Preview

Dorian Gray Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
779 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dorian Gray Research Paper
English Essay
Oscar Wilde’s novel is an extended metaphor that reinforces his idea that ‘There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book’. In The Picture Of Dorian Gray his view is very contradictory. His theory is reinforced through the changes in Dorian’s personality, the ‘yellow book’ A Rebours (‘against nature’) which was one of the most important novels during the decadence period, which was given to Dorian Gray by Lord Henry. Consequently, leading us to the corruption of Dorian Gray and his inevitable death.
Dorian’s change in personality reinforces Oscar Wilde’s idea. This is because Dorian is living a double life, and in regards to the novel elements of his good and bad side is shown. This is shown with hints in the novel and shows the cautionary tale of the novel. As his friends, such as Lord Henry attempted to “spoil” his “beautiful nature” one of his closest friend Basil was cautious this was going to turn young Dorian from good to evil. Wilde does this to show how Dorian’s lifestyle can be corrupted morally and immorally, as things such as the painting make him accomplish the things he always wanted accepting pleasures moral or immorally. In spite of this, Lord Henry threatens Dorian’s fear of the
…show more content…
This is because as Oscar Wilde starts to show the reader Dorian’s corrupt soul more and more throughout the book as he commits crimes and makes the one he ‘loved’ commit suicide. By showing us Dorian’s corrupt soul more through the book it gives the reader a sense that there is a moral to it because no one can be once an almost ‘perfect’ human being to a criminal almost who neglects his close friends without a meaning behind it. Thus going against Oscar Wilde’s idea because his book was based on getting homo erotic views across so he must be presenting something that has meaning for example Dorian’s beauty and how it lead to his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This interpretation of the book connects Wilde’s personal life and Dorian’s life, in that Wilde was accused of committing acts of indecency with other men. The community around him believed this because of the type of books that he was writing, also the way critics interpreted his writing, labeling it to be immoral further influenced these negative thoughts toward Wilde . “The Daily Chronicle of London called the tale "unclean," "poisonous," and "heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction." (Ross 1). He was made out to be some kind of monster because of these accusations and interpretations of his writing, this knowledge of Wilde’s personal history prompts the reader to believe that he created Dorian to be a monster to portray what society was making him out to…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oscar Wilde, author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, was an Irish author who lived from October 16, 1854 until his death, at the age of 46, on November 30, 1900. He attended the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and the Magdalene College in Oxford, England. Mr. Wilde was an active member of the aestheticism literary movement, during his day, although he lived during the Victorian Era. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there are many passages or episodes that hold key meanings in the book as a whole, and without them; a large amount of the underlying tones and themes would be lost. In chapter two, there is a very significant key passage that has to do with the roles of Lord Henry and Dorian Gray and how they are going to affect each other. The key passage pushes Lord Henry under the role of the victimizer and Dorian Gray as the victim.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Picture of Dorian Gray, 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 mainly through the use of symbolism. Even though he looks as though 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. Oscar Wilde displays this through symbolism in three different ways; “The yellow book” that Lord Henry gives him, the use of “the color white” in the novel, and the influence that society itself has on Dorian.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    . As a potential ‘reincarnation’ of Narcissus, Dorian Gray embodies both tendencies in a poisonous, self-negating confluence signifying madness. He is potentially the greatest of all the satires in Wilde’s novel. He is arguably the most obsessed with outward appearances in the whole novel. Indeed as Wilde writes, ‘beauty, real beauty ends where an intellectual expression begins’. This stays true to his original declaration in the Preface that ‘all art is at once surface and symbol’. In this allegory about art, Wilde's book and its producer are themselves a part of this illusion.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Oscar Wilde’s only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, many influences are at play throughout the book. The relationships between the characters are all about the influence they have on each other’s life. However, out of them all, one of the characters stands out as a more detached figure who has mastered the art of influencing without being influenced by others himself: Lord Henry Wotton. To study the different forms of influences in the book, we shall first focus on the link between art and influence before turning to the study of the influence of Lord Henry and Basil on Dorian, to finally discuss the effect of all the influences on Dorian and debate over whether Dorian can be considered as an evil character at the end of the book.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Aestheticism and Dorian Gray

    • 2472 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Oscar Wilde lived in 1800s Victorian England, during the Aesthetic Movement. He had been known for his involvement in the movement, however more infamously for his crime against homosexuality. In 1895, Oscar Wilde had been imprisoned for homosexual offenses, and used against him in court was his own novel, A Picture Of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde’s novel has been argued to function as a queer text, a term coined during the 1990s that “…challenges either/or, essentialists notions of homosexuality and heterosexuality within the mainstream discourse…and instead posits an understanding of sexuality that emphasizes shifting boundaries, ambivalences, and cultural constructions that change depending on historical and cultural context” (Goldberg). Although the novel is a fictional text, it had been used against Wilde for proof of his homosexuality. It can be argued the novel functions as a queer text, however it also delves into aestheticism. Oscar Wilde’s novel delves into both topics of aestheticism and queer theory through a fictional story line.…

