The Picture Of Dorian Gray Research Paper

Parts of the Psyche in The Picture of Dorian Gray
One of Sigmund Freud’s most prominent theories is how the psyche is split into three parts: the id, ego and superego, each of which contribute to a different set of behavior. The id is the primitive part, which focuses on our impulsive desires and how we can satisfy them, with no regard into the feelings of others, oneself or society’s expectations. The ego is the logical and reasoning part, which focuses on satisfying the same desires the id feels, yet looks for a more practical solution, while also avoiding hurting oneself. The superego is the moral part, which focuses on how one’s desires fit into societal norms and also controls our guilt (McLeod). In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is
so consumed with the idea of staying young forever, that he enters a Faustian pact to let a painting of him age instead of him. As he no longer has to worry about his appearance changing. Dorian loses his moral compass and begins to make more questionable decisions, eventually getting to the point where begins to act on all his desires. By entering a pact to let the painting age in his place, Dorian strengthens the influence of his id, while weakening the influences of his ego and superego.
The painting strengthens Dorian’s id, by allowing his to act more on his desires, without a care for others. The introduction of such ideals initially starts early in the book when Lord Henry remarks, “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick” (Wilde 42). While at this point Dorian has not made his pact, these words are said to have touched Dorian, making him more curious about what the possibilities could be. It also acting as a catalyst when he makes the pact later in the book, causing this feelings to become stronger through the pact. Once he realizes that the pact worked, Dorian begins to act according to his own desires, corrupting women and taking opium, purely because he wants to. While this would corrupt and age a normal person, the painting takes on these repercussions, further motivating Dorian to continue doing as he is wants to. This lack of consequences keeps Dorian from caring what others think, further strengthening his own primitive desires or id. Once Dorian’s friend, Basil, meets up with him years after the pact is made, he remarks, “When you met Lady Gwendolen, not a breath of scandal had ever touched her. Is there a single decent woman in London now who would drive with her in the park?... Then there are other stories—stories that you have been seen creeping at dawn out of dreadful houses and slinking in disguise into the foulest dens in London” (Wilde 320-321). By choosing to act on his own desires, Dorian is able to act as he pleases, while his youthful face masks that he has acted in such a manner. The portrait ultimately represents the appearance of Dorian’s id, while the pact signifies that Dorian begins giving into his desires early in the book when he gives into his desire to be young forever.
The painting weakens Dorian’s ego, by letting Dorian not use his logic, because it keep him from having repercussions.
In Freud’s theory, the ego develops to keep the balance between the unrealistic nature of id and what is possible in the real world (McLeod). With the id becoming stronger when the pact is made and Dorian having nothing to lose, he no longer needs the ego to make realistic ways to conquer his desires. Instead, he can simply act on them, with no care as to how they may affect him, since he will not age. This can be seen when Dorian gets fed up with Basil criticizing the painting and how Dorian has no desire to seek repentance, and stabs him on a whim.
Dorian Gray glanced at the picture, and suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward came over him...The mad passions of a hunted animal stirred within him, and he loathed the man who was seated at the table, more than in his whole life he had ever loathed anything... He rushed at him and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man's head down on the table and stabbing again and again (Wilde
335).
At this point, Dorian is using little ego, as stabbing someone one disagrees with is very unrealistic. Had Dorian been using more ego, Dorian may have simply yelled at or slapped Basil, rather than stabbing him repeatedly, as those are much more realistic actions to take while still venting the anger and hatred Dorian feels. Additionally, the ego allows one to think through their actions and what may come of it (McLeod). When Dorian kills Basil, he has little thought for what the aftermath of the action will be, mainly what he would do with Basil’s dead body. This further complicates his actions, as he does not have the ability to find realistic ways of still achieving his primitive desires.
The painting also weakens Dorian’s superego, by allowing him to not care about how his actions relate to the morals of society.
In the stabbing of Basil, Dorian does not think through the morality of his actions and how they break a basic human thought of not doing harm unto another. This lack of morality can also be seen when Dorian talks his way out of being killed. Shortly after the pact, Dorian’s words and actions push his ex-girlfriend, Sibyl Vane, to commit suicide. Yet later in the book, when her brother attacks Dorian for his actions, he lies about who he is and says that he never knew her, which breaks the moral belief that one should not lie. In this scene, Dorian also shows no guilt about his actions both in her death or in his current state. Both the lack of morality and guilt throughout the book can be attributed to a lack of superego. However in the ending scene of the book, Dorian regains some of his superego, as he begins to feel guilty for his actions and how they’ve hurt him and blames the painting for causing him to go mad. “Alan Campbell had shot himself one night in his laboratory,... He was perfectly safe there. Nor, indeed, was it the death of Basil Hallward that weighed most upon his mind. It was the living death of his own soul that troubled him” (Wilde 470). While Dorian begins to to feel guilt at this point, he does so in a very selfish manner, not caring about the deaths of others he has caused. Therefore, while Dorian begins to regain his
superego at the end of the book, it is in a very selfish manner, while he feels no moral obligations concerning other people.
Throughout the book, Oscar Wilde is able to show how Dorian’s pact goes pact simply changing his appearance, instead leading to changes within his character. By increasing his need to act on his desires, with little care for what is logical or morally correct, Dorian loses his sense of being human, which leads to his downfall. Through this narrative, Wilde comments on what sets the line between animals and humans, and how a lack of higher thinking leads to a more primitive focus.