Gothic Influences In Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Gothic Influences 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 been resolved through one simple proclamation; yes. Artists 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 using 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 deterioration of Dorian’s soul into a physical entity of art, Wilde implements the use of the portrait as a double character and exhibits the influence Dorian’s double has on his life. For instance, paranoid of the thought of another person laying eyes of his portrait, it states that

actual identities, and love and death in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde conveys the inevitable internal deterioration interwoven with the influence art has upon the human psyche. There are three important aspects portray the influence art has on humanity: the influence that manifesting Dorian’s corruption into a physical form of a portrait has on Dorian’s state of mind, the bias the art of beauty generates towards judgements made when determining an individual’s morality, and the transformation the art of love induces over an individual dependent towards another's affection. Due to this, we are prompted towards acknowledging one conclusion; art, whether premeditated or not, has not only the power to shape our perceptions of the world in which we inhabit, but also the capability to change the world for the better