In, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," the main character Dorian acquires a thirst for youth that eventually dominates his life. ... Like Narcissus, the portrait represents an image of him, but unlike his Greek counterpart, the picture presents Dorian with a microscope to the quite horrific reality of his inner self. ... Finally, if anything, The Picture of Dorian Gray proves to its readers that the need to be beautiful is a recurring concept of life. ... The desperation to do anything in order to retain beauty not only presents itself in Dorian gray but in today's society as well, allowing be...

• Word Count: 849
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde which expresses the desire for eternal beauty and youth, which is a representation of today's society and its fixation on appearance. ... This is an example of how The Picture of Dorian Gray represents modern day obsessions with beauty and how vain people can become when the realisation of their own physical attractiveness becomes aware to them. ... This example shows the current selfishness in comparison to that used and examined in The Picture of Dorian Gray. The last concept that is used in Dorian Gray and is a modern-day issue is...

• Word Count: 1090
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the main character Dorian Gray, turns into an sick and twisted adult by means of cursing his fate and pledges his soul only so that he could live without bearing the physical burdens of aging and sinning. ... Dorian Gray at the beginning of the novel is known as radiantly handsome, impressionable, and wealthy young gentleman. As the novel progresses, Lord Henry's influence over Dorian grows stronger. ... The major conflict in the novel is that Dorian Gray, having promised his soul in order to live a life of perpetual youth, must try...

• Word Count: 314
• Approx Pages: 1

In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the main character Dorian Gray, turns into an sick and twisted adult by means of cursing his fate and pledges his soul only so that he could live without bearing the physical burdens of aging and sinning. ... Dorian Gray at the beginning of the novel is known as radiantly handsome, impressionable, and wealthy young gentleman. As the novel progresses, Lord Henry's influence over Dorian grows stronger. ... The major conflict in the novel is that Dorian Gray, having promised his soul in order to live a life of perpetual youth, must try...

• Word Count: 314
• Approx Pages: 1

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is the story of moral corruption by the means of aestheticism. In the novel, the well meaning artist Basil Hallward presets young Dorian Gray with a portrait of himself. ... "If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! ... Because Lord Henry is responsible for influencing Dorian Gray, he is partly the cause of the death of Dorian (5810). ... The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel including a moral dialogue between conscience and temptation that is powerfully conveyed. ...

• Word Count: 1332
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Oscar Wilde explored this theme in his book, The Picture Of Dorian Gray. ... Dorian Gray in The Picture of Dorian Gray lived during a time when appearance and status were paramount. Gray had everything; wealth, influence, youth, and intelligence. ... Lord Henry told Dorian "To me, beauty is the wonder of wonders. ... Dorian's vanity was out of control. ...

• Word Count: 451
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

After analyzing both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, it is quite apparent that Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray's narcissism cause much evil, death, and destruction. ... His narcissistic concentrations on his own superficial and materialistic qualities, coupled with the lack of ethics are part of the cause of his evil and destruction (Gillespie, Ethics and Aesthetics in The Picture of Dorian Gray). It may seem that in Wilde's, The Picture of Dorian Gray, there is only one man who causes evil through his narcissistic actions, th...

• Word Count: 1962
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the preface of Oscar Wilde's novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray", there is a list of many guidelines which he proposes dealing with art and such topics. ... Basil Hallward is an artist who paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. ... Lord Henry states that "It is the real Dorian Gray, that is all." ... The revelation of Dorians beauty to himself begins the ruining of his character. His wish that he could remain young and the picture turn old is realized, and as the novel continues, Dorian's many sins seem apparent in the face of the painting. ...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The Picture of Dorian Gray is ranked among the most prominent examples of aestheticism in the nineteenth century literature, with its protagonist Dorian Gray and Lord Henry's aesthetic lifestyles. This essay's purpose is an interpretation of the philosophy and ideas of Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray. ... The picture in The picture of Dorian Gray symbolizes at the same time Basil and Dorian's hidden souls. ... His ideas of Art for art's sake, are expressed in the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray where he argues that : "There is no such thing as a moral o...

• Word Count: 1864
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography

The Picture of Dorian Gray is Wilde's only novel. ... (Wilde 92) The Preface in The Picture of Dorian Gray was written as an answer to the critics. ... What Dorian Gray's sins are no one knows. ... Not just in the Picture of Dorian Gray but also in many other Wilde works we find the topic of double life. ... The Picture of Dorian Gray could be considered not only a novel but also a philosophical work. ...

• Word Count: 1890
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Society throughout history has influenced people and behavior, in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey," by Oscar Wilde we find this most prevalent. ... To the aesthete, the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it" (Duggan, The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray). ... Duggan also explains, "Rather than an advocate for pure aestheticism, then, Dorian Gray is a cautionary tale in which Wilde illustrates the dangers of the aesthetic philosophy ...

• Word Count: 1387
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Throughout the first section of The Picture of Dorian Gray, there are many references of Dorian Gray and Lord Henry influencing each other. Dorian Gray is greatly influenced by Lord Henry while Dorians influence on Lord Henry is much more subtle. ... From the moment lord Henry and Dorian Gray met, Lord Henry was very interested in Dorian. ... In conclusion, Lord Henry has had a huge influence over Dorian Gray, while Dorian's influence over Lord Henry is very small. ... All of this shows how influential Lord Henry is when it comes to the once innocence of Dorian Gray....

