The Picture of Dorian Gray

Living in a world to full of the appearance and stereotype of being beautiful can completely destroy one’s self-esteem, and even their own life. In Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, he uncovers how curiosity, hypocrisy, and vanity lead someone into their own demise. By looking at Dorian Gray’s actions that revolve around beauty, it is evident that vanity is the largest contributing factor in Dorian’s corruption and subsequent downfall, thus demonstrating how focusing on only one aspect

vivid descriptions to show how the area looked as Dorian walked. The opening paragraph shows inside of Dorian’s secret life; the misery and nightmare that he is living in. In this chapter we see Dorian suffering as well. Dorian’s hands shake as he rides to the opium den, his eyes are listless. Dorian seeks salvation inside of the opium den. The word souls is mentioned five times. Dorian wants to cure his soul, because ultimately his soul is dead. Dorian knows that there is no reparations for what he

Richard Lankford The beauty of Dorian Gray lies in the portrayal of himself, and an artist to be a beautiful creation. Although, he is beautiful he has ugly meanings, and it's corrupted with charm. The painting is his moral sense in art, so it's the moral life of Dorian Gray. Moral art is that is well formed to the character of Dorian Gray. Which are selfish, corrupt, evil, and fundamentally decadence in sin. It holds his guilty mind in the form of a painting. Dorian Gray is counter-balanced by himself

want to be a better person, so then The Portrait might not be as ugly as it is. The Portrait represents the ugliness of someone that is perceived as beautiful. The first time we notice that The Portrait changes, is after Sibyl Vane commits suicide. Dorian feels partially responsible, but at the same time he does not even care. He says “She had no right to kill herself. It was selfish of her” (pp. 134). He does not feel guilty until he looks at the painting for the

The literary classics A Streetcar Named Desire, Picture of Dorian Gray, and East of Eden each have characters who take on a different persona to hide their flaws. Blanche Dubois, Dorian Gray, and Cathy Ames all live their lives as someone or something they’re not; each character’s self deception ended in unforeseen tragedy. In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois desires to be viewed as a pure and innocent girl despite her sex and scandal filled past. In Scene 5, Blanche

Looking Past Appearances People are susceptible to making faulty assumptions about others. Intentionally and unintentionally, judgments upon an unfamiliar face is made swiftly. In less than a second, a snap judgement that is “surprisingly hard to budge” is formed in the mind (Highfield, Wiseman, Jenkins). In a phenomenon known as the halo effect, “the perception of positive qualities in one thing or part gives rise to the perception of similar qualities in related things or in the whole.” (Dobrin)

society’s rules of public morality. Though Wilde defended his novel and other works of art, his revision and publication of the novel the following year included even more controversial material than it previously did. This revised version of The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in 1891 which included a preface, which included the rights that the artist had and the argument of creating art for the sake of art itself, rather than for the appeasement of Victorian

While most people wish to live a life of joy, Siddhartha and Dorian Gray dispute over the idea of the good life being comprehensive or temporary. Stress expert Dr. Kathleen Hall explains “You will not find happiness in a pleasure prison” (Hall, “What Is the Difference…”). This idea of a “pleasure prison” represents pleasure as a constant change in satisfaction, while happiness is a stable state of gratification. Siddhartha determines that the state of enlightenment is attainable through trial and

Known for his unique writing style, prominence in the Decadence movement, art critiques, and imprisonment for homosexuality, Oscar Wilde is one of the most well known Irish authors of all time. Oscar Fingal O'flahertie Willis Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin Ireland. His father, Sir William Wilde, was a successful aural surgeon, and his mother, Jane Francesca Elgee, was a revolutionary poet and a great supporter of the Irish nationalist movement. Her passion for literature had an obvious

In Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, both works conclude that a monster originates from a contaminated soul. When one's soul begins to rot, a monster emerges from within, the soul begins to transform into a monster. Both Wilde and Shelly’s monsters initially begin as pure souls; however, they are later contaminated by the evils of the world. Wilde´s character, Dorian Gray, an inner monster begins to arise when Lord Henry inserts the fear that sinning scars