About The picture of dorian grey
The man; in each one there, is an internalduality because each has a "real" and "unreal" aspect to it. At one point,Wilde has Lord Henry express the view that it is only shallow people who do notjudge by appearances alone. This is in keeping with Wilde's saying in thepreface that "They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean onlybeauty."By implication, Wilde is making a larger statement about Dorian's activitiesas the portrait "ages" and he seemingly does not. Though the details ofDorian's "corrupt" behavior are never revealed to us, it's more than likelythat—given Wilde's own biography—Dorian has adopted a gay lifestyle. "Why isyour friendship so fatal to young men?" Basil Hallward asks him. Thoughoutwardly Wilde accepts the norms of his time in regarding gay relationships asimmoral, his suggestion, though veiled, is that Dorian is simply fulfilling hisdestiny. It is at least partly society's hypocritical judgment of him thatleads him to the actual crime of murder, which in turn destroys Dorian himselfin the end.The final scene is a riddle in which the meaning of the basic dualitybetween picture and man is reversed: Dorian stabs the portrait, but theservants find a withered old man's body with a knife in his chest, while thepicture appears in its original form as a magnificent portrait of a young manin evening clothes. Which, then, was "real": the picture or the man?
Key features of the The picture of dorian grey that are enabled through these drivers include:
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, Dorian: An Imitation
- The Picture Symbol in The Picture of Dorian Gray
- The Picture of Dorian Gray - Wikipedia
- The Picture of Dorian GrayStudy GuideCliffsNotes
- The Picture of Dorian Gray - Freeditorial
- The Picture of Dorian Gray - SparkNotes
- The Picture of Dorian Gray - Encyclopedia.com
Before Oscar Wilde even begins his narrative, he gives us a prefaceconsisting of a series of aphorisms that express contradictions or paradoxesabout art:The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode ofautobiography.All art is at once surface and symbol.The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing hisown face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rageof Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.Wilde's purpose is to set up dichotomies, or dualities, that purportedlyexpress or support the themes of the story to come. Much of the preface sounds like the typically iconoclastic and mischievous wit Wilde was known for throughout his career, and only some of these aphorisms can be seen to relate to Dorian Gray's story. The principal duality in the narrative itself is the well-worn theme of... Unlock This Answer Now Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime. Get 48 Hours Free Access Already a member? Log in here. illusion vs. reality, and the difference, if any, between them. On a more obvious level Wilde focuses on "beauty" and "ugliness," "youth" and "age." "How sad it is!" says Dorian. "I shall grow old and horrible and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young." This statement consummates the opposition at the heart of the story, which drives the whole plot. The portrait grows older, uglier, and more corrupt, while the real Dorian remains youthful and beautiful. They are opposites. But is the man, and not the picture, the "real" Dorian?In some sense the answer is no. The man's appearance does not change, but weare told that his behavior has become increasingly corrupt. So the questionbecomes: is the picture "real" because it shows his actual age and the state ofhis "soul," or is the physical man "real" in spite of the fact of his age andcorruption being concealed by his outward appearance? There is not simply aduality between the portrait and
