essay about dorian gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar wilde, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Introduction

The picture of dorian gray: plot summary, the picture of dorian gray: detailed summary & analysis, the picture of dorian gray: themes, the picture of dorian gray: quotes, the picture of dorian gray: characters, the picture of dorian gray: symbols, the picture of dorian gray: literary devices, the picture of dorian gray: quizzes, the picture of dorian gray: theme wheel, brief biography of oscar wilde.

Historical Context of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Other books related to the picture of dorian gray.

• Full Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
• When Written: Some time between 1889, when the story was commissioned, and 1890
• Where Written: London
• When Published: It was initially published in a magazine called Lippincott’s Monthly in July of 1890.
• Literary Period: Aestheticism
• Genre: Aestheticism, Philosophical Fiction, Gothic Fiction
• Setting: London
• Climax: Dorian becomes so tormented by the portrait that he stabs it with a knife, but when the scene is discovered, it is Dorian himself who lies dead on the floor.
• Antagonist: Dorian and the other characters are surrounded by antagonistic influences, which seem to be a part of day to day life in the high society of London. These influences, fashion, classism, obsessions with aesthetics and reputation are embodied by Lord Henry Wotton, making the man and his ideas seem like the main antagonist of the book.
• Point of View: An omniscient narrator; this narrator guides us in the past tense between one place and another, able to show us the interior workings of the main characters

Extra Credit for The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray Syndrome. Dorian Gray’s name still haunts popular culture but it also has a more serious legacy. Dorian Gray Syndrome is now a common term to describe a cluster of narcissistic qualities. It often refers to severe mental illness and can be diagnosed from symptoms reminiscent of Dorian’s in the novel.

The real Dorian? It has been suggested that the inspiration for Dorian Gray was a man called John Gray, who, though very handsome and a good poet, was dropped by Wilde in favor of his new love Lord Alfred Douglas. He apparently signed his love letters “Dorian”, after an ancient tribe called “The Dorians”.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

By oscar wilde, the picture of dorian gray essay questions.

In the preface, Wilde claims that there is "no such thing as a moral or an immoral book," and that an "ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." Yet Dorian's eventual ruin suggests a strong moral warning against the protagonist's vanity and selfishness. Is Wilde breaking his own rules and exhibiting "an unpardonable mannerism of style"? Or is the book meant to be read amorally?

Lord Henry and Dorian claim to be artists in the way they live their lives. Is this true, based on Wilde's definition of the artist, as expressed in the preface? Is this true based on your own definition?

Time moves linearly in The Picture of Dorian Gray , but not in even increments. Discuss the passage of time in the novel and how it influences our impression of characters and events. Be sure to touch on the glossing-over of 18 years in chapter 11.

When Basil confronts Dorian about the fact that he has allegedly corrupted many people, Dorian defends himself by saying that "Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him." Is Dorian responsible for the ruined lives of his friends? Is Lord Henry responsible for the ruined life of Dorian?

Dorian is outwardly young and charming, and inwardly old and corrupt. He is decidedly inconsistent in his social interactions and intellectal interests, while extremely consistent in appearance. Discuss the theme of duplicity throughout the novel.

In chapter 11, we encounter a peculiar first-person interjection from the narrator: "Is insincerity such a terrible thing? I think not." Does this voice, or this argument, remind you of any of the characters in the novel? Discuss Wilde's narrative voice in three or four instances. How does it relate to the different characters, does it seem to espouse similar views, or to sympathize with certain people more than others? Are we expected to trust the narrator on every occasion? What does this tell us about how the story is told?

At the time of its publication, The Picture of Dorian Gray sparked countless debates about the role of morality in art. What is your contribution to this debate? Do artists have the responsibility to convey good morals to their audience?

In 1895, the critic Ernest Newman, in a discussion of Wilde's contribution to literary thought, celebrated the author's use of paradoxes, saying that "a paradox is a truth seen round a corner" (Drew xxv). Countless paradoxes appear in The Picture of Dorian Gray , most often in the words of Lord Henry Wotton. Identify and discuss several paradoxes in the novel.

Traditionally, faustian tales contain explicit depictions of the protagonist's pact with the devil, giving a clearly defined source for his later woes. But the closest Wilde comes to identifying the reason for the portrait's metaphyisical powers is in chapter 8, when Dorian wonders if there is somehow "some subtle affinity between the chemical atoms, that shaped themselves into form and colour on the canvas, and the soul that was within." Wilde seems content to leave the actual mechanism by which the portrait ages and withers instead of Dorian completely unexplained. How does this affect our overall impression of the novel? How would the work be different if it included, for instance, a scene in which Mephistofoles appears and has Dorian sign a contract?

The Picture of Dorian Gray Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Picture of Dorian Gray is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Why is James worried about his sister's suitor?

James is very jealous, protective of his sister, and suspicious of the situation, since Sibyl doesn't even seem to know her suitor's name.

picture of dorian gray

I think that Basil knows what Henry is capable. He doesn't want Henry's influence to turn Dorian from good to evil.

List all the sensory experiences mentioned in the first two paragraphs.

From the text:

The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses , and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac , or the more delicate perfume of the...

Study Guide for The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray study guide contains a biography of Oscar Wilde, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Picture of Dorian Gray Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

• Morality and Immorality (The Picture of Dorian Gray and A Streetcar Named Desire)
• The Life of Secrecy
• Break On Through To the Other Side
• The Art of Immorality: Character Fate and Morality in Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Unconscious Image of the Conscious Mind

Lesson Plan for The Picture of Dorian Gray

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Picture of Dorian Gray
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Picture of Dorian Gray Bibliography

E-Text of The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray e-text contains the full text of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

• Chapters 1-4
• Chapters 5-8
• Chapters 9-12
• Chapters 13-16

Wikipedia Entries for The Picture of Dorian Gray

• Introduction
• Publication and versions

Mission Statement

The vernacular.

115 Vernon Street, Hartford CT 06106

Submissions

Death and destruction in the picture of dorian gray: how sybil vane’s demise corrupts the innocence of dorian gray, 【written by valerie zis】.

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray appears at the intersection of Victorian and modern British literature during a period of immense social change. Older British traditions, particularly among the upper classes, began to find themselves the subject of scrutiny and satire. The frivolous and irresponsible nature of the wealthy faced increasing pushback and condemnation from the lower classes, as exemplified through the character of Dorian Gray. His behavior in the novel typifies the callousness and sheer disregard of the upper crust of society towards those considered socially beneath them. Dorian Gray’s initial obsession and later rejection of the talented actress Sybil Vane provokes his spiral from the pure innocence of his youth to the cruelty of his character as the novel progresses. His treatment of Sybil as merely a passing object of interest, as opposed to a sentient human being, embodies the careless disrespect of the wealthy towards the working class, serving to stain his previously untainted soul as represented by the change in his portrait. Dorian’s completely childish and utterly heartless behavior following Sybil Vane’s final performance and the manner in which he dehumanizes her death ultimately leads to his destruction. Simultaneously, the initial transformation of his painting reflects the disintegration of his morals and the rotting of his soul.

