Dorian Gray Identity

Dorian Gray has fought with his subconscious desires in hope of maintaining a false belief that he is in control of his Id. As the story continues on it becomes clear that he is in fact taken over by his Id, the identity that is joyous over the narcissistic and greedy London society that he inhabits. Later in the novel, he starts to journey out to opium dens in a pitiful attempt to clear his conscious for murdering Basil. Dorian is the complete opposite of a realist, believing to focus on the superficial elements of his status as a gentleman, such as the wealth and art, giving into his eagerness for pleasure that he know does not exist. Yet, he refuses to believe that what he felt when he murdered Basil, or saw the lifeless body of James Vane,

Freud believed that the superego was the aspect of a person’s self that they openly display, while the id is the part that people will try to suppress. The problem that occurs with Dorian, is that he has been repressing his Id for over a decade, reluctantly following along with trends that Harry had set before him. When Dorian visits the opium den, he believes that he is attempting to clear his conscious of murdering Basil, but he is actually trying to forget the glee he felt during the murder. How he was finally able to let loose and let out anger that had been festering from within, like a ball of energy, slowly consuming his rational superego. Gone for a second are all moral boundaries that he has been surrounded by his whole life, and in its place a true pleasure that he had never felt

The group embraced creating art for its own sake, and celebrating the material matters of life, which did not go without criticism. Many critics believed that the art of the movement held no distinct quality besides being nice to look at. No matter the popularity of the group, they were the outlier in society, often going against the standard procedure of everyday life, known as the superego. Wilde was in tune with his Id, the part that wanted to stand out from society and to live off the pleasure that this movement brought with it. The difference between Dorian Gray and his creator, is that Wilde was able to keep his Id in check; he often allowed his creative impulses to take over, but he never was completely consumed by his hedonistic lifestyle like Dorian. Wilde’s preface states that “the artist can express everything,” and he never holds back from maintaining that promise. He presents a character, who like himself is mannered to the ideals of society, but is desperately trying to break away. Never does he ever label Dorian as either the hero or the villain of the narrative; instead leaving it up to the “spectator” to find out how they feel. As he states, “it is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.” Wilde writes that an author has no ethical sympathies, but will often use his own