An Analysis of Marius the Epicurian and the Picture of Dorian Gray

Throughout his life Oscar Wilde had many strong influences exerted upon him. During his early childhood his mother influenced him and into college some of his professors and certain philosophers left a substantial impression upon him. Into adulthood these influences leaked out in his writing. These influences gave him ample ideas for writing The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde's study of the Hellenistic ideals of Epicurus, his coddled lifestyle as a child and his devotion to the movement of Aesthetics and Moral Ambiguity have produced one of the most astounding works of horror fiction.

Aeneas is a Trojan hero who escapes the defeat of Troy at the end of the Trojan War and sets off to fulfill his destiny given to him in a prophecy by Apollo – to travel to Italy and found the Roman Empire. Aeneas is the son of Anchises and Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, and the father of Ascanius. My initial impression of Aeneas’s character is predominantly positive; in Books I-IV of Virgil’s The Aeneid, Aeneas demonstrates that he is admirable, courageous and dedicated to respecting the fate which prophecy has decided for him.

No matter how fervently a painter may try to depict an image on a canvas, even their best attempt will be considered a cheap imitation of the original idea that resides in their head. Exact imaginations and fancies cannot escape the confines of the human mind into the tangible world. This makes constructs such as the feminine ideal, while immensely appealing, impossible to attain in all its variations as it is, too, a man-made creation. The pursuit of such an ideal is a surefire way to promise disaster as the application of the ideal itself does not exist. Nevertheless, such a pursuit appears constantly in literary texts, colored by unwarranted optimism. Texts such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” and David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly

At the time of Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire was no more than a little patch of land in the heart of Italy, and Rome was just a small city of twisting streets within strong walls. However, Rome’s inhabitants were proud people. The Romans loved telling stories of the greatness of their past and were convinced of a virtuous future. The Romans constantly told stories of the glorious past of their small city, and with these stories came even more tales of kings and their wars with neighboring cities. By 27 BC the Romans definitely received their long anticipated supremacy when Augustus was titled the first emperor of Rome. Augustus added numerous territories to Rome, but the most famous conqueror was no doubt Julius Caesar. He conquered

When writing about a work of art, one’s opinion can influence the way in which another perceives the work of art they are viewing. When multiple individuals analyze the same work of art, their opinions pertaining to the work of art can vary greatly. For instance, when observing O’ Keefe’s artwork, multifarious opinions and ideas come to the minds of those analyzing the work of art. There is a common belief that her artwork symbolizes femininity, considering the way in which she utilizes flowers and the implied relationship that some are capable of associating with a female body structure. However, when one expresses their ideas of a work of art they can potentially influence or contradict the beliefs contained by other individuals viewing the

Oscar Wilde, the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, was one of few men to question the logic of regarding aesthetic appearance with great emphasis during the Victorian Era. Today, we look back on Wilde’s book as a classic example of thought-provoking literature that challenges social ideas and questions what characteristics should truly define a man. Oscar Wilde was one man fighting against the ideals of the Victorian Era through the use of his epigrams. Eventually, these epigrams would help alter society to a place where relationships are not formed out of beauty, but are instead built on character and trust. Oscar Wilde uses epigrams in The Picture of Dorian Gray to criticize the immorality of placing great emphasis on superficial characteristics,

Throughout the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde tells a tale about a young man named Dorian whose entire life changes after he meets Basil Hallward, who paints a portrait of Gray that ultimately leads to Gray’s demise. At the same time, Dorian also meets Lord Henry, who eventually plays a bad influence over Dorian. The portrait shows the man Dorian has become

Oscar Wilde was a creator many literary works including plays, poems and books. Though the most infamous piece he has done was The Picture of Dorian Gray. It was first published in 1890 and was seen in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (The Picture of Dorian First Published Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, bl.uk). The book was about a young man named Dorian Gray who gets a portrait done for him by a man named Basil. Then he “wishes (and receives his wish) that his portrait ages while he remains youthful and lives a life of sin and pleasure.” (Oscar Wilde Biography, Biography, 2015) From then on there are themes of love, beauty, suicide, murder, and youth. “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your

Marius, a Romanian 8 year old boy, lived a life just as every other kid his age. He attended school, played with his friends and his dog, and helped his family with chores. Once the accident occurred, life changed for Marius although he was always positive during his recovery process. Both of Marius’s parents died during the accident, however, he still had a large support system. This support came from both Marius’s older sister and brother who were not home at the time of the accident. Also, the interns at the hospital provided a large amount of help to Marius as did the interns’ parents and other family members. Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles as well as all of the support from teachers, home tutors, and the translator, Teodora, made the entire recovery process possible. So even though Marius did not have his parents, he still had an abundance of support and assistance.

