every theme, and they even represent some of the most significant issues. The ideas Wilde convey’s throughout his novel are some of the main reasons as to why the book because critically acclaimed. The themes were subjects that readers could understand and possibly experienced as well.

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Despite Lord Henry’s discouragement, Dorian felt a “wild longing for the unstained purity of his boyhood”(Wilde 183-185), and finally rejects the influence of hedonism over his life. In order to “kill the past” (Wilde 188), Dorian stabs the wretched portrait with the same knife he used to kill Basil. However, when he stabs the painting, all of the deformities from the painting transfer to him and kill him. This event symbolizes the final triumph of good over evil, in that Dorian finally paid for his sins, and refused to live a life of malevolence any

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If you ask them their opinion on something that happened yesterday, they solemnly give you the opinions current in 1820, when people wore high stocks, believed in everything, and knew absolutely nothing. " we can clearly see that even to the end, Lord Henry still holds youth to a high virtue. But as the reader can see from Dorian’s experiences that this is not true and that Lord Henry’s innocent wish in actuality is extremely foolish. In contrast with the ideals that have been put upon the idea of youth and beauty, these last few chapters of the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is the cause of their downfalls. Dorian does not realize this until the end that his insatiable desire for eternal youth to avoid the disgusting characteristics that come with age was imprudent.

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After writing his only novel, whose editors’ views aligned with the homophobic social conventions of the time, Wilde claimed that each of the main characters contained a bit of himself in them, and that “Basil Hallward is what I think I am” (Carroll). Within the novel, Basil is depicted as a character who is consumed by his naive love for Dorian, so much so that he claims that Dorian’s “personality… would absorb [Basil’s] whole nature, [his] whole soul, [his] very art itself,” foreshadowing the fact that his affection for Dorian will bring about his own death (Wilde 21). While Basil’s murder may indicate that his attraction to Dorian is a characteristic flaw, Wilde utilizes it to create a tragic romance comparable to that of Romeo and Juliet; taking into consideration Wilde’s identification with this character, it is clear that Basil’s portrayal in the story is one of an impassioned gay artist, like Wilde, serving as an example of his message that homosexuality does not compromise a work’s potential for

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The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray shocked the moral judgments of British book critics. Some of them said Oscar Wilde deserved to be pursuance for breaking the laws guarding the common morality because the uses of homosexuality were in that time banned. This book was for that time unusual because it had a pretty serious criticism on the society from that time. The novel is about a young and extraordinarily beautiful youngster, named Dorian Gray that have promised to his soul in order to live a life of eternal youth, he must try to adapt himself to the bodily decay and dissipation that are shown in his portrait.

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As a writer one is greatly influenced by their personal experiences with social, historical, and cultural context within their specific time period. Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray was shaped by the aspects of the world around him. The themes of the text are are influenced by morality in the Victorian Era. Throughout the Victorian Era a deeper movement was also prominent in London called Aestheticism. Aestheticism is the worship of beauty and self-fulfillment.

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Dorian’s inability to take responsibility for his actions led to the deterioration of his relationships. Sibyl Vane and Dorian Gray had an argument over her horrible performance, Dorian leaves her after saying he never wants to see her again and then goes home and sleeps it off. When Dorian wakes up in the morning he finds

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As years pass the picture ages like a real person would age, but it not only grows older, but uglier because of his actions. The picture is the mirror of Dorian 's soul, as he commits terrible actions the picture becomes

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As the portrait significantly becomes more hideous, Dorian gradually loses his mind. The reader understands that what eventually leads Dorian to kill Basil Hallward, the only true friend he has, is the constant reminder of the evil found at the heart of Dorian’s nature, as represented by the portrait. In Dorian doing so, the reader realises that not only does Dorian kill Basil, he also kills his only chance of redemption of his soul. The reader realises that the statement that Dorian had expressed earlier in the story was the truth: “Yes, Basil could have saved him. But it was too late now.”

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