The Picture of Dorian Gray which told about Dorian Gray, a young man on his twenties who insists to be forever young was written in 1890 by Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer born on October 16,
‘Once in his life may a man send his soul away, but he who receiveth back his soul must keep it with him forever, and this is his punishment and his reward’. A body, a soul, and a heart are the three elements that Oscar Wilde thought of as being essential to man. The body is the vessel, the carcass that keeps everything, including the heart, which is the house of feelings, bound together. Distinct and separate from the body is the soul which is the transcendent, ineffable spiritual proof of existence.
It is rather a trap that leads to the power of selfishness and the will to gain immortality, which took over Dorian Gray and created an evil and ugly side to him. In the novel, Basil Hallward, a painter believes that aesthetic beauty should be “unconscious, ideal and remote,” however, it all changes the night he meets Dorian. Dorian also comes under influence of Lord Henry, a poisonous influence, who believes that life is all about aestheticism and decadence. This path to eternal youth and Lord Henry’s guidance leads to Dorian’s dark side/debauchery and ultimately, his own destruction. As stated by Oscar Wilde, “Life imitates art more than art imitates life,” human beings should focus more on their ethics and mortality than living the life of pleasure where art should merely be an art, and not have any other goals.
Throughout the book, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde the protagonist Dorian Gray is influenced by various people in his life. Dorian, a handsome middle class bachelor is heavily guided by an antagonist, Lord Henry. As a result of his interactions with Lord Henry Dorians’ morals are conflicted such as, his preference for beauty over knowledge. Furthermore, Dorian’s painting made by Basil is also affected because it expresses every sin he commits by aging. From Dorian Gray it can be concluded through symbolism that beauty and youthfulness is society 's main concern.
‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is the title of this book which wrote by a great author named Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde had writing many books based on his experiences and most of his genre is quite dark and mysterious, same as this book he wrote which contain gothic genre. I found this story had gothic genre because the storyteller, which is Oscar Wilde illustrating supernatural event in this story such as the Dorian’s wish seem like coming true as the portrait was the one that kept aging instead of Dorian Gray himself. Thus, the portrait has reflected as Dorian Gray’s soul and his personality grew darker and more evil as his life continued. This book that I read has quite artfully as it is like engaging me to keep reading more to know the
Dorian Gray’s personality is introduced with softness, an untainted adolescence, that later becomes haggard and edgy. The smoothness of Gray’s character reflects upon an inexperienced youth. Later in the story, after several years transpire, Dorian has earned experience and emulates the narcissistic traits of Lord Wotton. The connection that
“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.
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.
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.
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.
At this point, Dorian begins to acquire the indication to switch souls with the painting, in order to Boyett 2 maintain an innocent complex. The beginning of the soul switch did not cause any harm, his minute cruelty led to small lines on his portrait’s face, while not allowing any signs on his own self. Realizing the soul switching was successful,
In the book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Dorian can be seen as a modern day narcissus. The whole novel portrays characteristics from the Greek mythological story about Narcissus and his love for himself. Dorian and Narcissus can be seen in the same way, for they both have narcissistic personalities. Their personalities is what carry the plot throughout the two stories and have such an impact on what happens. The Picture of Dorian Gray and the tale of Narcissus both show the common plot of a young male being in love with himself, which in the end, results in the tragedy of the two stories.
The Paper of Dorian Gray Throughout Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, we view the horrible actions of the main character, Dorian Gray. These actions, however, never seem to affect Dorian. We soon come to realize that this self-portrait reflects Dorian’s actions and aging process instead of Dorian and allow him to live a secret life of horrible acts. In the novel, Dorian takes full advantage of the portraits power, calling the portrait a reflection of his soul, and makes no effort to preserve his soul due to the poisonous influence from Lord Henry and his own selfishness.
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.
