dorian gray

A detailed Summary of dorian gray


"The content of the writing brings you directly into the author's mind." In the novel, Dorian Gray, the author, Oscar Wilde, related the values during the 19th century through his characters. His personality and view of life is expressed through his novel-"Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks of me: Dorian what I would like to be" On the surface, Dorian Gray is an example of a typical ideal aristocrat during the time which Oscar Wilde lived in. Throughout the novel, Dorian goes through stages in his life that leads to his self-absorbed and corrupted character. His curiosity of life strives him to explore these stages. Even till this day there are examples of "Dorians" in our society. They believe they are living in an age of continual crisis and are searching for ways to put meaning back to their lives.

At the beginning, Basil paints a portrait of Dorian Gray that people see as an appreciation of Dorian's beauty. Dorian is so pure and innocent-he doesn't know anything about the anxiety of life. He has all the beauty of a child in him, but then Lord Henry enters into the picture with his influential goal for life and its meaning. "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influen


With our high A.Q., we are always reaching for the top and experiencing change and growth. We are always willing to reach for the top and always have the desire to be better than others are. False beauty is expressed many times throughout the century. It always overcomes us and we lose sense of our true beauty or even worst, our soul. We can't always blame ourselves for desiring to choose our bodies over our souls. One of the biggest reasons for the outcome of "modern Dorians" is because of our expectations as a society. We expect so much of people that we sometimes change to meet others' or even our own expectations.

The value of true beauty relates to both the novel and the 19th century. In the novel, Oscar Wilde emphasizes on the value of beauty. "Beauty is a form of Genius-is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation." However, both Dorian and the 19th century lack true beauty. Dorian Gray "sold himself to the devil for a pretty face". They're both empty on the inside, with no religion at all, which leads to Nietzsche and his philosophy that "God is dead". In the novel, Basil acts as God, Lord Henry as Nietzsche, and Dorian as the 19th century. During the Renaissance, people used to be really faithful to God like Dorian and Basil used to be friends. Then, along came Lord Henry who influences us with his corrupted thoughts. Eventually, we lose our image of God and even "kill him". We cover this emptiness with a thin superficial shield.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1001
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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