The Picture of Dorian Gray

Introduction

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical and gothic novel, first published in July 1890. It is the only novel of Oscar Wilde, an Irish poet.

The Preface

“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.”
—Oscar Wilde

Summary

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a phenomenally written novel dealing with realism on the peaks of art and chemicalizing your thoughts to the point where you grapple with the burning fire inside you. In this quote, as it left influence on my mind, Wilde says, people who have known reality are tend to find ugliness even in exquisite things, and as the consequences of their sufferings, they become corrupt and lose all the charms they once owned in their unmarred ages. People who find beauty in splendid things are those for whom beauty is a mere artificial jewelry whose brilliance captivates them, and consequently, they find hope in it.

The Initial Parts

The Picture of Dorian Gray revolves around Dorian, his enthralling portrait, and the contentious influence of Lord Henry upon him. In the initial parts of this wonderful novel, the artist (Basil) who is behind Dorian's portrait is, praised for his artistic work, and then, the writer discusses Basil's willingness to not making it public. The reason for this is the petrification he feels on account of revealing so much of him in this portrait. Henry, however, is baffled by the lad in the picture.

According to Henry, “Real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid.”

This quote leads you to think that beauty and intellectualism are two sperate things—the latter can ruin the former, and the former is what it is because of not having the latter. Thoughts destroy beauty, and expose it to the finest of the ugliness. In short, Henry is indirectly pointing out Dorian's beauty—he believes that Dorian is beautiful because he never thinks anything.

The Conversation

After some more trivial things happen, comes into the entity reason of Dorian's marred soul. Upon meeting with Henry, the lad finds himself on the rim of falling into unconsciousness due to Henry's paradoxical talks. Henry influences him in a way that guides him to locate the wickedness in himself even if it never wants to be unearthed. During the conversation, when Henry reveals his nature to Dorian, he says that influence of any kind makes a person plagiarize things, virtues, or even sins. The person under the influence becomes the shadow of someone else and sees things the way the influencer makes him see. Not only this, he pressurises Dorian to trace his own nature and get rid of any dread.

Before the main events happen, upon seeing the marvelous portrait of himself, Dorian cries, “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older. If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that—for that—I would give everything! Yes, there's nothing in the world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!”

The Latter Parts

From this point, tragic events take place about the ruination Dorian puts on his soul. He is different before meeting Henry, he becomes someone else upon meeting Henry, and in the latter parts, he becomes morally corrupt, which he thinks is his reality. Dorian becomes afraid and envious of his beauty and its lifetime guarantee of remaining the same; whereas, he will become old, living in a age where people look back at their youthfulness with fatal lamentations.

Conclusion

For me, this novel says way more than the words written on the pages and more than our ordinary comprehension skills; therefore, it shall always be counted as one of my favourite literary novels of all time.