Dorian Gray Allegory
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde has been an extremely controversial novel since it was first published in 1890. The writing had been labeled as “indecent” and “immoral” because some passages hinted at homosexuality which, in those days, was wrong. Not only that, but supposedly what he wrote derided the morality of Victorian Britain. Wilde defended himself and his artistic rights by writing a statement included in later publishings of the novel. In the preface, Wilde states the importance of beauty and art but then contradicts himself by saying “All art is quite useless.” However, it has been suggested that the story is actually an allegory critiquing the loose morality of aestheticism.
To put it briefly, an allegory is a story …show more content…
He had ruined the lives of a lot of people yet was so emotionless. He had become numb after years of living without his morality; without his soul (which he traded for youth and beauty). The portrait that Basil gifts him had become a representation of Dorian’s soul. When he did anything, it would be reflected by the picture. The more tainted his soul was, the more grotesque the picture would become. Dorian was disturbed by how his portrait had distorted but never did anything to change it back to normal. Then, after inadvertently killing James Vane, Dorian decides that he will do what he can to try and improve its appearance. He assumes that by breaking a relationship with a village girl will help. When Dorian checks his portrait, he sees that it had no effect. Angry at how naive he had acted (assuming that such a small “good deed” was enough to atone for past sins), Dorian attempts to destroy the portrait. He is later found as an unrecognizable, dead old man with a knife in his heart.
For this reason, I am certain that “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is an allegory suggesting that that kind of life is a reckless one. If this is not what Wilde had in mind when writing this book, what else could it
To put it briefly, an allegory is a story …show more content…
He had ruined the lives of a lot of people yet was so emotionless. He had become numb after years of living without his morality; without his soul (which he traded for youth and beauty). The portrait that Basil gifts him had become a representation of Dorian’s soul. When he did anything, it would be reflected by the picture. The more tainted his soul was, the more grotesque the picture would become. Dorian was disturbed by how his portrait had distorted but never did anything to change it back to normal. Then, after inadvertently killing James Vane, Dorian decides that he will do what he can to try and improve its appearance. He assumes that by breaking a relationship with a village girl will help. When Dorian checks his portrait, he sees that it had no effect. Angry at how naive he had acted (assuming that such a small “good deed” was enough to atone for past sins), Dorian attempts to destroy the portrait. He is later found as an unrecognizable, dead old man with a knife in his heart.
For this reason, I am certain that “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is an allegory suggesting that that kind of life is a reckless one. If this is not what Wilde had in mind when writing this book, what else could it