The Picture of Dorian Gray is set in London, England, in the late nineteenth century. The metropolis serves as a suitable setting for a story about beauty, hedonism, and the pursuit of pleasure. The gritty character of large cities is portrayed throughout the story as Dorian, a wealthy young man, visits some of the town’s more tattered theaters and eventually begins to spend time in opium dens. This stresses the less appealing aspects of a life centered on pleasure and beauty. The title portrait of Dorian Gray is the novel’s most evident symbol in terms of motifs. When the artist Basil Hallward falls in love with Dorian’s beauty and paints the portrait that becomes his masterpiece, Dorian realizes that as he grows older, he will lose his appeal. Dorian ignores his conscience in pursuit of a life of pleasure and immorality, allowing the image to bear that load for him. The portrait, on the other hand, serves as an external source of consciousness for Dorian, tormenting him to the point where he hides it from any other prospective wandering eyes. Another motif is white, which is a classic hue. Dorian starts out as an impressionable and naïve young guy at the beginning of the tale. The color white appears repeatedly throughout the story to remind the audience that Dorian has lost his innocence. Finally, throughout the story, there is a theme of homoerotic male relationships. Basil is enamored with Dorian’s attractiveness and, for a time, is moderately obsessed with him as a subject. Lord Henry wants to lure Dorian into living a hedonistic life so he may observe the consequences. Dorian threatens Campbell with blackmail, and it is indicated that he may have homosexual material on him.
The aim of experiencing art in the process of attempting to live a life of pleasure is explored in this book. In this scenario, a picture bears the uglier repercussions of a life of pleasure in such a way that the owner is forced to accept responsibility for his faults. Basil’s experiences demonstrate this, as does his belief that he will be unable to exhibit the painting in a gallery because he has become too invested in the image’s subject. Despite his displeasure with the situation, the portrait is largely regarded as his life’s masterwork. When Sibyl becomes engaged to Dorian, she also lets go of her inhibitions and commits to a life of love. She loses her ability to behave after that. All of this begs the question of whether art can truly be art for the goal of increasing life’s beauty. Is this the truth, or does art lend itself to something more by default? The novel as a whole conveys a powerful moral message.
From the beginning of the tale, when Basil tells Lord Henry about the young guy he recently painted and how enthralled he was by the man’s lovely features, youth and beauty are prized qualities. Lord Henry detects something remarkable here and decides right once to influence the young and susceptible Dorian, knowing well that Dorian will be able to win over anybody he wants. Beauty is regarded as something that can renew and inspire throughout the work, so it’s no surprise that Dorian is scared of losing this power as he grows older. In essence, what Dorian foregoes in order to keep his power over others is his soul.
Despite the stories that spread about him, Dorian’s ability to preserve a youthful complexion helps him maintain favor with the who’s who of London society. These people definitely value attractiveness, demeanor, and appearance over a person’s goodness of heart. Overall, Dorian finds it simpler to discard his values in order to act according to his own selfish desires because no one in his sphere of social influence holds him accountable save Basil, who tries but dies as a result of confronting Dorian. When Dorian tells Lord Henry that he killed Basil, Lord Henry laughs it off, claiming that Dorian isn’t quite cruel or forceful enough to have killed Basil.
Dorian begins to associate with people who share his personal philosophy that life is meaningless unless it is joyful and beautiful. Apart from these individuals, it is hinted that Dorian associates with impressionable young men and influences them in the same way that Lord Henry influenced Dorian when he was younger. It’s no surprise that Dorian slipped into this way of life when society kept reminding him how beautiful he was but that he’d lose it one day. Dorian loses his conscious and moral compass when he discovers a means to keep himself from aging, but his face keeps him in society’s good graces because he appears innocent and pure physically.
EAC PRESS 