The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Example for Free

The imagine of Dorian sr.en EssayDorian Gray is a wealthy and incredibly handsome childlike Englishman. He meets common basil Hallward, a great, well-known artist during his time at a social gathering. after their meeting, Dorian decides to have his portraiture painted by sweet basil. sweet basil is greatly taken by the brilliance of Dorians physical show. As an artist, sweet basil becomes inspired, to great extent, by Dorians ostensibly exceptional exquisiteness. Dorian becomes Basils muse. This results in Dorian session for quite a few portraits by Basil. A friendship also ensues because of their frequent encounters.(Wikipedia the dethaw encyclopedia, 2007) Through his portrait sitting sessions with Basil, Dorian Gray meets lord Henry Wotton. Lord Wotton is a very close friend of Basils. He is a nobleman and is quite the intellectual. A very articulate, witty and interesting conversationalist, Dorian Gray is instantly taken by Lord Wottons charm. Lord Wottons ideas are radical and goal to challenge the widely-accepted conservative concepts of truth. Lord Henry Wottons thoughts and theories reveal that he is a staunch truster of self indulgence.He is an exponent of the quest for both proper and immoral life experiences. However, his lifestyle reveals the opposite. He takes part in the social activities of London high society but he is careful liberal to non involve himself in distasteful conduct. He is eager to take Dorian under his fly and t distributively him the principles of new hedonism. Basil confides in Lord Wotton that he finds Dorians Grays physical attributes enchanting and oerpowering. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Upon hearing Basils confession, Lord Wotton sought to influence Dorian by his ideals.In one of their encounters, Lord Wotton seeing Dorians portrait by Basil leaves a distressing message to Dorian that youth and beauty are fleeting. Dorian, the vain person that he is, is greatly trouble by this statement. He agonizes over the preordained fact that his handsomeness, which he considers his best trait is vanishing as each day goes by. Dorian unknowingly chucks a curse on his portrait, wishing that he could dislodge places with image in the photograph. He hoped that the painting would grow old and he would stay the same, vibrant and youthful. Basil gives Dorian the portrait to calm him down.(Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Dorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, a young, miserable actress. In spite of her brother, James warnings that a relationship with Dorian will not do her whatever good, she still persisted. She gets engaged with Dorian. One night, the raving Dorian proudly brings Lord Wotton and Basil to the theater to learn Sibyl. As the play unfolded, the two guests openly disapprove of Sibyls performing prowess. It is Dorians record to be overly concerned of other peoples thoughts about him and his choices that he takes the criticism to heart.His guests try to console hi m that it does not matter if Sibyl is a good actress or not as long as they love each other but instead of calming down, he asks them to leave. Dorian tells Sibyl about this and the young and promising Sibyl who is brush away by her feelings for Dorian decides to abandon her love for acting for Dorian. In return, Dorian ruthlessly breaks impinge on their relationship. This leaves Sibyl heartbroken and greatly distressed. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Upon returning home, Dorian gazes at his portrait and he observes that the expression on the portraits face had changed from a calm expression to a scornful look.Seeing this, he feared that his wish to change places with the image on the portrait had come true and that his transgressions will be authenticated on the canvas. He decides to reconcile with Sibyl the next day. Unknown to him, Sibyl had taken her own life. The next day, Lord Wotton tells Dorian the news of Sibyls suicide. When he startle heard of the terrible new s, Dorian was distraught. To console Dorian, Lord Wotton advises Dorian to see Sibyls death in a different light. Lord Wotton counseled Dorian to treat Sibyls death as rather, a creative feat by being the epitome of tragedy and put this misfortune behind him.Simply put, Lord Wotton advised Dorian to consider Sibyls death as just another case of life imitating art. Dorian hides his portrait for fear that someone else would see the changes in the portrait. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Given the conduciveness of the situation, Lord Wotton decides to take his mentorship with Dorian further by giving Dorian the yellow-bellied book containing the exploits of the books luxurious lead character. The book becomes Dorians bible. Dorians obsession with the book and hedonism signals the start of his corruption. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007)After many years, Dorians appearance remains the same but his corrupt reputation precedes him by stories of his scandalous deeds and i mmoral exploits that follow his persona in Londons high society. A direct opposite of his physical appearance, his portrait by Basil had change considerably. The person in the portrait now looks repulsive, unbeknownst to many. When news of Dorians reputation reaches Basil, he decides to confront Dorian about his behavior. During the confrontation, Dorian shows the now hideous painting and the terrified Basil entreats Dorian to repent.In a fit of rage, Dorian kills Basil. This is followed by other awe-inspiring deeds until one night, Dorian, overcome by fear and guilt tries to destroy his portrait. In his struggle to do so, he collapses on the floor and his servants are baffled to see the dead body of a disfigured, old man, a knife in his heart, in the place of their master. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Homoerotic love This novel is complete with instances that show homoerotic love. Both Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton are vying for Dorian Grays attention. (Wikiped ia the free encyclopedia, 2007)Basil is instantly won over by Dorians physical attributes during their first meeting. He becomes so obsessed over his physical drawing card to Dorian that it is expressed in his portraits. Basil was so drawn to Dorian to the point where he said as long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me. Basil is very much concerned over Dorians behavior and his reputation. This is very evident in the scene where he confronts Dorian in hopes to get him to repent from his wrongdoings. In the novel, Dorian does not reciprocate Basils feelings. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007)Lord Henry Wotton senses Dorian Grays adoration of his sophistication and radical ideals starting from their first meeting. This sparks an attraction where Lord Wotton coached Dorian in the ways of hedonism. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Dorian Grays fascination towards the hedonistic ideals of Lord Henry Wotton overshadows his other relationships. His obses sion reaches to the point that he is easily influenced by the mere delivery that Lord Henry Wotton speaks. He is greatly affected when Lord Wotton expresses disapproval in any smell of his life.One particular case in point is his reaction when Lord Wotton and Basil Hallward openly criticized the acting skill of Sibyl, the woman with whom he was once engaged. Lord Wottons twisted stamp of approval became Dorians measure of success. Dorians idolization of Lord Henry Wotton and the principles of hedonism eventually led to his downfall. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Works Cited Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. (2007, November 6). The Picture of Dorian Gray. Retrieved November 9, 2007, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_GrayHomoeroticism