ipl-logo

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

1392 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of 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 …show more content…

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

Show More
Related
249 Words | 1 Pages

Stalin, amongst his other names such as “the Standardbearer of Peace,” “the Great Helmsman of the Revolution,” and much more, also came to be known as “the coryphaeus of science”, which means, "the leader of the chorus of science" and it can be rightly imagined that the Soviet scientist performed in sync with the commanding movements of his baton. He interfered in debates ranging from Philosophy to Physics. Stalin even held meetings, and offered editorial comments in order to support attacks against Mendelian genetics. Stalin did not venture into scientific laboratories, conduct specific experiments, or solve equations. Yet he insisted that the science was closely related with the Party’s ideals.

Read More
1136 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

The researcher decides Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned to be the objects of the study on inferiority and superiority complex causing hedonistic lifestyle in main character. The first reason, both of literary works cover the changing of each life of the main character, society and ultimately the individual. Second, they both share the same social background of the main character in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian, displays a well-respected young man. He doesn’t recognize his own beauty until he sees it reflected in Basil’s portrait, and, once he does, it’s all too late. While Anthony in The Beautiful and Damned is illustrates reaching pleasure as the lifestyle and it becomes a habit.

Read More
756 Words | 4 Pages

Some feel very strongly about what they know to be certain. Some feel certain about religion, others about love. In Oscar Wilde’s book The Picture of Dorian Gray a character, Lord Henry Wotton, says this, : “The things one feels absolutely certain about are never true. That is the fatality of Faith, and the lesson of romance” (181). The truth one knows does not always prove to be certain.

Read More
725 Words | 3 Pages

“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). The protagonist in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde suffers from bad company. The sway of people and objects causes impressionable Dorian to descend into corruption. Little by little, he makes choices influenced by the thoughts put in his head.

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
997 Words | 4 Pages

As soon as Dorian enters in Chapter 2 of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wildes’ one and only novel, its is evident that there will be a battle between who will have the most influence on his pure, untouched soul. Basil Hallward, a painter and worshipper of art is an optimist and sees only the good in even the wickedest of people, such as Lord Henry. Lord Henry is a charming, self-indulgent aristocrat that shapes and molds Dorian to lead a life devoted to pleasure. Both Basil and Lord Henry represent two important opposing forces in the novel, good and evil. The greatest struggle in The Picture of Dorian Gray is inside Dorian; he himself embodies both pure good and pure evil.

Read More
2219 Words | 9 Pages

Influence in The Picture of Dorian Gray And The Book of Job The Picture of Dorian gray is a book written by Oscar Wilde and it was published in 1880. The book was later revised by addition of more chapters and reprinted in April 1891. Dorian Gray is the main character in this book that is described as a beautiful and unspoiled male who changes his life completely by sinning and pleasure after meeting Lord Henry. Basil Hallward who is a painter develops obsession for Dorian because of his beauty whereas Lord Henry Wotton Basil’s friend influences Dorian with his theories about life, pleasure and women even though he had no intention of changing Dorian’s personality. Lord Henry’s influence in Dorian leads to his downfall.

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

Morality and The Picture of Dorian Gray “The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.” C.G. Jung The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, was first published in 1890, right in the middle of the Victorian Era, an era that was characterized by its conservatism. Ever since, and due to the content of the book, it has been condemned as immoral. Furthermore, on 1891, Wilde published a preface protecting his book from public punishment in which he said “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

Read More
1108 Words | 5 Pages

(Wilde 23). This conversation leads Dorian to wish that he will only age in the painting, and not in reality. Wilde creates a theme of superficiality as he shows through motifs and symbols how Dorian’s sinful and horrific inner beauty becomes excused as the characters of the novel primarily superficially values Dorian’s outer beauty. A main motif that helps Wilde illustrate the theme of superficiality is the colour white.

Read More
1283 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
782 Words | 4 Pages

The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of Oscar Wilde’s masterpieces, portrays one of the most important values and principles for him: aestheticism. As a criticism to the life lived during the Victorian era in England, Wilde exposed a world of beauty a freedom in contradiction to the lack of tolerance a limitation of that era; of course inspired due to Wilde’s personal life. All the restrictions of the Victorian England lead him to a sort of anarchism against what he found to be incoherent rules, and he expressed all this to his art. His literature is a strong, political and social criticism. He gave a different point of view to controversial topics such as life, morality, values, art, sexuality, marriage, and many others, and epigrams, for what he is very well known, where the main source to the exposure of his interpretations of this topic.

Read More
1121 Words | 5 Pages

Relatively all authors are very fond of creating an underlying message to criticize society. Authors do this through social commentary. The book “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is no exception. The author, Oscar Wilde, criticizes the upper class through the consistent underlying idea that people are often deceived by one's beauty and are unable to understand the poison that fills the world is corrupting it. From the beginning of this book, the social commentary towards the upper class begins with the structure of the novel.

Read More
1087 Words | 5 Pages

In the early 18th century a new genre of fiction prose, named "Gothic Novel" was introduced. The term ”Gothic” used to refer to the German tribe of the Goths. The Gothic novel spread over the 19th century and had the popular theme of haunted places such as castles, crypts, gloomy monasteries; supernatural elements having the role to intensify the atmosphere. The characteristic motifs of the gothic genre were the strange places, the supernatural, magic objects, monsters, demons, science used for bad purposes. And many of them appear also in "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

The theme of appearance extends further in Dorian’s life. Dorian’s outer beauty allows him to get away with almost anything, due to the fact that people equals his outer beauty to him being a good person. In reality, Wilde makes it very clear that Dorian Gray is not a good person. The theme of appearance is illustrated through underlying criticism within Wilde’s use of motifs and symbols. A main motif used by Wilde is the painting done by Basil Hallward.

Read More

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

Related Topics

Open Document