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¶ … picture Dorian Grey" Wilde. Then, refer poem "One a Chamber --
The Picture of Dorian Grey: The conflict between the interior and exterior
The Picture of Dorian Grey is a tale of concealment. The titular protagonist Dorian begins the novel a beautiful and innocent young man. The portrait that the painter Basil Hallward creates of Dorian and Dorian's real image is the same in the first chapter of the work. However, author Oscar Wide suggests that through the power of art, the created image is so lifelike it takes on the real, physical burdens of aging. As Dorian grows dissipated and cruel, he does not physically change, although the painting changes. The painting becomes a kind of secret, true self for Dorian, hidden in the recesses of his home. No one is allowed to see it, except Dorian. The painting is a living, realistic depiction of Dorian's inner life, versus Dorian's exterior appearance. Over the course of the novel, Dorian comes to blame the existence of the painting for his dissipation. Wilde suggests that it is Dorian's character that is fundamentally to blame. His interior life that is concealed by his physical self causes the immorality rather than his youth, beauty, or even the existence of the painting.
The symbolic meaning of the portrait is that the social image perceived by society is a lie. The image that people display to the world is often false, while the self hidden within their homes, however dark and obscure, is truer. This is why artists like Basil are intent upon concealing the truth in life, and only speak truly in their art. When Basil creates the painting, his greatest work, and is urged by his friend...
I have put too much of myself into it." Basil also refuses to tell Dorian's name at first to Lord Henry, as if protecting his creation from the cruel realities of the world embodied in the aristocratic lord. "When I like people immensely, I never tell their names to any one. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy." However, Basil's sense of integrity leaves him horrified by many of Dorian's callous actions. This eventually motivates Dorian to take Basil's life, to silence his fears about the portrait's existence becoming known. The true artist has a moral conscience, but the 'art' takes on a life of his own. Similarly, Lord Henry's 'creation' of Dorian's fascination with immorality leads Dorian down paths of turpitude not even Lord Henry is willing to entertain, such as murder.
Lord Henry is the first person to plant the idea in Dorian's head that it is tragic that Dorian will age, but the painting will be eternal. The 'reality' of art and life, replication and reality are reversed in the novel. Lord Henry and Basil both seemingly 'turn' Dorian into a picture, Basil by creating it, and Lord Henry by urging Dorian to identify with his image rather than a true code of ethics and a true sense of self. When Dorian must kill Basil, the creator of the painting, to keep his secret, he is able to go back into society with a relatively impassive face, and no one knows what has transpired. When Dorian does not eat at a dinner party, they assume he is in love, because of the impassive beauty of his face. Dorian's true nature is…
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. "One need not be a Chamber -- to be Haunted -- "
Complete e-text: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/emilydickinson/10622
Wilde, Oscar. The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Complete e-text:
http://www.doriangray.net/
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