The Most Important Characters of the Picture of Dorian Gray - Book Report/Review Example

“Oscar Wilde's perfectly charming and witty manner of expression will enchant you in more ways than one. He is a master storyteller and drifts through the story like a gentle summer breeze through odor-filled roses, giving you the feeling that you can literally smell the flower he is describing.” (Oscar Wilde).

He wrote myriad plays, some of which were never published but his plays are still being performed day in and day out, one play that is incredibly popular is the “Importance of being earnest.” This paper will expansive throw light upon a very popular novel written by Oscar Wilde by the name “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, a comprehensive description of Wild’s personality will also be presented in this paper.

The paper will comprehensively prove that the character of Basil Hallward reflects the actual character of Oscar Wilde in the novel and the same will be done by quoting a series of anecdotes. The other two characters namely, the character of Dorian and Henry will also be discussed and compared to the actual character of the author and a logical conclusion will be arrived at.

 Knocking some skin with the characters of the novel

“The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.” (The Preface)    

Dorian Gray is arguably one of the most important characters of the novel; his looks attract Basil Hallward who is an artist. Basil is thoroughly convinced in the novel that his art has taken a new shape altogether and the man who is responsible for all this is none other than Dorian. As an artist, Basil craves to do something different and it is very fair to say that he gets infatuated by the beauty of Dorian. The introduction of Lord Henry is probably the most intriguing aspect of the novel, his brainstorming ideas, and out-of-the-box thinking forces Dorian to extol his brilliant ideology. Lord Henry intrigues the readers with his vivid persona; he proclaims that beauty and fulfillment of senses are the only things which people should bother about, the same greatly affect Dorian and he realizes that his beauty is going to fade away someday. As an inevitable result of the same, Dorian admonishes Basil to make a portrait of his, and in return, he pledges his soul to the artist so as to ensure that his beauty remains intact. This goes to show the inability of Dorian to accept the fact that change is the only thing that is permanent in this world. “The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sindisplayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging. “ (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Reflection of Wilde’s Personality in the Novel

          Wilde openly accepted that the characters of the novel bear resemblance to his traits and they inevitably portray the same traits in the novel. He also accepted that he wanted to be like Dorian Gray, he wanted to have a pleasing personality like his and it is also believed that he wanted to indulge in all pleasures as Dorian does in the novel like any other human being. The character of Basil Hallward is considered to be the real reflection of Oscar Wilde, he believed that Basil reflected his persona and he closely relates with him in the novel. Lord Henry is also a very integral character of the novel and Wild thought that he is looked upon by the people as Henry was looked upon by the other characters in the novel but in reality, he is anything but as the character of Henry, the world thinks that he resembles the character of Henry. Henry is also the flag bearer of the Victorian culture in the novel, he introduces the readers to abstruse concepts like “Hedonism” and he succeeds in luring the other important characters to believe what he says, this closely relates to the persona of Wild as he was renowned for luring the readers feel the way he felt about certain concepts and characters.

 Conclusion

 The character of Basil has a strong relationship with the real character of Wilde; even Oscar Wilde was a great artist who mesmerized people with his strong and eloquent writing techniques. Basil is also responsible for making Dorain realize his artistic potential and the same can be said about Oscar Wilde too because he must have done the same to myriad people. The character of Dorian is the only character that fails to demonstrate any significant similarity with the actual character of Oscar Wilde and this is because every human being craves for something that he is not and the same is extremely well personified in the novel. Oscar Wilde wants to be like the character of Dorian but in reality, he is exactly the opposite of him, he probably wants to be like him to indulge in pleasure and lead a voluptuous life. To conclude it is very fair to say that the character of Basil is the real reflection of Oscar Wild and this is because the character of Basil is creative just like Oscar Wilde when he reached the zenith in the Victorian Era.