The main character of the book is a young and extremely Andromeda man named Dorian Gray. He is sitting to a painter called Basil Hallways. Basil is greatly inspired by the beauty of the boy and Dorian becomes painter’ s muse. In the artists studio Dorian also meets Lord Henry Watson, a man Of great intellect and immoral views. When the painting is finished, Basil and Henry are shocked by the exquisiteness of the picture. Dorian also admires the way the picture depicts his look, but he becomes frightened when his new friend, Lord Henry, tells him that his beauty will fade with age, whereas the picture will remain the same.
Dorian makes a assassinate wish that he would remain young and the picture aged instead of him. Being influenced by Lord Henry, Dorian abandons the life of virtues and starts the life of vices. His behavior seems to be reflected in the portrait and Dorian quickly realizes that his wish has come true. Scared by what he sees in the picture, Dorian decides to hide the portrait in a locked room. However, this event doses ‘t change anything, Dorian continues his life of deception and cruelties. Then one evening he meets the artist again.
After he showed him the picture, Dorian 5 hatred of painter’ 5 work overwhelms him and he kills Basil, Dorian rises to carry on with his life as usual, but the feelings of guilt grow stronger and stronger. Hymnal, Dorian decides to destroy the picture and all the bad memories it represents. By doing so, Dorian actually kills himself. The Picture of Dorian Gray was written in 1889 in a period known as Victorian England. ” The term refers to the reign of Queen Victoria over the British Empire and the culture within it during 1837 to 1901.
The main values of the Victorian culture were Puritanism, hard work, family and public face. The public face and social status were very important during this period. Because of that people avoided some topics during conservation or pretended that they know nothing about it, for example. But the reality was usually the right opposite. (ROEBUCK 201 1) When O. Wiled presented his novel, it was criticized as scandalous and immoral for its openness. For his protection and explanation Wiled revised the novel in 1891 by adding a preface and six additional chapters.
The preface answers the critics who charge The Picture of Dorian Cray with being an immoral tale: Wiled believed that art possesses an intrinsic value?that it is beautiful and Hereford has worth, and thus needs serve no Other purpose, be it moral or political. This attitude was revolutionary in Victorian England, where popular belief held that art was not only a function Of morality but also a means Of enforcing it. (separateness. Com – The Picture of Dorian Gray) During the Victorian period several types of novel were produced. The most popular one was Victorian novel”.
It is a realistic novel, where hard work and progress is eventually rewarded and vices are punished. Among other types of novel such as fantasy, adventure or detective novel in the second half of the 18th entry also emerged gothic novel. (Vita 2011) The Picture of Dorian Gray contains several themes which are typical for a gothic novel: supernatural presence, darkness and rain, murder and suicide, characters with mysterious past and a secret room, (CUMMINGS 2011) In comparison to another gothic novel of the period, Withering Heights by Emily Bronze, Wiled ‘ s novel does not differ a lot.
The main characters of both novels are passionate, cruel, influenced by another person and both characters have power over the others. The main difference might be the theme of love, Withering Heights resents love as something unique, passionate and rather immortal, whereas The Picture of Dorian Gray shows us love as a reasonable fact with some duration which depends on human qualities such as acting skill, good look or possession. Before meeting Henry, Dorian was an innocent young boy who had probably followed the strict Victorian social codes.