• Word Count: 642
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a philosophical novel, written by writer and playwright Oscar Wilde. ... The yellow book is a gift to Dorian from Lord Henry. ... ("For years, Dorian Gray could not free himself from the influence of this book.... Nonetheless, all of them cannot remain indifferent towards Dorian. ... " (149) Hallward's idolatry of Dorian, and ultimately murder, is yet another example of Dorian's immoral influence. ...

• Word Count: 806
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Picture of Dorian Gray was written in the Victorian age time period where drugs, crime, prostitution, and homosexuality were all illegal, although it was very common in that current society. This influenced the establishment of the character Dorian Gray, a man who falls into crime and other immoral behaviors. ... Dorian Gray held a secret that was deeper than any person would ever anticipate. Basil Hallward, an artist and friend to Lord Henry, becomes obsessed with Dorian Gray and wants to paint a portrait of Dorian. ... They find a recognizable, beautiful, youthful Dorian in the pic...

• Word Count: 585
• Approx Pages: 2

The texts I have covered this year "The picture Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, "Prize Giving" and "The Glass Jar" by Gwen Harwood and "The Door" by Miroslav Holub all have circumstances which have influenced self change, some positive experiences causing negative change and some negative experiences causing positive change. Circumstances can influence positive change for many, this is especially true for the protagonist Professor Eisenbart in the poem "Prize Giving" the circumstance is the girl shooting the owl, in the Oscar Wilde text "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" it is where Basil Ha...

• Word Count: 470
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Graduate

Response Basil Hallward is immediately won over by Dorian Gray and when he describes their first meeting in the first chapter he says "we were quite close, almost touching.... " Dorian takes advantage of Basil's naivety as Lord Henry has turned Dorian from a sweet and innocent boy into a dangerous and manipulative man, Basil tries to save Dorian from Henry's corruption but it is too late as Dorian has traded his soul for eternal youth. ... Dorian has a stronger hold on Dorian than Basil as Lord Henry offers Dorian excitement and the pursuit of pleasure whereas as Basil ...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3

Gray and Faustus" Self-Destruction In the novels Doctor Faustus and Picture of Dorian Gray the authors develop the main characters into showing their downfall in life caused by their self-centered corruption. ... On the surface, Dorian Gray is an example of a typical ideal aristocrat during the time which Oscar Wilde lived in. ... In the novel Portrait of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde emphasizes on the value of innocent beauty and uses Gray as an example of how this beauty can have the power to cause a person to become self-centered. ... Dorian Gray "sold himself to the devil for a pretty ...

• Word Count: 1755
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Eventually we find out that both Dorian, from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Kurtz, from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, are defeated by their darkness and fall prey to its wrath. ... The power of greed and selfishness take over Dorian and Kurtz to create an ugly evil side to them. ... For Dorian, this is the ultimate evil act, the desire to rid himself of all moral sense. However, in all fairness, the odds were against Dorian ever since he traded his soul away. ... In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian omits to aspects of his life that lead him deeper into the d...

• Word Count: 1170
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

To be or not To Be Was Dorian Gray an easily influenced person? ... Lord Henry Wotton had a massive impact on Dorian. ... "You could not have helped telling me, Dorian. ... When Sibyl is in the picture, Henry's influence came to a mere halt. ... Dorian tells Lord Henry, "I do love her. ...

• Word Count: 511
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Through the three main characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde expressed his views on art in very different ways. Basil Hallward, an artist, supported the aestheticism movement while talking of his painting of Dorian Gray. ... In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Gray blamed a book that Wotton had given him as a present for the many evil deeds he committed. Wotton said to Gray, "Art has no influence upon action. ... Wotton summed it up by saying to Gray, "Life has been your art" (240). ...

• Word Count: 654
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The relationship between Good and Beauty as well as Life and Art in ThePicture of Dorian Gray In my essay I am going to examine how appears in The Picture of Dorian Gray the question of "Beauty- and, what is strongly related to it especially at Wilde, the question of art. ... In The Picture of Dorian Gray Beauty is connected with Innocence. ... Lord Henry went to the garden and found Dorian Gray burying his face in the great cool lilac-blossoms, feverishly drinking in their perfume as if it had been wine."" ... You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything th...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Just remember Lord Henry Wotton, one of the main characters in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", by Oscar Wilde! There is no doubt that he had a very powerful influence on Dorian Gray. ... It was really exciting for him to observe the effect his words had on Dorian's views on life. ... Dorian was a young and inexperienced man, whose character hadn't been formed yet. ... So did Dorian. ...

• Word Count: 625
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

" – Romer This idea was also portrayed in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Dorian, the hero of the story, described how much he liked the beautiful Sybil to his friend Harry, "Your voice and the voice of Sybil Vane are two things that I shall never forget. ... She had the profession of an actress, which was the fact that attracted Dorian to her, as he claims to go see her play every night. In addition to that, Sybil also stood on equal ground as Harry for she influenced Dorian as much as he did as he explained that he could not decide whom to follow when he...

• Word Count: 1170
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" Sibyl Vane, too embodied the characteristic of self-sacrifice, she kills herself because of her love for Dorian Gray. ... Sybil Vane, a character in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is another memorable character. ... Sybil is a Shakespearean actor, but performs badly because she had lost her inspiration for acting due to her love for Dorian. After seeing her performance, Dorian rejects her. It is at this point that Dorian notices that the painting has changed. ...

• Word Count: 1603
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School