Prior to Dorian’s infatuation with Sybil Vane, his youthful innocence and purity had not yet been tainted by Lord Henry and the wealthy classes’ haughty propriety. Basil Howard, the artist behind the initially painstakingly beautiful portrait of Dorian, refers to him as having a “simple and beautiful nature,” untouched by social corruption (Wilde 16). Upon Dorian’s introduction to Lord Henry, Dorian is seen “swinging round on the music-stool in a willful, petulant manner,” much like that of a child. Dorian complains that he does not “want a life-sized portrait of [himself],” as Dorian cannot comprehend Basil’s desire to spend such an alarming amount of time crafting a singular painting of him (Wilde 17). When Dorian notices Lord Henry approaching, “a faint blush coloured his cheeks for a moment” at the notion of being caught behaving immaturely (Wilde 17). Wilde first presents Dorian Gray as a fairly typical, albeit slightly spoiled, youth — sulky and impatient in temper while energetic in physicality. Dorian also appears embarrassed for his juvenile attitude in front of new visitors; he, however, forgoes this quality as he becomes less bothered by the increasing stain upon his reputation and the public’s perception of him. Lord Henry initially observes Dorian as someone who “was wonderfully handsome,” with an unidentifiable quality to “his face that made one trust him at once” (Wilde 17). Within Dorian, one could glimpse “all the candour of youth… as well as all youth’s passionate purity,” still unblemished and unbeknown to the cruel injustice of the world (Wilde 17). Dorian’s true youth, as opposed to the deceptively young physical appearance he maintains decades later, consists of a sheltered innocence and truthfulness attributed solely to worldly inexperience and a steady belief in the inherent goodness of people. Undeniably “unspotted from the world” and its nefarious influences, Dorian’s purity is evident to both Basil and Lord Henry, so much so to the former that he becomes inspired to capture it artistically, and to the latter as a temptation to teach him the supposed darkly realistic truths of life (Wilde 17). It is this Dorian, a temperamental and naïve but otherwise indisputably pure youth, who falls into a hopelessly romantic infatuation with Sybil Vane’s amorous performances.

Dorian’s obsession with the beautiful and pure concept of Sybil Vane, an image somewhat like his own, drives him to declare his eternal love for her due to her overly romantic and incredibly tragic depictions of love on stage. Inspired by Lord Henry, Dorian decides to put aside his prior naivety and develops a new “passion for sensations” that he has never experienced before, becoming “filled with a wild desire to know everything about life” (Wilde 44). It is in this state of mind that he first encounters Sybil Vane, who he depicts as “the loveliest thing [he] had ever seen in [his] life,” promptly falling in love with her beauty and the intensity of her passionate performances (Wilde 46). The uncanny similarity between the two speaks to their mutual fascination with each other, as they both appear young, beautiful, and entirely naïve and ignorant of the world around them. When they interact for the first time, Dorian admits to Lord Henry that “they stood looking at each other like children,” with both of them appearing as though “rather nervous” and unsure as to how to behave in a real-life setting (Wilde 48). Although raised in vastly different social circles, both Sybil and Dorian grew up sheltered from reality. Dorian, born into wealth and privilege, has never faced true adversity nor any sort of hardships outside the ease of upper-class life. Sybil, while poor, lived only for the fabricated romance of the theater and failed to experience much of what life has to offer as well. Dorian, upon later reflection to Lord Henry, explains rather ironically that Sybil “knows nothing of life,” and her childlike purity and disconnect from the real world further his attraction (Wilde 48). Sybil, in Dorian’s eyes, appears as a perfect reflection of himself and views her allure as a gateway to idealistic and impassioned love, sparking his desire to marry her.

Dorian Gray ultimately becomes enamored not of Sybil Vane herself but of the Shakespearean lovers she portrays on the stage and the raw emotion generated through her worthy performances. As an actress, Sybil’s identity elicits a sort of mystery that Dorian craves, unlike the boredom of “ordinary women” who never “appeal to one’s imagination” (Wilde 46). Dorian, desperate to abandon his previous innocence and enjoy all the world has to offer, is besotted by her because she appears as several women at once, allowing him to experience every love story imaginable simultaneously. To Dorian, Sybil Vane is not a real person but a menagerie of differing personalities, an abstraction of passionate and dramatic love at its very essence. Therefore, when the theater’s manager attempts to introduce Dorian to her following the first performance, Dorian “was furious with him, and told him that Juliet had been dead for hundreds of years and that her body was lying in a marble tomb in Verona” (Wilde 47). Dorian cannot comprehend Sybil’s humanity; to him, she is simply a work of art come to life, and thus he treats her like one. While Dorian continues to rave on about Sybil’s accomplishments as Juliet, Imogen, and the countless other Shakespearean ladies, Lord Henry facetiously inquires if she ever is herself . Dorian responds indignantly that Sybil “never” is, for she “is more than an individual,” transforming her from a mere human to some ethereal and multifaceted being he must “worship” (Wilde 49). Although Dorian insists that he truly loves her, what he really desires is passionate emotion — so strong as would make the fictional “Romeo jealous” and allow for all “dead lovers of the world to hear [their] laughter and grow sad” (Wilde 49). Spurred by Lord Henry’s depictions of society and the realization of his own sheltered innocence, Dorian yearns for the opportunity to experience the very depth of human emotion, a desire Sybil Vane fulfills until her final performance.  

Following Dorian’s marriage proposal to Sybil Vane, she loses the ability to feign love for her fellow actors on stage as a result of her exposure to true love and adoration. This stunts her acting abilities, which, in turn, prompts Dorian himself to lose interest in her altogether. Although “still certainly lovely to look at,” she delivers her dialogue in an “artificial manner” and “showed no sign of joy when her eyes rested on Romeo” (Wilde 71). She has morphed into a poor and unemotional actress, with nothing but her external beauty to generate interest in the play. When Dorian confronts Sybil over her horrific acting, she appears overjoyed rather than insulted. Serenely, she explains that as a result of their mutual love, she “shall never act well again” because he “made [her] understand what love really is” and feels like (Wilde 74). Therefore, she can no longer portray false passion. Rather than returning her affections, Dorian instead insists that her dreadful acting has only “killed [his] love” for her and that she is “nothing to [him] now” without her artistic talent (Wilde 74). Dorian never genuinely loved Sybil herself; he only used her acting skills to inspire some sort of passion within himself, which was subsequently extinguished the second she ceased to be the romantic Shakespearean heroine of his dreams. With the emotion in her performance now “unreal,” Sybil inadvertently humanizes herself and thus shatters Dorian’s expectations of her as an otherworldly personification of human passion (Wilde 71). Dorian only loved her because she “realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art,” and now that she no longer represents the fervent emotion of art that he craves, Sybil can no longer hold his attention or “curiosity” (Wilde 74). Hence, just as Dorian grew bored with her performance, he tires of Sybil herself as well. Without her talent, she becomes the same type of ordinary woman he despises and consequently ends their engagement. By the time Dorian’s fear of the altered portrait begins to remind him of his cruelty towards her, it becomes too late to make amends and Basil’s painting, along with Dorian himself, is changed forever. 

