Aphorisms In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

“England is bad enough I know, and English society is all wrong” (Wilde, 145). The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Ernest are both ingenious literary works by the witty Oscar Wilde. The lead roles Dorian Gray and Jack Worthing are the perfect examples of how the Victorian society was phony. Although one is tragic and the other comedic both works by Oscar Wilde offer a social comment on the hypocrisy of the Victorian Era. Through the protagonist’s superficiality, deception and consequence of living a double life such comments are presented. While their superficiality and ability to deceive people are quite similar their consequences for their actions differ a great deal.

“There were passions in him that would find their terrible outlet, dreams that would make the shadow of the real evil” (Wilde,115). The author reveals pleasure as the driving force of many characters within Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, but this search for pleasure becomes fatal once taken into the hands of Dorian Gray. Throughout the novel Dorian Gray changes his opinion on pleasure based on what he requires in order to escape reality. With each death and misdeed he is responsible for; Dorian must search harder for a more drastic form of release. His path declines from his innocent beginnings with Sybil Vane, to the pleasure he finds in corrupt relations, and finally his need to escape the reality of killing a former

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.

Most people are taught from a young age what is right, and what is wrong. These teachings set up the basis for later discovering one’s personal values. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, these same principles are applied and challenged by Wilde. Not only does he question morality and human nature, but also the ideas of the Aesthetic movement- which influenced the ideals and behavior of Dorian Gray. Through Dorian’s morally ambiguous character, Wilde asserts that one is not purely good or evil, but a mixture of the two; Wilde establishes this theme when Dorian breaks up with Sibyl Vane, murders Basil Hallward, and stabs his decaying portrait.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel laced with sin, treachery, and raging battles of inner conflict, is Oscar Wilde’s sole novel. Considered immoral and scandalous upon publication, the book centers around a young man named Dorian Gray, who does not age or reflect the darkness of his heart outwardly, and instead a portrait of him bears the damage his destructive life wreaks on his soul. However, the meaning of the story extends past the simple fact that Dorian lives a life of immorality—he walks the path that takes him there with his two friends, Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotten. The two attempt to guide and influence Dorian throughout the novel in their own ways, and are a vital piece of Dorian’s tale. Basil and Henry act as character foils as well as a symbolic angel and devil for Dorian Gray’s character, and also contribute themes of choosing one’s own fate.

Finally, Wilde says that he would like to be Dorian but in another time. Dorian starts out as a handsome, wealthy gentleman that's innocent. He is quickly seduced by Lord Henry's words and starts to live life for all its pleasures. These acts are obviously not accepted by the public and with his picture taking all the flaws, his image is never damaged. In my opinion, I believe that when Wilde said he wants to be Dorian, it's because he wishes that he could "get rid of a temptation" by yielding to it,

   Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, explores the themes of influence, corruption and conscience. “The obvious influence of Lord Henry upon Dorian shows how one may corrupt another to such an extent that one's own conscience withers and dies”(Weintraub 116).

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

Oscar Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Grey’s novel is about a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and believes his beauty should not be wasted and it is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enslaved by Lord Henry's world view. He shows him a new hedonism, and suggests the only things worth following in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. When he realizes that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian feels a desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait that Basil has painted would age instead of him. Dorian's wish

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde demonstrates how the victorian society is corrupt and ignorant through details and imagery. In the book, Wilde uses characters such as Lord Henry and Dorian Gray to reveal how the victorian people are ignorant through details. When speaking to Dorian, Lord Henry comments on his view towards crime within the victorian society which shows how Wilde portrays him as an ignorant character. Wilde states “It is not you, Dorian, to commit a murder.

Project Gutenberg. 7 Apr, 2017.   Duggan, Patrick. The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. n.p n.d. Web 10 Apr. 2017.

What good does it do a man to gain the whole world yet forfiet his soul? None, perfection, the goal we all reach for, yet is it really attainable to become perfect without giving something in return, possibly your soul. This is a theme challenged in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. We see the tragedy of a young beautiful Englishman, Dorian Gray, who becomes a vain sinner dedicated to pleasure. Dorian's inner secrets and weakness of mind becomes his downfall. In this novel Dorian Gray's apparent perfection is destroyed by his weakness of mind and naiiveness, which becomes the downfall of his soul as his mind is opened to sin and Hedonism by Lord Henry Wotton.

Every single book is essentially the same. However, every book is written in a different and unique way. When writing their books, each author borrows from other authors to make their book a masterpiece. Thomas Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, explains in great detail the differences between books, but also their connections. Foster writes “There is only one story . . . Whenever anyone puts pen to paper or hands to keyboard . . . They all take from and in return give to the same story” (Foster 185-186). One book that is a part of Foster’s story is Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this essay, Thomas Foster’s methods regarding both symbolism and ¬¬¬¬heart disease from his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor will be discussed and applied to one of Oscar Wilde’s novels. Throughout his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde uses the portrait of the young protagonist as a symbol of many things, one of them being a mirror. Wilde also uses Gray’s death to not only signify suicide, but his true unhappiness through the stabbing and thus killing of his own soul.

The preface to The Portrait of Dorian Gray exists as a lesson in contradictions; specifically, Wilde mentions in tandem that there is “no such thing as a moral or immoral book” (Wilde 3), yet he continues the thought by stating that art can be moral when it “consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium”(Wilde 3). One could interpret this seeming contradiction to mean that perhaps the artist’s intent and final product does not distinguish between morality or immorality, but that it is the reader’s own interpretation that causes this to become an issue. This is not necessarily a thoroughly embraced notion, one critic states that,“There is no doubt that Basil initiates the tragedy, for it is his worshipping of the young man’s physical beauty…that calls Dorian’s attention to himself…”(Oates 421-422). This critic places the fault of Dorian’s corruption fully in the hands of the artist; without this influence, perhaps Dorian would not have been first tempted to

(HOOK) In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the theme of transformation is constant throughout the novel. Through the protagonist’s transformation, Oscar Wilde 's novel is suggesting that the hedonistic life style, a life style where gaining pleasure is the main goal, may seem like it is a fun and wonderful way to live, however a person will slowly be corrupted if they live in that way . One has to take life into one’s own hands and choose the people to be around and what one will do with one’s time to stay pure and good. Throughout Wilde 's novel, the protagonist, Dorian Gray, is influenced by his companion, Lord Henry, to lead a hedonistic way of life, and he slowly becomes more and more immoral and impure. His transformation is negative and it is caused by the large amounts of time he spends around Lord Henry and his corruptive ideas and philosophies.