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The Picture Of Dorian Gray Archetypes Essay

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Picture of Dorian Gray Archetypes Most novels follow the general archetypes when it comes to its characters, and The Picture of Dorian Gray is no exception. Oscar Wilde uses various archetypical characters to send a message, especially about the power of influence. In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Basil Hallward embodies the archetype of the mentor to show the power of good influence, while Lord Henry embodies the archetype of the devil figure to show the power of bad influence and temptation. The mentor’s role in a novel is to serve as the counselor and teacher of the hero. They often serve as a father-figure, much like how Basil is a father-figure to Dorian. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is the “hero” of sorts, but he is originally guided by Basil, who is the mentor. Basil gives Dorian advise to use his beauty and popularity for good, and not mess with the evil path of temptation. Dorian has to make a decision between good and evil, which for him is between being a moral person and living a life of pleasure. Basil tells Lord Henry that Dorian “has a simple and a beautiful nature. Your aunt was quite right in what she said of him. Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would …show more content…

The mentor, Basil tries to use his influence over Dorian to keep him away from a life of sin and pleasure. The devil figure, Lord Henry uses his influence to get Dorian to follow a life of pleasure, and uses the yellow book to reinforce that. Wilde shows that bad influence overtakes good influence, as the bad influence Dorian is under corrupts him and leads him to kill the good influence in his life, Basil. Dorian is so corrupted by the bad influence that it leads to his ultimate destruction. Wilde’s end message is that bad can overtake the good, but it will still lead to a character’s downfall in the

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