The Age Of The Upper Class

“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

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.

Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray shows us the triumph of a corrupting influence over a virtuous one. In the novel, Lord Henry’s influence over Dorian overpowers Basil’s and leads to Dorian’s eventual demise. In analyzing Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the theme of good versus evil reflects off of Lord Henry’s and Basil’s interactions with Dorian and Dorian’s internal struggles, thus exemplifying that a person with weak virtues will falter in the face of hedonistic temptation.

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 gothic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde a young man named Dorian Gray gains a immortal reputation by partaking in self-pleasure events which results in Sibyl Vane’s suicide, inner-conflict between good and evil, and the deteriorating painting that symbolizes his soul.

Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, revolves around a young man who has his wish of eternal youth granted. His age and sins are absorbed by his portrait, while he remains youthful and physically untouched. Ultimately throwing immortality away by not living as a proper human with morals, but by sullying his soul, demonstrated by the growing hideousness of his portrait throughout his his life. Wilde by using foil characters, choice of diction to employ emotional response, and an allegory within his novel, showcases human nature’s susceptibility to corruption. Surrounding the protagonist, Dorian Gray, are two juxtaposing characters: Basil Hallward and Henry Wotton.

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

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, The author Oscar Wilde demonstrates the corruption of youth by taking the initial innocence of Dorian and turning his values completely immoral under the control of Lord Henry, Dorians friend mainly through the use of symbolism. Even though he looks as youthful and innocent his portrait reveals his truly aging and corrupt soul, this and failure in Dorian not taking responsibility for any of his own actions is what ultimately drives him insane and leads to his death. Dorian’s transition from an innocent character to a degraded and corrupted being can be shown by the author’s use of showing his true color. It demonstrates the pureness of Dorian’s

In the novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray", Oscar Wilde conveys a tragic story of a young protagonist, Dorian Gray and his transition from innocence to immoral. Dorian's character changed drastically after all the influence around him. Dorian's life was perfect with good-looking appearance, which was influence by other characters especially Lord Henry. The novel conveys the drastic change of Dorian's character as it comes to an end. The surroundings of Dorian Gray changed him for the worst and it led to his downfall.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the main character, Dorian Gray, transforms from a delightful and handsome young man to an insane and evil human being. In the beginning of the novel, Dorian’s best friend, Basil Hallward, describes Dorian to Lord Henry Wotton as having a “simple and beautiful nature” (Wilde 24). Hallward does not want Lord Henry to set a negative influence in Dorian’s life because it would ruin his “beautiful nature” that is portrayed in Hallward’s portrait. As the novel continues, Lord Henry’s influence turns Dorian’s personality completely around. While Basil Hallward and Dorian Gray visit together, Hallward realizes that something has changed Dorian. Hallward tells Dorian, “You were the most unspoiled creature

When others are obsessed with one’s beauty, it is easy for one to become self-absorbed. Basil Hallward is very excited about and enthralled with his new painting subject, Dorian Gray. Basil Hallward explains delightedly to his friend Lord Henry,“‘Of course I flatter him dreadfully. I find a strange pleasure in saying things to him that I know I shall be sorry for having said. As a rule, he is charming to me, and we sit in the studio and talk of a thousand things’” (Wilde, 25). Spending much time with a person can lead to one adopting the other’s values and incorporating them into their life. Basil frequently compliments Dorian, and his prediction of the effects foreshadows the future calamities that will be caused by Dorian, after consulting with his new friends about the events in his life. Dorian changes Basil, as well as Basil’s portrait of

In chapter 20 of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Dorian reflects on his past crimes and wonders whether he will ever change and retrieve his innocence again. Throughout the final chapter of the novel, the elements of Gothic novel that Wilde explores conveys the idea of the pursuit of individualism. Dorian’s wild, racing emotions clearly show how much he is driven by his readiness to fulfill his desires under any circumstance. Through this, the use of specific words and punctuation markings highlight Dorian’s personal yearning of removing himself from his past.

At first sight, Oscar Wilde the author of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” wish to emphasize on the importance of beauty and youth from the beginning. This was illustrated on the way Dorian character has been first introduced, “In the center of the room, clamped to an upright easel, stood the full-length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty, and in front of it, some little distance away, was sitting the artist himself, Basil Hallward, whose sudden disappearance some years ago caused, at the time, such public excitement, and gave rise to so many strange conjectures.” (Page 3) In this one passage Oscar Wilde was able to give Dorian character an extraordinary advantage over the other characters. “Full-length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty” hints to the reader that Dorian is above the other towering over people because of his extraordinary beauty. Fyodor Dostoevsky the author of “Stavrogin’s Confession” did the same when he wrote; “He hastily drank his coffee, hastily dressed himself, and

Wilde held art in the highest position. A great artist for him was someone who could look at things with an eye for the extraordinary and create beautiful things out of the mundane with his imagination and skill. The title of the novel The ‘Picture’ of Dorian Gray, shows the writer’s preoccupation and high