How Does Dorian Gray Relate To Psychology

“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

In The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde presents the theme of good versus evil side of human nature. The depths of what it means to be human is explored by Wilde with the three characters of Basil Hallward, Henry Wotton and Dorian Gary. Each character represents a different side of the conflict between morality and giving into temptation. The three characters equally represent the difference in the class structure of society.

Furthermore, Dorian’s moral principles get progressively worse, eventually leading to the murder of Dorian’s longtime friend, Basil Hallward. Dorian acts impulsively and erratically while showing Basil the mutilated portrait, “and suddenly an uncontrollable hatred for Basil Hallward came over him” (115) spurring Dorian to stab Basil repeatedly. Due to his impulsive nature and devotion to seeking pleasure, the moment his anger took over, Dorian chose to ignore his conscience. He retains his childish behavior because he never

In the beginning of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is viewed highly by Basil and is claimed to be his sole inspiration. By this little description we read of Dorian, the reader can already see how Dorian at the beginning of the book has a strong presence. However Basil describes Dorian as having a “simple and beautiful nature”(pg-12) and tells Lord Henry, “Don’t spoil him. Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad.” (pg-12). Lord Henry is the first person to start to influence and change Dorian into being deceitful. The second factor that changes Dorian is the painting. In chapter two, Basil finishes the Painting and presents it to Dorian. Instead of being filled with joy, Dorian realizes that he will grow old and the Painting will stay young. Later in the story the Portrait changes to show a sneer around Dorians mouth. The reason for this is because Dorian broke Sybil’s heart. After learning about Sybil’s suicide, Dorian accepts that the Painting will show ageing while he appears to have not aged. This forces Dorian to lock away his painting and this also shows Dorian being deceitful with his looks.

He does not think much of killing Basil and drifts to a deep sleep. The next morning Dorian is still enraged about Basil’s comments and asks his servants to call his old friend Alan Campbell, an old friend who he has cut ties with. The fact that Dorian has little to no emotional grieving or shock that he has committed first degree murder is very shocking and disturbing of me, especially that the person he killed is his former close friend. Dorian has turned from man to devil, because of the opportunity of sin. His order to Alan was to exterminate the dead body of Basil. Alan was very reluctant, which I am not surprised of, because Dorian is known for causing disaster, and also Alan did not want to be an accomplice of the murder. However, Dorian made Alan oblige by writing something on a piece of paper; a deal which Alan could not refuse I suppose. After the deed was done, Dorian went into his room and noticed blood depicted on his portrait. I am curious why Dorian is not scared or alarmed at all by the obscenities of his portrait. Since he is widely known to be evil why does he not choose to revert his

I have already mentioned the iceberg analogy. Freud believes that all behaviour is caused by the unconscious mind, which has a personality of three parts:

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

When Basil paints the portrait of Dorian Gray, Dorian becomes angry and curses the picture. The idea of the picture will retain the youthful and beauty, that Dorain now has, for all of time, while Dorian is strictened with the curse of having to endure all the signs of aging, is too much for him to bare. In jealousy and anger Dorian wishes that it be the portrait that bare the signs of aging and sin and he be the one that retains his beauty forever. In this moment of jealousy and anger, shows a Dorian that too bares the emotion of vulnerability and insecurity. From this point of the book onward, these emotions are now who this character becomes.

I really like the concept of Freud comparing our human brain with an ice berg. The ice berg is really only 10% above the water and 90% below. So the largest part of the ice berg is actually beneath the water which we cannot see just like our unconsciousness. And it contain all the influence and motivations that motivates us in a way that we want to behave. How all the memories and experience stored in our unconsciousness regulate our personality and behavior. Things we are actually unaware of are the ones that influence us the most. Also the part that we all the bad memories and traumatic, depressing incidents of our lives hides themselves in the unconscious part of brain, so we don’t have to carry them

Gray wonders whether or not he will ever change. Although he longs for his purity, he tends to let the influence of others get the best of him. On the night of Basil's murder, Dorian on impulse shows the painter his changed art. Although his friend fills with “disgust and loathing” he begins to pray, telling Gray it was never too late to change (Wilde 90). At this moment, Dorian stares at his painted soul, consumed with an "uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil” (Wilde).