    • 2472 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dorian Gray’s characterization illustrates the theme throughout the story. At the beginning he is a charming, innocent young man who does not care so much about his looks. He then meets Lord Henry Wotton who severely influences his views and outlook on life. Lord Henry explains to Dorian that his looks are everything. Once he loses them, he will be and have nothing. Lord Henry tells him to live life to its fullest now and do things that pleasure him because once he has lost his looks, he will no longer have the opportunity. As Dorian examines the finished portrait of himself he realizes that Lord Henry is right about his looks and becomes resentful of the painting, angry that it will continue to look youthful while he slowly deteriorates. He pledges to sell his soul in order to stay beautiful while the painting takes on his altering features. Dorian then begins to…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the year of 1980, Oscar Wilde published his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, before he reached his height of fame. The first edition of his book appeared in the summer edition of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. Although, many criticized the novel as being scandalous and immoral. Wilde, being disappointed with its outcome, revised the novel in 1891, adding a preface and six new chapters. One of the main themes throughout this book would be the purpose of art, Wilde believed art did not serve any other purpose than being beautiful. He adopted this attitude from old Victorian England, where the most popular belief stated that art was not only a figure of morality but also had the means of enforcing it. In addition, two other contributing…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dorian Grey

    • 834 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout The Picture of Dorian Gray Dorian Gray is manipulated by the mere words of Lord Henry. Lord Henry's thoughts on Dorian's life eventually consume him, and by allowing Henry's views consume Dorian felt as though he was unstoppable. You see this through his rather rash decisions towards the end of the novel. In the end it is simply words that seduce Dorian into his fatal bargain, tempt him to explore all sensual experiences and delude him into his attempt to evade the consequences of his hedonistic indulgence.…

    • 834 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dorian Gray Immoral Essay

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose? Every moment that passes takes something from me and gives something to it. Oh, if it were only the other way! If the picture could change, and I could be always what I am now! Why did you paint it? It will mock me some day -- mock me horribly!" (Wilde 28).Dorian was obsessed with his youth and beauty and he did not want to lose that. Dorian regrets that Basil painted the portrait, because someday he will no longer have the beauty that he was illustrated with in the picture. “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, and conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” (NIV 1 Timothy 3:1-5).Dorian became very conceited with himself and wanted to be seen with beauty by…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the nineteenth century setting of London a recurring theme of hedonism and thorough admiration for beauty and individualism reflect Dorian’s inner motives as well as his long sought self purpose. In this sense the most significant moral of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is that the supreme task of the individual is to realize fully, and from within, one’s own identity. Dorian exemplifies the drama of his troubles on the rough journey to find his identity from influences of a conceited hedonistic friend, and in the sacrifices of morals seeking irrevocable pleasures through irrevocable sins.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While a horror story focuses primary on scaring and unsettling the readers, The Picture of Dorian Gray is more like Oscar Wilde's insight of morality, or rather, immorality and its effect on human conscience. For Dorian, aging and immorality had absolutely no claim on his innocent and beautiful appearance; instead, they were vividly reflected through his portrait. Knowing that, Dorian at first showed no remorse or guiltiness of conscience as he sank lower in morality, this lack of guilt being apparent when he decided to attribute young actress Sybil's death - caused by his cruel words - to a personified tragedy of her own. For eighteen years Dorian lived his life in this depraved fashion, until the reappearance of James (Sybil's brother). Afraid that James would seek revenge for his sister's death, Dorian became wrecked with fear and guilt and decided to amend for his notorious life, only to find a new mark of hypocrisy in his portrait. During the course of novel, Dorian's cruel and unprincipled actions brought ruin upon him and many others. The contrast between his youthful appearance and the loathsome reality (the disfigured portrait) indicated how deep Dorian had sunk from human morality. His eventual self-destruction proved to be the only solution to his sins.…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel ‘A picture of Dorian Grey’ , Wilde explores the ways in which Dorian is influenced by other characters to change his expressions and speech tones and the general way he acts in the opening chapters of the book.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the story begins in 1890 in London, England. A painter by the name of Basil Hallward is discussing his most recent painting of the most beautiful young man, Dorian Gray who is perfectly perfect, with a good friend, Lord Henry Wotton. Finally having the opportunity to meet Dorian for himself, Wotton begins to change Dorian’s innocent view on life and completely good being. One day, Dorian Gray meets a beautiful woman by the name of Sybil Vane, who is remarkably talented at acting. They fall in love with each other and get married. After Sybil’s death, Dorian reads a strange yellow book, a French novel, and from this moment on he is a complete different man. The portrait that hangs from his wall is the only thing captivating his transformation. As Dorian does wrong to the world, the painting begins to grasp his attention, and he realizes that it is frequently becoming more hideous. Dorian hates the man he has become, but continues to blame others for his wrong doings. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray he suggests that perfection is an unattainable ideal.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The conversation between Dorian and Lord Henry at the beginning of the book portrays not only Lord Henry’s shrewdness but also a change in Dorian’s character. Lord Henry claims, “I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of medievalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal” (19). Lord Henry’s version of this ideal of beauty of form is Wilde’s variation, emphasizing Aestheticism and hedonism. Wilde refers to the Hellenic Age, a time in Greek history when art, democracy, and philosophy emerged, changing the traditional school of thought, that brought about many changes in society. The Victorian Era was seen by many as a time to “rid of a temptation” if it was not accepted by society. Lord Henry uses his wit to persuade Dorian to adopt a hedonistic lifestyle and fulfill all his pleasures. This speech given by Lord Henry forms the basis of the plot for the novel where Dorian Gray begins to live his life with hedonistic…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays