Eternal youth. It is a common topic in stories throughout time, one that appears in as early as the writings from Herodotus in Ancient Greece and is still alive today. Over the centuries, the idea has evolved to fit each story's need, but there is a common misconception at the first enticement of eternal youth: that it is a joyous, carefree existence. After all, one would never experience the horrors of watching their body and mind deteriorate. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde initially portrays Dorian with this mindset, only to have him reconsider his decision like countless of characters before and after him.
When a young, innocent Dorian Gray sits for a portrait done by Basil, he is unaware as to what the portrait will become. Add Lord Henry's sinful ideas into the mix, and Dorian pleads for the painting to grow old instead of him. As he is corrupted more and more by Lord Henry, using drugs and women at free will, the painting does exactly as he wishes, turning into a sinister form of the "perfect" Dorian. His physical self however, remains as youthful as ever, which becomes a point of contention among his friends.
There is a love that flows through the painting that is two-fold. Basil is entranced by Dorian's beauty, and initially is afraid to show anyone his work for fear that his feelings for the young man will be revealed. The painting also contains Dorian's love for himself, specifically for his youth. Plato would feel that the painting is simply a copy of the ideal beauty, and therefore feel that Basil has wasted his life away when he could have been doing something useful.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's warning to all those that wish to posses eternal youth and beauty. While initially carefree, Dorian soon becomes obsessed with the paintings new form because of its horrific nature. He hides the painting away, yet that does not stop him from thinking about it or sneaking away to look at it. In Plato's writings, Diotima states, "at the sight of ugliness [beauty] frowns and contracts and has a sense of pain, turns away, and shrivels up..." (72). Dorian has a similar reaction viewing the painting. Finally fed up with the hold the painting has on him, he stabs the painting with a knife only to be killed, with the painting restored to its original, youthful state and Dorian in the older, sinister form that painting had. It is the true message of Dorian Gray to be young while you can, but to avoid looking for ways in which to stay young, because that leads to a life of misery. It is a message that in today's society of botox and plastic surgery should be embraced.
Great job! This is some wonderful writing. I love how you connect how Plato would feel toward Basil's works in the third paragraph. It was also really great how you explained that botox and plastic surgery are the contemporary ways of staying young forever, even though many readers probably feel that Dorian's success at staying young is hard to achieve. I would have to disagree with you in the beginning paragraph though, because I feel the majority of youth isn't always carefree and joyous. We are both probably aware of this, but many people have painful/hard youthful experiences and struggle with things such as depression.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your paragraph on the love contained in the painting. I hadn't thought of the painting as containing Dorian's love for himself, and it is an interesting concept. Do you feel that at the end of the book Dorian still has love for the painting, or just that the painting captures his initial love for his youth? I also liked your use of the quotation by Diotima from Plato's writings in the last paragraph and felt it accompanied your point nicely. I would have liked to hear more of your opinion on the modern eternal youth (botox and the like), for I think it was an interesting point.
ReplyDeleteI'm in complete agreement with Guyon. Nice work! I really liked the second paragraph, I thought it was nicely dictated. The point you argue is spot on. The fact that we are always desperate for this anesthetic against growing old and losing our youth, and, therefore, losing our 'beauty', too. My girl, Joan Rivers, is a perfect example. She has had over one hundred different procedures done on her face. She's terrified of looking like and seventy-nine year old woman, and thus, continues to try to keep herself from aging further. All in all, nice job, Megan!
ReplyDelete