In The Picture of Dorian Gray Basil Hallward, the painter who made Dorian’s portrait introduces the reader to the idea that art reveals more about people than about art itself. In both works we are introduced to two very significant artistic symbols: Dorian Gray’s portrait and the painting made by Kurtz. Both are described as sinister, and they both provide an insight into the characters’ souls, in their own unique way. With Dorian we refer to a more literal view into his soul, as his portrait is a magical symbol that portrays it. This is perhaps the biggest symbol in Wilde’s novel. The portrait allows him to stay young but reflects all of his being into a single picture. One noteworthy reflection is that of the red spot of blood in his hand. This represents the blood that is in Dorian’s hands after

It is portrayed that Basil’s view of art is viewed only from his obsession and love over Dorian due to his innocent and unspoiled nature. Basil’s dull moralistic attitudes also has an unscrupulous selfish intent due to his obsession over maintaining Dorian unspoiled by anything Basil views as “corrupt”. This remarks his obsession over his of his aesthetic views towards art, and not having anyone have a corruptive influence in spoiling his Dorian, thus corrupting his art. When Dorian curses that realization that he will age while the painting would remain the same, Basil lunges to destroy the painting because of the uneasiness and corruption brought up onto his muse. Dorian Gray watched as Hallward walked over to the painting table and picked up a knife.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray the main character Dorian gray was first an innocent man and role model to artist Basil Howard who represented humanity. Overtime influences, interactions, and beauty got the best of him. In The Picture of Dorian Gray Basil says “He has a simple and a beautiful nature. Your aunt was quite right in what she said of him. Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would be bad” this shows how even at the very beginning Basil knew how Lord Henry would influence him in a negative way. As we read on we can see how lord Henry teaches him to only care about beauty which causes Dorian to believe beauty is the only thing that matters in life. Lord Henry was the main cause of the corruption of Dorian's soul. In the novel another quote Lord Henry says is Oh, she is better than good – she is beautiful,". This demonstrates how from the very get go he told Dorian that beauty is better than goodness. The poisonous book was another way Dorian was overtaken by the evil. In the novel it says “It was a poisonous book. The heavy odor of incense seemed to cling about its pages and to trouble the brain. The mere cadence of the sentences, the subtle monotony of their music, so full as it was of complex refrains and movements elaborately repeated, produced in the mind of the lad, as he passed from chapter to chapter, a form of reverie, a malady of dreaming, that made him unconscious of the falling day and creeping shadows.” This quote proves how the evil has already taken over him and now the book is taking over his soul. A clear piece of evidence that shows readers how the evil has really won in The Picture of Dorian Gray is the

He is infatuated with Dorian's beauty in the beginning. He appreciated Dorian's beauty but did not wish to possess it for himself. Basil exclaims, “When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale... I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself.” His love for Dorian changed the way he perceived art. Basil eventually paints a portrait of Dorian to capture his beauty forever. Basil’s portrait marks a new phase in his career. Once he has painted Dorian, he fears that he has put too much of himself into the work. Basil reluctantly introduces Dorian to Lord Henry, who he fears will have a damaging influence on Dorian. He admits, “Yes, that is his name. I didn't intend to tell it to you.” Basil is later envious of the relationship between Lord Henry and Dorian. Lord Henry upsets Dorian with a speech about the transient nature of beauty and youth. Basil, wishing to protect and defect him, voices his objection to Lord Henry’s influence over Dorian. Dorian felt Basil had come to realize his true personality and that he would bring it to someones attention. Basil is murdered by Dorian. The murder of Basil marks the beginning of Dorian's end. He cannot overcome the realization that he killed his friend.

The texts The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, written by Oscar Wilde, feature two male friendships that share similar characteristics. The Picture of Dorian Gray follows the life of Dorian Gray, a young man who is easily influenced by others. This novella tracks the development of Dorian as he ages and establishes bonds with others, such as Lord Henry Wotton. The Importance of Being Earnest explores the friendship of Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both fabricate stories in order to escape undesirable situations. In both texts, the characters use one another to achieve their desires. They are more focused on self-indulgence than real human connection. These texts display the male friendship as an outlet to act upon hedonistic impulses