Dorian Gray Identity

All throughout history, artists have persisted in finding the answer to the same question; can art truly influence our state of mind? Nevertheless, through trial and error, the answer to that question has always emerged to be resolved through one simple proclamation; yes. Artist have, whether intentional or not, the ability to transform our entire outlook on the world and our perceived purpose of being in it solely by the use of their artistic creations. Specifically, in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde implements the use of double characters, mistaken vs. actual identities, and love and death to reflect upon moral corruption, ultimately expressing the inevitable influence art has upon the human psyche. By manifesting the internalized

For example, after confronting Dorian about all the terrible and horrifying rumors circulating him, Basil said, “‘but you, Dorian, with your pure, bright, innocent face, and your marvelous, untroubled youth---I can't believe anything against you,’” (Wilde 154). In a day and age where beauty was placed upon such a high pedestal, it was common for one to affiliate an individual’s exterior appearance with their interior conscience. Due to this bias towards those pertaining towards beauty, Dorian is automatically blessed with the benefit of the doubt even if the allegation made towards him is true. A similar incident arose after being confronted by James Vane, Sibyl Vane’s protective brother. To demonstrate, James refrained from enacting revenge upon Dorian after recognizing that Dorian “had all the bloom of boyhood, all the unstained purity of youth,” (Wilde 196). From this, we can see that not only does his beauty give him an advantage over rumors being spread about him, but additionally gives him the upper hand in situations deciding between life and death. The relation between Dorian’s appearance to his morality contradicts the assumption that the amount of beauty one holds is relevant to the

The first occurrence arose after Dorian proposed to a young and naive actor named Sibyl. To illustrate, after being enlightened by the reality that Dorian’s love unveiled to her, Sibyl said, “I shall never act well again...before I knew you, acting was the one reality of my life,” (Wilde 90). First of all, it is prevalent to recognize the turn her priorities took after meeting Dorian. Sibyl’s world used to revolve around acting. However, after being accustomed to the ‘love’ presented to her through Dorian, she ceased to have a purpose to act. This purposeless life, however, resulted in a sad and ironic twist when Dorian shed his thoughts on her change. As an illustration, after Dorian revealed his disgust upon her transformation and revoked his declarations of love, Sibyl was found the next day “lying dead on the floor of her dressing room,” (Wilde 102). When Sibyl makes this choice to commit suicide, we can recognize the full extent of the influence Dorian had upon her. Not only did the leverage that Dorian held over her impinge her sense of self, but it furthermore proved to impinge the importance she put upon life. Sibyl became so dependent on the affection shown to her from Dorian that being deprived from it provoked her to act like a drug addict suddenly suffering from withdrawal.