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Essay of the picture of Dorian Gray
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Throughout The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde illustrates the dichotomy of Dorian Gray revealing the corruption of his soul and the reflection of that corruption in the appearance of his portrait. At the beginning of the novel, Dorian is the epitome of youth and beauty: his appearance and innocence enable him to be well-liked among everyone. However, Dorian begins his descent into evil and sin when he pledges his soul to remain youthful while his portrait ages. To illustrate, Wilde repeatedly draws a parallel between Dorian’s corruption and the physical appearance of the portrait. Furthermore, Dorian’s murder of Basil reveals the extent of the irreversible corruption of his soul.
The Hidden Antagonist in The Great Gatsby There is a certain social responsibility that comes with wealth, which is to maintain the appearance of a perfect lifestyle. However, in it’s true form, one’s lifestyle is only a perception created to please the public’s eye. According to the novel, The Great Gatsby, despite financial differences, the common factor within all social classes is dissatisfaction. It is especially prominent in high social classes high societies and. The ideas Concepts in the novel reciprocate the idea that wealth does not satisfy one’s hunger for something more, it only amplifies it.
2. The bulk of Chapter 11 lists, page after page, the various pursuits of Dorian's adult life. In these lists, Wilde shows the result of Dorian's chosen path. The reader sees the peculiar kind of hell that Dorian inhabits because of his pact; Wilde delivers a strong judgement against the dangers of decadence. The lengthy passages describing Dorian's study of perfumes, music, jewels, and embroideries border on being tedious.
In Oscar Wilde’s audacious and diabolic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray is an ambiguous character neither being entirely good or bad. Dorian’s ambiguous characteristic displays that people can be influenced easily. Throughout the novel, Dorian’s motives, emotions, and intentions become skewed, opposed to the young and beautiful man society sees. The readers can see the change of Dorian’s moral ambiguity, from the start of the novel he is a young and handsome man, almost innocent.
In a world where culture is constantly advertising and encouraging the gaining of numerous possessions, it is understandable that society has become utterly compelled by instant gratification. It wasn’t until the extravagant era of the 1920s that American culture drifted to being motivated by one’s own pleasure rather than necessity. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates that genuine contentment does not stem from indulging in the selfish gratification of mere pleasure. Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Tom and Daisy show the thoughtless and self driven attitude of the era and the consequences that accompany it.
In a world that often places great emphasis on external appearance and societal expectations, the dangers of vanity and obsession with beauty are ever-present. When one's true self is sacrificed in the name of physical perfection, it can result in a severe loss of identity and descent into moral decay. These themes were explored in The Picture of Dorian Gray, a book by Oscar Wilde, through the tragic journey of its main character. As Dorian becomes increasingly captivated by his physical appearance, he loses touch with his identity, succumbing to a profound loss of self. The once-charming and innocent young man develops into a morally questionable person as his obsession with beauty increases.
Esther states the clear connection between abuse and aesthetic in the Picture of Dorian Gray. He begins talking about Hallward’s warning to Dorian to avoid the influence of Lord Henry. However, Lord Henry ignores this and meets Dorian anyways. Lord Henry then decides to dominate Dorian’s life. He is constantly with Dorian, giving him advice, and explaining his views on the world.
The Picture of Dorian Gray was created by Ivan Albright between the years of 1943 and 1944. It was done to be presented at the movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s homonymous novel, which was written in 1891. In the novel, Dorian Gray seeks to have an immortal and attractive, youthful appearance. He then commissions a self-portrait and trades his soul so that the painting could age for and instead of him. As Gray becomes evil and commits reprimandable acts, his self-portraits suffers for him, ultimately being a representation of all his moral decay.
Throughout The Picture of Dorian Gray, author Oscar Wilde consistently discusses the idea of ignorance. Ignorance is an overarching theme that affects both the thoughts of primary characters and their actions. A character greatly affected by ignorance is Dorian Gray. As his policies on life change due to his eternal youth, the primary character of Dorian Gray gradually becomes less and less knowledgeable. During his conversation with Basil, Dorian displays an increase in ignorance caused by his eternal youth through the examples of his ponderings on “serious topics” as well as gossip related to him.
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.
Another theme illustrated through Wilde’s use of motifs and symbols is the theme of superficiality. The theme of superficiality can be understood as a sense of the superficial view of outer beauty that is shown in the work. It relates to the concept of remaining young, which is an important factor of what is shown in the novel. This is an important part of the novel because outer beauty plays a bigger role for Dorian, than inner beauty does. In the beginning of the novel, Lord Henry and Dorian have a conversation that focuses on the topic of youth and Dorian 's outer beauty – Lord Henry mentions the fact that Dorian has a beautiful face, and later during this conversation, Lord Henry states that: “youth is the only thing worth having…”
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.
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.
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
The reader gets the impression that the portrait is a representation of Dorian 's inner self, and how it becomes uglier and more disgraceful as time gradually passes and with every horrific crime that he commits, as can be seen in the following quote: “The picture had to be concealed. There was no help for it.” (Wilde 113). The portrait serves as an image of Dorian 's true nature and the relationship between how his soul progressively becomes more nefarious, and how the evil of his soul becomes visible on the painted surface of the canvas. The way Wilde uses the portrait as a motif throughout the story helps the reader to see and understand how Dorian himself is not yet entirely unfettered by the influence of the portrait.
