The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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 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

As a whole, this opening confrontation between Lord Henry and Dorian’s initial character proves several points: one, Dorian does have his own passions and soul before meeting Lord Henry, and two, Lord Henry’s teachings initially echo Dorian’s own feelings, which are what draw him to Lord Henry over the two-dimensional Basil Hallward. Later, ironically, it is Lord Henry’s own teachings which leads to Dorian’s struggle to repress his "true self" and ultimately bring about his downfall.

Before the death of Sibyl Vane, a beautiful girl who loved him dearly, Dorian is heavily influenced by Lord Henry and still has a moral conscience. Preceding the creation of the portrait, Dorian is pure and innocent, yet to be touched by the idea of immortality. When Dorian first meets Lord Henry, the portrait is being created and “a faint blush coloured his cheeks for a moment” (Wilde 11). This shows how Dorian is still innocent, yet Henry has an influence on Dorian from the beginning. Dorian is described as having “all the candour of youth, as well as all youth’s passionate purity” (Wilde 11-12). Dorian has only been around Basil, who is

In order to understand how Dorian’s character has been changing to a more malevolent being the reader must contrast and compare Dorian’s old behavior to his new behavior using the current situation that furthers his character development. The author uses Dorians home in order to show Dorian’s official decadence into madness begins right where it all started. The authors content is portrayed through the painting of Dorian, after Dorian murdered Basil the painting seemed to have “sweated blood”. This demonstrated that Dorian, in addition to his decaying self-portrait, now had blood on his hands meaning the content was shown through the art where Dorian traded his soul for youth. The setting takes a dark turn towards the end of chapter 17 when

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.

And both of them handle it in a similar way. Dorian feels bad about what he has done, only realizing that this after looking at his portrait and how it has grown to be a “foul parody” (Wilde 203) of what Basil originally painted. Instead of facing his problems, rationalizes his actions, all the while he feels “keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life.” This quote shows us that he is not the least bit ashamed about his actions, he is very well aware of the wicked rumours that surround him, but also aware that people do not really believe them because his face continues to look youthful and innocent. All the while the portrait of him is truly changing to reflect Dorian’s inner sins. Dorian seems ever interested in the bad behaviors that Lord Henry introduced to him, Lord Henry said this to Dorian, “You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.” This quote shows us how little Lord Henry cares about how much he has negatively influenced Dorian, and probably finds it as amusing as a game to see how far he can go before Dorian snaps. It is also a true statement to an extent. Throughout the book Dorian keeps in contact with Lord Henry. Dorian is fascinated by the lifestyle that he lives, asking him on advice on what to do and how to act. Every time he receives a piece of advice from Lord Henry it is another piece of Dorian that is

Basil, the painter of Dorian’s portrait, causes the innocent Dorian to realize his beauty when shown his painting. Like Narcissus, Dorian becomes vain and self-absorbed as a result of recognizing his physical magnificence. Under the influence of Lord Henry, "Dorian throws off all moral restraint and lives a life of passionate self-indulgence" (Miller 384). Therefore, the lives of both Narcissus and Dorian are shaped by the actions of their mentors.

As Dorian emerged into this new being and began doing inhumane acts, although none of his transgressions were physically visible, the painting exposed who Dorian really was. The painting became hideous as Dorian became repulsive. When Dorian saw that the painting of himself was no longer superlative, but instead revealed his wickedness, he had to escape himself. He couldn’t live knowing how ugly he truly was, so he didn’t. He killed himself to break free from all of the lies, sins, the truth and reality.

The first sign of Dorian’s new development is when he first lays eyes on the portrait after hearing Lord Henry’s panegyric of youth. As Dorian gazes upon himself on the portrait, he comes to a shocking realisation. Wilde writes it as, “The sense of his own beauty came upon him like a revelation… Basil Hallward’s compliments had seemed to him to be merely the charming exaggerations of friendship… They had not influenced his nature. Then had come Lord Henry Wotton with his strange panegyric on youth, his terrible warning of its brevity. That had stirred him at the time, and now, as he stood gazing at the shadow of his own loveliness, the full reality of the description flashed across him… He would become dreadful, hideous, and uncouth. As he thought of it, a sharp pang of pain struck through him like a knife, and made each delicate fibre of his nature quiver” (Wilde 18-19). His beauty would not last forever, and he would become old and withered just like everyone else will. Dorian, who once didn’t care about his looks, had now become obsessed with the ideals and ideas fed to him from Henry. He makes his wish for the portrait to take on the burden of time and sin, instead of him. He says, “I know, now, that when one loses one’s good

Dorian looks at the portrait almost enjoying the fact that the portrait is obstructed and a hideous sight. He finds it amusing that he is still pure and innocuous, while his portrait is tarnished with sins and the ugly side of his life. Throughout the book the characters Lord Henry and Basil have gone through changes but not as dramatic as Dorian’s. Dorian is not himself anymore. It may have been better for Dorian to remain a tranquil model for Basil and lead a genuine life as a family man and respected individual; instead of adapting to Lord Henry’s theories and obsess over the book Lord Henry provided him with. Through the years he has gained a horrible reputation. Dorian himself is aware of this and is cautious in the hiding of his portrait. The night before Dorian’s 38th birthday he and Basil reunite. Basil is heading off in a 6-month trip and wishes to inform Dorian of the obscenities he has heard from all around the community about Dorian. Dorian remains silent most of this conversation perhaps in

Dorian believes that “to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. (Wilde 20). Dorian lets the portrait influence how he views himself. As a result, the portrait takes a part of his identity. Dorian feels a lot of things would not “have happened if he had not met” Lord Henry (Wilde 52). Lord Henry influenced Dorian to find pleasures and new sensations, which brought him to Sybil. Dorian would not have the desires to find pleasure if it were not for Lord Henry. These two have a master-puppet relationship. Lord Henry controls the strings and Dorian feels like there is nothing he can hide. The portrait “itself - that was evidence” of Basil’s murder. Dorian wants to destroy it” (Wilde 228).  Dorian was under the influence of the portraits image of how ugly he was supposed to look. Dorian was furious at the portrait for messing up his life. Dorian kills the art, and in doing so kills himself. One could not destroy the portrait without destroying Dorian.

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

Towards the end of chapter 2, Dorian grows resentful towards the portrait Basil has painted, “why did you paint it!”, but this resent soon turns to total adoration, “I am in love with it!” The change in his nature occurs only after he realizes the importance of his own beauty. However this sudden love of his own face comes after he pledges his soul for eternal youth. Although Dorian never contracts with

Basil idolized Dorian for his captivating features and innocence and as a result painted a portrait of Dorian. However, after noticing the depth of his beauty, Dorian became exceedingly vain and wishes himself everlasting beauty and agelessness, while cursing the painting into carrying his burdens of old age and sins. Most extensively, the author's characterization of Lord Henry Wotton, who fills Dorian's head with his poisonous theories, are evident through teaching Dorian the importance of his beauty which causes Dorian to become narcissistic. Henry is the main cause of Dorian's corruption, by provoking him into cherishing his youth and convincing him to live the hedonistic lifestyle. Each of these instances of characterization in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, reveals the harmful effect influence can have and that sacrificing one's self for another individual can lead to