The Picture of Dorian Gray Analysis

Lauren Cairo
Ms. Lampa
AP Language and Composition
November 23, 2014 Beauty at a Price

Samuel Johnson, an English writer of the 17th century, once said, “Self-love is often rather arrogant than blind; it does not hide our faults from ourselves, but persuades us that they escape the notice of others”. Johnson implies that people who strive to achieve perfection realize they aren’t perfect, but they believe that others think they are which causes them to act as if they are flawless, when in reality other people are very conscious of their flaws. In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a modest teenager eventually transforms into a narcissistic, destructive man who gives up all cares in the world except for himself because he believes that no one can sees his imperfections, causing him to act as if he is better than he truly is. By showing us the transformation of this seemingly flawless individual through other characters eyes and Dorians himself, Wilde tells us that when aestheticism is a priority, morality cannot exist. Wilde’s original portrayal of Dorian as a wholesome, flawless young person gives the reader a sense of his innocence, even in the eyes of evil. In the beginning of the novel, Wilde introduces us to three characters: the artist, Basil Hallward, his friend Lord Henry (also known as Harry) and his subject for his painting, Dorian Gray. When he is introduced, Dorian is portrayed as a young, informed man who enjoys good company and is still figuring himself and the world out. He is brought in when Basil is painting his portrait, and he continues on to say how perfect of a subject Dorian is. Basil fawns over him as a subject and continuously compliments him on how wonderful his work of art is all due to Dorian’s posing. Meanwhile, Dorian is unfazed by his adoration; “Basil Hallward’s compliments had seemed to him to be merely the charming exaggeration of friendship. He had listened to them, laughed at them, forgotten them. They had not influenced his nature,”(Wilde 25). Wilde introduces Basil’s compliment as a good thing; as something that Dorian would not expect or would take lightly because they are friends. The words like “charming” and “merely” give us a sense that these compliments didn’t weigh heavy for Dorian, and that he didn’t really take them to heart because he believed there was no true intention behind them. Later, Dorian is sitting posing for the portrait and Basil tells him to stay where he is, and Dorians reaction is, “‘Oh, I am tired of sitting, and I don’t want a life-sized portrait of myself,’ answered the lad, swinging round on the music-stool in a willful, petulant manner,” (Wilde 16). The words “swinging” and “willful” give us a lighthearted feeling, similar to the one in the previous quote. These scenes being set up so light and easy gives the reader a feel for how laid back and innocent Dorian is. By setting him up to be this way in the beginning of the novel, the reader feels as if his character will remain this way; that he cares about his morals and innocence and his relationships with others, and doesn’t take anything too seriously. He seems to have a good balance in his life of people who are important to him, and what he knows he needs for himself. This is a good beginning for the character, because the tone of his development only changes from here. Although Dorian is immediately seen as a beautiful, innocent and pure young man, the influence of Harry eventually forces him to be a seemingly different person, which Wilde portrays with a dramatic tone As soon as he has been under Harry’s influence for long enough, we start to see a change in description of him, his behavior, and his perception of the world. When Harry is in the garden with Dorian, he tells him to “cure his soul by means of the senses”. What Harry means is that you should live your life based on what feels good for you, not what is good for others. He continues this seduction of Dorian when he says, "You are a wonderful creation. You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know," (Wilde 23). Here, Harry is continuing his brainwash of Dorian. He begins the scene by telling him that he will only be truly happy and fulfilled if he lives his life according to what feels good for him, not by what is truly good for others. He then continues to put Dorian under this positive spotlight, and says, in his own words, how he is aware of his flaws, but doesn’t believe that others can see them by calling him ‘beautiful’. When he does this, Harry portrays this idea of being self centered as beneficial, and he opens the door for Dorian to begin to be ashamed of his flaws even though there are so little. We see this shift in Dorians attitude due to Harry’s ideals being instilled in him when Dorian looks at the painting, and cannot handle