Following his rejection of Sybil Vane, Dorian arrives home and discovers that his portrait has transformed to reflect his heartless treatment of Sybil, spurring a sense of remorse that arrives too late to save either of their souls. He notices the appearance of “the lines of cruelty around [the painting’s] mouth,” as though he had been admiring himself after committing “some dreadful thing” (Wilde 77). This transformation forces Dorian to confront his own behavior that night, and upon consideration of his brutal callousness towards Sybil, “a feeling of infinite regret comes over him,” although not a result of her heartbreak but instead over the portrait’s alteration (Wilde 77). Dorian’s selfishness and immense egotism regarding his physical beauty and sense of self-importance, as reflected in the portrait, sparks his desire to apologize to Sybil, as he greatly fears any further stain on the painting as a result of his sin. To him, she remains “shallow and unworthy” of his attention, “nothing to him now” but a disappointment (Wilde 77-78). His portrait, on the other hand, “taught him to love his own beauty,” and he finds that he cannot bear the thought of its destruction, inspiring him to attempt to “resist temptation” of further sin (Wilde 77). Thus, when he decides to marry Sybil Vane, he does it purely for his own gain, believing he can cleanse himself of his sin and restore the painting’s beauty: the one thing he cares about almost as much as himself. He convinces himself that he may love Sybil Vane again and will attempt to live happily with her if it means that the painting will once again depict his radiant perfection and innocence. However, by the following day, when Dorian announces to Lord Henry his intention to marry Sybil, she has already committed suicide as a result of his cruel words. Dorian’s cold dismissal of Sybil’s love prompts her to kill herself. Consequently, Dorian himself has unwittingly “murdered her as surely as if [he] had cut her little throat with a knife,” and now his sin will go unremedied forever (Wilde 83). Dorian’s treatment of Sybil Vane becomes the first cruel action in a series of immoral deeds that tarnishes his soul, and even though he attempts to deflect responsibility for her death by belittling her life, the increasing disfigurement of the portrait reveals his inevitable and continuing corruption.

Although initially in a state of distress over her death, Dorian’s discussion with Lord Henry about the insignificance of Sybil Vane’s life allows him to justify his behavior and depicts the negligence of the upper class. While comforting him, Lord Henry brushes off Dorian’s halfhearted concerns regarding his cruelty by reminding him that Sybil “never really lived, and so she has never really died” (Wilde 87). Instead, she was a “dream, a phantom that flitted through Shakespeare’s plays and left them lovelier for its presence” (Wilde 87). Again, in order to avoid a sense of responsibility for her death, Dorian and Lord Henry objectify her and completely devalue her life, reducing her to nothing more than an inhuman collection of passion and emotion, only existing within the confines of the theater. Her sole purpose in life is described as enhancing the quality of the Shakespearean plays she performed, and her significance only stretched as far as her ability to entertain those in the upper class, like Dorian and Lord Henry. The moment that Sybil loses her talent, she “touched real life” for the first time, and then “marred it, and it marred her, so she passed away,” for she was incapable of surviving in real life (Wilde 87). The loss of her acting ability as a result of her love for Dorian robs her of any value that she may have possessed, and therefore, she must die. Lord Henry instructs Dorian to “mourn for Ophelia” or any of the other characters that Sybil played but not to “waste [his] tears over [her],” for “she was less real” than any of the Shakespearean women she portrayed (Wilde 87). By dehumanizing Sybil in this way, Dorian and Lord Henry can remain blame and guilt free, for her death ceases to matter. With that, they can continue with their lives as though she never existed, because to them, she did not. Dorian manipulated Sybil and toyed with her for as long as she brought him pleasure, so when he tired of the affair, he simply removed her from his life without a second thought. Essentially, the brief spark that was his time with Sybil was nothing but a new and “marvelous experience” for Dorian, one that temporarily fulfilled his desire for novelty and destroyed her as a result (Wilde 87). Sybil Vane was an actress and one of the lower classes at that. Hence, in the eyes of the wealthy like Dorian, she did not deserve better treatment or even the least bit of consideration. Her desires, and ultimately her life, unlike Dorian’s, were not deemed important, and therefore were entirely disregarded. 

Basil Hallward’s portrait of Dorian Gray prompts Dorian’s realization of his own beauty and his desperation to maintain his physical perfection at any cost. Through his first callous act of cruelty in the rejection of Sybil Vane’s affections following her failed final performance, he inadvertently stains the painting with his sin irreparably. By the conclusion of the novel, Dorian’s character transforms from one of youthful innocence to apathetic villainy. He becomes less concerned with the thoughts and feelings of others and more obsessed with his own desires for never-ending passion. Dorian’s elitist mentality and complete disregard for the lower classes allow him to continue down a dark path of corruption and debauchery that further serves to destroy the beauty of the painting, a direct reflection of the rotting of his own soul.

Works Cited

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray . Third ed., W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2020

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray

Patrick Duggan

Download this article

Oscar Wilde prefaces his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, with a reflection on art, the artist, and the utility of both. After careful scrutiny, he concludes: “All art is quite useless” (Wilde 4). In this one sentence, Wilde encapsulates the complete principles of the Aesthetic Movement popular in Victorian England. That is to say, real art takes no part in molding the social or moral identities of society, nor should it. Art should be beautiful and pleasure its observer, but to imply further-reaching influence would be a mistake. The explosion of aesthetic philosophy in fin-de-siècle English society, as exemplified by Oscar Wilde, was not confined to merely art, however. Rather, the proponents of this philosophy extended it to life itself. Here, aestheticism advocated whatever behavior was likely to maximize the beauty and happiness in one’s life, in the tradition of hedonism. To the aesthete, the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it. Influences on others, if existent, are trivial at best. Many have read The Picture of Dorian Gray as a novelized sponsor for just this sort of aesthetic lifestyle. However, this story of the rise and fall of Dorian Gray might instead represent an allegory about morality meant to critique, rather than endorse, the obeying of one’s impulses as thoughtlessly and dutifully as aestheticism dictates.

In the novel, Lord Henry Wotton trumpets the aesthetic philosophy with an elegance and bravado that persuade Dorian to trust in the principles he espouses; the reader is often similarly captivated. It would be a mistake, however, to interpret the novel as a patent recommendation of aestheticism. To the aesthete, there is no distinction between moral and immoral acts, only between those that increase or decrease one’s happiness; yet, Dorian Gray refutes this idea, presenting a strong case for the inherent immorality of purely aesthetic lives. Dorian Gray personifies the aesthetic lifestyle in action, pursuing personal gratification with abandon. Yet, while he enjoys these indulgences, his behavior ultimately kills him and others, and he dies unhappier than ever. Rather than an advocate for pure aestheticism, then, Dorian Gray is a cautionary tale in which Wilde illustrates the dangers of the aesthetic philosophy when not practiced with prudence. Aestheticism, argues Wilde, too often aligns itself with immorality, resulting in a precarious philosophy that must be practiced deliberately.

