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Proposal for A Narcissistic study of The Picture of Dorian Grey

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Proposal for A Narcissistic study of The Picture of Dorian Grey
A Narcissistic study of The Picture of Dorian Grey
General Overview
Oscar Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Grey’s novel is about a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and believes his beauty should not be wasted and it is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enslaved by Lord Henry's world view. He shows him a new hedonism, and suggests the only things worth following in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. When he realizes that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian feels a desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait that Basil has painted would age instead of him. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, and when he subsequently follows a life of immorality and sin, the portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, and each sin appears as a disfigurement in his form, or a sign of ageing on the portrait.

Statement of the problem
1. Is Dorian Grey a narcissistic person? why?
2. What is Dorian’s reaction toward other characters as a narcissistic person?
3. Is art able to reinforce Dorian Grey’s narcissism?
4. Can narcissism plus hedonism lead to destroy Dorian’s life?
5. Can sexual narcissism leads Dorian Grey to become homosexual?

Significance of the problem
Oscar Wilde has shown the feature of self-love, narcissism greatly in The picture of Dorian Grey. The whole novel is built around Dorian Gray's physical beauty, and his excess of it. There are many references and hints of narcissism, often comparing Dorian to Narcissus himself, or Dorian's selfish behavior which at times are classical for the psychological condition of extreme narcissism “Appreciate it? I am in love with it, Basil. It is part of myself. I feel that.”(wilde30). In this novel Oscar Wilde consciously portrays narcissism different aspects.

Delimitation
This research is mostly about Dorian Grey’s

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