The Ultimate Monomyth In 'The Picture Of Dorian Gray'

Next on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth after the Apostasis comes the ultimate boon, or the reward the hero/heroine begins the journey for. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian’s quest focuses on seeking eternal beauty, in which the ultimate boon would be gaining the ability to be forever young. He gains his wish of being forever youthful, but notices changes in his portrait but not in his tangible self. A sense of euphoria arises in Dorian as he realizes he achieves what he set out for. In this case, the boon does not act as something the “hero” would necessarily want. But then again, Dorian does not traditionally fall under the hero category for he has a downfall, and his wish is something completely immoral for any person with grand morality