Dorian Gray is often read as an explicit proclamation of the worthiness of living life in accordance with aesthetic values. This is due in part to the flourishing Aesthetic Movement of Victorian England at the time of the novel’s publication, as well as Oscar Wilde’s association with the movement itself (Becker 660). The Aesthetic Movement, which coincided with the Industrial Revolution at the end of the nineteenth century, emphasized the artistic aspect of a man’s work in producing a variety of goods, from furniture to machines to literature (Becker 660). Oscar Wilde, however, proposed that the principles of the Aesthetic Movement extend beyond the production of mere commodities. In Joseph Pearce’s biography, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde , Pearce recalls Wilde’s own perspective on the popular movement. Speaking of aestheticism, Wilde is quoted:

It is indeed to become a part of the people’s life . . . I mean a man who works with his hands; and not with his hands merely, but with his head and his heart. The evil that machinery is doing is not merely in the consequence of its work but in the fact that it makes men themselves machines also. Whereas, we wish them to be artists, that is to say men. (qtd. in Pearce 144)

In his exposition of aestheticism, Wilde applies the philosophy in a more universal sense, stressing the positive influences of aestheticism in one’s life beyond mere craftsmanship. Just as the machines that mass-produce materials with the intervention of human thought are labeled “evil,” Wilde similarly condemns men who act as metaphorical machines, programmed to behave in accordance with society’s ideas of propriety rather than allowing themselves to act freely and achieve the greatest amount of happiness. Wilde’s eloquent advocacy of an aesthetic lifestyle is paralleled in his depiction of Lord Henry in Dorian Gray . Lord Henry lectured to the impressionable Dorian, “We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us. . . . Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden itself” (Wilde 9). Wilde, through Lord Henry, laments the stifling nature of his contemporary Victorian society and how the supposed morality it boasts necessitates self-denial and rejection of life’s most beautiful aspects. Lord Henry warns that without an enthusiastic embrace of aestheticism, one will perpetually anguish with the desire of precisely what he must deny himself, all for the sake of propriety. This philosophy espoused by Wilde and Lord Henry often leads, not surprisingly, to the conclusion that Dorian Gray is a declaration of Wilde’s, promoting the adoption of purely aesthetic lives without qualification. This, however, is too shallow of an interpretation.

Opponents of a purely aesthetic lifestyle will certainly cite what they consider an inevitability: one’s desires and impulses, though when acted upon result in a more pleasurable life, will at times be undeniably immoral. It is at these times that the virtues of the wholly aesthetic life become questionable. The ruination of Dorian Gray, the embodiment of unbridled aestheticism, illustrates the immorality of such a lifestyle and gravely demonstrates its consequences. Wilde uses Dorian Gray not as an advertisement for aestheticism, but rather, he uses Dorian’s life to warn against aestheticism’s hostility toward morality when uncontrolled. Wilde himself admits, in a letter to the St. James’s Gazette, that Dorian Gray “is a story with a moral. And the moral is this: All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment” (Wilde 248). Aestheticism does well to condemn the renunciation of desires, but it is an excessive obedience to these desires that is subversively dangerous. Therefore, in the practice of Wilde’s aestheticism, forethought and constraint are necessities, yet too often lacking, and without them, one is doomed to suffer the same fate as Dorian Gray.

The character of Dorian Gray and the story of his profound degeneration provide a case study examining the viability of purely aesthetic lives. Dorian lives according to what Lord Henry professes without hesitation, and what Lord Henry inspires Dorian, through persuasive rhetoric, is an attitude indifferent to consequence and altogether amoral. As Wilde writes, Dorian’s newfound position is “never to accept any theory or system that would involve the sacrifice of any mode of passionate experience. Its aim, indeed was to be experience itself, and not the fruits of experience, sweet or bitter as they may be” (Wilde 125). Under Lord Henry’s mentorship, Dorian, once the epitome of wide-eyed youth, behaves with no regard for the ramifications of his actions, diligently pursuing instant gratification without thought of its implications, whether they be “sweet or bitter.”

Dorian’s relationship with the actress Sibyl Vane plainly illustrates this marked change in personality. Dorian pursues Sibyl from first sights, intent on acquiring her before he ever attempts to truly know her. Indeed, Dorian’s love for Sibyl is overtly superficial, as evidenced by Dorian’s own description of his infatuation with Sibyl: “I loved you because you were marvelous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art” (Wilde 101). Dorian is not attracted to Sibyl’s character of personality, but rather her acting talent and enthralling performances; this is what enchants the aesthetically inclined Dorian. When Sibyl leaves the stage, then, she no longer serves a purpose in Dorian’s aesthetic life, and thus, Dorian abandons her unceremoniously. Dorian does not regret informing Sybil that, “Without your art, you are nothing” (Wilde 101). The tragedy of Sybil’s later suicide, brought about by utter despair at her desertion, is lost on Dorian, who instead enjoys the dramatic intrigue of the occasion. For Dorian, whose uncontrolled aestheticism rejects the concept of morality, the immorality of his actions goes unrecognized. In fact, Dorian declares excitedly, “It seems to me to be simply like a wonderful ending to a wonderful play. It has all the terrible beauty of a Greek tragedy, a tragedy in which I took a great part, but by which I have not been wounded” (Wilde 114). Here, the adverse consequences of aestheticism surface in Dorian’s life. In his pursuit of his own pleasures, a distinctly narcissistic attitude emerges, and the incompatibility of morality and unconditional aestheticism becomes all the more apparent.

The emergence of narcissism in Dorian and its correlation with his newly adopted aesthetic philosophy is integral to Wilde’s novel as it emphasizes the frequent hostility between aestheticism and morality that Wilde cautions against. Dorian Gray exposes the immorality of self-absorption, as Dorian’s portrait becomes more disfigured with each one of Dorian’s selfish acts. This self-absorption, then, appears to be an inevitable consequence of aestheticism. Only a more deliberate practice of aestheticism may harness this egotism and avoid the immorality Dorian embodies. Interestingly, in his essay “Come See About Me: Enchantment of the Double in The Picture of Dorian Gray ,” Christopher Craft recognizes a mirroring of the Greek myth of Narcissus in the life of Dorian Gray. According to mythology, Narcissus, upon catching a glimpse of his reflection in a pool, becomes so enraptured by it that he stood and admired it endlessly, unmoving for the rest of his life. As Craft notes, this self-absorption “is a commitment that, like Dorian’s, graduates fully until death” (Craft 113). Narcissus becomes so infatuated with himself that the rest of world effectively ceases to exist or affect him and, as Craft argues, “it is into precisely this silent delirium that Dorian unwittingly steps” when he allows Lord Henry’s aesthetic philosophy to so dominate him (Craft 113). Dorian enjoys a life of eternal youth, with only his portrait aging in parallel with Dorian’s immorality; so, as Dorian sinks into the depths of narcissism, he maintains his external beauty, and his portrait degenerates instead. Eventually, as in the myth of Narcissus, such egotism has its consequences. When Dorian, disgusted with the decrepit picture of the supposedly “real” him, destroys it in a fit of anger, Dorian too is destroyed. Wilde writes that after Dorian’s death, “it was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was” (Wilde 220). In the end, as a testament to the purely aesthetic life, the only legacy Dorian leaves behind—everything that identifies him as who he was—is his superficial jewelry.