Much of the criticism regarding The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde has dealt with Dorian Gray’s relation to his own portrait (Raby 392). While some may argue that the portrait represents a reflection of Dorian Gray’s character, this is only a superficial analysis of the novel and Dorian’s character. While Dorian Gray’s true character never changes, it is his own perception of his character (his conscience) that is reflected in the changing face of his portrait. In essence Dorian’s picture becomes a mirror through which the "true Dorian" judges his own metamorphasis as the superficial "Lord Henry Dorian" attempts to embrace Lord Henry’s teachings. Dorian’s

One of the key themes within the idea of Romanticism is ‘the artist’. Taking Lowy and Sayre’s definition of romanticism into account, this figure could be described as

Wilde also was famous for his leading of the aesthetic movement and his imprisonment for propagating homosexuality. The Picture of Dorian Gray tells a story about a degradation of a young man Dorian Gray. At the beginning, an artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the kind and innocent Dorian Gray and, after seeing the artwork, Lord Henry Wotton - a vain and snobbish class man - requests to meet him. Influenced by eccentric Henry Wotton’s philosophy, Dorian begins to become vain and cruel but while his external appearance remains unchanged, his appearance on the painting alters every time he commits a sin. The novel explores many issues, one of them is aestheticism - exaltation of art and beauty, leading to the eternal question - can a beautiful person be moral and a moral person be beautiful, which always have and will stir society’s curiosity. Oscar Wilde once said that "All art is quite useless" and in The Picture of Dorian Gray, he tends to juxtapose various expressions of art with the routine of Dorian Gray and a shallow life in the nineteenth century. As a tool to reveal the concept of a life at the end of the 19th century Wilde uses art of pretty - but meaningless - things used to please one’s vanity and create a mundane environment. This raises the question: what did Oscar Wilde want to imply by and how does he use art to develop the theme of morality in The Picture of Dorian Gray? It was impossible to avoid art in any of its expressions (parties, theatre, clothes, etc.) in even the most regular lives in the 19th century and of course it influenced the way of thinking, created the social status and the image of oneself, so, after all, art had a huge impact on the individuals of the 19th century. And, as often beauty does, art encourages greed and vanity, which Oscar Wilde demonstrates through the usage of art in the novel.

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16 of the year 1854, at 21 Westland Row in Dublin. His father was William Wilde and his mother Jane Francesca Elgee. Wildes’s parents were very successful, his father was one of the best oculist surgeon of his time and also founded a hospital that treated eyes and ears diseased that rapidly gave him fame and success. Wilde’s mother Francesca was considered a child prodigy that spoke French and Italian fluently and from a young age of twenty she had translated a novel from German called “Sidonia the Sorceress” but she was truly known to write poems and patriotic articles under pseudonyms. (Donald 14) Wilde during his whole life was very proud of his parent’s achievements and knowledge implemented on him, since his parents had such successful career by their own many people thought that they were the catalyst so Oscar Wilde becomes one of the most famous and infamous writers in the world (Powell and Raby 7).

Wilde’s sexuality and effeminate nature shaped his relations to the natural beauty of the world, which in turn manifested itself in the moral implications of his now famous works. For example, his very own personal ordeals are envisaged through the passages of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it has been passionately hypothesized that characters such as Basil, Dorian, and Lord Henry are personalities of Wilde’s own flamboyant character. In an interpretation written by Donald H Ericksen, Wilde had written the following: “Basil in how I see myself, Lord Henry how the world sees me and Dorian how I would like to be”. The discussions surrounding The Picture of Dorian Gray were linked to the egregious homoeroticism displayed through the synergy of Wilde’s characters and how they interacted with each other. In a time of irrational Victorian thinking, it comes as no surprise that Wilde’s writing had evoked such a backlash. For people during the Victorian period, Wilde’s male characters and the relationships in which they maintained were more than abundantly suggestive to enable thoughts of disgust in even the most tolerant of people. Wilde’s own sexual orientation laid out for the reader just how these relationships were assembled. In the opening of The Picture of Dorian Gray,

In the book, The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, there is a character named Lord Henry Wotton. He is the story's antagonist and whom critics often think most resembles Oscar Wilde. Wilde remarks "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks of me: Dorian what I would like to be-in other ages perhaps." Within the preface of The Picture Of Dorian Gray, there lie the lines "Those who go beneath the symbol do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their own peril." From Wilde's statement, we can assume that there is a part of Wilde represented in each of the main characters, but how they represent him is up for the reader to decide.