its beauty as he begins to rant, "How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June. . . . If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!" (Wilde 29). The new vocabulary that we see Dorian using here, such as ‘old’ and ‘horrible’ and ‘dreadful’ in reference to himself tells us a lot about his change in character. He begins by being ashamed of aging, and being jealous of an inanimate object which Wilde demonstrates through Dorian’s vapidness, which begins to take over his sense of reality. Wilde then adds emphasis to his breakdown when he uses dashes to have Dorian repeat the same phrase “for that” twice, adding to the idea that Dorian really cannot contemplate the fact that he will age and showing his dramatic desire to remain young and beautiful above all else. Wilde also has every sentence end with an exclamation point, then finishes by the sentences getting shorter and using the word ‘give’ repeatedly. The exclamation point is added for emphasis so that the readers are aware how drastic Dorian’s behavior is changing, while the sentence structure and word repetition give the reader a sense of urgency in Dorian’s desires. These together portray a different side of Dorian that the reader has not yet seen. Wilde does this in order to set up the readers for Dorians drastic change in character as a result of the things he has been taught. By showing us this new side of Dorian, we see how his perspective of himself has really changed in contrast with them of those around him. As a result of Dorian’s mindset being altered by Harry, Wilde continues Dorians metamorphosis into a vapid, self indulgent person by the end of the novel. Near the close, Harry comes over to Dorian’s house to try and convince him to go to a party with him. Dorian is acting defeated because he is starting to become afraid of the results of his narcissism. He tries to beg Harry never to treat someone the way he has been treated by him, and Harry responds, “My dear boy, you are really beginning to moralize. You will soon be going about like the converted, and the revival- ist, warning people against all the sins of which you have grown tired. You are much too delightful to do that”(Wilde 192). Harry talks down to Dorian much like a child when he calls him, ‘dear boy’. Wilde does this to show how Dorian is still under submission of Harry, even when he is completely full of himself. Wilde then has Harry compare Dorian to ‘the revival-ist’ and ‘the converted’. These are references to religious activities, as if Dorian is going to go out and try to convince people to not be narcissistic the way that the ‘converted’ go out and preach their religion. He then concludes Harry’s statement with him complimenting Dorian, just as he has the entire novel. He tells Dorian that he is too delightful to help others, suggesting that he is above that and that no matter how he feels, he should never have to help people because of how fantastic he is. In the final chapter, Dorian is walking through town alone when he starts to really reflect on the life he has led. He looks back on when he wished for the painting to hold his imperfections and thinks, “Better for him that each sin of his life had brought its sure swift penalty along with it. There was purification in punishment. Not “Forgive us our sins” but “Smite us for our iniquities” should be the prayer of man to a most just God” (Wilde 193). Dorians reflection allows the reader to think that he, despite all else, does indeed have a conscience. However, when Wilde says there is a ‘purification in punishment’ we see that this is not the case. By juxtaposing ‘purification’ and ‘punishment’, Wilde shows us how Dorian is incapable of accepting consequences for what he has done and unwilling to confess to these sins he has made. By comparing the last two quotes (‘forgive us our sins’ and ‘smite us for our iniquities’) Wilde shows us Dorians refusal to have a conscience. Dorian makes the choice that if you have no conscience, you can live a life of sin and not feel burdened. That is what Wilde is portraying; Dorian, attempting to reflect and receive penance for his sins, but instead showing how this new Dorian choses to rid himself of his once valued conscience and accept the idea that he has lived a life of sin, but it has been so rewarding that he does not regret it. Throughout the novel, Wilde uses the portrayal of Dorian through others eyes and his own vision of himself to show his transition as a person. The tone changes in his depictions of himself, showing us his change as a man and in his values, from having morality to only narcissism. By beginning with a pure, beautiful and promising young man and eventually transforming him into a monster narcissist who refuses to allow others to see his flaws, we see Wilde’s belief that perfection and morality cannot coexist.