The Picture Of Dorian Gray Literary Criticism
The Picture of Dorian Gray Criticism The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel that depicts the evil side of human nature and is developed by motifs and the morals of the characters. There are many characters that show opposite moral believes, allowing the reader to judge the deterioration of a character's virtues by comparison. This novel has also lead to many personal issues for Oscar Wilde as it was used against him in a trial for homosexuality. There are many theories to the main theme of the novel. It is viewed as a gothic entertainment novel, which could be a cautionary tale or a philosophical treatise. However, the main consistency in the novel is the theme of a mirror image. The obvious example is the physical Dorian compared to Dorian's conscience which is shown in his portrait. Another example compares Lord Henry to Basil Hallward. Basil tries to positively influence Dorian and to instill integrity and solid mortals into the young man. However, Lord Henry is viewed as the tempter through his ideas that center around self pleasure and living in the moment. These mirror image comparisons are critical to show the deterioration of Dorian's soul (Adcock).
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Another symbol used throughout the novel was the knife associated with murder.
Initially, Basil threatens to destroy the portrait with a knife when he realizes that the picture is causing an internal conflict within Dorian. However, Dorian stops Basil because the painting is exquisite and it would be "murder" to destroy it. The motif of the knife is seen again when Dorian murders Basil with a knife. Basil had become disgusted with Dorian after realizing what Dorian's actions and corruption had done to the portrait and Dorian's soul. Dorian became annoyed with Basil and murdered him with a knife. The next appearance of the knife motif was at the end of the novel when Dorian kills himself with a knife when he was trying to stab his conscience through the portrait
(Adcock). The characters in the book have been linked to Oscar Wilde in many different ways. The virtues of Lord Henry are very similar to the passions and virtues of Oscar Wilde himself. This is very important was the Marquess of Queensberry helped convict Wilde of homosexuality in 1895. This is significant because The Picture of Dorian Gray was used against Wilde in his trial.
The novel was used to show that Wilde believed in scandalous virtues and showed homosexual tendencies. Queensberry's attorney used specific passages from the novel to show the homosexual subplot. The passages were mostly spoken by Basil Hallward and were about his devotion and passion toward Dorian. These passages also show how Basil would romantically worship Dorian and how Basil's life was drastically changed by meeting Dorian. The attorney also used the novel that Lord Henry gave to Dorian as an example of Wilde's corruption. Wilde was forced to admit that the novel given to Dorian was A rebours, which was a very scandalous book at that time and made a strong case against Oscar Wilde. Wilde has later admitted that he saw himself as Basil Hallward, the more moral and down to earth of the three main characters. However, society viewed Wilde as Lord Henry, the one with passionate virtues and questionable morals. Yet, Wilde admits that he would like to have been Dorian (Adcock). Many Critics have debated whether Dorian Gray is actually a moral tale or the first postmodern tale. The book portrayed the Universe as mindless and the moral code as a sequence and series of decisions made by an individual. Instead of giving a moral lesson, the book could be showing us that Dorian was not all good, but not all bad and we was filled by virtues he did not entirely believe, yet he still followed. These are subjects and themes present in many postmodern novels, which came significantly after the time of Oscar Wilde (Adcock).
Another symbol used throughout the novel was the knife associated with murder.
Initially, Basil threatens to destroy the portrait with a knife when he realizes that the picture is causing an internal conflict within Dorian. However, Dorian stops Basil because the painting is exquisite and it would be "murder" to destroy it. The motif of the knife is seen again when Dorian murders Basil with a knife. Basil had become disgusted with Dorian after realizing what Dorian's actions and corruption had done to the portrait and Dorian's soul. Dorian became annoyed with Basil and murdered him with a knife. The next appearance of the knife motif was at the end of the novel when Dorian kills himself with a knife when he was trying to stab his conscience through the portrait
(Adcock). The characters in the book have been linked to Oscar Wilde in many different ways. The virtues of Lord Henry are very similar to the passions and virtues of Oscar Wilde himself. This is very important was the Marquess of Queensberry helped convict Wilde of homosexuality in 1895. This is significant because The Picture of Dorian Gray was used against Wilde in his trial.
The novel was used to show that Wilde believed in scandalous virtues and showed homosexual tendencies. Queensberry's attorney used specific passages from the novel to show the homosexual subplot. The passages were mostly spoken by Basil Hallward and were about his devotion and passion toward Dorian. These passages also show how Basil would romantically worship Dorian and how Basil's life was drastically changed by meeting Dorian. The attorney also used the novel that Lord Henry gave to Dorian as an example of Wilde's corruption. Wilde was forced to admit that the novel given to Dorian was A rebours, which was a very scandalous book at that time and made a strong case against Oscar Wilde. Wilde has later admitted that he saw himself as Basil Hallward, the more moral and down to earth of the three main characters. However, society viewed Wilde as Lord Henry, the one with passionate virtues and questionable morals. Yet, Wilde admits that he would like to have been Dorian (Adcock). Many Critics have debated whether Dorian Gray is actually a moral tale or the first postmodern tale. The book portrayed the Universe as mindless and the moral code as a sequence and series of decisions made by an individual. Instead of giving a moral lesson, the book could be showing us that Dorian was not all good, but not all bad and we was filled by virtues he did not entirely believe, yet he still followed. These are subjects and themes present in many postmodern novels, which came significantly after the time of Oscar Wilde (Adcock).