Themes, Motifs and Symbols in Oscar Wilde’s the Picture of Dorian Gray

“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.

Throughout the book, it is easily seen that Basil has an interest for Dorian. There are some homosexual characteristics in Basil but he is restricted by the Victorian society to ever act upon it. In this way, Oscar Wilde is represented in the character Basil Hallward.

Wilde’s lifestyle may have caused him to be snubbed in certain social situations.   It maybe that he drew on his own experiences to create the atmosphere of scandal in the last chapters, even though, other than murder, the protagonist’s “sins” are never named and only briefly alluded to.

In this novel, beauty and youth reign over everything. In Victorian period, The Picture of Dorian Gray was characterized as scandalous and immoral. Typical idealistic image of behavior and modesty inherent to old time Victorian England was discredited in the novel. The Picture of Dorian Gray contained radical ideals for the period of time it was written. Dorian represents all what was disgraceful and forbidden condemned in Victorian

Motif: In Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses motifs in the novel to hint to readers what he finds important to look for. One of the many repetitive motifs used in the novel is the color white and the various forms that white takes. The color white is also synonymous to “faint,” “pale,” “subtle,” “dim,” “shallow,” “blank,” “flaccid,” “faded” and “dusty” in the novel. The color white in many novels represents innocence and purity in one’s early life. For example, Basil remembers his first time when he meets Mr. Gray and recalls his face “growing pale” (8). This signifies the translucency of Dorian Gray’s innocence almost as if he has an influence on everyone he meets and vice versa. We see that here when Lord Henry reveals Dorian Gray’s soul as he “turned to his white girl and bowed in worship before her” (59). Here we see that not only does Dorian Gray have an affect on other characters, but other characters like Sibyl Vane have an affect on him in which her innocence of youth showed Dorian the innocence of true love. However, as the various shades of white are brought up in the novel, we see the shades of white represent the transition of Dorian Gray as

The Picture of Dorian Grey as a novel in the Victorian Era was shocking to readers of the time due to the open nature of topics like: sexuality, greed and corruption. A Freudian perspective of the characters: Basil, Lord Henry and Dorian can be seen as the Id, Ego and Super Ego. Basil is the Super Ego, he conforms to a certain extent and tries to make Dorian lead a moral life when it comes to desperate times of the loss of the 'real Dorian'; Lord Henry can be seen as the Id, the immoral character who tries to convince Dorian to submit to his natural urges and passions; Dorian is the Ego, one who in the beginning is in between the two and has a power struggle within as to how he should act as a character in the novel. In answering this question and exploring the conflicts shown in the novel one must look at the gender, identity and sexuality.

The reader comes to know Dorian as a delightful young man with a “simple and beautiful nature” (Wilde 16). He is described as looking like “one who had kept himself unspotted from the world” (Wilde 131), indicating the innocence of his spirit. Additionally, it is made clear that Dorian’s character is one of benevolence as Lord Henry explains the charity work he and Harry’s aunt, Lady Agatha, had done in the slums of London (Wilde 15). Within a short time, it is apparent to the reader that Dorian Gray is a man of goodwill and virtue, seeming practically perfect in every sense. This purity, although forever-lasting on Dorian’s appearance, is soon lost in his soul upon meeting with and talking to Lord Henry. Within their first conversation Harry familiarizes Dorian with the philosophy of Hedonism, urging him to live life to the fullest and always be “searching for new sensations” (Wilde 25). The introduction of this ideology to the unstained mind of Dorian marks the onset of his downfall and gives light to his inner narcissist. For example, upon seeing the portrait Basil painted of him, he exclaims: “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young…If it were only the other way...For thatfor thatI would give everything!” (Wilde 28). Dorian is willing to trade his soul for eternal youth and beauty, putting his personal pleasures before his morality, and therefore revealing his arrogant and self-centered attributes. Along with his superficiality, Dorian’s hedonistic way of life leads him down a sinful path and ultimately to the murder of his friend Basil. For this reason, Dorian Gray represented the greater evil between the two characters because at this point it had been made clear that his innocent mind and

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

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.

In Oscar Wilde’s Popular nineteenth century novel, the Picture of Dorian Gray demonstrates the importance of the aesthetic movement in Victorian England. This suggests youth and physical attractiveness is emphasized and are valuable additions to society. Therefore, what matters to Dorian, is not the internal goodness an individual possesses but the appearance they present. Consequently, Dorian is able to forget the violent acts he commits as long as he appears beautiful on the outside. Since external beauty is valued, Wilde argues that people tend to lose their individualism and conform to society’s expectations. With this in mind, Dorian gray grows more corrupt, self-centered as he focuses more on the pleasure for himself as he becomes more vulnerable to his own misgivings. He loses his individualism, because he is conforming to society’s form of asethics. I agree with Wilde’s arguement about Dorian Gray, that individuals lose their sense of idenity when conforming to society’s influence, such as in today’s beauty standards portrayed on social media, racism described through facism, and LGBTQ rights violated by intolerant individuals. (too wordy)

19th century England was entrenched in the idea that art could be used as not only a method of expression, but also one of social advancement. With this idea at its forefront, art suddenly inundated places where art was never previously found, such as social education and morality. In contrast, Oscar Wilde was a key advocate of an idea known aestheticism, a concept that relied on art simply being art. Oscar Wilde played a major role in Victorian England, having a major influence through his writing. At its peak "the movement had a disdain for any traditional, natural, political, or moral ideals; rather, the importance of nonconformist form and subject matter were fore grounded" (Majer). Wilde suggested that art should hold no purpose in

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