The Portrait of Dorian Gray- Inner Beauty to External Beauty

A detailed Summary of The Portrait of Dorian Gray- Inner Beauty to External Beauty

Inner Beauty to External Beauty

Beauty never lasts forever, but if there is inner beauty, it will shine through the skin and penetrate to the surface. If the inner beauty is corrupted, the beauty on the outside will corrupt as well. The perfect examples: Dorian Gray and Narcissus, two men destroyed by their own beauty. Dorian is a wealthy young socialite that is corrupted when he discovers he will never grow old and only his painting will bear the age and sins he commits. Narcissus is an innocent beauty that falls in love with his own image and dies. These two are similar in many aspects in which Dorian Gray reflects the mythology of Narcissus in a more modern and cynical version portraying them self-centered with only their beauty and beliefs.

Pure and naive, that was how Dorian and Narcissus began. Both inside and out, they glowed from their beauty and innocence while everyone around adored them. But temptations and sins are always part of the society in which they are surrounded by. Dorian, stunned by Lord Henry's remarks on how "he [has] only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, and fully," But is it true? As you get older, you lose your beauty and you can't live fully? I don't believe it. I know many b

Becoming so self-absorbed with their ideology of what beauty is for them, Dorian and Narcissus go past the extent of what beauty should really and crosses over to a place where they are never able to redeem themselves. Dorian takes advantage of his benefit of having the painting to a degree of pure evil when he murders Basil after showing him the truth. In doing so, it seems Dorian has taken a pleasure to see what he is able to do and get away with because no one will ever know. He enjoys gazing from his own reflection in the mirror and comparing it to the gruesome looks of the painting because he has realized that he has escaped from reality. Years after years, his beauty stays the same no matter what evil he did, but what comes around goes around. The corruption beneath the skin always seeps through no matter what because it is reality and one cannot escape from it no matter how hard they try. And Dorian was no exception. Narcissus at the same time was unable to realize the truth until it was too late. He could have been able to understand more about his inner self and develop a better personality if he was only able to understand that beauty wasn't just on the outside, but also on the inside. In result, neither Dorian nor Narcissus were able to truly understand how unimportant and what disasters their self-centered love for their own beauty could lead to until it was too late.

Both selfishly centered and believing that only their beauty is what matters most, both Dorian and Narcissus were not able to escape from reality. Narcissus had lived in a surreal state of mind in which he thought nothing matters other than his own beautiful reflection; his passion was so strong that he neither cared to eat nor drink. In result it destroyed him and led to his death. This is the same for Dorian for he had thought he had escaped from the reality of bearing the burden of life on his face and leaving it all to the painting. However consciously he did not understand that the painting is him and that he was given a chance to see his inner soul. If he had not given in to the temptations of sins, Dorian would have righteously attempted to redeem his soul by telling the truth about Sibyl's death. Yet he gave in to the temptation and delighted in knowing that he was able to act carelessly without having to bear the consequence. He also came to understand that his beauty allows him to get away with things because in the nature people tend to believe the best in those who are beautiful. This was the same in the story of Narcissus in which all the nymphs had thought he was beautiful, but they did not see the corrupted inner beauty in which made him so self-absorbed. In consequence because of their selfishness and inability to see the truth, their real-selves beneath all of their clothing and beautiful features, both Dorian and Narcissus destroys themselves. Dorian had resulted in a point where he was unable to face the painting anymore because it had became so revolting and in doing so he kills himself when trying to slash the painting. Dorian had never come to understand that he and the painting were the same person. The ugly and revolting picture was his inner soul depicted onto a frame and it had become so horrible that even Dorian was unable to bear seeing it anymore. Just think of how many years of sins and evil the painting had to endure, allowing Dorian to dance freely among the aging people around him. During the 20 years Dorian had never thought to rede

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Approximate Word count = 2338
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English