The portrait is the main symbol at work here. It’s a kind of living allegory, a visible interpretation of Dorian’s soul. Basically, the picture represents Dorian’s inner self, which becomes uglier with each passing hour and with every crime he commits.
What is the story behind Dorian GREY?
History: Dorian Gray is an orphaned boy who is the heir to a great fortune. Basil Hallward paints his portrait, and Dorian declares that he would give his soul if he were always to be young and the painting instead would grow old. … Fanatical about the portrait, he is driven to murder and deception.
What is the main idea of The Picture of Dorian Gray?
The main theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray is the relationship between beauty and morality. Oscar Wilde plays on the Renaissance idea of the correspondence between the physical and spiritual realms: beautiful people are moral people; ugly people are immoral people.
Who is Dorian Gray in love with?
Sibyl
Men do have relationships with women in the novel—Dorian falls in love with Sibyl and Lord Henry himself is married—but the novel’s heterosexual relationships prove to be rather superficial and short-lived. If the novel is homoerotic, it is also misogynistic.
What sins did Dorian Gray commit?
Throughout the story, Dorian commits many sins, for example, using his influence to ruin others’ lives and the murdering of Basil Hallward. However, Dorian’s appearance is still young and beautiful because the portrait suffers from all the sins he commits but not him.
Why did Dorian Gray sell his soul?
The legend tells of a learned doctor who sells his soul to the devil in return for knowledge and magical abilities. Although Dorian Gray never contracts with the devil, his sacrifice is similar: he trades his soul for the luxury of eternal youth.
Is Dorian Gray based on a true story?
Dorian Gray was clearly based on a living person, a member of Wilde’s literary homosexual circle in the early 1890s when the story was first published. If Wilde’s fiction is strange, the real life story of John Gray, Dorian’s original, is even more bizarre.
What does Dorian Gray fear?
Dorian’s fear points to an important theme in the book: A life devoted solely to the pursuit of selfish pleasure will always be marred by self-con-scious fear. Dorian has what he wants — eternal youth and a life filled with pleasure — but he can’t fully enjoy his life for fear that his secret will be discovered.
What was Dorian Gray obsessed with?
A radiantly handsome, impressionable, and wealthy young gentleman, whose portrait the artist Basil Hallward paints. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian becomes extremely concerned with the transience of his beauty and begins to pursue his own pleasure above all else.
Who is Lord Henry’s wife?
Victoria Wotton
Victoria Wotton Lord Henry’s wife. Victoria appears only once in the novel, greeting Dorian as he waits for Lord Henry.
Is Dorian Gray a bad guy?
He runs a gentlemen’s club for witches known as Dorian’s Gray Room, although he views it as a gentlemen’s only club, he will generally serve anybody and is very welcoming and helpful to many characters who need him. This version of Dorian is not a villain and instead a heroic and wise man.
Did Dorian GREY sell his soul?
The legend tells of a learned doctor who sells his soul to the devil in return for knowledge and magical abilities. Although Dorian Gray never contracts with the devil, his sacrifice is similar: he trades his soul for the luxury of eternal youth.
Is Dorian Gray an immortal?
Immortality: After having his soul trapped within a painting, Dorian gained immortality. He does not age and seems to be immune to all conventional illnesses, diseases, viruses and infections.
Is Dorian Gray the devil?
Although Dorian Gray never contracts with the devil, his sacrifice is similar: he trades his soul for the luxury of eternal youth. … After all, the artful Lord Henry himself has as profound an effect upon Dorian’s life as Basil’s painting does.
How did Dorian Gray lose his innocence?
Lord Henry feeds Dorian with thoughts of staying young forever, this causes Dorian to think irrationally. Dorian feels guilty for Sybil’s suicide. At this point, Dorian loses all innocence because he feels responsible for the death of another. Dorian wishes that his portrait would grow old while he stays young forever.
What mental illness does Dorian Gray have?
The mental illness is Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which caused Dorian’s character change from pure man to arrogant one.
How did Dorian Gray sell his soul?
The legend tells of a learned doctor who sells his soul to the devil in return for knowledge and magical abilities. Although Dorian Gray never contracts with the devil, his sacrifice is similar: he trades his soul for the luxury of eternal youth.
Did Dorian Gray sell his soul?
The legend tells of a learned doctor who sells his soul to the devil in return for knowledge and magical abilities. Although Dorian Gray never contracts with the devil, his sacrifice is similar: he trades his soul for the luxury of eternal youth.
Is Dorian in love with Sibyl?
As Dorian describes Sibyl and his love for her, Dorian admits that he is entranced partly because Sibyl Vane is an actress and, thus, a different woman every night. He confesses his love for Sibyl, calling her a “genius,” and in the next breath states that he doesn’t really care who she is or where she came from.
Is Dorian Gray good or evil?
Now that Dorian has corrupted other people and committed murder, he knows that he has fully given up on trying to live a good life and can be considered evil. In his mind’s eye he sees Basil, who appears as a timeless paragon of goodness, as well as memories of his former life, and Dorian cannot bear the guilt.