Corruption in Beloved & The Picture of
Dorian Gray
As Dorian acts on Lord Henry’s manipulation, the portraits beauty becomes corrupted – reflecting how the
soul is corrupted with sin, but the exterior can hide this, in the way that Dorian’s youth and beauty acts as
a façade for his sin. In Beloved, Sethe’s past is corrupted, not as a result of her own action, but due to
slavery and this has been a constant disturbance in her life as Beloved acts as reminder for her through
her corrupted manner. Both show the significance of corruption and the physical and mental effects it has
on people, both the sinner and the victim of sinful acts.
FORM & STRUCTURE: The combination of a realistic narrative and surreal elements of fantasy convey both
novels to have a magic realist genre to depict the lines that are blurred by sin, the separation of good and evil
are diminished when characters display themselves as innocent when actually corrupted. Dorian is the
innocence of the painting, and Sethe is the innocence of Beloved, both are together as one, supernaturally, but
present different morals outcomes.
1. CATHARTIC MURDER – THE JUXTAPOSITION CONVEYS THE CORRUPTED NATURE OF BOTH
DORIAN AND SETHE AS THEY FIND PURGATION OF EMOTIONS IN THE ACT OF MURDER
Beloved -> ‘the four horseman’ ‘like a hawk on the wing’ ‘little hummingbirds stuck their needle beaks right
through her headcloth’ ‘No. No. Nono. Nonono’ ‘collected every bit of life she had made…precious and fine and
beautiful’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘crushing the flower in his hand’ ‘he stabbed him twice more, but the man did not
move’ ‘the mad passions of a hunted animal stirred within him’ ‘No. Everything was still’
2. CORRUPTED PAST = CORRUPTED FUTURE – BOTH DORIAN AND SETHE EXPERIENCED HARM
IN THEIR PASTS AND THIS HAUNTS THEM TO THE FUTURE
Beloved -> ‘her past was like her present, intolerable’ ‘I got a tree on my back’ ‘Mister was allowed to be and
stay as he wants’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘Margaret Devereux… made all the men frantic by running away with a penniless
young fellow; a mere nobody’ ‘Kelso got some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult his son-in-law in
public’ ‘the girl died too’ ‘a child born in pain’ ‘the mother snatched away by death, the boy left to solitude and the
tyranny of an old and loveless man’ ‘something tragic’
3. CORRUPTED NATURE – WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE BEAUTIFUL IS DESCRIBED AS HAUNTED
TO REFLECT THE EXTERIOR VS INTERIOR OF A CORRUPTED PERSON
Beloved -> ‘blossoms shrivelled like sores’ ‘dead ivy twines’ ‘the riot of late summer flowers’ ‘a white staircase…
blizzard of snow’ ‘crickets were screaming’ ‘the stench of the roses’ ‘doomed roses’ ‘leaves simmering in the
sun’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘rich odour of roses’ ‘pink-flowering thorn’ ‘ ‘the moon hung low in the sky like a
yellow skull’ ‘the streets like the black web of some spawling spider’ ‘a huge misshapen cloud’
4. DESENSITISATION TO VIOLENCE – MAGIC REALISM TO SHOW HOW CHARACTERS ARE SO
USED TO VIOLENCE, THEY HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED BY THE VIOLENCE – IT IS NORMAL
Beloved -> ‘sixty million and more’ ‘Sixo laughed’ ‘her past was like her present, intolerable’ ‘124 was spiteful.
Full of baby’s venom’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘breeds horror… never dies’ ‘damp odour of mildew’ ‘the fatal canvas’
, Setting in Beloved & The Picture of Dorian
Gray
Setting reflects the progressive decay of characters. For Dorian, the setting at the start is overwhelming, a
reflection of his flamboyantly stroppy personality and how easy he is to be manipulated by Lord Henry.
Later on, when he has murdered Basil, the setting of the East End mirrors his corrupted soul. In Beloved,
at times when setting should be happy and innocent, it is decaying, for example at the carnival, this links
to Dorian’s perspective of the East End.
FORM & STRUCTURE: Wilde writes a social satire as a witty criticism of the flaws of Victorian society, this is
mirrored in the way he twists the description of flowers and clouds and London streets. Beloved is also arguably
a social satire for its criticism of slavery, and the setting also refers to this.
1. THE ANTI-HERO’S INNER FEELINGS REPRESENTED IN FLOWERS
Beloved -> ‘the stench of roses’ ‘doomed roses’ ‘old roses were dying’ ‘blossoms shrived like sores’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘rich odour of roses’ ‘pink flowering thorn’ ‘your rose-red youth and rose-white
boyhood’ ‘made out of ivory and rose leaves’ ‘wounds are like red roses’ ‘his nature has developed like a flower’
2. SWEALTERING, TOXIC HEAT VS COMFORTING, CATHARTIC COLDNESS AND DARKNESS
Beloved -> ‘they trusted the rain and the dark’ ‘the sky, stripped of blue, was white hot’ ‘Hot. Nothing to breathe
down there and no room to move’ ‘floating on darkness’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘fantastic shadows of birds’ ‘dimly lit streets, past gaunt, black-shadowed
archways and evil-looking houses’ ‘quivering, ardent sunlight showed him the lines of cruelty round the mouth’
‘dim arrested light’
3. THE CLEARING (BELOVED) & SHOOTING (DORIAN) EXPOSES THE EXTENT OF CHARACTER’S
SIN AND HOW OTHERS ARE UNAWARE
Beloved -> ‘the sounds of leaves simmering in the sun under thunderous feet’ ‘you strangled her’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘the crop frost lay like salt upon the grass’ ‘a thin film of ice bordering the lake’ ‘the
wood seemed to have suddenly come alive with faces’ ‘the sky was an inverted cup of blue metal’
4. SOCIAL CONTEXT PRESENTED THROUGH SETTING, WHICH DEPICTS THE CONFLICTING
OPINIONS OF PLACES AND ISSUES AT THE TIME
Beloved -> ‘a driver whipped his horse into gallop… necessary when passing 124’ ‘124 was spiteful, full of
baby’s venom’ ‘they chain-danced over the fields’ ‘the clouds were in my way’
The Picture of Dorian Gray -> ‘misshapen clouds’ ‘the dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant
organ’ ‘Dorian Gray watched with listless eyes that sordid shame of the great city’