There is an argument, then, made by Wilde for a new aestheticism, approached with more constraint than Dorian employs. This argument is based not only in the moral obligation of the individual, but with the betterment of all of society in mind. Matthew Arnold, in his essay “Culture and Anarchy,” provides reasoning against the ethos of Lord Henry’s aestheticism and an unconditional application of it. Arnold focuses on its detrimental effects on society and the possibility for societal improvement when aesthetic tendencies are properly controlled. There appears to be agreement, then, between Wilde and Arnold; Wilde’ novel provides a failed example of the purely aesthetic life, and when scaled to a larger society, a similar result is understandably expected. As Arnold views his contemporary society, it is arranged hierarchically, dividing the aristocrats, the middle-class, and the working-class, all of which, Arnold laments, are inclined to live hedonistically, pursuing pleasure and only what is comfortable and easy. Dorian Gray embodies just his defect in Arnold’s society. Arnold argues, however, that “there are born a certain number of natures with a curiosity about their best self with a bend for seeing things as they are . . . for simply concerning themselves with reason and the will of God, and doing their best to make these prevail;—for the pursuit, in a word, of perfection” (Arnold 277). Arnold is optimistic that some may pursue beyond the immediately pleasurable and act to perfect themselves both morally and intellectually. This pursuit of perfection, however, is likely an arduous and uncomfortable task, and is therefore incompatible with pure aestheticism. Some concessions must be made for the absolute aesthete, then, for such transcendence occur.

Dorian Gray, for much of Wilde’s novel, fails to embody Arnold’s ideal, as in his hedonistic life he is seen “creeping at dawn out of dreadful houses and slinking in disguise in the foulest dens in London,” despite being once too honorable for such debauchery (Wilde 118). Dorian exemplifies a regression in social intellect from his beginnings rather than the kind of transcendence hoped for by Arnold. Dorian displays no such pursuit of intellectual perfection as he is slowly corrupted and in turn corrupts others, luring them with him into the slums and opium dens of London. Arnold refers to those able to transcend social classes in society as “aliens,” hinting at their rarity to the point of foreignness and to their almost mythical quality (277). The mere existence of these aliens, however, provides hope that the utter hedonists of society may learn to harness their damaging tendencies, and in doing so, better the intellectual and moral state of humankind.

Wilde, too, recognizes this ability to control the hedonistic temptations associated with aestheticism, as demonstrated by the last stages of Dorian’s life. Mitsuharu Matsuoka, in his essay “Aestheticism and Social Anxiety in The Picture of Dorian Gray ,” notes that, as Dorian’s death approaches, “Dorian ultimately reacts against his lifestyle, choking on his New Hedonism,” at which point “a great sense of doom hangs over Dorian” (Matsuoka 78). Indeed, Dorian appears to realize the consequences of his unbridled aestheticism; however, he is much too far gone to salvage. Dorian reveals his epiphany to Lord Henry: “The soul is a terrible reality. It can be bought, and sold, and bartered away. It can be poisoned or made perfect. There is a soul in each one of us. I know it” (Wilde 211). Unfortunately for Dorian, this realization comes too late to save his soul from its degradation, long-nurtured by a purely aesthetic life, and he is destroyed. The realization itself, however, is indicative of Wilde’s argument woven throughout Dorian Gray . Despite Wilde’s publicly advocating the principles of aestheticism, Dorian’s demise illustrates Wilde’s recognition that aestheticism needs to be properly controlled. While the pursuit of beauty and happiness in life is always Wilde’s ideal, he also implies that the consequences of one’s actions must be thought out and the impact of one’s decisions, beyond oneself, must also be carefully considered before acting on any impulse.

The Aesthetic Movement in fin-de-siècle England, as interpreted by Oscar Wilde, revolved around the ideal that the utility of one’s actions should be to create the maximal amount of beauty and pleasure in one’s life, and nothing more. Wilde’s Dorian Gray appears, at first glance, to promote this philosophy unequivocally. Indeed, a lifestyle based on this aestheticism is espoused in Wilde’s opening preface as well as throughout Lord Henry’s professorial lectures. Upon closer inspection, however, Wilde’s novel is not as wholly embracing of aestheticism as this implies. Wilde realized and depicted in the life of Dorian Gray, a need for a more controlled and deliberate approach to aestheticism, without which morality will inevitably be elusive. The adoption of unrestrained aestheticism, as exhibited by Dorian, results in a lack of remorse, self-absorption, and intellectual regression. For the sake of preserving morality, a concept proven incompatible with pure aestheticism, more deliberation is necessary from the aesthete in deciding upon action. If, in the pursuit of one’s desires and of the beautiful aspects of life, the condition of others’ or of one’s own intellect is jeopardized, the enjoyment garnered must sometimes be sacrificed for the greater good. As Wilde makes clear, it is only through a more restrained philosophy that aestheticism and morality may eventually align.

Works Cited

Arnold, Matthew. “Culture and Anarchy.” The Picture of Dorian Gray . Ed. Andrew Elfenbein. NY: Pearson Longman, 2007. 276–279.

Becker-Leckrone, Megan. “Oscar Wilde (1854–1900): Aesthetic and Criticism.” The Continuum Encyclopedia of Modern Criticism and Theory 20 (2002): 658–665.

Craft, Christopher. “Come See About Me: Enchantment of the Double in The Picture of Dorian Gray .” Representations 91 (2005): 109–136.

Matsuoka, Mitsuharu. “Aestheticism and Social Anxiety in The Picture of Dorian Gray. ” Journal of Aesthetic Education 29 (2003): 77–100.

Pearce, Joseph. The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde . NY: Ignatius Press, 2004.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray . Ed. Andrew Elfenbein. NY: Pearson Longman, 2007.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Picture of Dorian Gray — A Theme Of Beauty And Appearance In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

A Theme of Beauty and Appearance in The Picture of Dorian Gray

• Categories: Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray

About this sample

Words: 1031 |

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1031 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Bristow, J. (2016). Oscar Wilde and the art of dying. In S. Nash (Ed.), Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture (pp. 161-182). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Ellmann, R. (1988). Oscar Wilde. Vintage.
• Freeman, N. (2009). Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. In B. K. Reynolds (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde (pp. 45-59). Cambridge University Press.
• Gillespie, M. (2011). Oscar Wilde and the creation of beauty. In M. T. Alkana & J. Bryant (Eds.), Oscar Wilde as a Character in Victorian Fiction (pp. 11-24). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Helford, E. R. (2016). Oscar Wilde: The importance of being Irish. Routledge.
• Lahr, J. (2018). The Picture of Dorian Gray: An annotated, uncensored edition. Harvard University Press.
• Lysaght, C. (2018). ‘The portrait and the artist’: Self-fashioning in The Picture of Dorian Gray. In M. K. Cornish, J. P. McCormack, & C. O'Sullivan (Eds.), Irish Literatures in Transition: A Companion (pp. 140-156). Cambridge University Press.
• Raby, P. (2012). The Cambridge companion to Oscar Wilde. Cambridge University Press.
• Raby, P. (2016). Wilde's "black novel": The picture of Dorian Gray. The Wildean, 48, 4-28.
• Wilde, O. (1890). The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ward, Lock, and Co.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

4.5 pages / 1980 words

3.5 pages / 1676 words

2 pages / 887 words

6.5 pages / 3030 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a classic exploration of the duality of human nature. In chapter 11, this theme is particularly evident as we see the internal struggle and moral decay of the protagonist, [...]

