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How Does Oscar Wilde's Life Change In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Decent Essays

Oscar Wilde’s first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published as a complete story in 1890 and published as a stand-alone novel in 1891. Wilde is known more as a great playwright and certain traits of his plays, such as those in The Importance of Being Earnest, are mirrored in his novel. Wilde often makes fun of marriage, focuses on beauty, and in the two cases mentioned above, uses mistaken or altered identities to add to his work. That said, The Picture of Dorian Gray is not all light-hearted and comical. The novel delves into the psyche to understand cruelty and how it changed a jolly, handsome, young Dorian Gray into an ugly, bitter man. While Dorian changes throughout the novel, three events are detrimental to his life: breaking the engagement to Sibyl Vane, living for escapes, and killing Basil Hallward. First, cruelty is introduced to young Dorian Gray when he breaks his engagement to actress Sibyl Vane after she completes a terrible performance. He lashes out at her so …show more content…

Basil liked Dorian’s good looks and wanted to paint him. When Basil did so, it made Dorian even more narcissistic. The first act of cruelty towards Basil is Dorian befriended Basil’s friend Lord Henry Wotton. Basil wishes to hide Dorian from Henry as he knows Henry will contaminate Dorian’s young mind. As Dorian becomes obsessed with Henry’s ideals and morals, his own change from pure to cruel. Moreover, as Dorian’s affection towards Basil lessens, so does his patience. It began with not sitting still anymore for sessions but then takes a darker turn. Furthermore, when Dorian kills Basil after forcing him to witness his aged and hideous portrait, Dorian has no remorse. So little remorse that aside for the cleanup, he rarely thinks of it again. The full reversal of Dorian’s character from a young, loving boy to a narcissistic criminal shows the power of cruelty to take over a

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