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Dorian Gray Research Paper

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Nick Smith English 4A Mr. Farrington March 3, 2017 Aestheticism in the Victorian Era Oscar Wilde disproves of people who act as metaphorical machines, programmed to behave with society’s ideas of manners and etiquette rather than allowing themselves to act freely and achieve the greatest amount of happiness. Wilde’s approval of an aesthetic lifestyle is shown in his depiction of Lord Henry in Dorian Gray. Lord Henry tells Dorian, “We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us. . . . Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden itself” (Wilde, "Dorian Gray" 9). Wilde, through Lord Henry, laments the constraining nature of his Victorian society …show more content…

Dorian lives according to what Lord Henry tells him and without hesitation, and what Lord Henry inspires Dorian, through his persuasive language, is an attitude that is indifferent to consequences. As Wilde writes, Dorian’s newfound position is “never to accept any theory or system that would involve the sacrifice of any mode of passionate experience. Its aim, indeed was to be experience itself, and not the fruits of experience, sweet or bitter as they may be” (Wilde, "Dorian Gray" 125). Under Lord Henry’s mentorship, Dorian, once the poster-boy of wide-eyed youth, behaves with no regard for the consequences of his actions, constantly pursuing instant gratification without thought of its implications, whether they be “sweet or …show more content…

Openly admitting his creation, Algernon tells Jack how important it is to keep a "Bunbury" in one's life, especially when there are tasks and responsibilities that one does not necessarily want to comply with. “ALGERNON:I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable.” In a similar fashion, Wilde is quoted with saying that leading a moral (tedious) life is a "middle class" phenomenon while there is more joy that can be drawn from living like a libertine. This is sealed with the words spoken by Algernon to Lane in Act I: “ALGERNON: Lane's views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral

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