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English Literature CFL - VNU
The story shows how shallow people can be while judging others. Another interesting point is
the misleading statement that the beauty always comes together with goodness. The painting
which serves as a mirror of Dorian's soul perfectly reflects the inevitably changes in his
character, while the beauty of his face is unchanged. No one beliefs in the evil stories about him
because of his outstanding outer appearance,' The Picture of Dorian Gray' is a timeless story
about what is really important in life, namely our inside. Only by knowing our hidden emotions
we can really judge whether the person is good or bad.
STUDY QUESTIONS
The first significant stage of Dorian’s portrait might be called the beautiful stage. Basil Hallward
paints Dorian’s portrait in the beginning pf the novel, and, it is said to be his best work yet. The
picture not only illustrates Dorian’s true outer beauty, but it also accentuates on his stunning
youthful image. The portrait is given to Dorian to keep for himself to remember how lovely he
looked in his youthful days. Basil and Dorian alike adore the portrait, however they have no idea
of what is in store them in the future.
The next stage of Dorian’s ever changing portrait is slightly changed from the fine-looking
image of the novel’s beginning. Dorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, a beautiful and extremely
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English Literature CFL - VNU
talented young actress, and goes to see her perform almost every night. He becomes engaged to
her and, rightly so, decides to bring his friends along with him to show off his future bride at one
of her performances. Sibyl, however, realizes that she is in love, and decides that she need not
act to her full potential. In fact, she performs horribly and disgusts Dorian and his friends alike.
After the show, Dorian becomes furious with Sibyl and declares his love for her null and void.
Soon thereafter she commits suicide and Dorian’s picture suddenly changes. Almost everything
is still intact except for his smile. It has changed from the once beautiful smile, to a cruel and evil
looking grin. From here on, the portrait changes from day to day in an increasingly malicious
way.
The third and final stage of the portrait represents Dorian in a full fledged evil form. While the
picture has been changing all throughout the novel, it takes a dramatic change when he single-
handedly kills one of his best friends. Basil follows Dorian into his house and wants to see his, as
he remembered, beloved picture of Dorian. While looking at the portrait in amazement and
confusion, Dorian lashes out upon him in a mad rage. He stabs Basil again and again in the head
for reasons no one will ever know. After this incident, Dorian’s portrait changes even more. He
realizes that there is a look of cunning in his eye, along with scarlet blood stains on his hands. In
closing, Dorian’ picture reaches an all time level of wickedness, and, because of this, he attempts
to destroy it for good, but ends up killing himself in return.
Finally, the imagery that Oscar Wilde uses so well in Dorian Gray affects the novel greatly in
whole. As the portrait changes, so does the mood and the actions of the characters. At first, when
the portrait is beautiful, everyone is happy, and it seems as though nothing could ever go wrong.
As Dorian’s life of crime gradually begins to accelerate, however, things begin to change. The
mood tends to shift from a joyful tone, to more of a ghastly and horrifying one. This is not fully
shown until the novel shifts eighteen years into the future. Rumours are constantly being spread
about Dorian and his disgraceful habits while weather is constantly dark and gloomy. Another
peculiar fact is that not one person dies in the novel until Dorian’s behavior begins to change.
When the portrait is in its opening stages, only Sibyl Vane dies. When the portrait is in its
closing stages, however, Basil, James Vane, and Dorian himself all meet death themselves. In
conclusion, Dorian’s portrait changes the whole mood of the novel, and has some effect on
everyone in the novel, whether it be directly or indirectly.
In conclusion, imagery plays a significant role in Dorian Gray. The one significant image, the
portrait, is seen constantly throughout the novel. As the image changes, so does everything else
in the story. The picture not only affects the way the characters act, but it also affects the mood
in return. In closing, Dorian Gray’s portrait coincides perfectly with the mood and actions of the
characters, which range from perfection and harmony to evil and cruelty.
CHAPTER 2 – ANALYSIS
The preface was not included in the first printings of the novel, but was added later by Wilde as a
direct response to accusations of immorality and indecency. Several of the statements made in
the preface are thus purely defensive: for example, Wilde writes that "When critics disagree the
artist is in accordance with himself." However, the preface also establishes many of the novel's
major themes and provides the reader with a means of interpreting different aspects of the story.
