The Picture of Dorian Gray - Essay Example

?The picture of Dorian gray is easily one of the best ics ever written with considerable didactic and social significance that have transcended since its initial publication in 1890. It embodies an aesthetic spirit dominant in the 19th century and the writer acknowledges this in the foreword. He then goes ahead to demonstrate this in the plot, where beauty and/or art are cherished purely based on their structural magnificent, with little regard to their moral implications. Thus, the book discusses the ultimately disastrous results of substituting ethics for aesthetics in the lives of Dorian and the other individuals in his society (Manganiello, 1983). The plot revolves around Dorian the anti-hero main character and his two close friends as well as their immediate society. Dorian, who is incredibly handsome, is the muse and obsession of Basil the painter, and women inevitably fall at his feet and he uses and discards them at leisure. One of the prominent themes in the story is beauty, while this is often considered a wonderful thing to have, in Dorian gray it is the main source of vanity, which leads to extreme narcissism, causing incalculable emotional damage to the people he touched and finally culminates into fatalities both direct and indirect including Dorian’s own death. Before one attempts to introspect into the beauty aspect of the book, it is important to take cognizance of the unusual combination supplied by Wilde; which is that beauty in a man being meets attention and obsession appreciation from another man in a book that is not conventionally classified as gay literature. Interestingly, the fact that the primary focus of this book is beauty in a man is likely to assault homophobic and some heterosexual sensibilities . When it was first released, it came under criticism in England as an immoral text although the church surprisingly praised it as a work of elevated moral import(Nils, 2003).This is possibly because in retrospect, possibly credit to the Greek and roman classics, appreciating beauty in a man was seen as normal and not necessarily a suggestion of homosexuality. This notwithstanding, the writer’s background problems with the issue speaks volumes of the homophobic nature of his particular times since his actions and works created the impression that he may be a homosexual and he was at some point incarcerated for the same. In as much as these undertones persist in this book, one cannot fail to notice the dexterity with, which the author divorces his subject’s beauty from overt sexuality focusing on aspects that relate it to artistry, morality and friendship. Dorian gray, the books antagonist, is described as “...a young man of Extraordinary personal beauty” (Wilde, 2007, p.3). It is these attributes, that Basil, and indeed everyone else finds so enchanting. His first appearance, he was a young innocent youth of about 20 untouched by evil, however his growth in the book sees him become evil with time until he cannot stand himself (Nassaar, 1995). Arguably, his beauty is initially a good thing especially before he became aware of it, since it was an endearing quality. Like many attractive people who are not fully aware of it, he made for good company. However, when he met basil and the latter did a painting of him, he became so taken by it and realized that he was indeed a sight to behold, this led to a lot of attention and affection from Basil who unlike had not just fallen for the picture but also the subject himself. Lord Henry protests to hold beauty above all other things including intellectual genius, in his characteristic mercurial way however describes the mortality of beauty and youth to Dorian in daunting terms and tones “Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses, you will become sallow, and hollow cheeked, and dull-eyed. You will suffer horribly” (Wilde, 2007, p.36). This caused Dorian to make an oath that he would trade his soul if but he could remain as the portrait. This rash oath taken in capriciously and carelessly effectively signposts his losing his soul since his actions thereafter and the fact that he did not age another minute until his death were those of one who had traded their soul for beauty, a bargain that never ends well and his case was no exception. It is notable that prior to meeting Henry and the painting, Dorian had been inclined towards Basils pure idealism (Heather, 1998), however, after the encounter, he leaner more toward Henries hedonistic reasoning. Dorian’s awareness of his beauty is what spawned his diabolical side that the picture basil gave to him so eloquently reflected. Basil had declined to sell the works as it “has too much of me in it” (Wilde, 2007, p. 3) the same was evidently true for Gray. According to John Paul in Dorian, Wilde aestheticizes the Gothic and gothicizes the aesthetic, in his portrayal of the latter as a self-destructive individual unlike Narcissus, whose appreciation of his own beauty lead to his developing characteristic akin to madness (Paul, 2000). His hedonistic actions are greatly influence by Henry who believes in pursing pleasure at the expense of moral conformity. The book is actually considered and cited as literally archetype of the hedonistic illustration because of the actions of Henri and Dorian. He is depicted as an epitome of moral degradation and engaging in debauchery and immoralities that shocked all those who interacted with him. Basils attempt to reason with him that led to his death at the hand of the monster he created, and then Dorian after killing his friend blackmails a doctor into disposing of the remains and effectively delineates himself from the crime. Dorian used his beauty