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The character of Dorian Gray Essay
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An essay which achieved an A* on the character of Dorian Gray from 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'
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The Character of Dorian Gray EssayDuring the course of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, this ekphrastic, fin de siècle novel written
in 1891, Oscar Wilde explores the many ways in how Dorian is presented adding to the
never-ending complexities within the character. At the start of the novel the protagonist is
depicted as a largely impressionable, unstained young gentlemen however as the novel
progresses we quickly see how even a member of the aristocracy is subject to the most
sinful degeneration, as a result of becoming increasingly concerned over the transience of
beauty and wanting to pursue his own pleasures and sensations above all else – regardless
of any implications this might have upon others. His arguably inevitable downfall starts from
the moment he is introduced to Lord Henry Wotton and this only gets progressively worse
as we continue through the novel, in key moments such as the way Dorian treats Sibyl as
well as the murdering of his old friend Basil Hallward.
It is not until the second chapter of the novel that the reader meets Dorian Gray, yet Wilde
centres most of the first chapter around the protagonist, illustrating the shear importance
of this character through the use of the third person description bought about by painter
Basil Hallward as he discusses the subject of his portrait with Lord Henry. Even before we
are told the first description of the character though, Wilde beautifully illustrates the
importance of this character through slightly slowing down the pace of the novel in a brief
yet delightful depiction of the surroundings – “the wind shook some blossoms from the
trees, and the heavy lilac-blooms, with their clustering stars, moved to and fro in the languid
air” where this visual and auditory image echoes the attractive appearance of Dorian as well
as the naturalistic imagery perhaps relating to his innocence and purity at this stage of the
novel (clearly very different types of description appear before key moments later on in the
novel as the character experiences his downfall such as the references of the night and fog).
Basil illustrates the idea that Dorian Gray exists as something of an ideal – he is the
archetype of youth and beauty, “his beauty is such that Art cannot express it”. This
highlights to the reader that this man is much more than any ordinary form of beauty – even
to a man of such artistic skills, the extent of Dorian’s splendour cannot quite be reached.
This would undoubtably arise thoughts for the reader relating to the fact that if one can
hold that much power in beauty alone, what might happen if these powers were abused…
(especially since Victorian society placed such a high importance on youth and beauty that it
determined factors such as your class and therefore future prosperities. This also links to
the French nineteenth century idea of “l’art pour l’art…” - there is a lack of
importance/interest in focusing on what lies beneath the surface and rather we should just
accept the appearance as it is). When the reader is then introduced to the central character,
Wilde pays a close attention to the way in which Dorian is presented rather much like a child
seeing the world for the first time – becoming quietly engrossed yet transfixed on these
ideas surrounding a new way of living and the plentiful exciting experiences life can have
with this. This presentation stems from the amount of influence that Lord Henry (Wilde’s
creation of an astonishingly eccentric and flamboyant character) has over the young man –
through his very careful word choice, the use of his many paradoxes as well as the infinite
amount of epigrams. This is the first pivotal moment that leads to Dorian’s overall downfall
and some could even argue that it played the biggest part since without this interaction,
Dorian might not have lived his hedonistic lifestyle to quite the extremes. One example of
the impact this meeting had is demonstrated through the use of free indirect discourse as
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