Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is an intricately composed criticism of human vanity and the folly of the young mind. The book follows the introduction and carefully orchestrated destruction of a perfect specimen of beautiful youth, revealing in his vices the darker points of desire and the sickening search for pleasure and happiness that plagues the human condition. The maestro of this ill-fated symphony of corruption manifests in the character that is Lord Henry Wotton. When Lord Henry first analyzes Dorian Gray, he describes the young man as Plato would describe any beautiful specimen: "Grace was his, and the white purity of boyhood, and beauty such as old Greek Marbles kept for us...Dryad-like, and not afraid, because in his soul who sought for her there had been wakened that wonderful vision, to which alone are wonderful things revealed: the mere shapes and patterns of things becoming, as it were, refined, and gaining a kind of symbolical value, as though they were themselves patterns of some other and more perfect form whose shadow they made real"(Wilde 34). Dorian is to Lord Henry the closest thing to Plato's vision of a perfect ideal, the universal as in when Plato stated "If particulars are to have meaning, there must be universals." In this case, Dorian is the universal for young, naive beauty. What Lord Henry decides to do with this ideal model is what gives the story its sadistic draw.
Lord Henry plants in Dorian's mind a fear of maturation, and the seeds of corruption. One of the most dangerous ideas that is planted is this: "'The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.'" (Wilde 19). This, in combination with the notion that "'youth is the only thing worth having.'" (Wilde 21), is the slight blemish on Dorian Gray's innocent psyche that allows him to tear himself apart, piece by piece. As the reader pulls his or herself through the story, Dorian spirals more and more deeply into sin and waste, seeking out only things that he finds new and stimulating, while giving in to his rawest emotional desires. He even kills one he once regarded as a friend for little more than an opinion.
As the book comes to an end, one is left with a sense of something, once pure, that has been so twisted and deformed that it is a saddening thought to even consider, yet thought provoking and beautiful in its significance.
Hey there Cavecat. I'm glad to see you analyzed the book so deeply. It's interesting that you blame Dorian's corruption solely on Lord Henry. Thundercat here would wonder if there are other internal factors motivating him to lose any sense of shame. Perhaps he was birthed with that notion and Lord Henry just needed to access it. A very interesting blog post, indeed.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I like your point about how the tiny suggestion that "youth is the only thing worth having" and "the only way to rid oneself of temptation is to give in to it" grew slowly in the back of Dorian's mind until he was consumed by them. This is often how our minds work as well. We hear a tiny rumor about something, and it nags at ever increasing levels until we are forced to confront it. In Dorian's case though, it was the cause of his ultimate demise. Interesting post!
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