Throughout the Gothic novel Dracula, Stoker uses symbology and imagery to reveal social anxieties and fears of the late Victorian era, for example the use of animalistic description and blood. Wilde, in his own Gothic novel [...]

The Picture of Dorian Gray demonstrates a divide between aestheticism and morality that Oscars Wilde depicts by giving each character a very specific persona that either challenges or indulges in the immoral vices of life. [...]

Throughout history, art has played a major role in portraying the structure of society and the different roles people play in it. In Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, art seems to dictate the life of young Dorian [...]

In Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the concept of influence is clearly reflected in two different characters and in two different forms, and juxtaposes them though the main character and his reaction to the two [...]

The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, is a classic example of a traditional Gothic novel, despite the fact that it isn’t scary. Gothic literature received its name because many examples of the genre were set during the [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best the picture of dorian gray topic ideas & essay examples, 🥇 most interesting the picture of dorian gray topics to write about, 📌 simple & easy the picture of dorian gray essay titles, ❓ dorian gray essay questions.

• Relationships Between Dorian Gray, Lord Henry, and Basil Hallward The relationships between Dorian Gray, Lord Henry, and Basil Hallward are all different yet interesting to analyze. The Picture of Dorian Gray explores topics of male friendship and feelings.
• Dorian Gray and His Downfall Since Basil is the one to introduce the audience to Dorian by describing him in detail, it is only natural to start the assessment of Dorian’s relationships with other characters wit. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Dorian Gray’s and Oscar Wilde’s Connection He completes the portrait of Dorian as he is, and he introduces Gray to Lord Henry, who is a friend of his that he thinks is not morally upright.
• Youth and Beauty in Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray It is in the bounds of the story where the great saying, “the most beautiful flower is the rarest,” is witnessed.
• “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: The Question of Love in the Novel It turns out that the only pure love Dorian experiences is love to art, not to a woman. Dorian is deprived of the ability to love a woman.
• Immorality in “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde The issue of immortality as portrayed in the novel ‘The Portrait of Dorian Gray’ is one of the main themes, which the novel unveils throughout its plot.
• Oscar Wilde’s “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”: The Problem of Deep-Rooted Evil At the outset, Dorian is the model of perfection of male youth and handsomeness. Dorian is totally taken in by Wotton’s glib flattery along with his fascinating theories, and begins developing a paranoia about youth, […]
• Aesthetics in Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” The story, as a monument to aestheticism, however, is supportive of the idea of individuality and shows not the Victorian disciplining of evil, but the aesthetic punishment of likelihood.
• Characters in Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Wilde uses the character of Dorian as a symbol of his ideas regarding the interaction of art and ethics. In it, assertions are made as to the inability of moral judgments to be made on […]
• LGBT Literature: “The Picture of Dorian Gray” The chosen book is Oscar Wilde’s 1891 classic: The Picture of Dorian Gray; a story carefully fashioned to affirm the tilt youths have toward beauty, and the extent most could go to retain that unique […]
• “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde: Dorian’s Life Philosophy and Double Life Answering the question why Dorian Gray was motivated to adopt his life philosophy and to lead a double life it is possible to look at the facts.
• Why Picture of Dorian Gray Is in the Canon? In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is a handsome man and wants to maintain that image. People do respect and value life in the novelThe Picture of Dorian Gray.
• The Importance of Being Bored: The Dividends of Ennui in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Falling Under the Influence: “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Genesis Allegory and Christian Symbolism in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Obsession, Destruction, and Control: A Film vs. Novel Comparison of “Whiplash” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Oscar Wilde, the Science of Heredity, and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Free Reality and Its Metaphors in “Against Nature” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Murder and Mental Breakdown in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Homoeroticism and Sexual Oppression in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Culture and Corruption: Paterian Self-Development Versus Gothic Degeneration in Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Reader’s Sympathy for Dorian From Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Homosexual Desire and the Effacement of the Self in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Immorality Skills: The Fate of Characters and Ethics in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Wilde
• Dorian’s Progression Towards Morality and Responsibility in Oscar Wilde’s Novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Vampirism and the Bible in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Morality and the Role of the Moral Scale in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
• Aestheticism, Homoeroticism, and Christian Guilt in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Oscar Wilde’s Aesthetic Gothic: Walter Pater, Dark Enlightenment, and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Protestant Gothic: Understanding Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Love, Marriage, and Women in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
• The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Artists and Their Muses in Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”
• Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: Presentation of Women in the Opening Chapters
• The Impossible Synthesis Between Hellenism and Hebraism in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: Wilde’s Parable of the Fall
• Aestheticism and Social Anxiety in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• A Tragedy of the Artist: “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Power and Influence of Art in Oscar Wilde’s Work “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Link Between Ethics and Aesthetics in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Obsession With Physical Appearance in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
• The Theme of Materialism in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Stoker’s “Dracula”, Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, and O’Brien’s “At Swim-Two-Birds”: In-Depth Critical Analysis
• The Relationship Between Beauty and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Figurative Language and Literary Devices Used in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Corruption Between the Characters in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Different Gothic Elements in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Understanding the Secretive Life of Characters in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• How Does Oscar Wilde Explore Self-Love in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Themes, Motifs, and Symbols in Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• The Fall From Innocence Dorian in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Hard Science, Soft Psychology, and Amorphous Art in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• How Does the Preface of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Relate to the Story?
• What Is Henry’s Occupation in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Does “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Allude to “Oedipus Rex”?
• Who Illustrated “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• How Old Is Basil in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• What Do Dorian and Lord Henry Have in Common in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• What Do Trees Symbolize in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• What Era Is “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Set in?
• What Is the Role of Innocence in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Who Is David Stone in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• How Does Dorian Gray Die in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• What Was the Main Character in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Accused Of?
• What Is “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Tragic Flaw?
• What Type of Story Is “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Why Is “The Picture of Dorian Gray” So Famous?
• Was the Hero in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” a Narcissist?
• What Sins Are Committed in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Does Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Challenge the Values of the Aestheticism Movement?
• Who Is the Real Villain in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Is “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Sexist?
• Is the Hero of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” a Psychopath?
• Why Is “The Picture of Dorian Gray” a Gothic Novel?
• What Is the Moral Lesson of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• What Is the Irony in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”?
• Does “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Have a Happy Ending?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, December 14). 77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-essay-topics/

"77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 14 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 14 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." December 14, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." December 14, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "77 The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." December 14, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-essay-topics/.

