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

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.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, we see how the different characters show their love of beauty and pleasure and the affects they have on the main character: Dorian Gray. Each of the three main characters, Basil Hallward, Lord Henry Wotton, and Dorian Gray portray a part of how the author felt about himself and the world around him. “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” (qtd. in Bloom pg. 117). Through these characters, Wilde shows the ramifications of a worldview based entirely on the pursuit of happiness, beauty and sensuality demonstrated by their integration with the world around them. This is most strongly seen through the life

Oscar Wilde was one of the most famous writers in the history of England. He lived in the 19th century and was one of the major contributors to the Aesthetic movement. He was a spokesperson for aestheticism. He tried his hand at various literary activities. He was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist and poet. He refined his ideas about the importance of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of duplicity, beauty and decadence. He incorporated all these vital characteristics that define the supremacy of art into his only novel The Picture of Dorian gray written in 1890. This novel bore the true essence of what an aesthetic literature brought to the table. The strong themes of beauty, narcissism, and

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.

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

Dorian Gray’s life throughout the book is revolved around social class/Aristocracy. Dorian Gray comes from a wealthy family but he is not really part of Aristocracy, but this Aristocracy within the society and the people has been an influence on him. Dorian is more of a middle-class men that does not seem to know what to think about everything going on around him. That is why he takes interest into Lord Henry’s words. He thinks that it is someone who is experienced and should take his word. Wilde, in this story, is representing and criticizing the British Monarchy within that time period. In the

Catherine the Great was a German born empress of Russia in the 18th century. While she made much progress in her reign, she is remembered for her busy love life and the rumors made about her death. In her portrait, she is almost illuminated and is dressed as Minerva, the Roman goddess of war, art, and intellect. It could be assumed, based on these details, that she was an important figure in her time, an advocate for the arts and education, and had successful strategies in many battles. In history, she is recognized for her many lovers and the advantages they provided for her in overthrowing her husband, Peter III, and ruling Russia. She also won the nobles support in exchange for the freedom of the serfs, which led to uprisings around the same time the French Revolution was occurring. While Catherine’s portrait accurately shows her leadership skills, she is commonly known as the woman of scandals and manipulation. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian’s portrait reveals his actions, which is much different from Catherine’s display of qualities.

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.

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

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,

Discuss Wilde’s presentation of Dorian Gray here and in one other part of the novel

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

When Basil is further explaining to Lord Henry why he shall never exhibit his portrait of Dorian Gray, he pronounces, “We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography” (Wilde 14). Oscar Wilde highlights his strong opinion of art being solely a reflection of the spectator and not the artist through Basil when utilizing this phrase. Because many look unto art and immediately see the creator of the piece, it is believed that artists constantly use their art as a form of self-expression, which would then create the view of art being “a form of autobiography.” After detailed scrutiny, this idea is found to be faulty because the argument is a hasty generalization fallacy. This fallacy describes a conclusion based upon insufficient or inappropriately qualified evidence.

"The soul is a terrible reality. It can be bought and sold. It can be poisoned or made perfect. There's a soul in each one of us. I know it." This is a statement made by Dorian Gray to his best friend, Lord Henry, a few hours after he realizes that his behavior of the last eighteen years has been absolutely terrible.

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