The picture of Dorian Gray-Oscar Wilde
The picture of Dorian Gray was released in 1891 in London, and at that time it was the Victorian era. At that time, it was the aesthetic movement in the UK, and that movement heavily influenced this book. Oscar Wilde uses Dorian Gray’s life to warn against aestheticism’s hostility toward morality when uncontrolled.
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. He was one of the most famous playwrights in London Playwrights during the 1890s in London. Oscar Wilde’s writing is often described as humorous, emotive, sardonic, and authentic to his artistic sensibility. He frequently employs sarcasm, imagery, and symbolism in his writing. He has written nine plays and one novel during his life.
The three important characters in the story
Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray is an incredibly handsome young man, he is considered the standard for male beauty. He is first described as a kind, simple, and good looking man in the first parts of the story. However, in later parts of the story, we would see how the influence of Lord Henry changed Dorian’s life.
Lord Henry Wotton
Lord Henry Wotton is a wealthy nobleman that is against the morals of Victorian society. He has some hedonistic ideas that he preaches to Dorian. However, he doesn’t practice his hedonistic ideas of living life of only siking delight and pleasure. Despite his immoral views in life, he lives a dull, uninteresting, normal life.
Basil Halward
Basil Halward is a good artist who painted Dorian’s portrait. His nearly overwhelming love and admiration for Dorian motivates him to create a masterpiece, but the fear of displaying his painting to the public and running the risk of exposing his feelings towards Dorian shows his inadequacies.
Genre
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a gothic horror novel that combines drama, romance, mystery, thriller. However, it is not really purely a gothic novel because there are some hints of humor, irony, romance, drama, etc. Nonetheless it is still mostly a gothic story because it contains supernatural powers, murder, suicide, blackmail, etc.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the story is Dorian experiencing self consciousness, because he is so overly obsessed with the way he looks that he ultimately sold his soul for eternal youth, and he fails to recognize the real problem. Ultimately, the painting helped emphasize the idea that looks aren’t everything. Even if you are the best looking person in the world, you might still have the ugliest of hearts. It’s something that Dorian seems to notice as the novel goes on. Dorian didn’t necessarily come to terms with the problem and failed, so he just gave up trying to reverse the bad things he did. He killed Basil Hallward and destroyed the painting as well. He did these because he thought that everything he did could be undone and forgotten by killing the person who created the portrait. However, that seems not to be the case because the painting is a reflection of Dorian’s soul. When he tried to destroy the painting, Dorian suddenly died with a knife through his heart.
Action
The novel’s action takes place in nineteenth-century London, at Dorian’s home as well as a variety of other locations, like hazardous and filthy streets, the opium dens, or the run down theater where Dorian first meets Sibyl. The book’s point of time is split across three distinct periods: Dorian’s youth, the great impact of the yellow book on his life, then 18 years later.
The novel is filled with symbolic objects, characters, and figures that represent the author’s ideas. One of them is the opium dens, which were seen as sinful havens in Victorian society. Wilde uses the opium dens to reflect the corrupt state of Dorian’s mind and soul. Another symbolic item is the yellow book that Lord Henry gives to Dorian. Wilde utilized the yellow book to symbolize how people’s souls may be poisoned by giving art too much importance. This book appears to be Dorian’s downfall, warning readers about the corrupting power of art when it is interpreted incorrectly. The portrait itself serves as the novel’s most potent symbol. It’s another symbol that represents the owner’s soul and the extent to which a life filled with transgressions and corruption may ruin it.
Conclusion
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde’s purpose was to show the idea of aestheticism’s hostility toward morality when uncontrolled, by using Dorian’s life as an example.
About the Author
Daniel (DJ), 14 years old, is a sports lover and an athlete. He plays basketball and has been part of various leagues and winning teams. When he doesn’t have basketball games, he loves to play online games like most teens do. DJ is a lover of science and history and would read books in one sitting on these subjects. From time to time, he also raises thought provoking questions that would start engaging, meaningful, and sometimes deep conversations with his mom.
He also likes to tease his younger siblings, play with their pet dog George and has a strong appetite for eating 😊