• Symbolism Titles
• Allegory of the Cave Topics
• Heart of Darkness Essay Ideas
• Materialism Topics
• Hills Like White Elephants Essay Ideas
• Animal Farm Research Topics
• Crime and Punishment Titles
• Dracula Ideas
• Frankenstein Research Topics
• Surrealism Research Topics
• One Hundred Years of Solitude Titles
• Language Arts Research Topics
• Edgar Allan Poe Paper Topics
• Charles Dickens Topics
• Satire Essay Ideas

• Galileo Galilei: sample essay
• Kids and violence: sample essay
• Sample essay about Muhammad Ali
• Learning for adults: essay sample
• Breast cancer: sample essay
• Ulysses S. Grant: essay sample
• Sample essay about muckrakers
• Teen pragnency: essay sample
• Sample essay aabout a soul
• Paper sample about happiness
• Schizophrenia: essay sample
• Essay example about death penalty
• Sample paper about corruption
• Gender on business: sample essay
• Mozart: essay sample
• An essay sample on Illicit traffic in drugs
• Analyzing the generation gap
• Pit bulls and fighting
• Reasons for a belief in God
• Italian dessert Tiramisu
• Terrorism in Pakistan
• Lives on the boundary
• History of fingerprints
• If I were Lyndon Johnson
• The Western expansion
• Workplace violence
• Compare & contrast paper ideas
• College cause and effect essay topics
• Good descriptive paper topics
• GED paper topics
• Catchy essay paper topics
• Capital punishment essay topics
• Ideas for your descriptive paper
• Choosing topics for a law paper
• Death of a Salesman essay ideas
• Huckleberry Finn: argument paper topics
• College persuasive essay topic ideas
• Unique illustration essay topic prompts
• Topics for an essay on Nicholas Sparks
• Business cause and effect essay topics
• Informative essay topic ideas
• Choosing topics for a profile essay
• Argumentative essay topics on politics
• Selecting paper topics about the military
• Process analysis essay topics
• College essay topics in accounting
• Ideas about violent video games
• Argumentative paper topic suggestions
• Offbeat topic ideas on Macbeth
• Essay prompts on Streetcar Named Desire
• Selection of topics about Dorian Gray
• Argumentative essay ideas on bullying
• 23 topics on a Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Essay ideas on yourself in 10 years
• Choosing topics about global warming
• Environmental science essay prompts
• Argumentative essay ideas on psychology
• Picking topics about religion & belief
• Best essay ideas on euthanasia
• Writing service
• Essay on a book
• Writing companies

writing rogue

22 thought-provoking essay topics on dorian gray.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a popular option for teachers in literature classes. After reading this classic piece by Oscar Wilde, the next step is to write a thought-provoking paper. Since Oscar Wilde continues to be an oft-quoted inspiration for many, it is only fitting the essay topic be just as inspirational. Here are 22 topic ideas:

• How does Lord Henry influence Dorian?
• Describe the relationship between Lord Henry and Dorian.
• Discuss whether or not the novel is artistic.
• Evaluate the relationship between Dorian and Basil.
• Is it a gothic novel? Explain.
• What is Sibyl Vane’s role.
• Is it a Faustian story? Explain.
• What is the purpose of Dorian destroying the painting?
• Show the similarities and differences between Lord Henry and Basil.
• How do the different male characters define masculinity?
• Share your thoughts on the idea of beauty in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
• Discuss the significance of the title.
• Offer a psychoanalysis of Dorian Gray or another character from The Picture of Dorian Gray.
• Does Dorian Gray have a mental illness?
• How do the names fit the characters?
• Choose a quote from the book and share the significance of it in the story.
• Select a theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray and show the aspects of the novel that led you to that conclusion.
• Discuss the changes that Dorian Gray experiences and how they affect the outcome of the novel.
• What elements from mythology are present in the book?
• Select a review of the novel and discuss whether you agree or disagree with it. Explain your thoughts.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray has been labeled as a cautionary tale. What does it warn the reader about?
• Watch a film version. Then discuss the quality of the adaptation.

Essay ideas can also involve comparing and contrasting the novel with another of Oscar Wilde’s works. Since Wilde was more of an essayist and short story writer, there are many small pieces that would appropriate to discuss in a literature paper. Many students also enjoy looking at Wilde’s personal life and lifestyle to compare it to that of Dorian Gray.

Writing Ideas

• Personal statement writing guide
• Boosting geography essay writing skills
• Literary essay about Animal Farm
• Document based question essay
• How to settle down with a good service
• Writing about Tommy Hilfiger
• Paper writing help: disadvantages
• Looking for a cheap custom essay
• Writing a literary essay conclusion
• Informative explanatory essay
• Essay about school environment

Writing help

Popular essay writing service for generation Z - Zessay.com - very quality service and nice website.

Hints for beginners

• Ways to improve your grades
• Pay someone to write my paper
• Free pesuasive paper
• Life without technology paper
• Finding trusted paper writing help
• Long essay about summer vacation
• Finding a paper sample about market
• Pros and cons of writing services
• Where to buy cheap papers?
• How to complete an IB literary essay

Paper topics

• Persuasive essay topics for 5th grade
• High school paper ideas
• Choosing definition essay topics
• Informative essay topics on caffeine
• Medical argumentative essay topics
• Picking topics related to entertainment
• Essay topics on Scottish independence
• Good ideas about Internet privacy

Apr 23, 2024 © WritingRogue.com. | Developing Strong Writing Habits For Students

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

‘Sunset Boulevard,’ Heading to Broadway, Wins Big at Olivier Awards

The musical, which stars Nicole Scherzinger, won seven awards at Britain’s version of the Tonys. And Sarah Snook won best actress for “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”

By Alex Marshall

A reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” starring Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond, the long forgotten silent movie star who descends into madness, was the big winner at this year’s Olivier Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Tonys.

The musical, which will open at the St. James Theater on Broadway this fall , was honored Sunday during a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London with seven awards, including best musical revival, best actress in a musical for Scherzinger, best actor in a musical for Tom Francis, as the screenwriter who falls for Desmond’s charms, and best director for Jamie Lloyd.

The number of awards was hardly a surprise. After the musical opened last fall, critics praised Lloyd’s stark production, especially highlighting its contemporary twists that included using cameras to zoom in on characters’ faces, then beam their emotions onto a screen at the back of the stage.

Matt Wolf, writing in The New York Times , said that Lloyd’s production belonged firmly “to the here and now.” With this show, the director “takes an established musical by the scruff of the neck and sends it careering into the modern day,” Wolf added.

Sarah Hemming, in The Financial Times , was among the critics to praise Scherzinger’s magnetic performance. “She’s not afraid to look scary or ridiculous,” Hemming said, “but there’s also a strung-out vulnerability about her. And when she sings, she pins you to your seat with the harrowing intensity of her delivery.”

“Sunset Boulevard” beat several other acclaimed productions to the best musical revival award, including “Guys & Dolls” at the Bridge Theater and “Hadestown” at the Lyric Theater.