proves to be not just harmful but outright evil not just to himself but also to other people with whom he interacts. He used it to charm and seduce Sybil Vane who fell head over heels with him but ended up with a broken heart leading to her suicide. The nefarious nature of Dorian’s vanity is portrayed by juxtaposing in his emotional reactions; that he is easily convinced to see Ms Vane’s death as an artistic event, however, noticing the change in his picture sends him to panic and he promptly hides it (Sheldon, 1999). This caused the girl’s brother to abandon his life in a quest to avenge his sister’s wrongful death following Dorian into drug parlors and other unwholesome places where the culprit would spend time. Lord Henry while taken in by Dorian was not as obsessed by him as Basil was and it can be claimed that he stole Dorian’s attention from Basil who introduced them. In fact, unlike Basil whose actions were influenced by Dorian, indeed when they first met, Basil describes the feeling as akin to surrender his will to Dorian; so intense that his face paled at the sight(Deborah, 1995). Henry on the other hand, influenced Dorian who played a pivotal role in the creation of the monster that was Dorian since in showing him how beautiful he was. It is however evident that lord Henry does not much care about others or even their opinion of him and he remains oblivious of Dorians changes despite their being glaring to Basil and several others. Considering his point of view on women, one sees a hedonistic and to some extent emotionally selfish man who sometimes speaks just for wits sake. He has been contrasted with Basil as a matter of aesthetics versus ethics; surprisingly the ethical man suffers most in the story while the other seems to enjoy life oblivious of the problems he had caused (Joseph, 2005). Guidance from him might have been further detrimental to Dorian who became the quiescence of hedonism and outdid Henry’s flamboyant words by his outrageous actions. Therefore, should one consider the effect of beauty on Basil, it would be fair to say that it effectively destroyed his artistic career in a case of too much of a good thing. As aforementioned, he could not sell even to his friend Henry what was according to Henry his best work because he felt he had invested too much of himself in it. Besides, his obsession with his new found muse lead to his loosing enthusiasm in painting. Dorians’ narcissism is evident even in his attempts to change from his evil ways where his chief motivation is not that his soul shall be uncorrupt, but it may not be “seen” in his person. This is because on the painting he would study and mock it at times, “He grew more and more enamored of his own Beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul” (Wilde, 2007, p.160). Dorian’s beauty also helps one understand why society especially his peers still approved of him despite his reputation in the polite circle of London. His premium was that he looked young and beautiful and whenever anyone met him face to face, he/ she could not fail to love him This story closely parallels doctor Frankstein, in that Basil created a monster, unlike the doctor however, the monster was the epitome of beauty and artistic excellence. The picture basil drew of Dorian seemed to take in all the effects of his debauchery and he never seemed to grow old or waste away with time. Despite his diabolical ways, he never looked any less angelic, however, his portrait, hidden up in the attic was caring those burdens, looking so evil that it horrified even the subject himself. Ultimately, Dorian’s grays beauty left so much destruction and pain in its wake that it would have been easier for everyone if he had been born plain or ugly. The shocking end of the story in which Gray dies a horrible death seemingly deserving of it because of his many sins commit the author to a moral standing against moral debasement. However some of the premises of this work are suspected to have been inspired by his life experiences since he had a relationship that paralleled Dorian’s and Henrys’ with a young lord Alfred . References Deborah, M. (1995). "Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray." The Explicator 54.1: 17-. ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Research Library. Nils, C. (2003). ""Culture and Corruption": Paterian Self-Development versus Gothic Degeneration in Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray." Papers on Language and Literature 39.4: 339-64. ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Research Library. Sheldon, L.W. (1999). "Character Design in the Picture of Dorian Gray." Studies in the Novel 31.3: 296-316. ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Research Library. Joseph, C. (2005). "Aestheticism, Homoeroticism, and Christian Guilt in the Picture of Dorian Gray." Philosophy and Literature 29.2: 286-304. ProQuest Religion; ProQuest Religion; ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Research Library. Nassaar, C. S. (1995). "Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray and Lady Windermere's Fan." The Explicator 54.1: 20-. ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Research Library. Heather, S. (1998). "Hard Science, Soft Psychology, and Amorphous Art in the Picture of Dorian Gray." Studies in English Literature, 1500 - 1900 38.4: 741-59. ProQuest Research. Paul, R.J. (2000). "Oscar Wilde's Aesthetic Gothic: Walter Pater, Dark Enlightenment, and the Picture of Dorian Gray." Modern Fiction Studies 46.3: 609-0_2. ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Research Library. Manganiello, D. (1983). Ethics and Aesthetics in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 25-33 Read More