The opening chapters introduce us to the novel's major players. We learn a great deal about Lord
Henry, Basil, and Dorian, and are provided with information that will inform the development of
the story. The ways that Wilde portrays each character's personality are particularly notable. For
instance, the reader meets the incomplete portrait of Dorian before Dorian himself even makes
his first appearance. Dorian exists as a beautiful but essentially superficial image first and
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English Literature CFL - VNU
foremost, even before he exists as a human being. After all, the title of the book is The Picture of
Dorian Gray, suggesting that the novel is about the image of the man, rather than about the man
himself. In this manner, Wilde begins to blur the distinction between man and image (a practice
that begins in earnest when the picture comes to reflect the true nature of Dorian's soul), raising
questions as to the true location of one's identity, and the value of superficiality. Lord Henry
remarks that "It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances" (21), and Wilde offers
the reader no choice but to do so in this instance. Like Basil, who seems more smitten with
Dorian as a model than as a person, like Lord Henry, who claims to value beauty above all else,
and like Victorian society in general, the book itself seems more concerned with the image of the
protagonist than with the man himself.
At times, both Basil and Lord Henry seem to ascribe to ideals consistent with those of the author.
Basil asserts that "there is nothing that art cannot express"; is a dirct rephrasing of the line "the
artist can express everything" from the preface. Lord Henry's habit of constantly spouting
"profound" aphorisms and his languid, sensual personality recall Wilde's own social persona.
However, to assume that either character is intended to be read as a representation of Wilde
himself is a fallacy. Both characters also express opinions that directly contradict with the beliefs
found in the preface; a fact that becomes clearer as the novel progresses.
Basil's reclusiveness is mentioned early on almost as an afterthought, but plays an important role
later in the novel. Since he customarily withdraws from society on a regular basis, his absence is
unremarkable when he eventually disappears for good. Another notable aspect of Basil's
character is his personal devotion to Dorian. There are a number of indications that the painter is
smitten with Dorian on more than a professional level. These feelings, based on Dorian's beauty
and purity, eventually lead to rejection by the boy, and ultimately to Basil's alleged inability to
create any more great art.
The second chapter, in which Dorian himself makes his first appearance, describes the beginning
of Dorian's corruption at the hands of Lord Henry. It also introduces Dorian's inadvertantly
faustian bargain, as the boy pleads for the picture to age in his place. Worth noting is the fact that
Lord Henry invites Dorian into Basil's garden as he delivers his lecture on youth, beauty, and the
value of immorality. This Eden-like setting emphasizes the fact that Dorian's response to Henry's
words represents the boy's fall from grace; it is Dorian's original sin.
Dorian's initial response to the portrait recalls the statement made in the preface that "Those who
find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming." The painting is a
masterpiece, certainly a "beautiful thing," but the image sparks jealousy and hatred in Dorian
because it reminds him of the fleeting nature of his own youth. He is already "corrupt without
being charming," but this marks the starting point of his steady fall from grace. Basil's attempt to
destroy the painting with a knife, and Dorian's exclamation that "It would be murder"
foreshadows the events that take place in chapters 13 and 20.
CHAPTER 20 – ANALYSIS
While thinking of Hetty, Dorian remembers telling her that he was a very wicked man, to which
she responded that "wicked people were always very old and very ugly." Like the shallow people
of Dorian's class, the "pure" Hetty assumes that appearance is everything. While this
superficiality is precisely what allows Dorian to win so many hearts, it also prevents anyone
from truly knowing who he is.
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English Literature CFL - VNU
Dorian resolves to undo his past, to block it from his thoughts, and to focus on ensuring a
positive future. He crushes the mirror given to him by Lord Henry, a symbolic rejection of his
own vanity and the corrupting influence of Henry's friendship. He desperately clings to his
treatment of Hetty as an indicator that it is possible to cleanse his soul, but it is too little, too late.
Even this seemingly conscientious gesture was committed out of the hedonistic desire to
experience an unfamiliar sensation, and the vain wish to improve the appearance of his soul, as
depicted in the portrait. Vanity, not morality, drove his action, proving once again that Dorian is
a condemned soul.
When Dorian kills himself by trying to destroy the painting, the picture and the man once again
trade appearances. The man in the portrait becomes young and beautiful, while the real Dorian
becomes old and disfigured by guilt. Dorian has unwittingly realized the fear he had upon first
seeing the painting: that he would wither and die, while the painting would remain young and
beautiful forever. Furthermore, since the painting has been restored to its original appearance, the
masterpiece of Basil Hallward is returned to the world. Dorian, seeing the knife, thinks that "As
it had killed the painter, so it would kill the painter's work" (177), but the work and the painter
are instead granted the immortality of artistic greatness, while Dorian himself is destroyed.
The weapon used by Dorian is the same one he had used to kill Basil. Ironically, Basil offered to
destroy the painting with a knife as soon as he sensed Dorian's negative reaction to it (chapter 2),
but Dorian's newfound vanity and appreciation for artistic beauty prompted him to throw his own
body in front of the image. Eighteen years and eighteen chapters later, Dorian decides to do
precisely what he had prevented from happening, and once again his body throws itself before
the painting, subject to the dangers of its beauty.