A host of musicals and plays shared the night’s other major prizes. “ Operation Mincemeat ,” a word-of-mouth hit about a bizarre World War II counterintelligence plot that is running at the Fortune Theater, won best new musical. While “ Stranger Things: The First Shadow ,” a prequel to the Netflix show, now at the Phoenix Theater, was chosen as best new entertainment or comedy play.

The best new play award went to James Graham’s “ Dear England ,” about the English national soccer team, which transferred to the West End from the National Theater.

In the hotly contested acting categories, Sarah Snook (“Succession”) was named best actress for “ The Picture of Dorian Gray ,” a solo show running through May 11 at the Theater Royal Haymarket. Snook plays all 26 roles, often interacting with recorded projections of her characters.

Before Sunday’s ceremony, some critics had expected the best actor award to go to Andrew Scott for a similarly dazzling solo performance: a one-man “ Vanya ” at the Duke of York’s Theater. In the end, the prize went to Mark Gatiss for his role as the revered actor and director John Gielgud in “ The Motive and the Cue ,” a play by Jack Thorne that dramatizes the fraught backstage relationship between Gielgud and Richard Burton as they worked on a Broadway show. Like “ Dear England ,” that play ran at the National Theater before transferring to the West End.

Alex Marshall is a Times reporter covering European culture. He is based in London. More about Alex Marshall

Arts and Culture Across Europe

Our theater critics and a reporter discuss the big winne r —  Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard” — and the rest of the honorees at this year’s Olivier Awards .

New productions of “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” in Paris follow a French tradition of adapting familiar works . The results are innovative, and sometimes cryptic.

The internet latched on to 16-year-old Felicia Dawkins’ performance as The Unknown at a shambolic Willy Wonka-inspired event . Now she’s heading to a bigger and scarier stage in London.

When activists urged Tate Britain in London to take an offensive artwork off its walls, the institution commissioned Keith Piper  to create a response instead. The result recently went on display.

The new National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam has been in the works for almost 20 years. It is the first institution to tell the full story  of the persecution of Dutch Jews during World War II.

At a retrospective of John Singer Sargent’s portraits in London, where the American expatriate fled after creating a scandal in Paris, clothes offer both armor and self-expression .

Corruption In Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde that tells the story of a young man, Dorian Gray, who becomes corrupted by his own vanity. The novel explores the themes of morality, corruption, and art. The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published in 1890 and has been adapted into various forms of media, including film and stage.

The novel has been controversial since its publication due to its explicit content and because it promotes a lifestyle that many people find objectionable. However, it remains one of Wilde’s most popular works and continues to be studied by scholars and students today. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a classic example of a novel that explores the dark side of human nature. The story’s protagonist, Dorian Gray, is a young man who is consumed by his own vanity.

He believes that his good looks will last forever and that he can never grow old or die. As a result, he leads a life of decadence and luxury, indulging in all sorts of vices without consequences. The only thing that remains unchanged throughout Dorian’s life is a portrait of himself that he keeps hidden away. The portrait gradually becomes more and more corrupted as Dorian’s soul grows blacker.

The novel culminates with Dorian realizing the true extent of his corruption and the destruction that it has wrought on his life. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a cautionary tale about the dangers of vanity and the corrupting influence of power. It is also a unique and timeless work of literature that continues to be relevant today.

According to the nurture theory of human behavior’s development, a child is born without any understanding of how to interpret things and has no experience. The youngster is innocent and pure. It leans on others for direction and trusts them to show it the way.

When a kid is delivered, most are greeted by attentive nurses, doctors, and parents who care for them. The first encounter between this kid and these other people has an impact on him or her. Their parents and classmates have an influence on their personalities, as well as who they become over time.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde tells the story of corruption. The novel is a study of the power that corrupt influences have not just on individuals, but also on society as a whole.

Dorian Gray is a young, handsome man who lives a life of luxury. He has everything he could ever want and more. However, what he doesn’t realize is that all of his possessions come at a cost. As he indulges in his pleasures, he gradually becomes more and more corrupt. The novel addresses the idea that when someone has everything they could ever want, they become bored and start to look for new ways to entertain themselves. This often leads to them engaging in activities that are harmful to both themselves and those around them.

One of the things that makes The Picture of Dorian Gray so interesting is the way it addresses the issue of corruption. It doesn’t just focus on how someone can be corrupted, but also on how that corruption can spread to those around them. The novel shows how a corrupt individual can influence those around them and ultimately lead to the downfall of society as a whole.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is an important work not just because it is a well-written story, but also because it highlights a very real issue that is still relevant today. Corruption is something that can start small, but if left unchecked, can quickly spiral out of control. The novel is a cautionary tale about the dangers of corruption and the need for people to be aware of its dangers.

While The Picture of Dorian Gray is a work of fiction, it contains many elements that are based in reality. The issue of corruption is something that is all too real and it is something that people need to be aware of. The novel highlights the importance of maintaining a sense of morality and being aware of the corrupting influence that those around us can have. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a timeless work that is still relevant today. It is a story that everyone should read and learn from.

In the United States, cannabis possession is a misdemeanor in some states and a felony in others. In other places, it’s not considered as harmful as alcohol or tobacco. However, there are severe penalties for those who break the law: jail time or fines.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the corruption and consequences are represented by Lord Henry Wotton’s influence on Dorian Gray as well as his painting. Wilde emphasizes Dorian’s attractiveness and youth to imply his incorruptibility. Throughout the book, Dorian is characterized as attractive, good-looking, and beautiful.

The Dorian Gray we are first introduced to is an innocent, naïve young man who knows very little about the world. However, as the novel progresses and Dorian becomes more corrupt, his physical appearance changes to match his inner ugliness. The once beautiful and handsome youth is transformed into a hideous creature. The portrait of Dorian Gray becomes an accurate representation of his soul, which has become corrupted by evil.

The physical changes that take place in the portrait show the progression of corruption in Dorian’s soul. The picture reflects every sinful deed that he commits, and as a result, it becomes increasingly ugly. Wilde uses the contrast between Dorian’s actual physical appearance and the appearance of his portrait to demonstrate the power of corruption. The portrait serves as a representation of Dorian’s true self, which has been corrupted by evil.

While Lord Henry does not necessarily corrupt Dorian directly, his words and actions have a profound influence on the young man. Lord Henry is a hedonist who lives for pleasure and believes that one should pursue any desire in order to achieve happiness. He encourages Dorian to live life to the fullest and to never let anything stand in his way. In other words, he teaches Dorian to be selfish. As a result of Lord Henry’s influence, Dorian becomes obsessed with pleasure and pursues it relentlessly. He becomes careless and reckless, leading to his eventual downfall.

More Essays

• The Picture Of Dorian Gray Essay
• How Art Relates to Dorian Gray
• The Picture Of Dorian Gray Analysis Essay
• The Picture Of Dorian Gray Research Paper
• Compare And Contrast Lady Windermere’s Fan And The Importance Of Being Ernest Essay
• Gender Roles In The Male Gaze Essay
• The Pros And Cons Of Judicial Corruption Essay
• Corruption In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales Essay
• Corruption In Food Industry Essay
• Hedonism Oscar Wilde

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.